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she was working on was of a black lake at midnight, the full moon hanging above, and a beautiful goddess — radiant in her happiness — sitting in a small, glass boat and floating towards a distant beach. The painting made Audrey smile; she had no idea what inspired it. She had never done a painting like it before. It was so otherworldly and dark, and she had never felt such a fire within to complete a piece, either. Maybe, she mused, her talent was taking her in a different direction — a new beginning. She thought of her mother often as she painted and listened to the ethereal sounds of R. Carlos Nakai's flute. Sometimes she was brought to tears, but more often it brought a smile to her face as she thought of all of the funny things her mother used to say and do. Audrey remembered one time, when they could no longer deny the Alzheimer’s, how she and Derek had gone over to her mother’s house. It was the last week of November and they had helped her string Christmas lights. Two days later, New England experienced an unbelievable streak of several very warm days. When Audrey, Derek, and a disgruntled Saffron had visited Grandmother that following Saturday, they found her in the middle of taking the Christmas lights off the bushes — frantically working to remove them all. With all of the warm weather, Grandmother assumed it was spring, and was embarrassed that she hadn’t taken her lights down after Christmas.
    Now, in the waning light of the afternoon, Audrey smiled and continued to reminisce as she stroked the canvas with a fine brush — a shade of rich cognac for the eyes of her Asian goddess. Saffron asked if the painting could be hung in her room – that she would hate to see it sold, and would treasure it forever. Audrey was so touched that she couldn’t stop the tears as she hugged her only child to her chest and rocked her slowly for a long, long time.
    Markis was gone. He had asked Saffron to go to New Mexico with him, but quickly backpedaled when he saw all the color drain from her face. “On second thought — better not — you’ll lose your job at the Chicken.” He couldn’t believe it — after all they’d been through, she wouldn’t relent.
    ***
     
    Saffron sat on her panda, on her chair by her window. She watched the stars. There was one that flickered green and yellow. If she wasn’t so lazy, she’d get Derek’s binoculars and look for the supernova just discovered by the handle of the Big Dipper. Derek told her the star had exploded over 200 million years ago. A cold thrill ran down her spine at feeling so small.
    The wind changed direction, and brought a faint noise with it that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. She sat up straight, craned her neck, and looked towards the sea. The noise grew louder. It pitched lower and became a moan. Then the moan turned into a cry of such wretched grief, that Saffron knew instantly — she was down there. “OMG, lady – you’re kidding me, right?” Her muttered statement held none of her usual cockiness. She stayed perfectly still for several moments, leaning out the window as she considered. She shrugged, brought her head back in, and stood up tall to stretch her back. She walked to her bed and grabbed the quilted satin jacket that hung over the footboard. With minor stair creaks, she was down in the kitchen in two minutes. She slid her feet into her flip-flops, took the flashlight off the shelf, gripped the handle on the screened door and stopped. She raised her eyes to the ceiling and took a deep, cleansing breath before stepping out into the night.
    She flip-flopped through the wet grass, buttoning her jacket as she walked across the front yard. As she made her way along the path to the cliff over the ocean, she continued to take deep breaths of salty, sea air. She had to remind herself to blink as her eyes dried out in the howling wind. When she neared the bluff, a sudden gust of wind screamed past her ears. She faltered.