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The Night of Fire & Light (Part 3) |
| Written by Dave Bottoms | |
| Tuesday, 01 April 2008 | |
They walked, and under their feet the dirt felt dry and hard. Barney pointed down towards the meadow across a neighboring field. "Those lights must be from Martha Crow's place. Bet she's got the blankets pulled up tight tonight." Andy looked at the small farmhouse that seemed no bigger than his thumb from this far away. He thought of old Mrs. Crow who had been his teacher over at the schoolhouse near Forked Creek when he was a boy. Her husband had died of heart failure this past year, and Andy knew she wasn't fond of living so far from town all alone. "We better get over there when we get back," he said. "Let her know everythin's alright." They walked some more, and Barney pointed out the Big Dipper overhead Andy glanced up once, then kept walking. Lucky harvest's in, he thought. Hate to be fighting our way through a crop of corn this time of night; we'd never get there. A few yards further Barney pointed out the Little Dipper, and again Andy looked, but this time he couldn't find it anywhere in the night sky. Barney started whistling and kicking up dust from under his black shoes until Andy told him to cut it out. They walked a while in silence, then Barney asked, "Did you go to the diner today?" "Yeah. For lunch." "Who was working?" "What do you mean, who was working," Andy said. "What do I look like, their bookkeeper?" They walked a few more yards in silence. "Was Juanita working?" Andy smiled and shook his head, "What do you care whether she was working or not. I'm surprised at you, Barn', you got a great girl, Thelma." "Yeah, I know, but it doesn't hurt to keep your options open, you know." More walking, and more silence. Ahead of them only a stone's throw were the first scattering of pines that hugged the ridge along the back end of Jed's field. In the darkness they seemed to be tall black towers jutting up from the horizon, blotting out the panorama of stars that fixed the night sky. Copyright 2008 Dave Bottoms |
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| Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 April 2008 ) |
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