The girl stared out at the city, her hair the color of the sunset… or maybe it was the sunrise, but it was striking, the contrast between her hair and the silver and grey building that she was sitting on, five hundred feet in the air, her legs dangling off the side of the building. Below, there was the city, crowded with five-story flats, tent markets, and the winding hoverways raised far above the city, connecting the different sections of the city to the skyscrapers, the centers of everything, arcing over the city, marking the two boundaries, East and West. They were where all the important people lived, worked, and sent their kids to school. The girl’s head turns to where the sun was slowly emerging from behind the clouds, peeking through the sliver between the two arcs. I glide silently toward her, but sensing my approach, she starts to talk, breaking the silence that comes from being 500 feet above the rest of the world.

“The sun is coming out, yet still half of the city is covered by shadows. Look.” She points to the streak of sun, slowly stretching over the length of the city. I look, blankly. “You don’t see it. How the Arcs are only letting a little of the light through, when they could bathe the city in it.” She gestures hopelessly, completely bathed in the sun’s light, me standing next to her in the dark.

“They could never light the city. The Arcs are solid buildings. Iron isn’t see-through.” The Turrets loomed ominously, the shadows cast by them permanent, the little light that is let through illuminating the marketstrips and the few houses with mirrors on top of the market to reflect the light.

“Yes, but they were designed with the possibility to light the whole city. All of it, even the sections in permanent shadow. They are keeping us in the dark on purpose.” Her golden green eyes seem to burn with anger, bright in the light of the newly risen sun.

“Why? If they could give us light, why aren’t they?” The ray of sun slowly widens, touching my foot.

Bathed in light, sitting on the edge of the rooftop, legs swinging, she looks out at the city. “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”

And that’s when I decided that her hair was the color of the sunrise, bringing light to our city.