Between Two Storms

Jake, net in hand, scurried like a sand crab along the seawall, pausing between each of the round, wooden support posts to look down into the water for the beady eyes and blue claws of crabs clinging to the wall. His cousin Jody, and his brother Andrew came outside and looked into the wooden bushel. Three crabs clustered together in the bottom on one side, blowing bubbles over their claws which were folded close to them. One crab, larger than the others, pressed against the other side. Andrew picked up a stick and moved it slowly in front of the crab. His claws flashed out with a clacking sound and pushed the stick away. Andrew moved the stick toward the beady black eyes and the ready claws, they clamped down blue and rigid on the stick. When the crab let go, Andrew threw the stick aside and joined the other two on the seawall.
He stood on the wooden ledge of the wall between his brother who was three years younger than he was and his cousin who was three years older. They were all thin and athletic, of various shades of tan made darker by the sun, and with short hair of varying shades of blonde made lighter by the sun. Standing in this order, the even difference in their heights was like stairs. Andrew and Jake looked into the brown water, lapping at the old, algae and barnacle covered wall, hoping to see a crab. It was early and bright. Jody squinted out across the water of the Bay. Boats rocked against the end of their anchor lines. Andrew looked up at Jody and then out to the horizon where his eyes settled for a moment on the lighthouse, gleaming in the light of the sun.
Single file, they walked along the seawall, peering into the water. Sometimes the boy in the back, being tired of seeing everything last, would depart from the wall and run ahead of the other two.
“Bring the net,” Andrew said.
“You see one?” Jody asked.
“Yeah.” Andrew was stooped over with his hands on his knees looking at a large crab with big blue claws. “Hurry up!” he snapped at Jake.
“Where is he?” Jake asked, thinking Andrew was just trying to get the net from him.
“He’s far down, it’s hard to see him; he’s right there,” Andrew pointed. “Let me see the net.”
“No, I got this net out of Pop’s shed.” There’s no telling what he had to climb over or through to get the net. Their grandfather’s shed was notoriously packed.
“I saw this one. Let me use the net; I’ll give it right back,” Andrew said.
“No.” Jake wouldn’t look at Andrew directly, but he was watching to make sure he didn’t come at him.
“He said he’ll give it right back,” Jody said, still looking down at the crab.
“I got the net,” Jake said and with the net ready, he leaned over and fixed his eyes on the crab.
“You’re going to miss it,” Andrew said, and acted like he was going to push Jake off the wall. Jake jumped back, tensed, his hands tightened on the wooden handle of the net.
“Leave me alone,” he whined.
“Fine! You’re so annoying. All I wanted to do was use the net.”
Jake leaned over with the net in his hands and looked down at the crab. He swung, but the net hit the crab in the back. When he brought it up the crab was clinging to the net, one claw clinched tightly on the thin green nylon, the other jerked through the air searching for something soft to close on. Jody and Andrew yelled at once:
“Quick, get him over the wall,” Jody said.
“Turn the net,” Andrew said. The crab let go and landed on the ground. Jake scooped him up in the net and carried him across the yard. The bushel boiled when he dumped the crab in; the clattering and scuffling slowly subsided.
Jody saw a crab and Jake handed him the net without complaining. Then Andrew saw another crab and Jake gave him the net.
“But you better give it back when I tell you to,” he said.
They continued to pass the net back and forth. In an hour or two they had over half a bushel. Andrew walked over to look at them. Piled on top of each other, their legs and claws scraped against the shells of other crabs. He lifted one of the handles and was pleased at how heavy it was.
“Andrew,” his mom said. “Nanny and I are heading over to the clubhouse now. Tell Jody and your brother.” The windows were open and her voice came clear and close through the dark screen. Andrew shielded his eyes but still could only see a shadow when she moved.
“Don’t forget that lunch starts in half an hour. Behave yourselves, and don’t pick on your brother,” she said.
“Why do you say that? I never mess with him unless he does something to annoy me first,” Andrew said.
