• Specks of gold glistened through the raindrops as the young maiden sat at the wrought iron windows decorated with images of roses and vines that twisted to live in the sun and shrivelled into darkness as the night came. Perching upon the red velvet couch, the lady sat sideways on the seat, placing her arm on the concrete still of the window, peering out dreamily at the golden rain, as the flecks mixed with the rain and left glitter on the glass. As the light shone from the rain, reflected into her wide mottled eyes, awareness slowly floated into her mind of the area surrounding her. The idea of the glitter in the rain. Kneeling onto the edge of the seat, she pressed her nose against the glass, pushing away the carefully arranged curls of her deep hazelnut hair to peer more carefully at the small dots surrounding he window. Heat flushed her eyes, and her heart began to beat ferociously within her chest. Lashes around her eyes curled backwards against the lids of her eyes, so far apart that small red lines could be seen on the pearl whites of her eyes. Her skin began to glow with a golden light from the reflection of the small drops of sunshine, the rain falling towards the window with more force, leaving hundreds upon thousands of golden flakes, clouding up the window in a barrage of riches. Burning the world around her until it became invisible through the glowing light. Spinning from the window, she jumped from the velvet, a small hook in the chair tearing a piece from her full burgundy dress as she ran through the arched oak doorway into the stone corridors, running across the cold floors throughout until she reached her fathers office, where she avoided all rules and opened the door widely. Only to find her father leaning back in his plush armchair staring out of the window facing to the north of the land, out into the world that was as invisible to him through the gold as it had been to his young daughter.
    Twisting his body so that he could see the fear rushing through his daughters eyes, he held her gaze with the sadness in his. Turning to view the flecks of gold once again, he sighed against the cold air as small tendrils of condensation rushed through the air ahead of him.
    The girl stepped forward to her fathers side, placing her hand on his black suited shoulder, watching with him the gold as it coated the pane in front of them. Lowering her eyes to the wooden panelled floor, she spoke with sorrow and uncertainty, for the case if she was wrong once again, and her father cursed her for her stupidity.
    “Father...”
    Stopping her words, her father spoke with a neutral tone, quieter than the normal proud voice he held.
    “Do not worry my dear. It has begun, but the price we paid secures us from the horror of which will overtake the outside world. Now please, go check on your brother, at his age I do not believe that he will work out the happenings of the outside world. But I still believe he may be frightened. Now go.”
    Leaving her fathers side. The young girl left the room, as her father reached for the stone beneath the windowsill, to remove his protection from the outside world. To pay the price of the safety of his children.