Raina never fully understood how most people could look at a sunset and not see the same things she did. How could they not feel the same things she felt? The simple yet complex beauty of the passing from day to night could just about bring her to tears every time she let herself marvel in the magnificence of it. The sky shifted colors, from golden and amber to pinks and purples. But there was more than just the colors of the sky. Sitting back on the rock, she could also see the way the green from the trees surrounding the pond darkened and shadows started to form from the extended branches. She could practically feel the energy shift in the air surrounding her.
Greens and blues, sometimes as deep and mysterious at the ocean itself painted across the sky. But it would constantly change, darken towards a sapphire brilliance to illuminate the twinkling stars that polka dotted the world above. It was breath taking, and on more than one occasion, she literally did catch her breath in her throat. As she watched the colors change, there was a symphony inside of her that came to life. It was the enchanting notes of a solo piano that ushered in the mystical night.
There was no silence in the twilight. The chirping of crickets filled the spaces that the birds left empty as they snuggled in for a warm night's sleep. Bullfrog's added to the ballad with their resonant croaking. The salamander's shuffled across the top of the ground, pushing around dirt until they could burrow under. The cotton tail rabbits would make a quick hop-hop before settling for a moment, then another hop-hop. The sounds of hooves from the deer frolicking through the brush adds the element of dance to the melody that seems to play so perfectly through the falling eve.
For a moment, Raina can close her eyes and feel the embrace of nature wrapping around her. The breeze that sways through the trees in it's late night ballet dances around her body as the cool water that holds her turquoise tail laps around her scales. The magnificent romance of sky and sea is humbling. Sure she has her moments (more often than not) that screams how self involved she can be, but there's so much more to her, so much that she pretends doesn't exist. With good reason. She had cared once upon a time. She had cared more than anyone could.
Having been raised by two kind and caring parents, Raina was taught to care for all life. She was given a strong love of humans and animals, and any creatures whose lives were considered fragile. "It's important that life is revered, Raina", her father would say as he pat down her hair.
The sounds of water lapping from outside her window echoed in her ears, much as it did now. The bearded, older man took her into his lap and held the little girl who had been no more than seven years old. "My daughter," he began, much as he began all the important conversations he has had and would have with her. She knew that, even then, so she knew she needed to pay attention. She'd look up at the older man with a glisten in her eye, respect and love shining for her father. "There are a lot of people in the world who aren't going to accept what you are. They'll judge you without knowing you, but you have to understand they are not evil people."
She trusted and believed everything he said but that didn't mean it made a lot of sense to the young girl. "They won't like me?" She asked, her voice small and almost cracking with emotion from the impending rejection she may be facing.