Who would've thought

A Golden Sunrise

The next morning, I woke up to the shuffling of feet. I rubbed my eyes and made out the figure of Ponyboy getting up and heading to the back of the church. I sat up straight, letting my eyes adjust to the dim light of the early morning.

"Mornin' Pony." I greeted in a hushed voice. "Hey Addy." I rolled my eyes at the nickname. "Only Dal calls me that. And sometimes Buck, but he's annoying." Pony shrugged his shoulders and walked over to the back.

I got up, trying not to wake Johnny. I followed Pony to the back steps of the church, where he lit up a cigarette. "Whoah..." I whispered as I stared out into the valley. There was a layer of mist covering the fields and the sky was a golden-grey.

Then for a split second, everything went silent. It was like the world just stopped, waiting for the sun to rise. The clouds changed to a light pink and the sun burst out from the horizon. It slowly rose up into the sky, brightening up the whole country.

"Golly." I felt a hand wrap around my waist. "That sure was pretty." I turned my head to see Johnny staring off into the distance, still in a daze from the beautiful sunrise. "Yeah." I sighed, agreeing.

"The mist is what was pretty. All the gold and silver..." He trailed off. "Too bad it can't stay like that all the time." I stated. If it did, then I would be staring at the sky my whole life. "Nothing gold can stay." Pony said. Johnny and I turned to look at him. "What?" Johnny asked.

"Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower,
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf,
So Eden sank to grief.
So dawn goes down to day,
Nothing gold can stay."

"Where'd you learn that?" Johnny asked. "Robert Frost wrote it. He meant more to it than I'm gettin' though. I always remembered it because I never quite got what he meant by it."

"You know, I never noticed colours and clouds and stuff until you kept reminding me about them. It seems like they were never there before." Johnny pointed out. I nodded my head. "This is only the third time I've seen a sunrise, and this was the most beautiful one by far."

"Gee, your family sure is funny." Johnny told Pony. I raised an eyebrow. "And what happens to be so funny about it?" He snapped.

"I didn't mean nothin' like that. I mean, Soda looks like your mother did, but he acts exactly like your father. Darry, he's the spitting image of your father, but he ain't wild and laughing all the time. He acts like your mother. And you, you don't act like either one."

"Yeah, it doesn't make much sense. Where'd you get your personality from?" I asked Pony. He shrugged his shoulders and answered. "I guess I just read a lot and act like some of the characters."

"And Johnny," he continued. "You ain't like any of the gang, either. I mean, I couldn't tell Two-Bit or Steve or even Darry about the sunrise. I couldn't even remember the poem around them. I mean, they just don't dig. Just you and Aiden and Sodapop... and maybe Cherry Valance."

"Yeah, I guess we're different." I sighed. "Shoot," Pony blew a smoke ring, "Maybe they are." I bit my cheek and nodded. "They are." We stood in silence, admiring all the colours changing in the sky. First it was dark blue, then grey, then it turned to pink and orange, then it changed back to a light blue.

After about half an hour, the three of us headed inside to have some breakfast. We didn't have much. Just crackers and bread, carbs and stuff. When we were done eating, I walked toward the front door of the church. "Hey! Where're you going?" Pony asked.

"We need more food. We've only got crackers left and we can't live off of that for more than a day. Plus, we need blankets and other things that we couldn't get before." I told him. Johnny gave me a concerned look.

"Aiden it's not safe. Our names'll be in the paper by now along with our pictures and descriptions. You'll get caught." Johnny said worriedly. "We can't live here without you."

I rolled my eyes and smiled. "Johnny, you worry about me too much. I'll be fine. Anyways, I died and cut my hair for a reason. Did you really think I'd go without a disguise?" I asked. "W- Well, no... but-" I cut him off. "No buts. I'll be fine. If I'm not back in an hour then you get the hell out of here. Got it?"

The boys nodded their heads. Before I left, I gave Johnny a short but sweet kiss. "Be safe." He whispered. I nodded my head and promised him. "Of course." I grabbed a handful of money and shoved it in my pocket. I then took an elastic band off my wrist and put my hair in a braid.

I spun around jokingly. "Do I look like a farmer girl?" I asked. I carefully walked out the door before I got to hear their answers.

This is a shorter chapter but whatever. I feel like the sunrise scene deserves its own chapter anyways. I hope you enjoyed this!
Stay Gold! 💛