Yesterday's Gone: Season One

science is, in many ways, brain research is still in the dark ages. And I hate to say it, but it looks like research just slowed by a century or so.”
    “So are you saying Luca just made himself older?”
    “Ha, if you want to reduce my theory to a simplified sentence, sure. Our bodies are capable of so much we don’t even know. Unfortunately, we usually find out through accidental discovery like when people’s skin turns to bone and the rapid aging stuff. I’m just saying, our bodies contain all sorts of buttons and features we haven’t even seen. Maybe whatever got inside your daughter and Luca hit a switch.”  
    Desmond walked up, heavy breath and sweat on his brow.  
    “Am I interrupting anything?”  
    “No, just playing a round of ‘What The Hell Is Going On Here?’” Mary exchanged a smile with Will. “What’s up?”
    “Well, the bleakers are definitely more... confident , and it seems the later it gets, the more of them show up and the more energized they are.” Desmond gestured nervously toward the front door. “John’s edgy and wants to leave right now. I can see why; it’s getting grim out there. But I’m inclined to think we should stay. What about you, Will? What’s your gut tell you?”
    “I’m still thinking morning. I won’t argue if everyone else votes to leave now, but I don’t think those gruesome uglies pose much of a threat.”
    Desmond raised his eyebrows. “Really?”
    “I think they will get dangerous, and soon, but I don’t think they’re there yet. And if their numbers are thinner and speed slower in the morning, as you all said they were, that seems like the ideal time to split. One more night in a comfortable bed won’t make much of a difference, and might end up being what keeps us all alive.”
    “What makes you so sure?” Desmond asked. Mary noted that, as usual, curiosity, not confrontation, edged his question.  
    “I never claimed certainty, but it’s what I feel inside.” He turned to Mary. “Mary knows what I mean.”
    “Great, now there’s two of them.” Desmond raised his hands over his head in mock frustration. “I suggest we hunker down early and get as much sleep as possible tonight. We’ll head out as early as we can in the morning. Sound good?”
    “Sounds great,” Mary said.
    Will nodded.  
    Desmond saluted, then turned and went back to John.  
    “How many more interruptions you think we’ll have?” Mary asked.
    “Twelve.” Will smiled.
    “So, if Luca could make himself five years older, does that mean he can make himself five years younger too?”
    “I don’t think so. I mean, growing is a natural occurrence. His just sped it up. Growing backwards, though, not natural. I won’t say it’s impossible, but I think it highly unlikely.”
    Mary sank into the weight of what Will was saying, then changed the subject, pointing toward the trio of Uno players. “Think they’re having fun?”  
    “You ever seen anyone not having fun with a deck of Uno?”
    Mary rolled her eyes. “Obviously you don’t have children. Kids these days can look like they’re not having fun while playing PS3 on the floor of a candy factory.”
    “Ah,” Will said. “The old too much and not enough syndrome.”  
    “Yeah, that’s about right.” She was still studying the group. “They look so... happy.”  
    “That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
    “Of course,” Mary said. “Just seems... unnatural . How can they laugh and smile with everything that’s going on?”
    “That’s ridiculous, Mary, and you know it. Don’t try and tell me you haven’t found reason to laugh or smile or hope in the last few days, because I know full well you have. And I don’t have to be in your dreams to see it, or to watch you light up every time Desmond Do-Right over there opens his mouth.”
    “Not true,” Mary said, barely hiding a smile.  
    “Okay, whatever you say. But that’s the beauty of the human condition; we’re always able to see the spring on the other side of winter, so long as we’re willing to try.”
    Will slid back in his chair. Mary sank into hers.
    She allowed the old man’s warmth to blanket her. Maybe he was right about Luca; maybe she had nothing to fear. But a new knowing was inside her, one that was only now starting to surface; seeds germinating in the silences of all that Will wasn’t saying.
    But a small part of her could hear it, and that part sensed how terrible it was.  

    * * * *

BRENT FOSTER

    October