Lost Hope

She stood at the top of the hill, waiting. After a few minutes, a brilliant ball of yellow came peeking over the horizon, while its extensive rays reached out to the world. The sky turned red, then orange, and then finally yellow as the sun rose higher and higher, lighting up the beautiful scenery surrounding her. The rolling hills in the distance became golden as the grass around her bristled in the light breeze. She leaned back against the tree and slid to ground, looking and looking, as if she had never seen anything so magnificent in her life. She lived for this moment every day, though it wasn’t often she was able to come. Sighing, she closed her eyes and listened the whisper of the leaves on the tree, the rustling of a critter searching for food, the chirping of a bird nearby. But most of all, it was the hope that enveloped her with crushing fire. These were the moments that kept her hoping, dreaming, living. She opened her eyes again, letting the view sink into her mind. A sudden deep booming from the distance brought her out of her stupor with a jump. She stood rapidly before suddenly turning and running down the hill. As she ran, her hair flowed behind her as if it was a living creature of its own and her arms flailed wildly. She let out an excited yell before finally stumbling to a stop at the bottom. Panting, she turned away from the sunrise and stood facing the darkness. Her expression hardening, the look of joy on her face was gone as she stared into the dark. For a moment, it seemed that she stood in between two worlds of light and dark. She took a few steps away from the scene behind her before starting to sprint ahead towards the darkness. She ran deeper and deeper into the black nothingness without a backward glance, leaving the hope behind her. Soon, she was swallowed up by shadows of her pain and loss.