Page 131 - TheRedSon_PrintInterior_430pp_5.5x8.5_9-22-2019_v1

“I think everyone imagines the Darkness as an event that
was visible at a distance, like some kind of apocalyptic tidal
wave, rolling slowly towards land. When everyone sees the
wave rise up above the clouds, they run screaming, falling
over each other as they go. But it really wasn’t like that at
all, at least not for me. Of course, it could have been different
for everyone, so who can say?
“The world seemed so much smaller, more personal, like
everything had been locked into a closet, but the darkness
gave the impression that the closet might go on forever. I
looked out the window again. I can clearly remember staring
at a tree that was all lit up by a stray beam of light falling
from somewhere above. Its branches were bizarre, wrapping
around one another like eels in a bucket, and they were filled
with the strangest, blackest fruits, each one the size of a
cantaloupe. They looked absolutely delicious, but they were
squirming every which way, like something might’ve been
trying to get out of them, or like the fruit itself was breathing.
I really didn’t know which. But neither reason would’ve
made me want to eat them any less, not even when some of
the fruit fell off the tree and rolled into the darkness, where
I swear I heard them scurry away on little feet. I couldn’t
take my eyes off the tree until I saw my little girl walk up
to one of the branches and sink her teeth into a low-hanging
fruit. Her glasses were gone, and she was looking around as
if her eyes were working just fine. I think she looked at me
briefly before she backpedaled into darkness, her smile all
sweet and black from the fruit. I wanted to chase after her
almost as much as I wanted a piece of that peculiar fruit, but
somehow I knew I wouldn’t catch her. I was quite a mess,
then. Just a thing that cried and cried. When I finally turned
away from the window, I saw my husband, dressed for work
and walking out the door with his briefcase. All he said to
me was, “Don’t wait up, honey.”
“I wandered around the house for quite a while, looking at
familiar things. While I sat on my bed, staring at the cream-
134 | Mark Anzalone