Light

A short story originally published in OFF BEAT: Nine Spins on Song

The Opening Scenes

The train's wheels screeched against the rails, the brakes fighting the slope. Luken converged his energy and shifted through his realm to access the other world where the sound originated. Zain was close behind him.

"Please don't," Zain said. He extended his energy and linked to Luken's trail. "It's too dangerous."

"Stop worrying. I've got this. I've done it a million times before."

"And it's a million times lucky you haven't fallen." Zain reversed his momentum to slow Luken's pace. "You're going to run out of luck."

Luken whirled and freed himself from Zain's hold. "It's not luck, it's skill." He streaked ahead. "C'mon. Do it with me."

Sparks flew from the wheels, bridging the gap between their world and the Dark. Luken zipped forward and merged his energy with the sparks. 

He pierced the Dark. 

Earth and plants and rocks came into view, speeding past. Luken reached farther. Blades of grass hit into his energy and tingled. He surfed over stones. He laughed as he dodged boulders and structures that flew at him with the train's movement.

"That's enough," Zain called. "Come back."

Luken ignored him. He undulated up and down, moving with and against the wind. He contracted his energy to the side of the train when a tree came close. Up ahead he saw a patch of plants with balls of fuzzy propellers ready to lift seeds into the sky. He wanted to free them. He stretched his energy to reach them.

"No," Zain said. "That's too far." He connected to Luken and pulled.

Luken hit the plants and the seeds exploded. He turned and watched them swirl in gusts produced by the passing train. 

"Watch out!" Zain yelled.

Luken spun. A boulder as tall as the train punched into his energy and stretched him away from the sparks that tied him to home.

Zain amped and heaved backward.

Luken retracted but barely moved. The sparks dimmed.

Zain yanked harder but Luken's energy slithered away. "No. No!" Zain shot into the sparks and punctured the Dark. He seized more of Luken's energy, barely a glow. He reversed his momentum and willed Luken's energy to return, to come home. Luken's light faded to a flicker.

He was lost to the Dark. There was no bringing him back when only a glint remained. Zain needed to close the puncture they'd made between their world and the Dark before the train's wheels stopped sparking and the link was lost.

Zain concentrated on the tiny point of light that was Luken and leapt.

#

Zain tumbled on the ground, tasting dirt and leaves. He thudded into a rock. Pain punched his ribs. He moaned and opened his eyes. Crushed grass marked the path he'd made from the train tracks above. He smelled sage and soil and creosote.

He raised his hands and examined them. They were young hands, and dirty from the fall. He lifted one leg. Blood oozed from the knee and scrapes marked the shins. It stung. He moved his other leg and his hip twinged. He gasped. Zain shifted his weight, straightened his leg, and rolled onto his side. The pain eased. He sat up.

Light shined everywhere. It glared from the sky, it glinted off the tracks, it reflected off dew on the leaves. But there was no Luken.

Zain stood and scanned the valley. Grassy meadows surrounded him, with clusters of cottonwood trees and a small creek running off the nearby hills. Farther away he saw wooden fences surrounding fields where cows grazed. No other man-made structures were in sight. Only open space as far as he could see.

A breeze tickled the back of his neck. He gazed down at the body he inhabited. Hair on his legs and his arms, even some on his chest. And more around the penis. This body was male, and not too old. The musculature was toned, the skin tight. 

"I can work with this," Zain said. "Thank God I didn't end up an infant or we'd never get back."

Get back…wait…why do I remember?

Zain had heard the stories. Those of the Light who chose to experience a human life didn't remember their origin. They started their human journey as infants and the memories of Light soon faded to be replaced by those of their human experience.

But none of them started their human experience by falling through a light portal. That was never supposed to happen.

Zain moved his legs forward, balancing, and was soon able to walk. After pulling a barb from his foot, he traveled along the tracks, using railroad ties as steps to avoid sharp rocks and thorns hidden in the grasses.

"Luken," Zain called. He searched the landscape and watched for signs of him. "Luken."

Many minutes passed. Zain continued to walk the tracks and call. He clenched and unclenched his jaw.

Off in the distance he heard a sound. Luken? Or a bird? He increased his pace and heard the sound again. He stopped and waited.

"Zain."

"I'm here." Zain dashed toward Luken's voice. He found him crumpled in tall grass, his brown hair playing host to a horde of small bugs. Zain knelt and brushed the bugs away. "Are you okay?"

"I walked as far as I could. I tried to get to the water," Luken said. His eyes closed.

Luken's body was male and even younger than Zain's. The muscles were not as well formed, and he wasn't as tall as Zain. But at least he wasn't an infant.

"C'mon, I'll help you to the stream." Zain put his arm around Luken's torso and lifted.

"It's not far." Luken pointed to the creek flowing behind them.

"Yes, I see it. Let's go." Zain eased Luken forward and steadied him against his hip, shuffling toward the stream's bank. They crouched by the water and dipped their cupped hands into the current. 

Icy water ran down Zain's throat. "This is good." He slurped another handful.

Luken nodded. "But why? Why did I want this so badly?" He drank more.

"Your body needs it," Zain said. "And we have to take care of these bodies so we're strong enough to get home."

"We're never going home." Luken rolled over and stared at the sky. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you should be. That was stupid," Zain said. "But we will get back." I hope.

"Why didn't you just let go?"

"Because I couldn't let you fall and leave you to figure out how to get home on your own." Zain splashed water on his face. He shivered. 

"So how do we do it?" Luken asked.

"I'm not sure, but I think we wait for another train, and the sparks."

"And then what? We're not light anymore—we're human." Luken swiped at a rock near the edge of the water. It splunked into the pool.

"We are still light, but in a human shell. We'll just shed the shell when it's time."

