THE SETTING OF THE SUN

Thick waves battled each other under a world blanketed in a thin white shroud of clouds. They crashed heavily into one another, and their tips foamed from a deep mysterious blue into a pale white, and sprayed into the sky. Occasionally, they just missed each other and licked the side of the wall. They were always different. The waves moved differently, fought differently, and they sang different songs. Rose had noticed them singing before; and they sounded amazing. It was the whistling susurration of the wind flying on invisible wings over the tips of the waves, creating whispered notes as they crashed, uncontrollably, collapsing into the darkness of the ocean. And it smelled like the ocean, because as they thundered about, the seas' monsters let off wonderful scents that were pulled to the shore by strong currents.

The young girl they called Rose had often wondered, and pondered for hours upon hours about the monsters. They were said to live deep below the raging sea, in the darkest crevices that welcomed no light. They were said to be the cause of all of the sailors that had gone missing over the vast blue of the ocean. They were said to wait at the edge of the world and cover it with darkness. But Rose thought about them still. And she thought 'How could such monsters live in such a beautiful sea?' For it was beautiful. The waves had such personality, and Rose had often laughed at them because of their clumsiness, but she did not laugh today. Today they were battling, and battling waves was all to be seen.

However as she sat on the stone wall that grew up from the oceans' depths to meet the place that she liked to call home, she did see something else, flying over, under, and twisting between the waves, wetting itself in their light splash. It was a bird. Rose didn't know what kind of bird it was, but it was nearer than she had ever seen one before. It's feathers were as pale as the ocean spray, all white, but for one. On the rear underside of it's wing. This was a muddy brown feather. The feather stood out from the rest.The fantastic creature danced through the evening glow, showing off it's array of dazzling soft feathers. Elegantly, the bird's wings reached out, blowing a cool breeze to touch Rose's hair. It skimmed low, reaching out to the cold water with a bright talon, grasping at the blue waves that rose up to meet it. With a glint of determination in it's eye, the beautiful creature powered through the waves, and came to a stop as it landed on the grey stone of the icy wall.

The stone wall was rough, and frozen. Crystals of frosty ice could almost be seen creeping up the hard rock. Snails would sometimes freeze to the wall on cold days, Rose would cry. She didn't know why, because when the morning came, and the sun came out, they would un-freeze. But she still cried, and her tears would set into ice the minute they met the wall. The wall stretched out all the way around the castle; motionless, and yet full of life. It had been crafted years ago, and her father would tell tales of the beauty of it in the old days. It would reflect light and let it dance into the sky. The sky that was normally so blue and happy; but today was stained a deep red like the petal of a rose.

Stained by the evening setting, the horizon was beginning to reflect stars, and hide the sun behind it. Before her death, Rose's mum would tuck her into bed, and tell her stories of the sun. Rose's favourite story was of the sun being an angel, giving light to the world. But at night, the angel would tuck her head away behind the waves, and sleep until rising again in the morning. But she was never the same on two days. One day she would be fierce, and hot. The next, she would hide behind clouds, like a blanket; as if she wasn't sure that rising was worth all the effort. Then she could sleep early. These were cold, winter days like this one.

The cold bit at Rose, but she stayed on the wall, and watched. She watched the waves beat on the walls, and tackle each other into the sea. She watched the bird take off once again and twist and turn like an acrobat. And she watched the sun, as she dropped under the corner of the world, and disappeared...