Glorious Sunrises and Glorious Falls

Aurora's work had always consumed her. When she was taking photos on assignment nothing could distract her, not even an atomic bomb, her editor would often joke. The blonde head bobbed up and down, weaving through the forest, sometimes stopping to change her lens, other times stopping camera, by her side, as her emerald eyes went wide with wonder and astonishment of the beauty of all that was around her. One thing Aurora cherished is that the subjects she photographed never ceased to amaze her, everything seemed to always be new to her, always glorious, always breathtaking. It was as if each time she took a photo, she was seeing the world as a newborn babe.

Having forgotten the chilling feeling hours before, she happily continued photographing the world around her until she realized she would have to go to a clearing if she were to capture the sunrise. Having studied a map of her new subject extensively, Aurora, hopped from a log, knowing exactly where she was headed to. She often referred to her sense of direction as her "Spidey photography sense". She walked briskly in the direction, she was sure where the clearing was, taking strides of great purpose as she went. Finally, a little winded, as she was carrying 30 pounds of equipment on her back, she managed to find the clearing.

It was at the edge of a rather steep rocky hill that overlooked a valley in the forest. Aurora was in luck as the pre-dawn sky was clean and no cloud hung in sight. She wrestled the backpack off of her and made quick work to find the right wide lens to fit her Canon Camera with. Prepared, and ready for the money shot, she sat down on a flat rock. Putting her chin in her hands and cupping it she stared and the vast expanse of forest. She could never get enough of nature. Nature was both cruel and hard and yet to incredibly delicate. Nature was a wolf tearing its prey to pieces and nature was the delicate strings of a spider web that the morning dew clung to. Nature was both beast and prey, both predator and victim. Aurora sighed happily.

The horizon became a light orange, with hues of a pastel purple. As the first rays of the sun kissed the earth good morning, the sky turned a grapefruit pink, then almost red. Shadows danced across the tips of the trees as the star rose higher and higher. Birds chirped their morning symphony while the photographer made quick work, of her fingers, snapping and snapping some more. And then just as quickly as the glorious colors of orange and pink and blue and purple painted the sky, they melted away into the morning. Aurora placed her camera down on the rock she had been sitting on and stretched. She just knew she had some killer photos. She took one last look at the valley beneath her before turning on her heel and walking home.

By the time Aurora was half-way home, she felt as if she might need a nap right here in the forest. As she was contemplating her sleep deprivation, something caught her eyes. From her peripheral vision something moved. She stopped dead in her tracks, only moving her neck. There in a small clearing stood a stag. His massive nostrils flared in the morning mist as he pricked his ears listening for sounds of danger. Aurora's breath hitched in her body. She slowly lowered herself, sinking to her knees, trying not to breathe. She duck-waddled on her tip toes closer and closer until she had a clear view of the massive animal. She marveled at how the stag's chest rose and fell in tune with her own heartbeat. In glacial motion, she reached for her camera. She was almost in position to shoot the most stunning photo…

In one swift moment, it felt as if the air had been squeezed out of her lungs. Aurora could feel something behind her. She whipped her head around, getting ready to be mauled by a bear. She tried to somehow straighten herself up and run, but in doing so, ended up lunging and falling over a raised tree root, smashing her elbow into a jagged rock. The first thing she thought of was how to protect her camera, which she managed to balance in her fingertips. The next thing that came to her mind was that the bear was going to eat her. Craning her neck, she tried to spot the massive snarling face of a bear. She blinked several times before it came to her – there was nothing there. She spun her head towards the stag who was long gone – as if he had been a morning mirage. Only then did she feel the throbbing, ripping pain in her elbow and arm. She looked down at herself to see a gash running along her arm and elbow, dripping blood.

"Fuck!" she swore loudly. She tried to get up but found, that she had to put the camera down in order to balance herself on her good hand. By the time she got up, the pain was now gnawing at her entire arm and shoulder. Wincing, she grabbed her camera and slowly made her way home, trying to keep her arm above her head, which only made the blood drip down her entire head, hair, and body.

By the time Aurora had arrived back home, she felt rather light-headed and dizzy. Tossing her camera and bag on her bed, she decided washing her war wound with water might help. Running her entire hand over the faucet in the tub only made her yelp out in pain.

"Oh holy Jesus, that isn't helping," she swore. "Holy fuck am I going to need stiches?"

She hobbled to the bathroom mirror to examine herself. The gash seemed to only have subsided beading slightly, but the wound looked like it was going to be held together by a band-aide. She shook her head, realizing her usually rosy cheeks had turned quite pale. She looked longingly at the camera, realizing her hope of applying a compress and editing her photos was not going to happen. She gritted her teeth and looked once more in the mirror. To her horror, Aurora realized that all her clothes were stained with blood. She looked around frantically for a change of clothes, but when she tried to bend her elbow to change her shirt, the pain almost made her fall over. She grumbled, taking the car keys from the kitchen table and marching out the door, awkwardly holding her left arm slightly above her head.

It took some time to adjust herself in her car and each movement of her upper body made her arm scream in pain. Aurora almost never cried, even when she had been bitten by hornets during her photoshoot in Zimbabwe, but this kind of pain seemed to be tearing at her flesh. She bit the tears back as she started her car and frantically drove into the town of forks in search of a doctor.