Dawn And Opportunity

I love reading the work of young authors in Stone Soup. There is a certain freshness and clarity in the thought that does not last past childhood which makes the writing in this magazine such an unique pleasure. When I read this line by 13 year old Bonnie Leigh Cruser I had to wonder if that was not one of the best explanations I have come across of why dawn fills the heart with energy and gladness :

My timing is perfect—the sun is just tipping the horizon, lighting up the whole silent sky with amber sparks. My favorite time of day. New, and clean, and cool, and quiet. Evening is clean and cool, too, but opportunity is lacking. Everything is set in stone. But in the morning, everything is pliable and optimistic. Anything can happen.

In twenty years or more, someone with talent like Bonnie's might write just as beautifully of the unyielding romanticism and optimism of youth being like dawn where everything is pliable and optimistic. Anything can happen. Once youth is past and the "future" is not quite as unending or distant as it had once been, there might be serenity but opportunity is lacking