November

Issue 38

       Eight year old Danny Boone liked to play by the creek that ran near his family’s home.      It was hot everyday where they lived, but Danny noticed that on that day, it was especially unbearable.  He ran down to the stream as always and immediately flushed his skin with the cool water.  He drenched himself thoroughly, soaking his clothes to the point where they seemed to weigh an additional twenty pounds.  
    The golden reflection of the sky cast a hue of the same brilliant color across the tiny brook, making it look to Danny as if the water itself were made of gold.  Occasionally a guppy would swim by casually, and it, too, looked to be golden to the young boy.  To him, the stream was a magical one, filled with his hopes and dreams, and a place where he could realize them before they came to him in reality.  He thought that if the small trickle of water were to become a river, then its mighty current could carry him to a place where those dreams would be reality.  Someday, he would think to himself, someday it will grow, when I have grown up too.  It will be a river grander than any that has ever graced the golden Earth before, and it will take me wherever I want to go.  Someday.
    The water was always cool against his lightly tanned skin when he waded in it or fished rocks from the bottom with his bare hands.  His mother said that that was because it came from the melting snowcap of a mountain.  Danny knew only what his parents would teach to him, as they were his only friends.  He had never seen another human in his lifetime and suspected that he never would see one.
    The water brought him momentary relief from the blistering sun, which was by then pounding him from directly overhead.  Its enormous orange body engulfed a large portion of the sky, yet it was not too bright to avert his gaze.  There was something different about the sun that day, not necessarily something tangible, but Danny could feel the change.  Soon after his hasty bath, the water evaporated, and he became hot again.  Might be too hot to play outside today, he thought.
    He ran back to the doorstep, which stood no more than fifty feet from the stream.  By the time he reached the house, he was covered in sweat, and desperate to escape the relentless punishment of the sun.  The doorknob was hot when he grabbed it, causing him to jerk his hand back in shock.  He removed his shirt and wrapped it around his hand, using it like his mother used oven mitts to pull hot pans from the stove.  It was awkward, but he managed to twist it open, and dart into the house before the heat could overwhelm him.
    “Mama!” he shouted, enjoying the echo of his own voice as it bounced off the walls of the house.  For a moment, Danny forgot about the heat and relished such a childhood pleasure.  When his voice disappeared, the anxiety returned and he snapped back to reality.
    “Mama!” he cried again, as he searched the deceivingly large house in a panic.  When he finally found her, she was washing the dishes from breakfast, and humming a tune that he could not place at the time.  She turned around to meet him as he ran into the kitchen, and swallowed him in a big embrace.  Danny buried his head of blond, curly hair into her chest. He had always done so when he was scared, as long as she could remember.
    “Good Lord child,” she exclaimed, “what ever is the matter with you?”  Her sweet smile coupled with her bright blue eyes always had a calming effect on the boy, even in his most frightened moments.  For a brief instant in time, Danny forgot about the extraordinarily hot sun, and the mild burn he'd received from the brass doorknob.  He was lost in her smile, and then her eyes, and the whole scene was a great comfort to him.
    Through the window, the sun gleamed into his eyes slightly, amplified by the composition of the glass.  He pushed back from her slightly, and gazed up at her with the face he had a tendency to make when preparing to ask a tough question.  His mother recognized the look, and bent down to meet his hazel eyed stare.
    “Mama,” he whined slightly in addressing her, though not on purpose.  “Mama, why is the sun so hot today?  I mean, well, it’s always hot, but today I couldn’t even stay out for a couple of minutes.  And I can feel something different about today.  Is something going on today?”
    She broke the exchange of their eyes for a second, as if distressed by his question.  He could tell that she knew something, as he watched her anxiously tuck her blond locks behind her ears, but he did not dare push his mother.  Her focus returned to him, and she swallowed hard before answering.  “Yes baby, there is something going on today, you’re very smart.  Today is a very special day, because today is the day that we meet God.”