PROLOGUE
I sat at the window and stared at the brilliant sky above me. Colored streaks of light flitted across the sky as a beautiful curtain of color would, unveiling constellations of stars as they danced through the heavens.It was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. My brother sat beside me, resting his hands on his cheeks as he stared in wonder at the beautiful lights. He'd watched the lights every night for as long as he could remember. As soon as I could crawl on my own, I watched them with him. Mom and Dad only watched the colors once, when I was a little baby. Instead, they alway sat in the other room, watching televison with a look of worry in their eyes. They tried to hide that from my brother and I. We didn't know why they looked that way and why they refused two begging children to watch the lights, but we didn't care. We were too entranced. The beautiful colors had become a little ritual. Once a month, my brother and I would devour our dinners and, as quickly as we could, rush to the windows overlooking the forests to watch our spectacular show. It wasn't until years later that we learned the phenomenon was not natural. I was ten years old when my brother was taken from us. He was drafted into the military, when the colors became violent. I remember one night watching them with him. The dancing color was more beautiful and vibrant than we had ever seen them, dancing with a firey passion across they sky. The next day recieved a letter in the mail calling him away. He was only seventeen and never got to finish school. Years later I read about my beloved brother in a magazine. He'd died a military hero who'd worked his way up the ranks who'd gone "above and beyone his duty for the greater good". My parents and I never saw the body. Seasons passed and I became more confused. Years passed and my memories dimmed, but I contined to watch the lights. I knew they were the key to why my brother left. My parents never learned why the lights had appeared or what ominous secrets they held. That information was never to be allowed to be released to the public. I decided to make those lights which had entranced me at a young age and fueled my most memorable dreams into my life's work. I approached them with the scientific method, using astronomy, physics, and chemistry as my tools. I had to know what secrets could be unlocked, what doors could be opened by understanding the forces that took my brother away. He was my muse, my driving force, in more than one way.
