Sunrise III

She was sleeping peacefully, her blond curls flowing over the pillow. Her pink teddy-bear pyjama-clad arms rested on top of the blanket. All that could be seen of her soundless breathing was her chest rising and sinking in a slow, steady rhythm. Everything was normal; her face showed off a content smile.

The first rays of the sun broke over the hill, and forced their way into her room, through her window. Thick yellow rays made a perfect line from the window to the floor. Millions of particles danced in the light, shining, sparkling. As a kid she'd believed it was glitter, placed there by the fairies, to make her happy. She knew now it was just dust, but sometimes she pretended that she still believed in fairies, and that the shine was there as a present, just for her.

As the sun rose higher on the sky, the angle of the rays in her room changed. The beams moved slowly across the floor, towards her bed. She still hadn't moved, no sound could be heard. Everything was peaceful. The rays reached the foot of her bed, and slowly they made their way up the bedpost, and across the blanket. The first ray that reached her hand illuminated her fair skin in a way that almost gave the impression of fluorescence.

As more rays crept across the blanket, and settled for on her hand, it started to heat up. She let out a silent sigh, and quickly moved her hand, as if she was brushing off a fly, without even as much as a change on her sleeping face.

The sun was determined, and continued its slow and steady path across her bed. After a while it reached her chin. The unwelcome heat annoyed her, and she slowly turned her head, so that the sun landed on her ear instead. But more rays followed, bathing the entire side of her face in light, heating up her cheekbones, and her eyelids.

She moved her head a little along the pillow, so that her eyes were still in the shade, and continued her peaceful sleep. But it didn't last long; soon her entire pillow was bathed in sunlight, burning through her eyelids, heating up her cheeks.

She let out a loud grunt, and with a great deal of effort she turned around in bed. Lying on her stomach she pulled out her pillow and put it over her head. With a satisfied sigh she continued her heavy sleep, dead to the world.