(Photographs taken by me. These are unedited photos. This is what the sky looked like.)
My jaw dropped as I went out, when it should have been shut closed and chattered because of the biting cold. The air was crisp and hurt my nostrils. The temperature was way too low and I was not bundled up to keep my body warm. I looked up and time stopped. Suddenly I wasn’t cold anymore. The cold didn’t bother me. I was in awe. The sky. The sky was fucking gorgeous.
Golden rays mixing into pastel orange hues which then went out to dance with flecks of orchid and specks of lilac. And as if that wasn’t enough, the sky did a live transformation into this swirl of amethyst amidst a pool of concord and I was like, woahwoahwoahIwasn’treadyforthis.
I took in the moment and then took some photographs for the gram. And then it hit me, wow. I’d never witnessed a sunrise like that, stood-there-and-watched kind of a way, since 2008. That’s eleven years. The sunrises that I did see after 2008 were where I knew a sunrise was happening but didn’t watch it happen, or passed by a spot where the sun had just risen. So I witnessed a beautiful sunrise after eleven years. That’s a lot of time to forget and to memorize. To erase and to redraw.
The last time that happened, I was on a roof that didn’t belong to me, just like today. The last time it was a Ramadan morning. This time it was a December morning. The last time there was someone I loved watching it with me. This time too, there was someone watching it with me who I love dearly: myself. The last time I watched a sunrise, I didn’t know how vast the world was. This time, it felt like the vastness of the world had the power to envelope me whole. The last time I was in awe of the moment. This time, I was in awe of the sight before me. Happiness is fleeting, but some things are deep.
– Mahaah.