“The rain rains”

“I gasp.All around me, the dead are risin.Another leg bone bobs to the muddy surface. Then a skull. A arm bone. They swing lazily. The current grabs 'em an carries 'em away.Wreckers must of used the dry riverbed as a mass grave an now the heavy rain's churnin it all up.I snatch my hands from the water, hold my arms high, outta the way. Slowly I turn in a circle, blinkin the rain away from my eyes.Ohmigawd, I says. Ohmigawd ohmigawd ohmigawd.The river's alive with dead men's bones. It's thick with 'em.My breath's comin shallow an fast.I feel somethin touch me. I make myself look down. A skellenton's wrapped itself around my chest. The skull grins up at me.I shove it away. But when I pull my hands up agin, the whole top half of the skellenton comes with 'em. I'm stuck in the ribcage. The skull's right in my face.I scream. Shake myself loose. Scramble to git away. Lose my footin.I fall. I go unner.An the current sweeps me away.”

“The night starts to drift in. The crimson fingers of the dyin sun bleed into gray. The first stars blink down at us. Not long to wait now.”

“Did you know, he says, every time you make somethin, any time you make anythin, a little bit of yer spirit goes into it?”

“All the time I’ve knowed you, Jack, you kept the door to that heart of yers locked up tight an the key hid away. Looks like she found it.He says nothing. Molly waits. Then:Keys ain’t her style, he says. She kicked the door down.”

“Whatever it is, I sure didn’t go lookin fer it.You don’t hafta, she says. If it’s meant to be, it’ll find you. We like to think we’re in charge of our own lives, but we ain’t. Not really.”

“Don’t you dare walk away from this, Jack, don’t you dare, Molly says fiercely. Most people don’t ever feel what yer feeling. Be with her. An if it lasts one hour, one night, a week a month, it don’t matter. Be with her, burn with her, shine with her… fer whatever time’s given to you.”