Safelight by Casey Lown

Author:Casey Lown [Lown, Casey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: West Railroad Books
Published: 2021-08-16T22:00:00+00:00

The mountains were the ancient kind. Gentle, tree-covered humps rather than jagged peaks. Melted mounds of whipped cream waiting to be served. Emily drove while Mary dangled her bare feet out the passenger window and attempted to find a radio station that would reach them among the Appalachian valleys and ridges.

Downtown Hot Springs was largely vacant save for a handful of quaint restaurants and outdoor supply stores. Shops gleaming with a fresh coat of paint that hinted a possible revival for the sleepy town if its inhabitants could adapt before it was too late.

Hudson issued them a paper car tag at the camp office, and Emily rolled the truck through the wooded campground, pressing the brake every time a child, dog, or drunken adult wandered in front of the Ford.

They quickly discovered they lacked the coordination necessary to set up the tent.

Emily scratched her head. “I guess Dad was always the one to put it up.

Mary dropped the sagging sail of canvas and gestured to a group a few sites up from them. “Let’s just get one of those girl scouts to do it. They’ve probably got a merit badge for tent erection.”

Emily snorted. “Tent erection.”

“Dork.” Mary set off to recruit a couple of willing preteens while Emily wandered to the river’s edge.

The French Broad. Her father’s happy place.

Each morning, he would grab his fishing pole and tackle box and disappear for the day. Emily never minded. She had her books. They barely spoke to each other throughout the weekend, and they were both okay with that, as if by admitting to their emotional separation, they maintained what little bond remained between them.

She peered across the rushing water to where she knew his old fishing platform to be. A flat slab of stone just underneath the river’s surface from which he would catch their dinner. Trout, on good days, but they would settle for bass. If he was especially unlucky, they hiked to the pizza parlor downtown.

Slipping out of her shoes, Emily picked her way toward the rock, arms outstretched. Her feet became numb in a matter of seconds, sliding over the smooth stones. The trek was more difficult than she expected. After a few perilous moments crouched against the strong current, she finally made it, soaked from her armpits down. Once she was perched on the stone, the water could only lick her ankles. The platform was situated farther out than she realized.

“Well,” she said, gazing with longing toward the shore, “this is my home now.”

Keenly aware she was stranded, insects swarmed her, calculating how long until she perished so they could feast. At least I’ll have served a purpose, she thought.

Imagining her body slipping into the water to decompose and house generations of fish, Emily remembered her creature. She had finally looked it up in one of her old Golden Nature Guides. Not an eel, like she initially thought, but a hefty, two-limbed salamander: a siren. Emily had laughed at the name. A taxonomist must have been in a humorous mood that day.

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