“Just behave,” she said.
“Love you daw-lin, ya’ll be good,” called Nanny from farther inside, her voice was everything a grandmother’s should be.
“Love you too Nanny, we’ll be good.” Any pre-adolescent anger Andrew felt melted when she spoke.
Jody came over and dumped another crab in the bushel. The crabs on top snapped at the newcomer with their claws.
“That’s a big sucker,” Andrew said, and they walked to where Jake was on the wall.

Andrew saw a crab of average size tucked against the wall near one of the wooden poles.
“Give me the net I see one,” he said. Jody handed him the net and stood to the left with Jake where they could see. Andrew could feel the texture of the wood grain of the board he was standing on, and the wooden handle in his hands. The sun was hot upon his shoulders; he inched his feet over toward the large wooden post and adjusted his hands to get the best angle. Wind came from over the water and lifted his bangs gently. He brought the net down in an angle, but couldn’t slide it into the nook between the wall and post; the crab darted off sideways.
“Let me have the net now,” Jake said. Andrew frowned at him. “Come on, you said you’d give it back when I asked for it,” Jake whined.
“Stop being a baby. I’ll give it to you if you find a crab.”
“I found one, he’s right here.” Jake pointed to the next space of wall between the support poles. Andrew walked over and looked; there was a big crab with blue claws. Jake put his hand on the net handle and Andrew yanked it away and looked back down at the crab.
“Don’t!” Jake cried. “Give me the net. I saw him.”
“So! You should have given me the net earlier,” Andrew said. Jake grabbed his arm with both hands and when Andrew turned, he grabbed the net and held it tightly.
“Let go,” Andrew said, his voice was flat.
“Let go,” he said again, this time with a little more threat in his voice, and he gave a short, quick, hard pull of the net. Jake held fast and stumbled forward but kept his feet.
“You better let go of it right now.” The threat in Andrew’s voice pushed through his clenched teeth.
“But, Andrew, I got it from the shed,” Jake said, pleading with him.
“I don’t care,” Andrew yelled. He yanked the handle so hard that Jake, still clinging to the net, fell and was dragged across the ground as Andrew continued to pull backwards. One of Jake’s hands had come loose and was clawing for the handle. Andrew turned the handle twisting Jake’s wrist. The metal rim of the net clanged against his forehead. He let go, and immediately his mouth curled down into a big, drooping, black frown. Jody had been at the other end of the wall and now came running over. Jake started crying; big tears came from his squinted eyes and rolled down his high, round cheeks. Andrew stood by while Jody tried to quiet him down a little.
“You’re alright, just stop crying,” he said. Jake’s face was red and contorted, one of his knees were scraped and he had a knot that stood out, white on his forehead. His crying turned into a spastic, sniffled inhaling. Jody was pushing the net on him.
“Look; you get the net,” he said, and held it out to him. Jake’s dry sobs had slowed. He dragged himself to his feet, wiped his eyes with the back of his hands and looked at the net through wet eyelashes. Taking it would mean accepting a peace offering; he stood looking at it. Jody pulled the net back toward himself and after looking closely at the rim said, “I think you dented it.” He laughed, but Jake didn’t.
“You’ve got a strong grip though. When I looked up here all I saw was you being dragged across the yard.” Jody laughed again, and this time Jake laughed too and wiped his eyes again. Jody knew he had him now.
“Seriously, I think you dented the net. Look right here.” He pointed to the metal rim of the net and Jake laughed again. Andrew took advantage of the change of mood.
“Hey, see if that crab is still there,” he said.
“Was there a crab? Well, go get him. What are you waiting for?” Jody held the net out to Jake, who took it this time. They looked for the crab, but it was gone so they moved on down the wall. Jody was looking between the next two poles; Andrew leaned over near Jake and mumbled a quick sorry and moved on. Jody had reached the corner of their property that made up part of the mouth of the inlet and he yelled to Andrew and Jake.
