by Glen Krisch
The damned Underground.
Tears formed at the corners of his eyes, but they didn't fall. Instead, they were absorbed into the crusted rock and dust pressed into his skin.
If I cry long enough, will my tears dissolve these stones, freeing me?
He opened his eyes to blink, but he never finished the task. What he saw kept his eyes open and once open, they remained.
The shifting stones revealed a two inch shaft through the innumerable layers above him. Two inches opened to sunny daylight. Motes of fine debris filtered down into the hole, but he didn't blink. He couldn't take his eyes off the sight of the sun above him. He could never look away. Never was going to be a long time, indeed.
Twelve Years Later
"Hold still."
Jacob frowned as his mom fussed with his collar.
"It's fine, Mom. Straight as an arrow."
A whirl of gray streaked the hair over her left brow. Her face was tan from working around the farm. She smiled up at him.
"I can't have you looking disheveled. It's a big day, you know."
Through the kitchen window he could see their guests dressed in the their finest Sunday attire. It seemed like everyone in Coal Hollow was in attendance, and certainly most of the town had been invited. They stood on either side of an aisle leading to the edge of the peach orchard.
Ellie stood under a white lattice archway, holding a bouquet of flowers. He remembered that day so many years ago, the day of her brother's funeral. Her biggest concern had been trying to find the most beautiful wild flowers to pick for his mom.
Ellie's father never surfaced after the incidents in Underground. As far as Jacob knew, she never learned about the dark turn his soul had taken. Some things were better left unsaid. On a larger scale, an official story was created to explain the loss of twenty-two residents of Coal Hollow. Since Jimmy's body was never recovered (at least in the official story), the devastating loss was easily explained away as a tragic accident. The story described a search party valiantly combing the abandoned mines for any trace of one of their own. How inopportune for a cave wall to collapse during their searching and an underground lake to sweep them away.
After escaping the Underground, and with no evidence that her father survived, the Fowler's had taken Ellie in for good.
"Are you ready?"
"Just a minute, Mom."
He took a deep breath, trying to gather himself. The last time he could remember such stress was on the beaches of Guadalcanal. The white sands washed red with American blood, the air thick with smoke from weeks of artillery bombardment. He'd seen bloodshed before, but this battle changed his friends. Their vengeance had turned them into something unrecognizable, but still somehow all too familiar. Once the momentum turned in their favor, they scourged one tunnel after another with flame throwers at close range, and when their enemies still wouldn't submit, they would enter the dark burrows with bared bayonets, killing anything that moved. They'd become monsters. Jacob had already seen too many monsters. He would never again raise his weapon.
"Where's Cooper?"
"He's by the orchard, right where we should be, I might add."
Even as Jacob became a man and soldier, even later when his life took a decidedly unexpected turn, he missed Jimmy. He wished he was here by his side, jabbing him with funny barbs, but ultimately putting everything in perspective. Simply thinking about his brother tended to put his mind at ease, and right now was no exception.
He could do this. When he exhaled a deep breath, it came as a long, calm gust of air.
"Okay. So everything's ready?"
"Absolutely." She offered her arm. They hooked arms and walked out the back door.
Jacob leaned over and whispered, "So, you don't think it's weird, us walked the aisle together?"
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
He reminded himself to walk as slow as reasonably possible. He took in the guests as they walked, trying to smile and make eye contact. People sighed and a polite round of applause greeted them.
"See, everything's perfect."
Many of the faces in the crowd were new to Jacob--spouses of Coal Hollow residents he had never met, or people with whom he had grown up but no longer recognized after being away for so long. A few faces never changed, though.
Arlen Polk stood at the end of an aisle. Now an old man, a spark lit his eye that showed his wits only grew stronger with the years. Shortly after surfacing from the Underground, he opened the grain elevator just outside of town. After his elevator enterprise took off like gangbusters, he imported stone masons from Chicago and opened a school to teach select local boys their skills. Though still in its infancy, the school was gaining a national reputation, while keeping quality jobs in town. Arlen had an uncanny knack for business. Some people claimed his higher functioning resulted from injuries he received during the search party accident. Some people claimed he had been touched by God. Some other's knew the reason, and they kept his secret.
At the end of the aisle a small gathering: Ellie, Hank Calder leaning on his walking cane, Cooper.
Everyone counted Cooper as one of the victims of the mine disaster. Jacob's mother only learned of his survival when he showed up at her door a year ago, his beard now mostly gray, but his eyes warm and inviting. At the time, Jacob was finishing up his studies and only learned of the reunion through his mother's weekly letters. Through the weeks, Jacob saw their relationship evolve.
"Nervous?" his mom asked in a whisper.
"A little. You?"
"No. Not when I'm this happy."
Jacob handed his mother over to Cooper and he took his place under the arching flowers, facing the crowd. His collar felt tight on his neck, but he didn't allow it to choke back his words as he began the wedding ceremony.
THE END
