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32nd Summer 517 AV
Sunrise
"Speech"
"Others"
Sunrise
"Speech"
"Others"
It began softly at first. The delicate clouds that lingered like kisses at the horizon changed first, shifting gradually and smoothly from fur soft grey to salmon pink, shot through with iridescence. Then the sea embraced the first caresses of Syna's brightness, transforming into glorious, coloured glass, shimmering, dancing in the distance. Still the goddess had not shown her face, but Karin waited patiently, standing in the cool surf that washed around her bare feet. The sky was completely changed now. It was bright, , but so much more than bright, so much more than simple descriptions could do justice. It was alive with a goddess's presence, Syna's nearness. Karin watched, her eyes squinted against the rising, burning crescent peering over the horizon, until Syna was finally risen and hung alone in the vast expanse of the sky.
It was beautiful and exquisite. If Karin was a wordsmith, or an artist, or a poet, she would make artwork for the daily glory of the sunrise, for it added even greater beauty to her beloved ocean. But she wasn't, and so she had to content herself with casting a small, white stone into the foam, and making a prayer to Laviku. "Laviku, send my thanks to Syna for her beauty. Thank you for allowing her to cast her light on your creation."
She watched the sunrise for a few moments more, as she walked along the shoreline, until she reached a large piece of bleached driftwood. Here she stopped, and knelt in the sand, as Syna continued to brighten into the beginnings of the day. Yet she wasn't continuing her worship, to either deity. As much as she appreciated Syna, and as much as she loved and cared about Laviku, their respective domains were her everyday. It was a sad fact of this that they became somewhat normal and accepted in the day to day of survival. It was because of this that Karin forced herself to stop and truly look, from time to time. And it was worth it, she thought. Her day was beginning as she wished it to go on.
The driftwood she had stopped beside was a scene of interest too, though. It was nothing quite so dramatic nor godly as what she had just witnessed, but it held it's own fascinations. Karin's interest in the felled, washed up tree was that the wood was remarkably easy to work with. There were no longer any leaves to identify it, and the bark was peeling and lost in most places too, to reveal the pale, bleached truck underneath. Several branches were deposited nearby, stranded where the tide had left them. The tree trunk itself was the original source of interest for the woman, and she had earmarked it as a dugout canoe almost immediately when she had seen it yesterday. Today, she was scoping it out, and cleaning the branches from the trunk.
She got to work straight away. One of the axes she had bought last season was a small hand axe, which seemed to be a perfect way to neatly remove the outer branches. She hauled it from her backpack, which was slung carefully in the sand on the beach. The woman was dressed for manual labour, a grey, sleeveless shirt covered her lean torso, and her legs were clad in baggy, brown trousers that were fastened at the ankle. They were long though, and she was suffering because of it. Syka was a hot place, warmer than anywhere she'd lived before, and she still hadn't got the right clothing for the environment. Karin didn't have much of a fashion sense, but even she could concede that long trousers in a hot climate was a bad idea.
Nevertheless, she started her work, with the sun warming the back of her head already. Her hands clasped the axe in both hands, and she straddled the tree as she hacked at the protruding branches. Some fell of with ease, but others were slightly more awkward, mostly because of the angle that they were growing at. The blonde-haired woman submerged herself in the task as she grunted and heaved the axe, working hard to remove the stubborn, dead foliage. So it was to her surprise when she suddenly noticed the figure that stood silhouetted by the sunshine that cast a halo around them. She expressed her surprise with little more than a quiet, "Oh!", and stopped what she was doing to shelter her eyes against the bright sunlight.
Word count: 748
It was beautiful and exquisite. If Karin was a wordsmith, or an artist, or a poet, she would make artwork for the daily glory of the sunrise, for it added even greater beauty to her beloved ocean. But she wasn't, and so she had to content herself with casting a small, white stone into the foam, and making a prayer to Laviku. "Laviku, send my thanks to Syna for her beauty. Thank you for allowing her to cast her light on your creation."
She watched the sunrise for a few moments more, as she walked along the shoreline, until she reached a large piece of bleached driftwood. Here she stopped, and knelt in the sand, as Syna continued to brighten into the beginnings of the day. Yet she wasn't continuing her worship, to either deity. As much as she appreciated Syna, and as much as she loved and cared about Laviku, their respective domains were her everyday. It was a sad fact of this that they became somewhat normal and accepted in the day to day of survival. It was because of this that Karin forced herself to stop and truly look, from time to time. And it was worth it, she thought. Her day was beginning as she wished it to go on.
The driftwood she had stopped beside was a scene of interest too, though. It was nothing quite so dramatic nor godly as what she had just witnessed, but it held it's own fascinations. Karin's interest in the felled, washed up tree was that the wood was remarkably easy to work with. There were no longer any leaves to identify it, and the bark was peeling and lost in most places too, to reveal the pale, bleached truck underneath. Several branches were deposited nearby, stranded where the tide had left them. The tree trunk itself was the original source of interest for the woman, and she had earmarked it as a dugout canoe almost immediately when she had seen it yesterday. Today, she was scoping it out, and cleaning the branches from the trunk.
She got to work straight away. One of the axes she had bought last season was a small hand axe, which seemed to be a perfect way to neatly remove the outer branches. She hauled it from her backpack, which was slung carefully in the sand on the beach. The woman was dressed for manual labour, a grey, sleeveless shirt covered her lean torso, and her legs were clad in baggy, brown trousers that were fastened at the ankle. They were long though, and she was suffering because of it. Syka was a hot place, warmer than anywhere she'd lived before, and she still hadn't got the right clothing for the environment. Karin didn't have much of a fashion sense, but even she could concede that long trousers in a hot climate was a bad idea.
Nevertheless, she started her work, with the sun warming the back of her head already. Her hands clasped the axe in both hands, and she straddled the tree as she hacked at the protruding branches. Some fell of with ease, but others were slightly more awkward, mostly because of the angle that they were growing at. The blonde-haired woman submerged herself in the task as she grunted and heaved the axe, working hard to remove the stubborn, dead foliage. So it was to her surprise when she suddenly noticed the figure that stood silhouetted by the sunshine that cast a halo around them. She expressed her surprise with little more than a quiet, "Oh!", and stopped what she was doing to shelter her eyes against the bright sunlight.
Word count: 748
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