In the mist of early lights sat a young girl, aged with knowledge, but young with hope. In the mists of early lights sat a dark aura that betrayed the eyes with her blonde hair and blue eyes, the ever-so-friendly face that was desolated with years of mistreatment from the world that fought against her. There was a gentle silence, one that was unfamiliar to follow the dark aura.

    But these were the early hours of the day, the ones where no one was there to see the quiet moment of the lonely girl. For she, cursed with loneliness, was here to contemplate the upcoming year. The clock was ticking, counting down her time until she was walking the halls, parading the colors of green and silver as her feet badded gently beneath her.

    Though her adventures of summer camp were entertaining, she dreaded the sliver of time where she was forced to return home before the cycle continued. Alexx didn't know where home was, and she was solemn about the thought of finding out. And though her parents and siblings welcomed her with open arms, their lives now being stuffed into a beaten down safe house, she only accepted it with sad eyes.

      The privilege of growing up in a normal home had escaped her. The privilege of anything escaped her. It was something that she made weak attempts to just come to terms with, shoving it into the back of her mind to save for the loneliest, darkest of hours. That was this hour. As the clock struck five, a single tear ran down her porcelain cheek as the dewy meadow beneath her shone gold in the morning light. The sun peaked in its wake, telling her that the time for thoughts was over. The meadow would be gold again tomorrow. The soft grass and springy cattails would still flutter in the early breeze, and as the fog lifted, the liquid on the petals of the plant life around her would too, leaving her, for only a mere moment, in the soft, golden solitude of this peaceful scenery.

      She savored it, for nothing gold can stay.