Domed Judgment

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

            A couple of hours after we arrived at Darris’, I was drained. I didn’t know what to do. Granny had cried all afternoon about how life would be harder and how there was going to be so much more work to be done. But I didn’t know what to do. So, I took a nap.  Layla curled up next to me and Jazzy curled up at our feet.

I woke up when the shadows were long, creating an inky darkness in the room. I reached out to light a nearby candle.

Granny said, “Children, you will need those candles for the rest of your life. Do you know how to make them without going to a store to buy supplies?”

“Surely, they will get the electricity back on.” Anna said.

“If every city is gone like Franklin, whose gonna make the line, whose gonna to repair all the poles or towers between here and Watts Barr Nuclear facility or one of the many dams. You need to think before you use or do something.”

Not wanting to think about the future, I felt my way out on to the patio. Layla’s fist clenched the edge of my shirt. I saw solar lights in Mrs. Gilson’s front flower bed. Would they still work?

Outside the fading sunlight lit our path, the last of the cicadas serenaded us. I rubbed my hands over my arms, the heat from the afternoon sun escaping through the cloudless sky.

“Where you headed, Mazie?” Darris asked.

I jumped, screaming only stopping when Layla crashed into me. “I didn’t see you sitting there at the patio table.”

“I’m sorry.” He said, “Just sitting here thinking.”

We adjusted course and joined him at the table. “That’s dangerous!” When his face remained blank, I added, “It’s dangerous to be thinking too much. What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing much.”

I snorted. Layla let go of my shirt, curling her fingers around mine.

He laughed then said, “Okay, you got me there. What are we going to do, Mazie?” Darris asked. “Life’s so different.”

“Pray!” I said. Layla squeezed my hand.

“But I don’t believe.” Darris said.

“He still hears you. I think he’s working on you.” I squeezed Layla’s tiny fingers.

A brilliant blinding light appeared over the treetops to the northeast. Flames streaked, making a fast long trail across the sky. Over the house, it went continuing on over the southwest tree line. A few seconds later a second brilliant flash bang sounded. Something had crashed landed. Several loud bangs later, I remembered to pray.

Anthony came running out of the basement, watching the flames lick the sky. “For the first time, I’m grateful for this rainy summer that Mom complained about only having five dry days in the last month. Let’s hope it will stop the fire.”

I felt something warm hit my skin. I jumped up afraid of burning debris. I looked up at the sky. A sudden cloud burst descended from the northeast, a cold front, most likely, moving into our Indian summer warmth.

© 2014 Kim Izzy