Sunset

Pale blue eyes watched a whimsical trail of dust tumble down an old river bed, pushed by a dry wind and cascading over smooth stones rounded by years of clean flowing water now vanished. Her grandmother had once entertained her with such tales, stories she now faithfully repeated to her own grandchildren. Swirling and twisting across the brown land it blew before ending its dance on the waves of the sea as they crashed against the shore. The burning heat of the sun radiated down, hanging in an empty blue sky and waiting for someone foolish enough to wander out into its deadly rays.

Her long, thin fingers carefully caressed the golden heart-shaped locket which hung from her neck, a treasure from her grandmother. Cunningly concealed inside the metal frame were pictures of her grandmother and grandfather, a man she had never met. He had died many years before her birth, succumbing to the punishing effects of the sun as so many others had.

Or so she had heard.

It seemed so foreign to her, so strange. The notion that someone would feel compelled to leave the cool comforting protection of the caves and expose themselves directly to the sun for any length of time. But, she reflected, the pictures in the locket showed vibrant greens flourishing in the background. Almost as if vegetation was everywhere, casually taken for granted. Well, her grandmother had told tales of that too. She supposed something had made the rocks smooth, and the green growth in the locket pictures must have come from somewhere. It was just strange to imagine trees which grew to such proud heights. All lush, green and alive instead of coarse, grey and dead.

A thin child staggered over on the unsteady steps of a toddler before depositing himself in her lap. Gently running her fingers through the hair of her youngest grandchild, her faint, scratchy voice softly sang an ancient lullaby. It came to her unbidden, a reflexive reaction. A habit begun many years ago, from when her eldest daughter was a wailing newborn. A song, she wryly remembered, her grandmother had taught her.

“Once there was a way.” Her voice strained to carry the tune as she began. “To get back homeward. Once there was a way, to get back home, sleep, pretty darling, do not cry. And I will sing a lullaby. Golden slumbers fill your eyes, smiles await you when you rise, sleep pretty darling, do not cry. And I will sing a lullaby. Once there was a way, to get back homeward. Once there was a way, to get back home, sleep pretty darling, do not cry. And I will sing a lullaby.”

“Again Nana!” His earnest little voice begged. “Again!”

“Of course my little minnow!” She said with a smile, fondly gazing down at his grubby little face before once again stretching her voice.

Her rocky perch near the mouth of the caves was rarely disturbed, with most of the People preferring the cool, dark depths and only coming forth when the sun sank below the watery horizon of the ocean. It was the same perch her grandmother had occupied for all her years amongst the People, always silently staring out as the sun hammered down upon the land. It had sparked many disagreements with her mother, as if to even look upon the sunlight as it illuminated the land and sea was as dangerous as walking out beneath it. After all, it wasn’t as if her grandmother had ever been in danger of running out of the safety of the caves.

Her own children humoured her, letting her pass endless days in silent watch. But she also knew they lovingly mocked her crazy daredevil ways when they thought she wasn’t listening. Outside was dangerous, and many of the younger generation believed that even going out beneath the brightness of the moon was not a risk worth taking. The Sickness still took some of the People from time to time, and the younger generation was always looking for new answers. Better answers. Confident that the older generations didn’t really understand and was just too stubborn to acknowledge their brilliance. A smile curled across her lips, she remembered having such feelings as a young woman.

Some things never change, she mused to herself.

“Mother!” A strong voice called out as it echoed through the caves. It was Jennifer, her youngest daughter. “Mother, time to eat!”

“Are you hungry my little minnow?” She asked as she turned her pale blue eyes upon her grandson. “It sounds like Mummy is ready for us.”

The little boy offered her a drool-filled grin and nodded eagerly before jumping offer her lap to run back into the caves. She watched him from her perch, slowly fading into the jagged shadows of the caves as his churning little toddler steps carried him unevenly.

Turning her gaze back to the sea, she could see the angry, red sun crouching just above the waves. Another dangerous day of clear skies had passed, and in a few short hours the young men and women would come out with their barrels to gather water for boiling as they began another round of desalination. Fishing nets would also be checked and swimmers would dive to gather kelp. The same as young men and women had done every single evening for as long as she could remember.

“Mother!” Jennifer shouted again, closer this time. A quick glance behind her showed a strong woman balancing a young child on her hip. “Aren’t you coming?”

“Yes dear.” She responded with a sudden nostalgic weariness. “I am coming, where is your father?”

“He is already there, he was the one who sent me to find you.” Jennifer exclaimed. “He’s impatient, he says he is going start without you and eat your share if you don’t hurry up.” she concluded with a laugh.

“That man was born impatient.” She snorted in response and she pushed herself upright. “Okay. I’m coming.”

Long, thin fingers reached back to fumble with a delicate clasp and the necklace tumbled into her hands. Prying open the locket, she rested it upon her perch so that the pictures of her grandparents faced the setting sun.

“Okay Nana, you enjoy the sunset with Papa.” She whispered as she slowly turned away and made her way into the shadows of the caves.