The Birdseed (Online) March 2022
He
put a checkmark in the ledger next to his own name in the column marked
“Absent/Unexcused”. He was only a couple
of minutes late. No one really wanted to get down to business, anyway. No one
wanted to stay, but no one dared leave.
Only four or five of them had ever actually been struck by lightning.
Two were twins, but their identical siblings were elsewhere. Everyone was
dreaming, hoping for better days in far more hospitable places, but everyone
was, after all, only dreaming and—sadly—everyone knew they were only dreaming.
No one dared to wake up.
No one could wait for it all to be over with, least of all him. He checked his watch and double-checked the ledger; noted his own unexcused absence. He closed his eyes and made a silent wish.