Dawn?

      The girl ran with the sun in her pocket. She was almost there, and she couldn’t afford to give up now. There was too much at stake.

       She could feel it digging into her leg. She could feel it scorching her calf into practically nothing. 

      She could hear the Serpent on her tail, breathing down her neck, its mouth open to swallow her whole, and the sun along with her. She could hear the Serpent behind her, whispering sweet lies, begging her to give it up and rest.

      She could smell the fetid, salty waters of the river she waded through. She could smell all that was dead, all that was lost, all that was forgotten, all that should’ve been but never was, all of the concentrated despair that polluted the river.

      She could taste the blood in her mouth from bitten tongue and broken teeth as she fell over once again. She could taste her dry, parched mouth that longed for water as she got back up.

      She could see the end of the cave in the distance, and the night beyond. She could see the world that needed her and needed the light and heat again.

       The girl ran with the sun in her pocket. She was almost there, and she couldn’t afford to give up now. There was too much at stake.