She cast her eyes on the painting hung on the wall beside the couch that she lounged in; but her mind did not see the pale pink sky or the ship headed out to the vast seas. Instead like most other days, she passed her present in the past. Hers was a life marked by emotional upheaval; one crisis after another with only a few minutes of breathing space within which held the intense sensations those crisis brought before she was plunged head-long into another.

The days were blending into one another now. Darkness flowing into that watery, nondescript light so beloved by Winter only to be replaced by more darkness. She was not one to despise the darkness. It came with a sharpness to the stars that scattered themselves across the velvety sky like so many diamonds. The air felt alive in its own stillness. The cold had a way of crystallizing each moment, turning them into singular memories etched over and over in her mind.

Her house was large, roomy and comfortable. Well-decorated with love, nothing fussy nor simply utilitarian. Rugs covered hardwood floors; paintings, sculptures, carvings adorned all the walls making the whole pleasing to the eye. All the rooms were warm. The kitchen too, was large, boasting a brick oven, large windows and a massive cinnamon cherry wood table. The library boasted it’s own floor, high ceilings, endless books, maple wood tables gleaming under the table lights. Armchairs paired with tall lamps scattered around it for the weary seeker to fall into. Bedrooms and baths welcomed any visitor with their complementary colors, large soft beds and divans. Other rooms were all suitably attired for their peculiar purposes

Summer’s century had passed, replaced by Winter. She often thought how lucky she was to have been born during Summer, spending her childhood, adolescence, young adulthood and much of her beginning adulthood in the Summer. It seemed fitting that in the second half of her life, Winter would fall. It struck her oddly that many would be born, live and die only in the Winter – never seeing any other season.

She had been married, once, but it had ended when he walked out on her one day informing her that he could no longer sustain marriage. He was meant to be alone, he said. He had apologized profusely, spoken mournfully and given her all of his income out of a deep guilt at having “taken up her time”. No one looking at her now, hair still black and vibrant, long loqs falling down her back would have known she was 127 years old. In fact, everyone assumed she was in her mid-40s. That was the power of genetics – of the Zyr. Her skin was still soft and full, taut, only laugh wrinkles crinkled at the corner of her eyes. She walked sprightly, no need for a cane. Only glasses, long worn since childhood graced her face.

She was a Zyrphat – one of a long line of Ancient Ones. She, like all her people, would live for at least two hundred and fifty years. She wondered if she would be one of the Zyrphat-knet, the few who lived to 350. Those who saw three seasons were the most Ancient of all. The Winter would be followed by Spring and then Fall. No one had ever lived through them all. She touched her face, when she reached 150, the age would settle. However she looked then would be how she would look for the next 100 years.

If she wasn’t careful, she would spend this century lost in the thoughts of many years. Wandering in the thoughts of lost love – of love that walked out on her, tearing apart everything she had so carefully worked to safeguard. She was tired, not in her bones but in her soul. Some people’s lives were short yet beautiful, others long and harsh. So far, hers had been the latter but…but…

Golden brown eyes colored dark until they were a bright gray. Anyone who knew the Zyrphat would have recognized that at once. She was no longer in the present. She had traveled through time and space to relive her past. But why? Why go back when so much pain clogged those days? She didn’t know. It was one of those strange days. It was as if her soul couldn’t bear to stare into the long seeming dark abyss of another 100 years of – what? How often had excitement become tainted by disappointment only to turn into sorrow? Would, could the ebbs and tides of life turn in her favor in this new century?

She blinked, tears suddenly on her cheeks. The eyes returned to their golden brown for a moment before flashing blue into purple. She was no longer in the present or the past. Now she was living through the natural world around her. Earth, air, trees, an eagle, rivers, clouds, rain falling 500 pons away – she sensed them all as if she were them and they were her. She allowed herself to soar into the galaxies where she always sensed she should be. There, in the birthing and dying of planets, comets speeding by, stars pulsating; came peace she had rarely found on this world.

She would stay there – in the vast expanse for many days; neither eating nor sleeping. The present held no promise for her – only what was out there; there where nothing was out of place, nothing stabbed and wounded; only life, pure life energy surging around her.