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<v Speaker 1>Us was to be hers the window at dawn. Dawn

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<v Speaker 1>woke at five forty seven every morning. She did not

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<v Speaker 1>need an alarm. Her body knew the time, the way

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<v Speaker 1>birds know the season, the way tides know the moon.

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<v Speaker 1>She would open her eyes in the darkness, lie still

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<v Speaker 1>for a moment, and then rise slowly, careful not to

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<v Speaker 1>wake the house. Her east facing window was the first

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<v Speaker 1>thing she saw when she sat up in the darkness.

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<v Speaker 1>It was just a rectangle of deeper black against the

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<v Speaker 1>gray wall. But in a few minutes it would begin

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<v Speaker 1>to change. That was why she woke, That was why

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<v Speaker 1>she was here. She padded to the kitchen and her

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<v Speaker 1>bare feet, the wooden floor cool against her skin. The

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<v Speaker 1>house was small, a cottage at the edge of town,

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<v Speaker 1>with rooms that were easy to move through in corners

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<v Speaker 1>that held warmth. She filled the kettle and set it

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<v Speaker 1>on the stove while it heated. The sky was changing now.

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<v Speaker 1>The thin line of light had thickened, spreading upward like

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<v Speaker 1>water color on wet paper. The colors were still muted

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<v Speaker 1>grays and soft blues, but there was warmth underneath, a

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<v Speaker 1>glow that was building slowly, layer by layer. Dawn sipped

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<v Speaker 1>her tea and watched. She had been doing this for

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<v Speaker 1>three years, ever since she moved to the cottage. Before that,

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<v Speaker 1>she had lived in the city, in an apartment with

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<v Speaker 1>windows that faced a brick wall. She had not seen

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<v Speaker 1>the sky in years, not really, She had forgotten what

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<v Speaker 1>it looked like, how it changed, how it moved through

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<v Speaker 1>the hours like a living thing. The first time she

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<v Speaker 1>saw the sunrise from this window, she had cried, not

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<v Speaker 1>because it was beautiful, though it was, but because she

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<v Speaker 1>had missed it. She had missed so many mornings, so

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<v Speaker 1>many dawns, so many moments of the world becoming new.

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<v Speaker 1>Now she did not miss a single one. The light

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<v Speaker 1>was changing faster now, The grays were giving way to pinks,

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<v Speaker 1>soft and delicate, like the inside of a shell. The clouds,

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<v Speaker 1>which had been invisible in the dark, were now catching

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<v Speaker 1>the light, their edges glowing. Dawn leaned forward in her chair,

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<v Speaker 1>her tea forgotten in her hands. She thought about the

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<v Speaker 1>word dawn, how it meant two things at once, the

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<v Speaker 1>time of day when light first appears, and the beginning

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<v Speaker 1>of something new. She liked that. She liked that every

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<v Speaker 1>morning was a small beginning, a chance to start again,

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<v Speaker 1>to see the world fresh, as if for the first time.

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<v Speaker 1>The pinks were deepening, now turning to then to coral,

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<v Speaker 1>then to a soft orange that seemed to pulse with warmth.

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<v Speaker 1>The sky was no longer a single color, but a

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<v Speaker 1>wash of colors blending into each other, each one holding

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<v Speaker 1>its own space while also becoming part of the whole.

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<v Speaker 1>Dawn set down her cup and placed her hands on

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<v Speaker 1>the window sill. The glass was cool, but she could

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<v Speaker 1>feel the warmth of the light coming through it, the

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<v Speaker 1>first heat of the day. She closed her eyes and

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<v Speaker 1>felt it on her eyelids, a gentle pressure, like a kiss.

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<v Speaker 1>She opened her eyes again. The horizon was on fire,

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<v Speaker 1>now a line of gold that burned against the blue.

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<v Speaker 1>The clouds were painted in every shade of orange and pink,

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<v Speaker 1>and the sky above them was turning from gray to blue,

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<v Speaker 1>from darkness to light. It was happening so slowly and

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<v Speaker 1>so quickly at the same time, a paradox of time

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<v Speaker 1>and beauty. She watched the sun appear. It was not

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<v Speaker 1>a dramatic entrance, not a sudden burst of light. It

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<v Speaker 1>was a slow rise, a gentle emergence, like a face

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<v Speaker 1>appearing in a window. First, just the top edge, a

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<v Speaker 1>curve of gold, then more, until the full circle sat

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<v Speaker 1>on the horizon, glowing with a warmth that seemed to

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<v Speaker 1>come from inside the earth itself. Dawn breathed out. She

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<v Speaker 1>had been holding her breath without knowing it. The tension

