Almost Day

I like waking up early morning to walk. The world seems new, yet undiscovered. A virgin scene. No other people. No sounds. With winter around the corner, at six, the stars are still the only light in the ravine. Two mornings in a row, we saw a coyote behind our home sneaking off as we approached. Baby rabbits bob off, white tails in the air. And then slowly, slowly, with the deliberation of a bride unveiling, the dark lifts, moves off, the colours of fall emerge. Red, gold, green, and brown. In Urdu, we have a word for the fiery light that glows in the sky at sunrise and sunset: Shafaq.
By the time we return home to wake the kids, it is almost day.