Through Glass by Rebecca Ethington Read Free Book Online

vibrations while lying on my desk as my eyes scanned the sky, waiting for everything to end.
    The sound grew as the darkness began to seep lower into the world below. The silky black of the sky above our heads darkened as it rippled like the waves of an ocean. The ebbs and flows moving over the sky like water before it pooled and began to fall. Thicker than rain, slow and steady, the sky dripped thousands of drops of black; the color smooth and shiny as the black rain moved and fell. The dark fell onto us, bathing the pristine streets in liquid smoke, covering what little I could still see in a smothering blanket that only promised death.
    The sky had begun to bleed in ebony streaks.
    My heart beat accelerated, the sound in my ears adding to the screech that sang with the rain that fell on top of us. My fear peaked as I watched it. My body shaking as I fought to move, to get away, but my body wouldn’t respond. I watched as the black hit against my window, leaving black streaks of what looked like oil against the pane. Drop after drop hit the window, streaking the glass as the terrifying screech that had filled me evaporated.
    The pain that had filled my body slowly left, leaving me numb with residual pressure as I lay still, watching the sky fall on top of us from my curled position on the desk. My chest heaved as I caught my breath and control over my body slowly came back. I lifted myself slowly, my body aching as I slid my feet onto the windowsill, with my face pressed against the glass as I watched the drops of ink seep from the sky. The mass of them was growing until they became something more and cut through the air with the wide brim of a sail.
    It was no longer just the black rain that floated gracefully toward us. There were now black masses floating like wispy smoke, dancing through the air like an elegant gown. The black ribbons fell through the already darkened sky, making the black that surrounded us more oppressive, but strangely, I didn’t care. I didn’t care about the dark anymore. I didn’t care about the vanishing sun or the way the sky had bled. The fear I had felt vanished and all I wanted was to sit here and watch the dancing blackness fall from the sky, wishing I could be among them. It twirled and spun through the air as it fell to the ground, swirling down on top of us.
    I watched the ribbons of darkness fall, mesmerized by their beauty, by the calm serenity that they brought to the suddenly dark world. My body loosened as I watched them, my breathing slowed as everything relaxed. I didn’t know why I had been so afraid only a minute before. The darkness was beautiful. I smiled as they continued to fall, the darkness taking away what little I had been able to see, only to disappear against the earth in a splash of smoke and sparkling tinsel.
    Cohen’s grandfather was out amongst them. He stood in the driveway, a rake in his hands as he watched the glitter fall through the air. I watched him as they fell around him. He smiled at their beauty.
    I wanted to be with him. I wanted to dance amongst the fans of black and feel the smoke against my skin. I reached my hand toward the clasp on my window, desperate to touch them. I froze in awe with my hand soft against the lock of the window as Cohen’s grandfather extended his hand out to let his fingers touch the silky smoke that danced before him.
    His fingers grazed the surface of the smoke ribbon, the black glittering around him like a dozen falling stars. It moved through his fingers and brushed against his skin until it disappeared at the same time that the high pitched screech I had heard before filled my ears. I jumped at the sound while the relaxing bliss I had felt mere seconds before vanished as panic took over. It called like a bird, the terrifying sound tensing in my muscles. Cohen’s grandfather didn’t seem to hear the warning call. He moved his hand into the sheet of black before him and, with that one touch, the smoke was gone, the