Reflections of Night

Campfire

"There once was a tree."
"There once was a tree."
"A pretty little tree."
"A pretty little tree."
"The prettiest little tree."
"The prettiest little tree."
"That you ever did see."
"That you ever did see."

"Oh, the tree in a hole,
And the hole in the ground,
And the green grass grew all around, all around,
And the green grass grew all around."

Everyone was happy and smiling, roasting marshmallows on Nyx's small fire whilst the evening drew in around them. Nyx smiled as she watched her family joking, singing campfire songs and eating marshmallows.

Though Rachel seemed to have developed a strange nervous tick in which she kept moving the matches further and further away from Nyx.
Nyx giggled and shook her head. It was a fact of life: Rachel was always going to see her as the little four year old she'd first known her as.
Sweeping her eyes around the campfire, she could view her whole world.
Her mother, leading ridiculous campfire songs at the top of her voice. Her eldest brother, mixing up the words severely as he laughed with merriment. Her sister, sitting tall and graceful in the dancing firelight, laughing and singing along. Her other brother, dealing out marshmallows and guffawing at Nick's bad singing.

If Nyx could have frozen any moment in time, this would have been it. Everyone so peaceful and happy, enjoying each other's company, the firelight drawing shadows on everyone's faces, creating strange, ethereal features, the sky above painted with the colours of the city lights, but if you looked close enough, you could see the stars.
It was perfect, an illusion of harmony and peace.

Yet something was telling Nyx that this was just the calm before the storm.