Resurrection of the Phoenix

January 1st, 2022, Pencil and Adobe Photoshop

In a valley closed in by sky-high cliffs and rushing waterfalls, a phoenix spends its days in peace, circling the lake that fills the valley floor. The only other resident is this girl, who keeps watch until the phoenix catches fire. It writhes in air, and turns to molten gold, and rains down as fragments of its own shattered infinity: little fractals and geometric primitives and biological structures. For days, the lake boils and burns with white fire, and when this is done, the girl wades down and gathers the pieces. She brings them to the egg resting gently at the center of the lake and feeds them back to it, so that the phoenix may live again in a new and stronger shape.