The sun had nearly set behind dark muddy brown clouds. Johnathon had started a fire while Melissa and Katie had unpacked camp for the night. A few feet away Gertie sat on a small rock outcropping facing the fading light of the sun as it set behind muddy clouds. She sighed, heavily forcing air through the lowest air holes in the sides of her carapace. I watched the play of colors on the flexing segments for a second before walking up next to her.
“Everything all right?” I asked.
“Hmm, yes I was just looking at the sky,” she said sounding distracted.
“Ugly sunset today,” I said trying to be conversational.
“Is it?” she asked.
“Well it’s all brown.”
“You really can’t see it?” she asked her antenna vibrating with bemusement.
“See what?” I asked looking at the sky again.
“Here,” she pointed with a claw, “is the sun. It’s light plays across the underside of these clouds,” more pointing, “creating a wash of color that has been fading through the spectrum for the past several minutes.”
“No, all I see are dark clouds.”
“A pity. It really is beautiful to my eyes,” Gertie said extending her eye stocks further.