Dusk Harbor 1999

I've Been Paged

Jordan sat in a Ferris wheel car, with Drake on the bench across from him, Olive on his right, and Sarah on his lap. They were halfway up. Sarah kept gasping and yelling about everything she could see.

"Uncle Jay! I can see a dog! He's sooo little!" She exclaimed.

He looked where she was pointing. Sure enough, a few throngs of people away, there was a small brown dog.

"He does look small from up here!" He said.

Olive jabbed Drake in the knee and pointed at something. They both looked down and laughed.

"Haha!" Olive yelled. "He dropped his ice cream!"

"Loser!" Drake called out.

Jordan looked at the two of them.

"Guys, that's not nice." He said.

"I know," Drake replied. "But it's funny."

Jordan rolled his eyes and let them carry on snickering about people. They'd be grounded soon enough. Probably for two weeks. Like the last time they were caught stealing. He was mildly proud of their success, although he should have been mad at them. It was hard to be angry when three little kids could pull off what they had. It was far easier to be impressed.

The Ferris wheel car carried them higher and higher until they were at the highest they could be. It locked into place. Hovering sixty-three feet in the air. He could see the parking lot and all the cars in it to his right. A cool breeze came by, carrying the scent of dust. The metal car creaked as it rocked gently. 

The golden sun was skimming the tops of the trees. The sky was stained red and orange with streaks of pink wispy clouds that reminded him of the huge cone of cotton candy that Olivia had earlier.

"Look!" He pointed to the parking lot.

The kids all looked to where he was pointing.

"To this side of the lot, up there near that first lamppost. See that little blue car?" He asked.

Sarah gasped.

"Is that your car?" She asked.

"It sure is!" He replied.

"Wow. It looks like a Skittle!" She exclaimed.

"It kinda does."

This moment was perfect. It made him wish he had children of his own. Made him wish he could share such a scene with them. Sometimes he couldn't help but think about what he'd name his own kids, or what he'd teach them. Most of the time those thoughts were nowhere near his mind, and whenever Allie asked him if he ever wanted any he would reply with; 'I dunno'.

He just couldn't make up his mind. So if it happened, he'd be happy. If it didn't, he might feel a little sad, but he'd be fine either way.

The Ferris wheel clicked and groaned as it lurched into motion. The descent began.

"Uncle Jay?" Olive said in a small voice.

"Yeah?"

"Where do the colors in the sunset come from?"

"Well, uh," He had to think for a minute. Think of an explanation. He didn't know the exact science behind it. "You see, people think of the day ending as a bad thing. Since it gets dark out and the sun goes away. They get kinda sad about it. So God made sunsets look beautiful with all these colors and everything. So that the people wouldn't feel so bad about the sun going away. It proves that there's something amazing about every situation."