Category: The Stranger Stories

NOTE: I was sprinkling in the strange, the lid popped off. Don’t tell anyone, I’m pretending I did it on purpose. Chef’s Special.
—
“Where do we come from?”

The strange boy pulled his eyes from the fire to study his curious companion.

The other boy looked away, quickly. It almost seemed like the fire had stayed in his eyes…

That’s not possible. Boys don’t carry fire in their eyes. Not even strange ones.

The sticks crackled.

“Well,” the strange boy spoke slowly, “when a man and a woman love each other…”

“Whoa whoa whoa. No no I mean like where… what land do we come from.”

The strange boy was off his seat and rolling on the ground.

He came up wheezing “Oh man, my asthma. I can’t… that was…” hack. cough. “That is… so funny. You’re trying to kill me!”

Normally he would run when the ‘I asked another stupid question’ feeling came, and hide until his face shaded from prickly pear pink back to desert sands whiteish. Two things held him this time. First, his friend might die of laughter at any moment, and he had never seen anyone die, of laughter. Second… well, you know. So he grimaced a grin and pressed on.

“I meant where do we come from physically…”

“Physically?” Giggles were bouncing his curls again.

“Can we just converse like adults please?”

“You mean you want an adult conversation?” More life-threatening laughs.

“I mean, I mean… look, there are twigs stuck in your hair that look like antennae and it’s super distracting me.”

“You mean ‘geographically.’”

“Yeah. But also before that, like where did we all originally come from?”

“Oooh. You mean… ‘in the beginning.’”

“You know it’s creepy when you do that with your hands… but yeah. In the beginning.”

“Oh man this is such a good story, one of the best. Actually can’t believe I haven’t told it yet. So in the beginning…”

“Hey we need more sticks.”

“Awesome! We can…”

“Don’t say it.”

“…walk-n-talk. It just sounds fun. Walk-n-talk. Walk-n-talk. Say it with me. Walk-n-talk. Hey, wait for me!”

“Okay, so in the beginning was…”

The desert woods drank his drifting away voice while the fire whimpered…

…and then played dead.

He pinched a glowing coal from the fire, studying it closely. Then he popped it in his mouth and swallowed.

Looking around again, the strange boy slid back into his sleeping bag.
—
“I must have been dreaming.” the cactus boy stared at the glowing horizon, thinking about what he had seen.

The yellow yolks on the fire eyed him and the frying butter cackled.

“It was pretty dark last night, maybe it just looked like he ate the fire…” he thought.

“Hey we gonna eat those eggs or wear ‘em for shoes?”

Cactus boy spun and yanked the pan from the coals. “Rats.”

“Well done!” strange boy was snorting giggles. “My favorite, seriously. I love everything ‘well done.’”
—
“How do you make our fires?” cactus boy asked, lacing his boots.

“Huh?”

“The fire. You always make the fire but I’ve never seen you do it.”

The strange boy looked through a squint for a long second.

“Did you see something?”

“No.” cactus boy locked eyes to really sell the lie, and stepping in a hole on the trail, he fell hard.
—
“So, why… how… you swallow the fire?”

Strange boy stood and lifted his shirt.

Cactus boy was glad he was already sitting.

Hot light glistened from the center of his chest.

“Where I come from, it is never night and fire floods the sky. But here in your world we each have to carry the Flame, inside, through the night.”

“Wow. I mean that’s… wow… does it hurt?” cactus boy also saw scars tracing the glow.

Strange boy smiled, and for the first time, seemed tired.

“Why don’t you just put it out during the day and then restart it when you need it, like with matches or something?”

His eyes looked like lightning and his voice came like thunder… but gentler, like thunder far off.

“This was kindled in Death’s Forge, it can never die. It was given to me, special, for our journey. If anyone tries to put it out…”
—

Stoke the fire in your heart through the night, though it burns.
Return it to the Sun, in the morning; well done.
Morning always comes.