“Look, skates!” He pointed to a spot in the water where a whole flock of rays were mingling, their fins pointing out of the surface. All three boys stood as tall as they could and shaded their eyes with their hands to see the rays circling and slowly flapping their wing-like fins. The water danced lazily and the sun glittered on the rivets on the surface of the water and shone on the brown and black wing tips of the rays that rose and sunk below the water. They were clustered just inside the mouth of the inlet, where every year they were drawn into the shallows to mate.
“Man, we gotta find a way to catch one. Imagine how neat that would be,” Jody said.
“How are we going to do that? The crab net’s too small,” Andrew said.
“It’s almost lunchtime,” Jake said. “We better go soon.”
“Yeah, we’ll eat quick so we can hurry back,” Jody said. They lingered a little in awe of the graceful rays, then stepped down from the seawall and walked through the grass to the crab bushel in the shade. Jody and Andrew each took a handle and carried it around to the driveway and set it down. Pop, their grandfather, was tinkering with a part of some appliance by the shed.
“We caught some crabs,” Jody said.
“Any big enough to eat?” asked Pop.
“Yeah, we caught a half a bushel of good sized crabs. We set them down on the side of the driveway,” he said.
“Alright, well I’ll rinse them off in a little while and put them in the steamer,” Pop said.
“We saw some skates too, a whole bunch of them,” Jody said. Jake turned the water on to rinse the sand off his feet.
“They come in this time every year to mate,” Pop said, and then he noticed Jake’s knee. “What happened there?” We all looked at Jake.
“He fell on the sand out front and scraped it,” Jody said. Andrew took the hose from Jake and rinsed his feet off.
“We have to get ready and go to the clubhouse for lunch. Thanks Pop,” Jody said.
“Thanks Pop,” Jake said.
“Thanks Pop,” Andrew said, and all three walked to the door being careful not to get their feet dirty again. They all slipped inside as quickly as possible to keep from letting bugs in.
“I can’t believe how many skates there were,” Andrew said.
“After lunch we’ll take out the orange boat and catch one,” Jody said. He pulled on his shirt; a topless mermaid sitting in the curve of a giant golden hook with the words ‘Catch of the Day’ above her.
“How are we going to catch one?” Jake was sitting on his bed waiting for Jody and Andrew.
“We’ll figure out a way,” Jody said. To Andrew and Jake it seemed nearly impossible, but they trusted Jody’s wisdom and imagination; it had gotten them into plenty of trouble before. Andrew was still looking for his flip flops while Jody and Jake waited outside.
“Your flip flops are right here on the steps,” Jody said. Andrew came out, slipped on his flip flops, noticed Jake was eating a cookie, and ran back inside to grab a couple.
“What are you doing? We have to go,” Jody said.
“I’m getting cookies. Want one?” Andrew was holding the door waiting for Jody’s response.
“Close the door,” Pop yelled. Andrew’s heart pounded in response.
“Come on now, you’re letting all the mosquitoes in. Act like you know what you’re doing,” Pop said.
“Yes sir,” Andrew said, as the door hissed closed behind him.
They turned right and walked along the footpath that cut through the tall marsh grasses. When the wind was blowing it would whistle through the tall blades and bend them. About midway along the path an old footbridge ran over a small stream connecting the swamp to the Bay. To the left of the path was a small swampy area. Snakes loved it here; they fed on the frogs, swam in the swampy water, slithered through the mud and came out to sun themselves on the warm, dry footpath where the sun came down straight and strong. The boys had heard somewhere that snakes can’t see or hear well, but can feel vibrations; every time they walked along the sandy footpath through the tall grass they stomped, hoping to scare off any snakes that might be sunning themselves. All three boys went stomping along the path until they reached the footbridge. Once they were over the footbridge, they went on stomping until they were through the tall grass on the other side where the path began to rise again. They turned right onto the next dirt road, shaded by interlacing branches of trees high above, and followed this straight ahead to the clubhouse.
When Sandy saw the boys she went to greet them and stopped.
