Glory

"Jerry, open your eyes. What do you see?"
I opened my eyes and looked at the world around me. It was sunset. It was a crisp, clear autumn day, and a large tree stood between me and the sun. The tree looked like it was on fire. It blazed and burned with a fierce passion in that light. The trunk and the branches were black; molten red and smoldering orange pierced between the web of twigs to meet my eyes.
"I see glory."
Jack harumphed in response. "Don't get all poetic on me, Jerry. I'm talking about that road sign right there. We finally got the advertisement for the country club on the sign. Now instead of Water World as the primary attraction on this exit it says "J. Ainsley's Country Club." Jack gestured somewhere ahead of us to the left. I could see his hand out of the corner of my eye, but I couldn't see the sign. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't avert my eyes. As I stared longer I began to see the glory pulsating behind the tree. Its passion wasn't dwindling, but the smoldering moved down the tree. Jack continued speaking, but I have no idea what he said.
"Jack, don't you see the glory?"
"Sure, it'll be glorious to get visitors from off the highway. We'll have to think about extending our gift shop hours."
Jack and i were in different worlds as the glory continued to blaze. I soaked it in; it didn't dip under the horizon. I was filled with the glory as we turned around, drove away, and returned to a darkened suburb.