Sunset Offering

Just before she feels her lungs constrict and body numb, she breathes, surfacing with a sly satisfaction at having tested the limits.

The water is cool now, and rays of faint evening sun trickle in, hesitant, daring to play in the clear depths with her. She rises slowly, and like something hard and strong pulling taut an elastic covering, the water seems to stretch itself up with her, clinging as a second skin. For once she does not notice the streams emptying onto the pink tile; she nonchalantly wraps a gargantuan towel about her slick figure and pads into the hallway.

All is still. May began hours earlier with a yellow sphere smiling upon too-green grass in a perfect, clean sky. Now it slides slowly and deliberately into its first enthralling sunset. She can not help but stand in awe at the west-facing hall window, tracing the sun’s sky, painting with her wide eyes. A peaceful lull has fallen upon all of nature, as if this first May evening has been destined to coincide with the day’s events in one girl’s life.

The cream and burgundy envelope sets fire to the calmness of the scene and as she walks past it, a smile creeps through all of her, finding her lips last as if playing hide-and-seek.

She dresses with more care than she would have on her wedding night. This feels more like her very own moment, to be shared with no one. The cotton brushes her dewy skin and she feels every ounce of it touching her body.

A soft glow livens the dusk and its creatures, the birds with their chirping and flights across short distances, swooping and gliding and celebrating with this girl. Colors have taken on new life with the sun’s descent, gasping for air as she had when she emerged from the water. They too, are in celebration, and they have put on costumes for the occasion: midnight blue bathes in the early evening sky, a lively deep tan shade spreads itself amid the tree trunks, and a thousand greens drink cocktails as they waltz amongst the blades of grass and rustle the weeds. The wind composes a quiet chorus of breezes and leaves and birds, just for her.

She steps outside with no intentions in particular, but carries something with her. She becomes suddenly aware of its weight, too heavy for her delicate hands, and though her lithe arms bear it with ease, they now recognize its insignificance. She knows what she must do with it.

The gray dock shines tonight with lustrous, nostalgic strength, strength of an old friend and too many memories. Beneath it and beyond, a calm ribbon of diamond-strewn silver glitters slightly, and moves as a snake through a desert at sundown. Tonight that desert teems with life, the snake tame and gentle with its invitation.

Lungs now filling with brand-new air, the purest air that had ever been breathed, she makes her offering to the river, erect and sure. Her chest expands and collapses with each gift of oxygen and her blood runs through its tunnels, blindly exhilarated and high.

With one swift motion it was gone, like a brick carved out of her, allowing her to fill the space with life previously denied. The river – the snake – swallows it whole: the doubt, the worry, the fear… slithering onward, never stopping or looking back. It is finished now and she feels overwhelming relief as she stares into the rushing water before turning away.

She bids farewell to the night, the desert, and finds herself at the counter in the dimness. Electrified, her fingers hold the envelope: in it, one single slip of paper pulp culled from an anonymous tree, printed from an unimportant computer screen… in it, the anecdote to the burden of which she has just freed herself. Small black letters reach off the page, grasping her each time her eyes skim the page.

Usually the punctual friend, tonight sleep comes late, giving her a brief respite. She uses the time to breathe, consciously aware of each breath as she has not been in years. The front door creaks just as she succumbs to slumber, and a drowsy smile lights another spark of happiness deep within her. She will tell them tomorrow, when they awake from their intoxicated stupor.

She will tell them that their one binding tie will no longer be a burden.

She will tell them that she will be going to college, and finally they will be free of her.

The words remain under a single spotlight in her mind’s eye, the sentence that has changed her, lifted her: “…We are proud to offer the following award that will cover the full tuition amount…”