“What happened to your knee?” she asked.
“I scraped it on the ground,” Jake said.
“You have a knot on your head. How did you get a knot on your head?” she asked. Jake looked down and Sandy looked at Andrew.
“How did this happen?” The air was suddenly tense and still. Andrew looked away.
“Tell me how this happened,” she said.
“They were fighting over the net and Jake fell and scraped his knee,” Jody said, hoping to avoid having to tell the full account.
“How did he hit his head?” she asked.
“I don’t know, he just hit it. But he’s alright,” Jody said.
“Did you hit him in the head with the net?” She looked at Andrew. When she was mad her eyes could be as cold and piercing as the eyes of a snake and her voice could be as subtle and threatening as a hiss.
“I don’t know.” Andrew said and looked away again.
“Yes you do. Did you hit him with the net?”
“I didn’t mean to. It was an accident. We were both holding…”
“I don’t want to hear it,” she said. Speaking to all three boys she added, “Go on in the clubhouse and get something to eat.” She looked at Andrew, “You are not to leave until I’ve had a chance to speak with you.”
As they entered the small, dark clubhouse Andrew trailed with his head lowered the way a dog tucks its tail. The roof was low and there were no windows. The lights were on but if you looked at the doorway, a glaring rectangle of light, your eyes had to readjust to the darkness of the room. Andrew poked at his food and watched his Mom on the other side of the room fixing her plate. She smiled to everyone she spoke to, but Andrew watched her face in the intervals and saw the thunderclouds building. He waited, knowing she was getting closer and closer and that soon she would be sitting on the other side of the table where he could feel the full weight of her anger and disappointment.
Everyone knows better than to stand under a tree when it storms, but he was chained to it. None of the boys had said much since they got their food. Jody and Jake dreaded what was to come as well. When Sandy sat down all three were silent. Andrew kept his eyes on his mostly uneaten food, trying to look as pitiful and sorry as he could. He waited while she carefully chose her words and arranged her thoughts like pieces on a chess board. When she started speaking she already had him in check-mate.
“I want to know how you can hurt your brother?” she said. It wasn’t a question, she didn’t want an answer, she wanted his guilt to bloom, and open wide like the petals of a carnation.
“He’s your little brother. You’re supposed to look after him. Why do you do things like this?” She paused to let this sink in.
“You’re older and a lot stronger than he is,” she said.
“I know, but he does all these annoying things when you’re not around.” Andrew raised his eyes to meet hers for the first time.
“Then you come and tell me.” Her eyes flashed and her voice hardened. “You don’t hit him in the head with a crab net.” Andrew’s eyes dropped back to the food on his plate.
“Look at your brother,” she said. Jake was sitting directly across from him, but Andrew kept staring at his plate.
“Look at him,” she said in a sharper tone. “Look at the knot on his head.” Andrew raised his eyes. Jake looked pitiful, he wasn’t trying, it came from feeling bad that Andrew was getting in trouble. Andrew felt his stomach tighten, and had to look away.
“I’m just so disappointed in you. You should know better. What am I going to do with you? I can’t trust you to go off by yourself when you do things like this,” she said.
“It was an accident. He didn’t mean to hit him with the net,” Jody said. “They aren’t going to fight anymore. Are you?” Jody looked at Andrew.
“No.” Andrew shook his head and his eyes flicked up to his mom’s face. Her eyes were on Jody; she had a settled look like the thick stillness after a storm.
“Tell your brother you’re sorry,” she said.
“What? Why?” Andrew said in a loud voice.
“Because you hit him in the head. Tell him you’re sorry.”
“We already told you it was an accident. I was already holding the net and he grabbed the handle.”
“Apologize now.” Her voice had a cold edge to it. They sat still and tense staring at each other. Jody whispered to him to say he was sorry. Jake looked back and forth between them. He had seen the force of their wills clash before like the horns of two battling rams. Sandy took a deep steadied breath. It was either to calm herself or to prepare for an onslaught; Andrew recognized it as a sign of danger.
