Ma say the sun ain’t gonna rise no more. She say we burnt it up. I’m not allowed outside cause she’s afraid of what might get me, and when I called Tommy over in the next holler, he said that his Ma said the same. That was before the phones went out. If I try calling him now, all I get is static. Ma keeps tellin’ me to have faith, that it’ll all work out, but I’m not so sure.
I can’t tell when one day turns into the next. Or the next. Or the next. We tried markin’ every twelve hours on the door frame with a butcher knife, but it all started to blur together, and the notches lost their meaning.
The dog keeps barkin’ at nothing in particular, and the rooster don’t know when to crow. It seems to get darker everyday, and I heard Ma and Daddy whispering ‘bout how the angels are falling out of the sky. I asked Daddy about it the next day, and he looked at me like I was speakin’ in tongues. I asked the Big Man later that night, and it was the same static that was on the phones. Maybe He fell out of the sky too.
Daddy’s been choppin’ trees for firewood while Ma’s prayin’ the lighter don’t run out and diggin’ up the matches from under the sink. The fire’s set outside the living room window, and luckily it don’t seem to be rainin’ anytime soon, so the flames can mind their own.
I guess it’s a good thing we got the mountain under us. I don’t know how people in the cities are livin’. I brought it up one time, and Ma and Daddy said to not think about such harsh things. I tried not to, but still it came to me from time to time. I would say it comes when I’m dreamin’ but either this entire thing is a dream or I don’t dream at all.
I think one of the weirdest things is how religious Daddy’s become. I mean we always went to Sunday church, but now he’s sayin’ long prayers before every meal, quotin’ Bible verses I’ve ain’t never heard, but Ma ain’t sayin’ anything so neither am I.
I pretty sure the night’s finally startin’ to get to me. Maybe my eyes are getting used to the dark, or maybe it’s been too long and I’m just startin’ to make things up, but sometimes the fire flickers, and I swear I see life in it. When the shadows get so dark they look like they’ll swallow you, I see a man rubbin’ his hands by the light. I’ve started keepin’ an eye out for him elsewhere, but so far he’s stayed by the fire.
I spend most of my time sleepin’. The dark of the back of my eyes ain’t no different from the dark everywhere else, and there’s only so much you can do in all that black. Of course, that’s ‘till I wear Ma down about goin’ outside, but she doesn’t seem to be budgin’ anytime soon. I’ve thought of sneakin’ out, but the house is so quiet that she’d hear the first squeak of the door or creak of the window.
Maybe I will one of these days. Go outside I mean. I wonder if I call out to the man in the fire, if he’ll help. —
“I’m waiting for the clouds,” he said when he knocked on our door, “have you seen ‘em?” Daddy would have shot him straight through with his shotgun if the man in the fire hadn’t gripped its muzzle and twisted it back. Ma screamed so loud I swore my ears were gonna start ringin as if the gun did go off and pushed me behind her into the other room. Daddy started to yell something, but it got muddied up with the man’s words. “I swear it wasn’t supposed to take this long.” I think he said and then the sound of footsteps.
I’m guessin’ Daddy tried to hit the man with the barrel of his now-bent gun cause there was a sudden clap followed by noises like dogs fightin’ over a bone in the yard and then skitterin’ on hardwood. “I never much liked those anyhow,” said the man from the fire as he snapped his fingers over top a candle. “Always thought
they did more harm than good.” Flames came from the wick. “Anyways, I’m real sorry to cause such a commotion. How about we start again?”
—
His name was Mike. He was from out of town. He had a gold tooth and ratty mud boots. Ma tried to shoo me upstairs, sayin’ that it was time for the grown folks to talk but Mike shook his head. “The boy’s plenty grown, let him stay. There’s no reason why he can’t hear any of this.” So I stayed with Ma’s arm wrapped around my shoulders. I automatically asked about the fire and the candle and Ma flicked the side of my head hard with her
finger, but Mike just laughed. “Oh, it’s just some old party trick I learned a couple years back. I can teach you later if you want.” I nodded my head while Ma shook hers.
