Darkfall
Chapter Eight
On the way to church that Sunday morning, Cole asked, "Daddy, can we go to Wesley's church sometime?"
"I don't think so, son," Albert shot a glance over at his wife, Sarah.
"Why not?"
"Well, we sort of decide what church we're going to attend and then that's where we go," he replied, knowing that wasn't going to satisfy either of the children.
"Is God in everybody's church, Daddy?" Callie asked.
Albert sighed, thinking to himself that it had probably been a long time since God had visited in the Church of the Redemptive Suffering if he'd ever been there at all. "I think so, Punkin. It's not the building, you know, it's the people and the feelings and the belief in Him that makes a church."
"So, Wesley's daddy believes in God just like we do, right Daddy?"
"I don't know, Cole, I sure hope so." For the sake of those kids, he surely did hope so.
**
The Straihan children were never allowed to go to other children's homes to play; besides they had their afterschool chores, so Wesley had to be friends with Cole and Callie only at school. He and Mercy had little games they played as they scrubbed floors and collected eggs to sell.
Mercy always talked about her dreams and told Wesley of the grand adventures she had while she lay sleeping; adventures on sailing ships or sky rockets or floating in the pink fluffy clouds, in beautiful countries she'd read about in her school library books. They would pretend to be kings and queens, knights and princesses, famous rock stars; anything other than Mercy and Wesley Straihan. Wesley was eight and Mercy was ten and their dreams were all they had .... well, besides the fear.
Wesley always included Cole and Callie in his pretends. He would be rich and handsome and clean and he would save them from dragons and horrible goblins. Callie would faint and Cole would always give him a kiss on the cheek. In his pretends, he deserved to be their friend. He was as good as they were..... in his pretends.
At eight years old, Wesley knew how the world worked and he wanted so badly to be anyone other than himself. He wanted to be worthy enough to be Cole's friend. His favorite pretends were just he and Cole, fighting demons, rescuing lost souls, battling evil, always standing back to back, swords at the ready, and, his favorite part, Cole always telling him how he would protect Wesley til the end of time.
**
Wesley and Cole were on the high swings. The playground teacher had forbidden anyone to jump out of the swings from up high. Two years ago, Bernie Jenkins had broken his leg cause he didn't roll; he flopped.
"I bet I could fly higher than you," Cole called.
"I could fly higher than a redtailed hawk," Wesley answered. "If I was a hawk, I'd fly all over; out to the Pacific Ocean and all the way to China." They were both pumping their legs as fast as they could as the wind grabbed at their shirt tails. "I want to just let go and fly away," Wesley cried out, letting go with one hand.
Cole stopped pumping his legs. "Wes, No! Hold on. You'll fall." His face echoed the fear Wes could hear in his voice.
What Cole wouldn't ever understand was how free Wesley felt up here, flying in the sky like a bird. How much his heart yearned to just let go and fly far away; how he dreamed about it and knew one day he'd leave and never look back. But, as he looked over at his best friend, Wes realized that to leave forever meant leaving Cole. How could he leave Cole?
Slowing, they matched their swing arcs until they were moving parallel. Seeing Mrs. Buzby, the playground teacher, way over at the merry-go-round, they grinned at each other and flung themselves out of the canvas seats to land on their knees in the sand.
Back in the classroom, Mrs. Schmidt began to explain about the cycles of the moon. "The new moon is the lunar phase that occurs when the moon, in its monthly orbital motion around Earth, lies between the Earth and the Sun. At this time, the illuminated, or glowing, half of the moon faces directly toward Earth, so that the moon is invisible as seen from Earth. The new moon takes place between sunset and moonset. Tonight is the new moon." She handed out a paper all about the times of the phases of the new moon. Wes folded his and stuck it in his pocket.
During break, Cole shared his chips and juice with Wes, as always. "You know, we oughta watch the new moon tonight," he said. "Can you get out of the house after bedtime? We can sit on Mr. Harrelson's barn roof and see what time the moon shows. Mrs. Schmidt will think it's cool."
"I don't know," Wesley answered, thinking hard. He didn't want to disappoint Cole, but he didn't want to get caught either.
"Come on, Wes. It'll be fun. I'll come over after dark and shine my flashlight at your bedroom window. You crawl out and we'll go climb up the loft rope at Mr. Harrelson's."
Wesley could never deny Cole much of anything for very long, even if it meant getting in trouble. "Okay then," he said slowly, "Okay. I'll sit by my window and when I see your flashlight, I'll come out."
