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The Night of Fire & Light (Part 1) |
| Written by Dave Bottoms | ||
| Tuesday, 01 April 2008 | ||
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About this people would talk. At the local drive-in theater in Mt. Pilot some might have looked up and watched in wonderment upon seeing the crackling red streak that traversed the clear night sky like a burnt slit of wound above the black hills that outlined the eastern horizon. Some, no doubt, and maybe with more than a little worry, might have commented on how close that slow pitch of fireball was to Mayberry. In days to come one could be quite confident of hearing phrases like: Did ya see it? or Wasn’t it something? in the local diner or at Floyd’s barbershop on Maple Street followed by long winded stories of what it looked like and how big it was and how close it came. It sure came close didn’t it. Yup, it sure did at that. And as the days turned into weeks, the stories would undoubtedly grow into bigger ones, then get fatter all over again as they made their way around the local gossip mill. In small towns good stories don’t often fall out of the sky, figuratively or literally. For Sheriff Taylor none of this mattered right now. He hadn’t seen it personally and hadn’t cared to either. What he had done was talk old Jed Proctor down from hysterics upon receiving the call at the courthouse that night. “Now, Jed, there’s no reason for getting yourself all in a lather over this. It’s nothing more than one of them there meteors that falls from the skies every now and again. Only this one happened to land in your field, that’s all. My deputy and me will head right out there and have a look-see for ourselves. How’s that sound to you?” “Yeah, that’s great, Andy,” said Jed, his voice still bouncing through the receiver. “I tell you, Andy, you should have seen it, you just should have seen it!” “I know, Jed,” Andy sighed, leaning back in the oak swivel chair behind his desk. “I know.” Andy woke Barney with a phone call and told him to meet him outside the boarding house over on First Avenue where Barney took a room. “What is it, Andy, what’s going on? Is anyone hurt? Is it a fire, Andj? A robbery? Should I put my bullet in? Andy said things like, “I’ll tell you when you when I get there.” And other things like, “No Barn’, it’s not a fire,” or “No, it’s not a robbery.” The one thing Andy did agree with was that Barney could put his bullet in if he wanted. Barney seemed pleased. The closer to Jed’s place they got the quieter Barney got. As they drove over the dirt back-roads out towards the Proctor farm Barney watched the night sky through the side window of the cruiser. It was big and dark: a huge blanket of shadow pressing down against the silent earth below. Finally they crested the hill that bordered the Proctor’s land, and up ahead the outline of Jed’s house could be seen through the darkness. “You think it was a meteor, Andy?” Barney asked. Andy glanced over, his face hauntingly pale blue from the dashboard lights. “What else could it be?” “I guess you’re right,” said Barney, not at all convinced. Jed was waiting on the porch, a gas lantern in hand. Upstairs his wife Lucille watched from the front window. Andy shut off the ignition and killed the lights. Night immediately laid claim to the car and Jed’s front porch, wrapping itself around everything that had been illuminated only moments before. Jed held the lantern out before him. “Andy. Barney,” he said. “Howdy, Jed,” said Andy with a nod. “Well…,” started Barney, “so where is it, Jed? We got no time for chit-chat, you’re holding up the law.” Andy turned to Barney, eyebrows raised, and a smile crossed his jaw in the darkness. “I didn’t realize you was so anxious to find that meteor, Deputy?” “I’m not. I mean I’m anxious to get home, that’s all. Is there anything wrong with wanting to get home?” Andy shook his head, still smiling. “Barney’s right, you best point us in the right direction, Jed. A person could get lost up in those fields on a night like this.” “Ain’t that the truth,” Jed conceded. “It crashed just over the ridge about a half-mile that-a-way.” Jed pointed towards the rolling hill off in the distance, barely visible in the darkness. “There was a big bang,” continued Jed, “then the earth rumbled just like them earthquakes that they got in California all the time. For a while afterwards there was this faint light that lit up those trees on the hilltop, but it’s gone now. Here, you best be taking my lantern with you.” “That’s all right, Jed, we got us a flashlight,” said Andy. “But, Andy, don’t you think we should maybe take it just in case?” Barney chirped. “It’s up to you Barn’. If you wanna take it, then take it,” he said, then turned towards the wooden gate that opened up to the dark field ahead. Barney ran up to the porch and grabbed Jed’s lantern. “Good thinking, Barn’,” Jed told him under his breath. Barney thanked him and chased after Andy. The ridge was only a half a mile away, but from where they stood it looked like a mighty long half-mile. From the porch Jed watched until they were swallowed up by the night with only two small splashes a light in the distance marking them. He turned and headed back inside to the warmth and safety of his home, bolting the door behind him. Copyright 2008 Dave Bottoms |
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 April 2008 ) | ||
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