Phoenix Rising

The Burning Dream

The sun is setting behind the gray clouds in the distant sky as I am driving home from work. The sky seems to be teeming with life as the clouds roll by. I park my car up on a hill to admire the breath-taking view and inhale deeply. The early evening has always been my favorite part of the day and I enjoy it whenever I can. Its nice to take a break from the struggles of life every once in a while.

Wind ripples through the violets that grow all around me. I bend down to pick one as the sky begins to darken, remembering what my mother told me once, long ago.

~

I had awoken one night when I was very young. I asked my mother why the darkness was so scary. My mother smiled at me gently and hugged me close. She answered, "Aris, light cannot exist without darkness. Besides, the darkness is not scary, it is the fear of not seeing that is scary. Just remember that there will always be things we can't see whether it is light or dark.  Turning off the light doesn't change anything except what you can see, like closing your eyes." She walked over to the closet and turned on the light. "See? Same closet as always!"

She came to me and pulled me out of bed. We walked down to the kitchen and she made me a mug of hot chocolate. She then drifted to a vase full of wildflowers on the table and picked one from the vase. It was a single violet. "Did I ever tell you that violets are my favourite flowers?  Your father and I would gather them on warm summer nights. When I was a bit younger I was scared of the dark too, but he showed me that beauty exists regardless of how dark things may seem. Whatever you do, don't forget that you are my little sunshine." She smiled lightheartedly and sighed heavily. "We should go back to bed, it is getting a bit late."

~

She never spoke of my father much, but she always told me he was a wise and kind man. He died when I was only two years old. Sadly, I have no memories of him. She won't tell me anything about him. His name, when he was born, or even the way he looked (although apparently I look a lot like him). His death was very hard for her and sometimes, when she looks at me, I see deep sadness in her eyes. She only speaks about him with me, and only if I ask.

~

A flock of birds fly across the sky and I notice that it has become fairly dark. The sky is completely clear and every star is visible, shining brightly above me. It feels like only a couple of minutes have past.

Suddenly, I remember that I need to get home before my mother starts to panic, which happens quite easily. I quickly stumble over to my car and jump into the drivers seat. I start the engine and get myself back on the road as I make a quick three point turn. I speed down the hill at an easy fifty and pull out onto an extremely bumpy road. The gravelled path gives me a headache and am relieved to get onto the smooth asphalt again. I am only a few minutes from home, but my curfew is in a few minutes and my mom always gives me a super-long speech about how upset she is every time I am a second past it. I turn onto my street speeding down the strip. The car is moving smoothly down the road with no trouble at all.

My mother spent a fortune on this car, strongly believing in keeping the environment clean and buying a car that lasts a life time. My mother had told me that I could pick out whichever car I wanted. I had stumbled across my current car, and for a couple moments, took in it's beauty.  I then begrudgingly turned to look for something else. I was about to go pick something more reasonable price-wise, but she had noticed the glint in my eye and offered to buy it for me. "If this is the car you truly want, and you promise to take good care of it, then it is yours", she had smiled at me. I still don't know how she could afford such an expensive vehicle. She tells me often that she has saved up money for a long time for me and my future, and that when the time comes for her to give me what is in the account, I need to be responsible with how I spend it.