Dawn on the River

Winter sets in

Created on Midjourney

Dawn crept along the river, slowly illuminating the small patches of ice floating on its still surface. Winter had taken the forest into its icy grip weeks before, though the river had resisted its embrace until now.

Overnight, as the mercury had dipped yet further, ice crystals had begun to form, spreading like frost across the water’s surface, unwitnessed and unmarked. Until this morning the light of a new day revealed them grown already into solid ice.

Farther down the river, farm children shouted with glee, knowing that soon it would freeze over fully. They ran home to find their skates and beg their parents to take them for sharpening.

But here, where humans rarely trod, quiet enveloped the dawn as the forest relaxed into a deep sleep. On the river, a fragile crystal lattice began to stretch from one patch of ice to the next. In its depths, the river remained vibrant and awake, teeming with life. Only its surface would sleep, awaiting the dawn that brought cracks in the winter ice.

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This beautiful image just cried out for a story. I knew it had to somehow relate to dawn, but the focus didn’t crystalize (pun intended) until I really looked at the river and the bits of ice floating there.

Are you someone who likes to greet the dawn? I really can’t see it from my house, so I don’t try. On the rare occasions that I’m somewhere where I can do so, I love to watch both dawn and sunset. They’re two of the most beautiful sights I know.