I was thankful for the fire. The cold had gone deep under my skin, no matter how much I bundled up. I heard the crunching of snow around me as other spectators got ready for the big event. The snowy landscape around the light-brown wooden buildings was spotted with the orange of firelight — enough for people to see, but sparse enough to keep the sky as dark as possible.

The crunching of footsteps and the multilingual laughter slowly began to be drowned out by cheers. I looked up. The black sky began to light up green as the aurora started to materialize. I laughed, and a puff of foggy breath briefly obscured my vision. As the green grew, the red began to appear. The crowds cheered as the dance went into its full, spectacular movements.

I took a deep breath in through my nose, mostly just smelling coldness and charcoal. I licked my dry lips as I smiled, blinking to maintain my focus on what I had come all this way to see.

Color.