Prax by Nikki Auberkett

Author:Nikki Auberkett [Auberkett, Nikki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-04-21T16:00:00+00:00

It didn’t take long to finish the votives and soon she was pulling into the parking lot of the small church the Evans family attended, the chapel near Aidon’s house which also skirted the edge of Nanabozho. Cars filled the parking lot and people quietly milled into the open doors, where Prax could see candles already lit. The setting sun cast an otherworldly glow through the stained glass windows, adding to the light which filled the chapel as people held hands and prayed.

Prax silently wove her way through the crowd, grateful that this particular delivery only consisted of smaller arrangements. She set each votive on the altar, on the sides of prayer benches set up front, and reached for the book of matches in her pocket.

She wasn’t quite sure what made her pause. No vision filled her eyesight, no sounds echoed unnaturally in her ears or mind. But as she struck a match and leaned to light the first candle on the altar, she hesitated.

A feeling, something buried deep within, welled to the surface of her being. While her lungs gasped for air earlier, now they felt like they contained too much oxygen, her heart too full, her limbs too heavy. Her fingers trembled and nearly dropped the lit match, but she caught herself and set flame to wick.

A prayer moved between her lips. She didn’t know the words, couldn’t place mind to meaning, but that something uttered secrets to Heaven as she lit the candle on the altar. Tears kissed her lashes as she gazed into the flame.

There it was. The something became a presence, a warmth around her shoulders, a gentle nudge to her back. It turned her feet around, made her shift her focus to the small group huddled in the center of the room.

Davidson stood amongst the group, one comforting hand on the shoulder of a weeping, praying Donna Wilkins, his other arm cradling a Bible to his chest. Even in the midst of prayer he looked up, his gaze met Prax’s, and he nodded. He didn’t need to say the words, the expression in his eyes enough to confirm what she felt she needed to do.

Could her feet grow any heavier? Prax felt as if each shuffled step towards the Evans family sank into the floorboards more and more, compelled by that unseen presence to keep going. Nothing could turn her back now, not even her own doubt gnawing at her mind and tugging at her skin. And when Donna looked up, her eyes swollen with tears as they peered at the approaching woman, whatever chance existed to turn away vanished.

Prax opened her mouth. Closed it. What was it she meant to say?

“Thank you for coming.” One of the men with Donna offered no smile, but his voice was kind. Prax recognized him from television, from the news. The meteorologist, if she remembered correctly, but it was clear in this moment that he was not here in an official capacity. His own hand braced on the back of Donna’s chair, his stance protective.

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