When the Sun Rises

i. Sunrise

[copyright AubreyParsons ©2018]

Sunrise | O N E

      PINK. THAT WAS the only word I could think of to describe what I was seeing.

      It was stunning. Such a simple thing that happens every day, yet seems more spectacular each time you witness it—the pinkish glow cascading over everything for just a short period of time to change the night skies into days.

      It was here where it all started. I'd been sitting on this very hill, staring over the horizon at the huge cities and bright lights, the sun rising behind the tree line. The view was absolutely breathtaking, so much so that I'd believed nothing could ever compare in this or any other lifetime.

      My brother, Hunter, and I had been sitting on the hood of my cheap, worn out pickup that our dad had given to me a few years back. It wasn't the prettiest or cleanest vehicle in the world, and the paint certainly had a few noticeable chips, but the familiarity of it with the sunrise and the music blaring from the loud speaker left us both without a care in the world.

      Like I said, that's where it all started. This stupid commercial that Hunter had heard a few months ago about his favorite band, White Øut, throwing some type of contest. The winner would get two tickets to join them on their next tour.

      We'd sat out to see the sunrise nearly every morning, and it'd been the same each and every time. Up until Hunter heard the results.

      His ebony eyes widened to unnaturally large sizes as he spun around to face me. "Nikki! Turn it up, they're announcing the results!"

      With a roll of my eyes at my overly excited brother, I leaned back and reached through the opened drivers window in an attempt to reach the volume. At realizing I wasn't going to reach at this angle, I sighed and scooted back until I could.

      The familiar voice of the male DJ lasted through the speakers as spoke. ". . . the results of the White Øut On-Tour contest are finally in, after weeks of waiting! Aren't you excited, Jane?"

      Jane, his co-host of the radio show, clapped excitedly. "Sure am, Kal. My little girl signed up for this right when the contest opened up, and I'll bet she's listening excitedly right now waiting to her the results."

      "Come on, lady!" my younger brother of two years chanted. He rolled over onto his stomach and smacked excitedly on the hood of the truck as he waited for the answer to his multi-week question.

      "Calm down, kid." I laughed at his antics and shook my head. While he laid on his stomach, I was stretched out on my back with my elbows propping me up from beneath me.

      "I can't!" The sixteen year old threw his head back and groaned. We weren't a full two years a part, whereas he was edging on seventeen and I'd only just turned nineteen a few months ago.

      "The lucky winner of the White Øut On-Tour contest is . . ."

      Hunter spun around to lay on his stomach, anxiously staring through the window at the cranked radio. "Come on, come on, come on!" I could practically feel him holding his breath in anticipation. Though it was doubtful, I hoped he would win, just to see the smile on his face at winning one of his many dreams.

      ". . . Hunter Carlyle!"

      My heart stopped in my chest. I stared in disbelief at Hunter. Hunter Carlyle. Hunter Carlyle. He won the contest. My little brother just actually won the contest.

      I kid you not when I say that this deep voiced, sixteen year-old boy screamed.

      "Nikki! We won! We won!" He slid off the roof of the car and danced ridiculously, grinning from ear to ear at his success.

      And then it hit me. We won. I'd have to go with him.

      I opened my mouth to speak, to say I couldn't just up and leave everything, but then I shut it. I never imagined Hunter would actually win the contest—people never won these things—so I never really thought about us up and leaving for what could very well be a few years.

      The radio host, Jane, caught my ear as she spoke about calling and setting up the whole thing. I pulled out my phone and jotted down all the info, making sure to keep a mental note to call the numbers. In the meantime, I needed to figure out what we were going to do. I didn't actually know anything about this band; the members' names, where they were going, for how long, or even what type of music they played.

      I fought back the sigh that climbed its say to the surface, but there was no fooling my brother once he noticed my sombre expression. His eyes narrowed into slits. "What is it."

      "Nothing," I tried, sending a reassuring smile his way. Nevertheless, we'd shared a bedroom for the better part of ten years. Hunter knew me like the back of his hand, and vise versa. I huffed. "Okay, fine. I'm a little stressed out about this."

      "It'll be fine, Nikki," he reassured. His perfect teeth grinned at me with all the excitement he had built up over the last few weeks, just waiting and hoping for those exact results. I recognized the same hopeful look on my own face from looking in the mirror.

      If not for the age difference, you'd think we were twins. We had the same, dark caramel completion and ebony eyes, with dark hair and a lot of freckles. The only visible differences were the highlights in my hair, and the fact that he had way more freckles than I did.

      This big, round eyes of his fluttered rapidly with hope. "Please? This could be good for us. It would give you a chance to expand your music interests, too. You'd get to see first hand what it's like to be a musician."

      I groaned. "You had to go there."

      He clasped his hands together and puffed out his bottom lip. "Please, Nikki."

      A feeling of dread clawed at the pit of my stomach, but I pushed it aside. Hunter and I had been able to fight everything thrown our way so far, and we weren't going to stop now. If this was what he wanted to do, then I would support him in it. Besides, as much as I hate to admit it, Hunter had a point. Going on tour with this band would give me a chance to expand my interests and learn more about music and songwriting.

      It could also help us with our money issue, if I played my cards right. I'm some states, its really easy to make good money playing music on the streets. A year's worth of one's would still be there hundred and sixty-four dollars, and I'll bet I'd be able to make a little ore than that playing guitar on the road.

      Of course, the street music option wasn't an automatic, immediate go-to. It was a backup plan, and a way to help us out should we ever need it.

      A sigh escaped my lips as I stared at the now light sky. We'd missed the sunrise because of the radio contest, but it didn't much matter. We wouldn't be sitting in for any more sunsets for a long, long while.

      "Okay," I told him. "I'm in."