Sunset
Some evenings, when their homework was done and the sky began to blush with golden light, Ayaan and Lina would climb up to the small hill behind their village. It wasn’t very high, but it gave them the perfect view of the horizon where the sun dipped low behind the trees.
They sat quietly, shoulder to shoulder, their legs dangling over a rock. In those moments, words were not always needed. The silence around them felt sacred—just the sound of leaves rustling, birds calling softly, and the occasional chirp of a cricket.
As the sun began to lower, painting the sky in glowing oranges, pinks, and purples, Ayaan broke the silence with a quiet question.
“Lina… why does the sun go away without making any sound?”
Lina turned to look at him, her face thoughtful. “Hmm… Maybe it doesn’t want to disturb the world. Maybe it’s saying goodbye softly.”
Ayaan nodded slowly, watching the golden disc lower, as if tucking itself behind the hills for a long sleep.
“It feels like magic,” he said. “Every night, it disappears, and we don’t even hear it move. It’s so big, but so quiet.”
Lina smiled. “Maybe it leaves behind colors instead of words. Like a message painted in the sky.”
They both gazed at the shifting hues above them—streaks of coral, lavender, and deepening blue. It was like watching a giant canvas change before their eyes.
“But why so many colors?” Ayaan wondered aloud. “Why isn’t the sky just dark when the sun goes?”
Lina thought for a moment. “Maybe… the sky is happy and sad at the same time. Happy that the day happened, but sad that it’s ending. So it blushes with feelings, just like we do sometimes.”
Ayaan’s eyes widened. “Wow… I like that. A sky full of feelings.”
They sat in silence again, letting the sky speak through its colors. As the last rays faded and stars began to peek out, they stood up and made their way down the hill.
That night, in their notebook inside the Thinking Nest, Lina wrote:
“The sun leaves without sound, but its colors speak a thousand words.”
And Ayaan sketched a little sun waving goodbye as it sank behind a purple hill.