“I’m sorry.” He mumbled.
“I don’t think he heard you; a little louder please,” she said.
“He heard me, he’s right there.”
“Say it louder.”
Andrew took a breath.
“I said I’m sorry.” It came out as a heavy sigh.
“Thank you. Go ahead and eat. You haven’t eaten any of your lunch.”
“I’m not really hungry,” Andrew said.
“Ok, but you’ll be hungry later and you’re not getting any snacks before dinner.”
Andrew took a bite of his hot dog and chewed slowly while looking at the brightness pouring through the door. The light called to him and he knew Jody and Jake felt the same pull.
“What are you planning on doing after lunch?” Sandy asked.
“We’re going to go out in the orange boat,” Jody said.
“We saw skates in the water earlier,” added Jake. Jody looked at Jake wishing he hadn’t said anything in case she told them not to mess with the rays since that was exactly what they were planning to do.
“Be careful. It’s going to storm this afternoon or early evening. Make sure you’re in before it hits.”
“We will,” Jody said quickly, then turned to Andrew. “Are you done?”
“Yeah.” Andrew put the last bite of hotdog in his mouth and stood up.
“Alright, let’s go,” Jody said.
“Bye Mom, love you.” Jake gave his Mom a hug.
“Love you too baby,” she said.
“Bye Mom,” Andrew said.
“Bye honey. You boys have fun, but be careful and behave yourselves. And don’t forget to come in before the storm comes. You don’t want to be caught out in it and get carried out to sea.” She watched them carry their plates to the trash can. When Andrew got to the door he looked back and she was smiling. He waved quickly, knowing it would make her happy.
Jody led the boys down the shady lane, to his family’s place. There was a small shed behind their cottage. He turned the key in the large padlock and swung the doors open. Next to the fishing rods, and leaning against the wall was the bright orange dinghy made of hard plastic. Jody was careful with it; it had been his father’s when he was a boy. It was heavy; he slowly lowered it from the wall with Andrew’s help and laid it on the ground outside.
“The crabbing nets are too small, we’ll have to use something else.” He looked around. “Grab one of them.” He pointed to a stack of squared, wooden posts lying next to the shed; each was about four feet tall and maybe two inches thick. Then he found a metal stake, pointed at one end, and bent at a ninety degree angle so that it fit against two sides of the post. “We’ll nail this to the post and make a spear.”
When he handed it to Andrew it was no longer a wooden post and a piece of metal, it was a spear and he felt the rush of the hunt fill him.
They heard the sound of bike tires skidding on the dirt road, and turned to see James with a short mop of thick, black hair grinning at them over the handle bars of his bike in a cloud of dust. The cloud of dust settled and he flicked down his kick stand.
“What is that?” he asked, looking at the spear.
“We’re going to catch skates with it. You should come? It’s going to be awesome,” Jody said.
“Sure,” James said.
“We won’t have enough room,” Jake said.
“Yeah we will,” Jody said. “We’ll ask Scottie to go then we can use his boat.”
“I’ll go ask him,” James said. He popped his kickstand up, peddled down the hill, and over the footpath.
Jody and Andrew carried the dinghy down the hill, straining, while Jake walked beside them carrying the spear and the small metal anchor. Before they got to the tall grass, they cut left and followed a thin trail to the inlet. They lowered the dinghy into the water and walked it farther out. The bottom here was mushy and occasionally one of the boys would jump because of something that stirred under their feet. When they were sure the boat wouldn’t drag bottom because of their weight, they got in and paddled toward Scottie’s green canoe. James and Scottie were in the water, walking out to where the canoe was anchored.
“You ride with me.” Jody pointed to James; they were the same age. “You two ride with Scottie in his boat,” he said to Andrew and Jake.
Andrew and Scottie paddled the canoe with Jake sitting between them counting jellyfish that floated on either side as they rowed from the mouth of the inlet into the open bay. He counted every fifth jellyfish out loud and the rest silently.
