"There is no beauty without some strangeness." ~Edgar Allen Poe Have you ever wondered why the most beautiful things are the most fragile? Why the leaves turn brilliant shades of red, than tumble to the floor? Why the sunsets fade in seconds, but the dark lasts for hours? Why the moon is only up when you sleep? I've grown up knowing that looking different, being beautiful, is a death sentence. Elena was no stranger to beauty. Growing up in the kingdom of Alyra, she had learned to admire the small colorful treasures found in the leaves of autumn trees, the small weeds that occasionally spring up along the gray concrete walls of her living compound. When everything around her is gray and brown, she saw the beauty in the indistinguishable brown eyes that surrounded her. But she, like all other children, know that beauty is different, and different is dangerous. After all, if your eyes weren't brown, you'd never see light again.