Untitled.

[Sunrise]

Untitled.

It was a rainy morning, the sky overcast with swirling gray clouds that didn’t look like they’d ever let up. Sarreen stood on the doorstep, arms folded tight around her body against the cold drops, looking at her daughter, Lilan who had just rushed into the car and started the engine. “This is crazy!” she shouted in her American accent, against the downpour. “Whatever you want to show me won’t be visible in this downpour!” But Lilan just smiled and beckoned to her mother with a quick wave of her hand. So Sarreen gave in and ran to the passenger seat. She flung the door open and stumbled in, shaking her head to flee the water droplets that clung to her graying hair. “You’ll be amazed,” is all that Lilan said before backing out of the dirt patch that was the driveway.

They began moving up the mountains edge, the windshield wipers racing to clear the rain so that Lilan could see as she was driving. “What is it you’re taking me to see?” Sarreen asked the question for about the 5th time this morning, and the answer wasn’t any different this time then it was before, “You’ll see when we get there, mom.”

The two of them were from a small town in Wisconsin and had been traveling in Europe for over a month now, finding remote places to stay in different countries. They had seen so much that hardly anything would truly amaze them, so Sarreen knew that whatever her daughter had seen must be extremely good to take them out in this weather. For the past week they had stayed at a widow’s house in Switzerland at the base of the Alps, where Sarreen had spent most of her time comforting the poor old women who had just lost her beloved husband, and Lilan had gotten to take all of the adventures exploring the nearby mountains. So now, the one time that the widow was gone to a neighbors house for the previous night and rest of the day leaving Sarreen free to go explore with Lilan, it just happened to be raining ridiculously hard and Sarreen had no wish to go out into the mountains.

She sat huffing in the passenger seat as Lilan drove with a smile on her face. She just knew her mother would be super impressed with what she had to show her. They drove in silence for the next 10 minutes as they kept moving up the mountain.

Finally, Lilan drove the car off the road and stopped the engine. The rain had let up a little bit, but it was still raining a good amount. She stepped out of the car and came to the front to look at her mom who stayed where she was, arms crossed, shaking her head. But Sarreen couldn’t hold out against her daughters hard stare for too long, and she was eventually driven out of her seat and into the cold rain. “This better be quick,” she mumbled, not looking at Lilan.

Lilan led the way down a slightly trodden path that led through a small pass between two towering mountains. As they were walking, the rain clouds moved aside and the golden sun peaked out, so that when they stepped out of the pass and into the field the sight was even more impressive then it had been when Lilan saw it for the first time.

Sarreen’s mouth dropped. There before them was a field of wildflowers. So many dazzling colors leapt out at them, oranges, yellows, blues, purples. The sun lit up the raindrops that still clung to their petals, making the field sparkle with glory. “Oh my goodness,” was all that Sarreen could let escape her throat.

But this was not what Lilan had wanted to show her mother. While her mother gazed in wonder at the field, Lilan snuck off to the side to find the true beautiful gem she had wanted to share with her mom. “No, mom, look over hear,” she called to her mom. Sarreen turned, and as she looked at her daughter she looked utterly confused. “What is beautiful about that at all?” she asked, her smile turning into a frown.

Lilan was standing in the middle of a dead forest. Everything was scorched and a layer of ashes covered the ground where Lilan was standing. Some rage-full fire had whipped through the area, burning down the trees and life that had once been there. Sarreen was overcome with a sorrow as she looked at the area, thinking how many creatures lost their lives or their homes as the fire tore through. What ever could Lilan find beautiful in this tragic mess?

But Lilan was persistent, waving her mother over frantically, a look of joy in her eyes and a smile spread across her whole face. So Sarreen stepped closer, to the edge of the ashes where she could just make out what Lilan was making such a fuss over. There, coming up from the black ashes, was a beautiful white flower, more full and bright then any of the other flowers in the field because of the dark contrasting background that was the dark ashes. And this wonder, this small amazement, didn’t make Sarreen’s mouth drop, but it made a smile fill her face and eyes and it made her heart glow with warmth, knowing that even in the worst of situations life can always grow again.


Word count: 912
Inspiration: Team in Training pasta dinner story in Ireland, and the Swiss Alps I witnessed myself last summer (they are stunningly beautiful)
Music: none…
Editing Done: NONE. I didn’t even go over and re-read it. This is purely a rough draft!
Name Origins: None, they were thought up on the spot. I actually know somebody named Serene, but I didn’t feel like spelling in quite like that so I changed it xD


PARAGRAPH IN ITALICS
I’m thinking about deleting this paragraph. Is it really needed?

Any other comments you have for me. Anything you see that is wrong or want me to change? Also, do you have an idea for a title? I’m horrible at titles and need your help! Please tell me anything else you want <3[/font][/size]