He asked if we had any bandages, rollin’ up his jeans to expose a bloody knee and a bruised shin. “Took a bit of a fall earlier. Fear I’m not as spry as I once was.” Ma sat him in the bath, cleanin’ his leg as best she could and told me to get him coffee from the kitchen. She apologised ‘cause it had long since gotten cold, and when I came back, Daddy was askin’ him questions:
“What were you doin’ out there? It’s no time to be wanderin’ the mountain.”
“Oh, I know sir. I’m just doin’ my job.”
“What job is askin’ you to be out in a time like this?”
“I’m just doin’ my best, checkin’ on people, makin’ sure everyone’s holdin’ up as best they can.”
Daddy huffed but didn’t ask anymore questions. He never apologised for almost shootin’ the man, but Mike didn’t seem to mind – he just smiled and then watched the water that Ma was pourin’ wash over his leg. “I can do a better job in a bit once we get some water boilin’ over the fire, but this should get it clean enough for now.” Mike said that this was plenty fine, that what she was doin’ already was God’s work, and Ma replied that he was going to have to stay the night, so she could make sure it didn’t get infected.
—
If I slept that night, I wasn’t aware of it. I was much more aware of the man with the gold tooth sleepin’ on the livin’ room sofa. At some point it got to be too much, and I went out to look for him and saw him outside, figure lit by the firelight. I tried to wave to him through the kitchen window but didn’t think he saw me.
“The sun went out,” is what I said when I got to him, prayin’ somethin’ serious that Ma hadn’t heard the creak of the front door.
“Yes, yes it did”
“Why?”
“You guess is as good as mine,” he replied, tracin’ his finger along the edges of the bonfire. “Ma and Daddy said somethin’ about the angels from the sky.”
“Oh did they now?” I nodded but the only thing he said was: “How about I teach you that fire trick?” I nodded again. He tapped the top of my hand four times then told me to stick it in the fire.
“Are you crazy?”
He laughed. “Maybe so, but trust me,” as he stuck his own arm in the flames. I did as he said and flinched, pullin’ my arm back to my chest. “It won’t bite, I promise,” and I shoved my hand in the fire and braced for pain that never came. When I opened my eyes he was smilin’ smug, “See? Now I want you to pull your hand out and snap and really think of the heat that was just around it. Think about fire comin’ from your fingers” I did as he said and saw sparks in the night. “How…?”
“Just a little sleight of hand. You can impress all sort of folk with that but just make sure they don’t go callin’ you a witch.” He winked, and we sat there for a moment as I watched flames dance on my fingertips.
—
I’m not sure how long we sat there, Mike lookin’ at the distance while I stared at my hands, but at some point lighting flashed big and bold across the sky. It was the first time in forever that the sky was anything other than that neverendin’ black, and I had to close my eyes to keep from being blinded. When I opened them, Mike was standing, dusting off his jeans and smilin’. “Finally,” he muttered looking upwards, and thunder clapped so loud I could feel it in my chest.
I was openin’ my mouth to try and say somethin’ but Mike clapped me on the shoulder. “Well, I think that’s my cue to get goin’. Give your Ma and Daddy my thanks, would you, son? They’re good people.” He nodded, turned, and then began walkin’ away.
“Wait, but your leg,” was all I could think to call out.
He paused, then turned facin’ me again and rolled up his pant leg. “Your Ma did a damn fine job, what can I say?” There wasn’t even a scratch on his skin. “Also, tell your Daddy his gun ought to be fixed and back in his closet. I may not be a fan of the things but it feels wrong to ask a man for help right after breakin’ his gun.” Lightning flashed again on the other side of the mountain. “Yes, yes, I’m comin’,” he said looking up. “Well I fear this is it for now, as I don’t want to get yelled at for bein’ late any more than I already am. I’m sure I’ll be seein’ you again at some point.” He smiled and then disappeared into the dark.