Armed with her weapon of choice, coffee, and the only shield she could find, her camera, Esther had started the day. Colleagues, as quiet and in awe as they were of her, thought she was mad. Up at the crack of dawn, simply to watch the palette of colours at the skyline, mixing oranges and pinks to form one hell of a Mona Lisa. The camera caught all the action—the mesh of colour painted on her lens, ready to be stamped in the daily newspaper.
Esther had always enjoyed her job. The obscene times had little effect on her—she barely slept anyway. There were much better things she could think of than sleeping, especially when a human lay beside her, unconscious and littered with bruises, in the early hours of the morning.
Perhaps that was why she was careful to keep her company away from her apartment- she could leave at any time she wanted. They, on the other hand, couldn’t and wouldn’t, even if energy remained in their used forms.
Her attention, caught by a stranger, caused her eyes to flit toward the girl. Another with better things to do than rest, so it seemed. A gentle smile traced over her lips as she glanced down at her, a small laugh cascading from her lips.
“I always think it’s better to come now than not at all.” She answered, her eyebrows rising slightly. “And what about yourself? Escaping from whatever mistake you made last night or just… an early bird catching a worm? You look like an early birder.” A shrug rose from her shoulders, her fingers tracing the buttons on her camera.
“Besides, have you ever seen the sun rise like this? Or how it looks beyond the trees, and above all those groady buildings? Man, it’s something, I tell you now. Not every Sunday morning though. Sometimes I’m still conked out- need my beauty sleep and all that.” Her voice lilted in admiration for the natural beauty of the city, and she was only glad she brought her camera.
“But you… a jogger. Groovy.”
