Sigil

The intolerable drone of the engines, and stagnant, recycled air had drastically subdued  signal-to-noise ratio expectations in most of my senses. I looked out the window for some visual stimulation. The Earth did not disappoint.  The Sun had set enough to allow stares at the horizon, but not enough to blot the blue canvas, and reveal the stars. It was not the sky that fascinated me that twilight hour.

I scanned the burning edge if the Earth, trying to gauge its curvature. Given the altitude, the air below was surprisingly cloudless, affording me a panoramic view of a mountainous landscape, naked of all flora, accented by self-shadows of geological scars. An enlightened mind could have inferred its tell-tale formation history with but a glimpse. This too was fluid.