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<v Speaker 1>in her shoulders released, and she felt the peace that

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<v Speaker 1>always came at this moment, the feeling that everything was

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<v Speaker 1>exactly as it should be. The sun climbed higher, and

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<v Speaker 1>the light flooded the room. The walls turned gold, the

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<v Speaker 1>floor turned gold, the chair turned gold. Dawn looked at

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<v Speaker 1>her hands on the window sill and saw them transformed,

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<v Speaker 1>their skin glowing with the morning light. She felt as

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<v Speaker 1>if she were part of the sun sunrise, as if

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<v Speaker 1>the light was not just falling on her, but coming

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<v Speaker 1>from her. She picked up her tea and took a sip.

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<v Speaker 1>It had cooled, but it did not matter. The warmth

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<v Speaker 1>she needed was not in the cup. It was in

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<v Speaker 1>the light, in the room, In the quiet of the morning.

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<v Speaker 1>She sat for a long time, watching the sky change

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<v Speaker 1>from gold to blue, watching the clouds thin and scatter,

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<v Speaker 1>watching the world wake up. Birds began to sing, first one,

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<v Speaker 1>then another, then a chorus. She could hear a car

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<v Speaker 1>passing on the road, the tires on the wet pavement.

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<v Speaker 1>She could hear the wind moving through the trees, carrying

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<v Speaker 1>the scent of grass and earth and newness. Dawn smiled.

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<v Speaker 1>This was her meditation, her ritual, her way of starting

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<v Speaker 1>each day. She did not pray, not in the traditional sense.

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<v Speaker 1>She did not chant or meditate or recite affirmations. She

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<v Speaker 1>simply watched. She watched the light come, and she let

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<v Speaker 1>it fill her. She thought about the word dawn again,

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<v Speaker 1>about how it meant both a time and a beginning.

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<v Speaker 1>She thought about how every morning was a small ending

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<v Speaker 1>and a small beginning, the darkness fading and the light emerging.

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<v Speaker 1>She thought about how she had faded a little herself

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<v Speaker 1>in the city, in the dark, and how she had

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<v Speaker 1>come alive again here in this cottage, by this window.

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<v Speaker 1>The sun was fully up, now, the sky a deep,

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<v Speaker 1>clear blue. The room was bright and warm, and the

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<v Speaker 1>day had begun. Dawn stood up from her chair and

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<v Speaker 1>stretched her body, waking with the light. She carried her

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<v Speaker 1>cup to the kitchen and washed it, the warm water

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<v Speaker 1>on her hand, feeling like a continuation of the sunrise.

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<v Speaker 1>She went about her morning, making breakfast, watering the plants,

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<v Speaker 1>opening the windows, to lead in the air, but she

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<v Speaker 1>carried the sunrise with her, the colors, the warmth, the quiet.

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<v Speaker 1>It was not just something she had watched. It was

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<v Speaker 1>something she had received, a gift from the sky, given

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<v Speaker 1>freely every morning to any one willing to wake and watch.

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<v Speaker 1>She thought about the people who slept through this, who

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<v Speaker 1>covered their heads and turned away from the light. She

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<v Speaker 1>did not judge them. She had been one of them once.

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<v Speaker 1>But now she could not imagine missing this, could not

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<v Speaker 1>imagine starting a day without watching it be borne. The

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<v Speaker 1>day stretched before her, full of ordinary tasks and quiet pleasures.

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<v Speaker 1>She would tend her garden, read her book, write a

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<v Speaker 1>letter to her sister. She would make dinner and eat

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<v Speaker 1>it by the window, watching the light change again, this

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<v Speaker 1>time toward evening, toward rest. But for now, she sat

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<v Speaker 1>in her chair by the window in the full light

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<v Speaker 1>of morning and let the warmth hold her. The tea

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<v Speaker 1>was warm, the light was warm, the house was warm.

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<v Speaker 1>Everything was exactly as it should be. She closed her

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<v Speaker 1>eyes and listened to the birds, to the wind, to

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<v Speaker 1>the quiet hum of the world going about its business.

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<v Speaker 1>She felt the light on her face, on her hands,

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<v Speaker 1>on her heart. She felt the peace of the morning,

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<v Speaker 1>deep and complete, like a wave washing over her her.

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<v Speaker 1>This was her dawn, This was her beginning, every day,

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<v Speaker 1>the same and always new. She breathed in and the

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<v Speaker 1>light filled her. She breathed out, and the world was still.

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<v Speaker 1>Sleep would come to night as it always did, but

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<v Speaker 1>for now she was awake and the light was here,

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<v Speaker 1>and that was enough