Interlude

The Darkness

Describing the nighttime sea as ‘dark’ does a disservice to dark things. There is darkness in the pit of a well, but that darkness is betrayed by the well opening— an escape route back into the light. Darkness exists in the long hallway at night, though it is banished with the flick of a switch. Even the vast expanse of space is lit by stars. But after the sun sets on a stormy sea, there is nothing. The hope of starlight is muted by the angry clouds above, and any sense of bearing a person might have is lost as they are tossed at the mercy of the waves. There is no end in sight. There is only darkness.

And a raft. The raft that Autumn now sat in as it was tossed about in the incomprehensible void. Rain and salty spray assaulted her frozen-numb face as she tried to close her eyes from the pelting force. Though, try as she might, she could not tell whether they were truly closed. It was simply too dark.

Pain shot up her hand as she felt a nail tear off against the splintery wood of the boat, but her cry was drowned by the sea of noises surrounding her. In spite of the pain, she gripped the vessel all the harder. When would this end? Where was the light? Wasn’t there supposed to be light somewhere? Or was it just… gone? She tasted salt, but didn’t know if it came from the sea. Then, something shifted. As if she’d been viewing the whole world sideways all this time and now suddenly she was looking at it straight on.

It began with a voice. It had been... months? years, maybe?.. since she’d last been able to hear even her own thoughts, yet she could hear something now. Somebody calling her. She opened her eyes.

Across the seat from her was a man her age. She didn’t know how she knew without being able to see him, but she did. In fact, she knew everything about him. She knew he was a few inches taller than she was. She knew that he was afraid to be there as well. She knew if either of them could let go of the raft for only a moment, they’d embrace each other.

She knew he loved the taste of lemon and of creamy treats, just like she did. She knew his passions and that they were so similar to hers. She could read the tired lines she knew darkened his brow and knew that they were not at his expense. They were for her. She knew his name.

“Ethan?” Whispered Autumn, her voice miraculously clear in the night.

“It’s me, Autumn.” His voice felt reassuring.

“But why? Why are you here?”

“I’ve always been here.” His voice broke and she felt something break inside her.

“No, you haven’t.” Spite ripped from her throat. “You left me here. You left me in this storm.”

He shook his head.

“You left me, Ethan.” She spat out through gritted teeth. “Alone in this storm..."

“No--”

Autumn whimpered, “...so alone.”

Ethan was crying now, tears streaming down his cheeks. “No. Autumn, I’ve never left you alone in this storm. You are this storm. And you’re going to kill us.”

What? The unspoken question was written clearly on her face.

“You’ve been trapped in here, Autumn. I never left you, not once.” His eyes reflected his pain as he searched for the words. “I just couldn’t take you with me.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Because now I can.” Thunder crashed above them like the roar of heaven and a different fear overcame Ethan’s features. He spoke again, yelling even though their voices were clear. “You have to come with me now, Autumn. You can’t stay here.”

“But it’s all I’ve known. It’s all I have.”

“No, it’s not.” And then Ethan let go of the boat and stood. Legs that trembled from more than just uneven footing forced their way across the short distance between them and Autumn could tell that his hand was being held out toward her. Then she heard the words she needed to hear.

“You have me.”

She placed her hand in his own and he pulled her up to wrap his arms around her, just as she did the same to him. And then Autumn felt something— warmth, radiating from their embrace— and smiled for the first time in a long time.

It wasn’t light, but it was a start.

Then another voice called out to her and Ethan. A voice from Outside. It was feminine. Like hers, but different. Ethan recognized it, though, and she felt his grin against her cheek.

“I want you to meet some new friends. They’re going to help us, okay?”

“Okay.” She whispered, and held him tighter in return.

And then they were gone.