Brain Bits To Go

Flash Fiction February Day 16

The Curfew

Will, Crystal and Donna walked laughing through the park. On their left, the varied fences belied the endless monotony of the suburban detached homes lining Holocene Place Private. To their right, a dozen yards away, a lively stream burbled over stones at the bottom of a small ravine.

At sixteen, Will was a year and half older than Crystal and took his big brother duties seriously. She and Donna had been hanging out with their friend Julie. Because it was coming on dark when it was time to go home, she had called him to walk her home. And now they were making their way through the gathering night.

There weren’t any lights in the park, but there was enough spill over from people’s back windows and the streetlights nearby that they could easily make out the path they followed. As the walked, the girls told Will about the movie they had seen earlier in the evening with Julie and a couple of their other friends. It was a teen comedy about the normal girls out-smarting the pretty, cliquey girls and of course turning out to be prettier than their tormentors.

Will was pretty sure Donna was prettier than any of her snobby classmates. Not that he liked her like that. She was Crystal’s friend, and that made it weird. Even if she was six months older than his sister.

The park had widened out here and the path ran farther form the fence and the lights. Suddenly, a shadowy figure stepped in front of them and a brilliant light dazzled their eyes. Donna screamed and both girls grabbed hold of Will and tried to hide behind him. He raised a hand to shield his eyes.

“What are you doing out here?”, called a gruff voice they all knew. 

“Deputy Lawson.”, exclaimed Crystal. “What the heck are you doing? You just about scared the life out of us!”

“I’m asking the questions, and I still want to know what you’re doing out here.” The deputy lowered the light somewhat and they were able to make out the glint of the badge on his chest and the police utility belt riding below his noticeable belly.

Will answered for them. “The girls were over at Julie Holland’s place. They were running late, so Crystal called and asked me to walk them home.”

Now, it was Crystal’s turn to speak up. “What’s the big deal anyway? We walk through here all the time.”

“You must’ve seen the notices at school or at the movie house or the flyers we sent out to everyone’s homes. They’re everywhere.”

“Well yeah,”, admitted Donna, “but nobody took it seriously. I mean my Dad’s on the town council and he hadn’t heard anything about starting a curfew.”

The deputy hitched up his belt. “If your Daddy went to a few more council meetings, he would’ve known about it. They talked about it at the last two meetings.”

“My Dad has been really busy with the dealership. Still, if they were going to introduce something big like that, they would’ve had to hold a general vote. They would’ve called to make sure he was there for that.”

“I’m sure he has, my cousin got himself a new Bronco there just last week.” The deputy broke off and gave a nervous cough. “But that doesn’t matter.”

He continued in his ‘official’ voice. “This curfew isn’t new. It’s been on the books for a long time. Every 43 years, from May twenty-third to August nineteenth, anyone under twenty years old has to be in their homes from sundown to sunrise. No exceptions.”

He glanced around nervously. “Now no more arguing. Get home now! Donna. Call your parents from Hyatt’s place and tell them you have to stay the night on my orders because of the curfew. Your folks will understand.”

Donna started to object, but the officer cut her off with a shout. “Move it! NOW!”

He stepped aside as the startled kids hurried by.

Even deputy Lawson jumped as a new voice spoke up from the shadows. “Now Dave, there’s no need to frighten these youngsters.”

The voice was warm, deep and reassuring. Crystal thought she could hear the smile on the face of the speaker. She knew that person was smiling, because unless he was presiding over a funeral, pastor Hill was almost always smiling.

The pastor moved into the light of Lawson’s flashlight. He was tall and fit looking with laugh-lines etched at the corners of his eyes and wore a lazy, good-natured smile.

“You were so loud, I bet the nice folks in those houses yonder are wondering where they’re supposed to be moving to and why now.”, he ribbed the deputy who shifted uneasily. It was a mild remonstrance, but Will could never remember the pastor delivering any other kind.

“Sorry Reverend.”, the police officer mumbled.

“Not to worry Dave.” He patted Lawson’s shoulder. “You go ahead with the rest of your patrol. I’ll take care of these wandering sinners.” This last was punctuated with a chuckle which seemed to say their sins were not really so terrible.

The deputy flinched as if struck. “I can see them home. No need for you to trouble yourself.”

“It’s no trouble. Besides, you should really be getting over to Holocene to let the good people there know that no great crime has been committed in their beautiful park.”

The smile was the same, but for a moment, Donna thought she saw a different face, a harder one carved out by the beam of the deputy’s light.

“Of course, Reverend. I’ll go do that now.” He hesitated and a look of profound sadness crossed his face. “Goodbye kids.”

The three chorused variations on “Goodnight deputy Lawson!” But Will couldn’t help but wonder why he had heard ‘goodbye’ rather than good night.

“Let’s be on our way.”, invited pastor Hill. “Don’t worry about losing Mr. Lawson’s light, I have excellent night vision.”

After their recent fright, the kids were quiet. Eventually, Crystal broke the silence. “I wonder what the curfew is about and why deputy Lawson said it’s only every forty-three years. That’s a really random number. Do you know Reverend?”

“Actually, I do.” He slowed his pace and his voice took on the lilting, almost musical tone it held when he ministered to his flock.

“Caine’s Rest has a long history and some of it was quite unpleasant. Mostly, it was the beautiful, safe, peaceful place you all know and call home. But it seemed like for a few months every forty-three years young people who were out after dark would go missing.”

The young people huddled slightly closer together and it wasn’t just the evening chill. “The townspeople had no real idea of what was happening, but they could see the pattern. A few families left, but most didn’t want to give up the fertile lands and good life they enjoyed so they stayed and came up with a plan. For the next cycle, they sent every person under twenty away to stay with family or friends for the summer.”

He paused, and his audience eager for the rest stopped walking.

In the darkness, his smile broadened.

“It seemed a foolproof plan, and it should have been. In late August the young people started coming home. The night the last one arrived, every child in the town disappeared.”

“What the hell?” Crystal’s voice quavered and it was clear the Pastor’s story had unsettled her. “I remember seeing something in the newspaper morgue when I was researching a paper for my civics class. I thought it must’ve been sad for their families, bud didn’t think more of it than that.”

Pastor Hill nodded. “It’s something about this place. Almost like it doesn’t really want people to remember. That’s why the curfew is on the books. It’s a way for them to remind the next generation of town council people of what’s coming.”

Donna was also feeling spooked. “So then what are you doing out here at night pastor? I mean, why would you be out in the park?”

He smiled his warm, easy smile. “I’m just out here looking for lost souls like you who are out after dark. Someone has to look, so I figured it might as well be me.” His face darkened momentarily. “Luckily, I found you first.”

Will spoke up. “We’re really close to our place. We should be okay from here.” He shrugged nervously as he spoke.

“You know,” the reverend said softly, “it used to be so hard. Back then, most kids listened to their parents and to their teachers and the police. Very few would break the curfew.”

He turned his head and for an instant, his eyes caught the light like those of a dog.

“I love the rebellious streak in young people today. They believe they can do whatever they want. They don’t care what anybody says.” He gave a low chuckle. “They’ll stay late at a friend’s house and walk home in the dark if they want. It makes it all so much easier.”

The kids were truly frightened now, but it was too late.

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So, I didn’t hit my goal of a story a day in February. I did complete sixteen stories, and like they say, “That ain’t nothin’.”

Keep an eye out here. There’s a decent chance of more stories to follow.

Cheers,