Brodie Michael Yake

Mouth Agape

Mouth Agape: A Moment Of Atonement by Brodie Michael Yake “Why are we here?” Robert asked, a timber of fear salting his voice. The stars hung low overhead that night as Robert awoke, noting the other three men asleep around the crackling fire facing the beach. The rhythmic crashing of one wave after another harmonized with its churning forebears like a mighty tuning orchestra. Had the quintet of strangers known beforehand what they would grow to learn about themselves and each other from one end of the night to the next and as a marriage of the fire’s heat and the ocean’s frothing symphony awoke the remaining four and set the stage for this transformative moment in their lives, perhaps Robert would have abstained from opening his mouth and asking the question in the first place, but he did not. As he looked around where he sat, another gentleman spoke up wiping sleep and sand from his eyes.