The sun made a last gasp and without warning dove behind the distant mountain. The world wasn’t quite ready to see it go, but the sun was done for the day and it was time for it to go home. The clouds were caught wholly unprepared and their myriad colors bore witness to their outrage at being left alone so quickly. For after all, the sun was not supposed to go quickly, but rather with plenty of fair warning. The clouds glowered, and vowed to stay lit all night long, if need be, until the sun came back and apologized.

The tree, however, stood fast, for it had suspect that the sun was up to something sneaky; it lost its own color very quickly, welcoming the night with an inky blackness all its own.

And before anyone else could do much of anything about it, darkness claimed them all.