Fourteen Days: The Reckoning by Joseph D Nirmaier

Author:Joseph D Nirmaier [Nirmaier, Joseph D]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-01-13T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Saturday

Luke and Amy were awake well before sunrise, quietly puttering around the kitchen, getting a pot of coffee going on the propane stove. Opening the large door of the kitchen refrigerator, Amy was elated seeing the neat stack of rib-eye steaks that were going to be grilled last night safely cool in the now nearly empty appliance. The cooling fan on the small, fifteen-hundred-watt inverter powering the fridge was humming lightly in its soothing tone, and she checked the DC voltage gauge on the device - twelve and a half volts. “Still good,” she murmured before taking in the delicious smell of the percolating coffee as she let the hot steam escaping its curved spout condense on her face.

Amy looked longingly at the reflection created by the globe of the lone oil lamp on the island. The delicate piece of glass cast a perfect circle of light on the off-white ceiling, bringing her a deep sense of calm. Something about the glow from the wick of an oil lamp or the flickering flames of candlelight calmed her. She didn’t know what it was about it and cared even less. She simply appreciated their effects on her. Noticing the antique lamp getting low on oil, she would ask Pops where he kept the kerosene stored after he woke up.

Luke paced the floor quietly in his stocking-clad feet, anxiously waiting for the coffee to finish. Last night, the old man had laid out quite an agenda, and today would be a hectic day. Finally seeing the rich, dark brown color bubbling under the crystal knob that served as a handle on the lid of the percolator, he poured himself a cup of the black brew, then turned the gas off to the burner. Like Amy, Luke greatly respected the simpler things in life. Together, they cherished the ‘old ways’ of doing things and strived to bring that simplicity into their daily lives as often as possible. Today, simplicity is the new normal. Society, at least in the United States, had unwittingly and unwillingly returned to its roots. While life has certainly become exponentially more challenging, it also brings with it a great sense of accomplishment, especially in the form of a delicious cup of coffee.

Luke sat in his old man’s rocking chair before the cast iron wood stove with his coffee cup in hand. While the stove was cold, he still felt good as he stared into its smoke-stained glass door and the light grey ash inside the firebox. As he reminisced, he remembered the words the old man had repeatedly uttered over the years, “fuel, air, and spark; it’s the most basic equation in life, and it can be applied to nearly every circumstance you will ever encounter.”

Pulling his shoes on, a pair of olive drab Vietnam War-era jungle boots, Luke laced them up, and with his hot coffee cup in hand, he prepared to venture outside into the cool morning air. Passing the calendar on the wall, Luke used the Sharpie and put a big X through Friday.

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