Body, Body (By M.G. Staten)

The Dark

Everyone in this town thinks that Daddy's crazy.

If I'm being honest, I used to think that Daddy was crazy. His obsession with locking all the doors and windows was enough to make anyone who didn't know his reasoning question his sanity. He liked to wag his finger at me, and say "If you dare to get caught outside after dark, I'm not going to be the one to come out there and save your bottom."

7:30 pm. Every. Single. Evening. COUNT ON IT. You had better be inside by then, or you'll be stuck out in the frigid Montana air until morning. Once he turns the latches and slides the bar across the doors, no one gets in and no one gets out. We're put on lockdown until the sun rises the next day.

I didn't understand what the big deal was when I was a little girl. Every time I asked Momma would simply smile say, "Daddy's just scared of the dark." The picture in my head I got of that man, all broad shoulders encased in six and a half feet, scared of something so silly was enough to draw a laugh out of eight year old me.

Even as a child, I was never scared of the dark. Now, I'm 14 and questioning everything I don't know.

But I do know one thing. He isn't scared of the dark. He's scared of what lurks within it.

3:30pm
South Windsor High School school lets out at 2:30 every afternoon, and as soon as I get home, I speed through homework. Then, I'm outside helping Daddy tend to the cows and horses on our little mountain ranch.

I relish in the scent of hay and leather for hours on end, sitting on the back of a stocky, buckskin quarter horse. The sound of his hooves churning up the earth beneath him, continuously in rhythm with the cows as we herded them along. With our border collie, Beau, nipping at their heels, they moved together as a massive sea of browns and whites and blacks, horse and rider becoming one.

Then, there are some days that we have to do border checks, just to make sure no fences need repairing. Today was one of those days.

I walked my horse alongside Daddy's, both of us silent as we took in the view. The earth rose in enormous swells of green and grey and brown, dusted with powdery snow. The mountains reached for the cotton clouds that floated amongst a blanket of blue, just grazing the surface of the heavens.

What could possibly be out there that scares him so much?

"Hey Dad, can I ask you a question?"

He glanced over at me from the massive red horse he sat on. "Sure kiddo. What's on your mind?"

I shifted the smooth leather reins in my hands. "Well... I was wondering what the big deal was with the doors and windows." I said quietly, feeling his dark chocolate gaze settling on my face. "Momma used to tell me that you were scared of the dark, but I know that there's more to it than that."

He seemed to think about this for a long moment, the gears in his head turning over and over, then he replied, "There are a lot of monsters out there in the world that will get you when you least expect it. They will decieve you with a sweet-as-honey voice, then they pounce." His gaze shifted to the mountains around us. "I just want us to be safe." He and I locked eyes for a long moment. "You'll understand someday, Nat." He gave a soft smile, and I returned one of my own.

Silence settled in between us once again.

5:00pm
In the distance, I could see something. It was big, laying on the ground, all black and appearing to be wet...

"Hey, what's that up there?" I voiced my thoughts.

Daddy was already squinting his eyes, trying to see what it was. I watched the realization wash over his face. "Oh my god..." he mumbled under his breath. "That's one of our heifers. Come on, lets see whats happend." He gave his steed a kick and took off, with me close behind.