The sun is setting, darkening the land. A torn up shack sits on top of a hill that has a shadow cast upon it. Inside is a couple. The man has more bags under his eyes than most do at his age. The woman is weak and can barely stand. She sits in a crimson red chair while the man is in the kitchen cleaning his rifles.

“The sunset looks beautiful tonight,” the woman says as she takes a drink of her wine.

“You say that every night” the man replies.

“Yes, but tonight something is different.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, more peaceful than usual.”

At this point the man had already gone back to cleaning his rifles, taking care not to mess up the barrel. It had become a nightly ritual for them, pointing out the sunset. It seemed to bring peace to the house. The man simply tuned it out and let her ramble on for a little while, nodding his head and grunting in agreement every once in a while. He set his rifle on the table and thought about something.

Then, out of nowhere he said “Let’s go outside and watch it.”

“Really?” the woman asked.

“Yeah, I could use the fresh air.”

So the two of them dropped what they were doing, grabbed a blanket, and walked out to the side of the hill where they could see the sun best. They laid the blanket on the ground and gazed up into the sky. The sun had left an orange-red tint on the rest of the sky as it set.

“Red at night, sailor’s delight” the woman said.

Tomorrow would have good weather, not that it mattered to the man. The woman liked to be optimistic though, so he didn’t say anything. They just sat there for a while as the sun slowly set into the hills far off into the horizon.

“The light is starting to fade,” the woman pointed out, “maybe we should head back to the house.”

“Just a while longer dear.”

So they sat there until the sun had gone and the stars were out. The moon was in the sky giving off its eerie glow. The man just kept staring at the moon, as if waiting for it to make its move.

“Can we go in now?” The woman asked. “It’s getting cold out here.”

“You head on back, I’ll catch up soon.”

So the woman headed back to the house. As she was walking, she thought she heard something in the air. She thought it must have just been a bird, flapping its wings in the night sky. She opened the door to the shack and walked in.

“I suppose I’ll have dinner ready for him,” the woman said to herself.

The table was clear, so she set a plate down and began cooking.