“Let’s head to the nets,” Jody said.
“No, I don’t want to go. We’ve never been that far,” Jake said.
“Don’t be a baby,” Andrew said. “It’s not that far.” He wanted to be the first to see the rays. His eyes scanned the choppy, blue surface for the dark tips of their fins while the waves glittered back at him from all directions. He looked so hard that he started seeing them everywhere. It was bright and the sun was hot on his shoulders as he paddled. Jake was sitting in front of him looking into the water on each side.
“Fifteen,” Jake said.
They were drawing nearer to the nets, which now looked like stitches on the blue skin of the bay. There had been no sign of the rays and there were none swimming in the small circle of poles when they drifted up to the nets.
“Why don’t we go to the next set of nets?” Jody said, he dipped his hands into the water and patted his neck and shoulders.
“I don’t want to go to there, I want to go back in,” Jake said.
“Alright, we won’t go to the nets. Here’s what we’ll do, we’ll paddle toward the public beach so we’ll be able to see the skates in case they went that way out of the inlet,” Jody said.
“I think that’s the best idea too,” Andrew said. He dipped his hands in the water and splashed a little on his shoulders and neck like Jody had. A cloud slid in front of the sun, dimming the day. Jody and James were laughing in the dinghy as they rowed to the public beach. Andrew continued to scan for rays in the water. The clouds moved and the face of the sun was clear and bright again. A breeze started so that it felt like the heat came in waves.
“There’s one,” Scottie said. Andrew jerked his head up.
“That makes twenty,” Jake said.
“Why aren’t you looking for skates?” Andrew asked.
“I did. I didn’t see any.”
“Well, keep looking,” Andrew said, his eyes still scouring the choppy, shining seascape.
“I am. I don’t see any.”
More clouds had come to hide the sun and the wind had picked up a little. They stopped far out from the beach, bobbing on the water in the canoe and dinghy. The rising wind had made the water choppy. James looked at the sky which had darkened with the swelling clouds.
“I think we should go in,” he said.
“Why?” Jody cast a quick glance at the clouds. “The storm is still a long way off. Let’s keep looking. You know it’ll be awesome when we find one.” Andrew, Scottie, and Jake watched them rocking in the small dinghy.
“You can take me in and then come back out,” James said.
“Come on, look how far out those clouds are. We can look for a little longer and if we don’t see one, we’ll go in, but if we stay and we see a skate it’ll be really cool and you know you’ll be glad you did.”
“I don’t want to be out here when the storm hits.”
“I’m going in too. I don’t want to get in trouble,” Scottie said.
“Me too,” said Jake.
“Look, I’ll ride in with them and you can stay out here,” James said.
“Well, I don’t want to stay out here by myself, it won’t be any fun. Plus I can’t paddle and spear a skate at the same time,” Jody said. “Don’t one of you want to be the one to catch the skate? Imagine what it would be like to stab a skate and pull it into the boat. We could even get Nanny to cook it for us.” He spoke excitedly, looking at the others with bright eyes.
“I’m going in. You can do what you want, but I’m not going to get caught in the storm,” James said as he paddled alongside the canoe. Scottie and Andrew grabbed the dinghy and held it as steady as they could while the waves bumped the boats together or pushed them apart.
“I’ll go,” Andrew said. After James had climbed into the canoe he climbed over into the dinghy while both boats pitched back and forth on the water.
“Mom’s going to be mad if you don’t come in,” Jake said.
“She’s not going to be mad. We’ll be in before the storm anyway,” Jody said. Jake looked at his brother with an anxious expression but didn’t say anything. Jody yelled at them as they were paddling away:
“Have fun on shore watching us catch a skate. If you’re lucky we’ll let you taste it after Nanny cooks it.”
“Yeah, after you clean it,” Andrew said. He felt lame when Jody had to force a chuckle. Jake was just a small tan form in between James and Scottie, counting jellyfish as they paddled back to shore. Jody and Andrew took a wider route and circled back around toward the inlet.