"I don't think so, son," Albert shot a glance over at his wife, Sarah.
"Why not?"
"Well, we sort of decide what church we're going to attend and then that's where we go," he replied, knowing that wasn't going to satisfy either of the children.
"Is God in everybody's church, Daddy?" Callie asked.
Albert sighed, thinking to himself that it had probably been a long time since God had visited in the Church of the Redemptive Suffering if he'd ever been there at all. "I think so, Punkin. It's not the building, you know, it's the people and the feelings and the belief in Him that makes a church."
"So, Wesley's daddy believes in God just like we do, right Daddy?"
"I don't know, Cole, I sure hope so." For the sake of those kids, he surely did hope so.
**
The Straihan children were never allowed to go to other children's homes to play; besides they had their afterschool chores, so Wesley had to be friends with Cole and Callie only at school. He and Mercy had little games they played as they scrubbed floors and collected eggs to sell.
Mercy always talked about her dreams and told Wesley of the grand adventures she had while she lay sleeping; adventures on sailing ships or sky rockets or floating in the pink fluffy clouds, in beautiful countries she'd read about in her school library books. They would pretend to be kings and queens, knights and princesses, famous rock stars; anything other than Mercy and Wesley Straihan. Wesley was eight and Mercy was ten and their dreams were all they had .... well, besides the fear.
Wesley always included Cole and Callie in his pretends. He would be rich and handsome and clean and he would save them from dragons and horrible goblins. Callie would faint and Cole would always give him a kiss on the cheek. In his pretends, he deserved to be their friend. He was as good as they were..... in his pretends.
At eight years old, Wesley knew how the world worked and he wanted so badly to be anyone other than himself. He wanted to be worthy enough to be Cole's friend. His favorite pretends were just he and Cole, fighting demons, rescuing lost souls, battling evil, always standing back to back, swords at the ready, and, his favorite part, Cole always telling him how he would protect Wesley til the end of time.
**
Wesley and Cole were on the high swings. The playground teacher had forbidden anyone to jump out of the swings from up high. Two years ago, Bernie Jenkins had broken his leg cause he didn't roll; he flopped.
"I bet I could fly higher than you," Cole called.
"I could fly higher than a redtailed hawk," Wesley answered. "If I was a hawk, I'd fly all over; out to the Pacific Ocean and all the way to China." They were both pumping their legs as fast as they could as the wind grabbed at their shirt tails. "I want to just let go and fly away," Wesley cried out, letting go with one hand.
Cole stopped pumping his legs. "Wes, No! Hold on. You'll fall." His face echoed the fear Wes could hear in his voice.
What Cole wouldn't ever understand was how free Wesley felt up here, flying in the sky like a bird. How much his heart yearned to just let go and fly far away; how he dreamed about it and knew one day he'd leave and never look back. But, as he looked over at his best friend, Wes realized that to leave forever meant leaving Cole. How could he leave Cole?
Slowing, they matched their swing arcs until they were moving parallel. Seeing Mrs. Buzby, the playground teacher, way over at the merry-go-round, they grinned at each other and flung themselves out of the canvas seats to land on their knees in the sand.
Back in the classroom, Mrs. Schmidt began to explain about the cycles of the moon. "The new moon is the lunar phase that occurs when the moon, in its monthly orbital motion around Earth, lies between the Earth and the Sun. At this time, the illuminated, or glowing, half of the moon faces directly toward Earth, so that the moon is invisible as seen from Earth. The new moon takes place between sunset and moonset. Tonight is the new moon." She handed out a paper all about the times of the phases of the new moon. Wes folded his and stuck it in his pocket.
During break, Cole shared his chips and juice with Wes, as always. "You know, we oughta watch the new moon tonight," he said. "Can you get out of the house after bedtime? We can sit on Mr. Harrelson's barn roof and see what time the moon shows. Mrs. Schmidt will think it's cool."
"I don't know," Wesley answered, thinking hard. He didn't want to disappoint Cole, but he didn't want to get caught either.
"Come on, Wes. It'll be fun. I'll come over after dark and shine my flashlight at your bedroom window. You crawl out and we'll go climb up the loft rope at Mr. Harrelson's."
Wesley could never deny Cole much of anything for very long, even if it meant getting in trouble. "Okay then," he said slowly, "Okay. I'll sit by my window and when I see your flashlight, I'll come out."