"Do these things come with zippers? 'Cause I don't see one, so I'm pretty sure we're stuck," Luken said. 

Zain fingered his back, hoping to find a zipper, knowing he wouldn't. "We'll figure it out, okay? There has to be a way." He stood and held his hand out. "C'mon, we need to get out of the sun."

Luken took Zain's hand and pulled himself up. "But it feels good. It's warm."

"But it burns human skin. I told you, we have to take care of these bodies for now." He pointed to a grove of trees. "Let's rest there and wait for the next train."

"It could be days. And my stomach hurts," Luken said.

"Hmm…mine too. We're hungry."

"Hungry?"

Luken hasn't retained as much knowledge as I have…

"We need food. Our bodies need food to keep them going." Zain shielded his eyes from the sun and searched the area around them. "There." He pointed to a small cabin up the hill, above the tracks. "Maybe we can find something to eat. At least we'll be out of the sun. And we'll still be able to hear a train when it comes."

Zain and Luken hiked up the slope. Zain was careful to step where the ground seemed clear but still found sharp pebbles and prickly plants that hurt his feet.

Luken cried out when cactus pierced his heel. "I don't get why anyone chooses human. These bodies are fragile." He plucked a spike from his skin and tossed it aside.

"I know. Just watch where you step. We're almost there," Zain said.

A moment later they stood on the wooden porch of the old cabin. The steps leading up to it had nearly rotted away. One corner of the roof hung low, ready to collapse. The front door had no lock.

"I'm guessing no one's home, and hasn't been home in a long time." Zain knocked. "Hello?" The door swung inward. Zain pushed it the rest of the way. "Hello?"

Cobwebs hung across the tattered curtains on the window next to the door. Zain moved inside, Luken close behind. The cabin was a single room with large windows adding plenty of light. There was a ragged green couch against a wall, and a coffee table with the initials RJ carved into a corner. Matchbooks stuffed under one leg balanced the table.

Across the room was a square table, its red surface bubbled and peeling. Three metal folding chairs sat around it, and a plastic five-gallon bucket served as the fourth chair. In the center of the table was a portable lantern. 

"Not totally abandoned," Luken said. He walked to the far wall where there was a counter with a sink, and a camping stove sitting next to it. He turned the handle on the faucet but nothing happened. "That's no good," he said. 

Zain looked out the back door window. "There's a pump. Hopefully it's working." He nodded toward Luken. "Check the cupboards."

Luken opened the cupboard closest to him. He removed a bag, already opened. "Some kind of ranch-flavored tortilla chips." He took a chip and popped it in his mouth. He grimaced, chewed fast and swallowed. "Ugh, what is this stuff?"

"According to humans, it's food," Zain said.

"I don't think so." Luken ate another chip.

Zain opened another cupboard and found two cans of baked beans, a can of tuna, half a loaf of stale, white bread, two wrinkled apples, another bag of chips, and a jar of peanut butter.  "I guess we won't starve." He reached for one of the apples. It caved against his touch. "But we won't be eating these." He carried both apples to the front door and chucked them down the hill. He wiped goo from his hands onto the doorframe.

"You're wasting food," Luken said.

"That was no longer food."

Luken took the bag of chips and plopped onto the couch. He shoved three chips into his mouth.

"I thought you said those weren't food," Zain said.

"They're kinda growing on me." Luken swallowed. "I wish we had more."

Zain tossed the second bag to him. "Your lucky day."

"Except for being stuck here, sure." He tore open the bag and crunched a fresh chip. "Oh these are better. Crisper."

"I'm going to see if we have water." Zain found a jug under the sink and carried it outside. He put it down while he pumped the handle. The spout gushed air but Zain kept at it until he felt the pressure change. A moment later the spout gurgled then spat muddy water. After a few more pumps, clear water poured out. Zain filled the jug. 

He was turning toward the cabin when a glint in the distance caught his eye. Was it a train? He listened, but there was no rumbling in the ground, or chugging, or whistles. Maybe they've come to help us get back. He stared at the light but soon the shine faded. He watched for another moment but it didn't reappear. He went inside.

"We have water." He raised the jug in front of him. "And there's an outhouse, too."

"Gross about the outhouse. But good about the water. I am so thirsty." Luken jumped up and grabbed for the jug.

"Hold on. I don't want to drink your chip backwash. Look for a cup or something." Zain waved him toward another cupboard.

Luken found plastic tumblers and removed two, one red and one blue. "Here."

Zain filled the blue one for Luken, and the red one for himself. 

Together they figured out how to use the camping stove and heated a can of beans. Zain dumped half a can on each of their plates, and did the same with the can of tuna. And they each had a slice of bread smeared with peanut butter. 

"Won't someone be mad at us for eating their food?" Luken asked.

"We'll make it up to them," Zain said, but he had no idea how. 

They finished their meal and set their plates in the sink.

"It's getting dark," Luken said. "And cold."

Zain turned on the portable lantern and set it on the coffee table. He opened a closet next to the front door. The air inside smelled like horses and dust.  He found a stack of ratty blankets and took the top few off the pile. They smelled just like the closet. "Here." He tossed two to Luken. 

"Ugh. They stink," Luken said.

"I know. We probably stink, too, so it doesn't matter. And they'll still keep you warm." Zain wrapped his around himself and sat next to Luken. "There are more in the closet if you need them. It could get pretty cold tonight."

"Thanks. I think I'll be okay." Luken tucked himself into the corner of the couch and stretched his legs onto the coffee table. "I'm pretty tired."

"Me too." Zain switched off the lamp and copied Luken's position, but at the other corner. He listened to crickets and the distant call of a nighthawk. A few minutes later, Luken was snoring. Zain smiled. But his smile faded when he thought about how they'd get back to the Light. Unless the Light sent help, he didn't know what to do.