“It’s really cool that you stayed out. They’re going to regret going in when they see us rowing up with a huge skate in the boat,” Jody said. Andrew, flushed with pride, renewed his scanning of the choppy water. Again he saw a skate in every wave, and looking closer was disappointed. They heard a low rumble like the warning growl of a dog. At the same time they saw Sandy standing on the seawall in front of Nanny and Pop’s, waving her arms and yelling to them.
“She wants us to come in,” Andrew said.
“Let’s wave and pretend like we don’t know what she wants and we think she’s just waving,” Jody said. They both waved back, laughing at their little joke. Sandy waved her arms in toward the house to eliminate any possible misinterpretation, and continued to yell.
“We should go in. I can tell she isn’t playing,” Andrew said.
“You’re probably right.”
“I really thought we were going to catch a skate though. It would have been awesome.”
“Yeah, it would have. Hey, let’s paddle slow and maybe we’ll see one on the way in,” Jody said.
A louder rumble rolled from the dark clouds, across the water. On shore Sandy’s arms were waving wildly and she yelled louder – if that’s possible – as though she were trying to match the storm. Nanny was standing beside Sandy, yelling and waving with her. Jake, James and Scottie were all watching us from shore.
Andrew and Jody were close enough now to hear her.
“Hurry up and get in here right now,” she growled. Another low rumble was followed by the fierce crack of a thunderclap. She walked over to the boat landing.
“Let’s paddle a little faster,” Andrew said.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” said Jody. Sandy was standing right at the edge of the water. The sky and water were darker, the waves were rougher and the wind was pushing against them so that they had to paddle hard to make headway. It all happened quickly.
“What is she doing?” Jody said. When Andrew looked his Mom was about knee deep in the water.
“What are you doing? We’re coming in,” he yelled to his Mom.
Just then a skate surfaced to their right, large and dark. The tips of its wings rose out of the water like devil’s horns and water rolled across its glossy back. Andrew, being in the front of the boat saw him first. He rose to his feet, spear in hand like Poseidon’s trident. The first white-hot vein of lightning flashed in the dark grey distance of the horizon like a thunderbolt of Zeus. A cracking rumble shook the sky and Earth. He watched the skate, flapping its lazy wing-like fins, floating closer like a bird flying into the sight of a rifle.
He steadied himself, poised to strike, waiting for the ray to swim into reach. Lightning lit up the sky behind them again. Only several feet away, on the other side of the ray, something burst from the water. It took him a moment to realize it was his Mom. The skate was directly in between them; and it turned toward Sandy as the growl from the storm sank to a low rumble.
“Get the skate,” Jody yelled.
“Don’t do it,” yelled Sandy.
“Just use the spear. He’s right there.”
“Andrew, don’t you dare,” Sandy said. The skate was directly between them.
“You better listen to me.” Her voice kind of trailed off because the skate had turned and was now facing her.
“Mom, let me get it,” Andrew said in a quiet, sure voice. “It’s right here; I know exactly what to do. I know I can get it.”
“Come on, get it.” Jody’s voice was urging, impatient.
“Andrew,” his Mom said. He was still balancing on the dinghy as it pitched with the waves. He had a good grip on the spear; one hand on the end, the other in the middle, with the tip pointed at the skate, watching it float, facing his Mom with its fins rising and falling. The ray slowly sunk to the bottom. He saw it turn out to the Bay just before it disappeared completely in the dark water.
Before they were out of the water rain had started to fall. Jody and Andrew carried the dinghy around the house and set it upside down beside the driveway.
“This isn’t going to be fun. You’re Mom is going to really let us have it. I wish we could hide somewhere until she wasn’t mad anymore,” Jody said.
“I’d rather be out in the storm in the orange boat than inside with her when she’s mad like this,” Andrew said. The rain was falling hard and cold. They walked slowly to the house and peeked inside before stepping in to brave the storm.

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 20.02.2010

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