Page 7 of Spring Breakup
“The aurora is out. At least according to the Silverbrite Springs group chat.” Wrangell held up his phone.
“You have a group chat with the whole town?”
Brooks and Wrangell both laughed at that, but Tyler wasn’t sure what was so funny.
“Come with us,” Wrangell said. “Most people go their whole lives without seeing it.”
Tyler could barely make their cabin out through the trees. “Let me tell my friends where I’m going.”
He called Rosie, but there was no answer. She probably had her phone on silent. He sent a text explaining where he was and that they could see the northern lights if they walked to the lake. He also asked if Dean was with them.
Part of him wanted to keep searching for the man, but he wasn’t Dean’s babysitter. They weren’t even friends.
Tyler followed Brooks and Wrangell across the street and down to the bank of the lake. They stood in silence with their heads turned toward the sky. Eventually, Wrangell lifted a hand and pointed.
“Clouds?” Tyler whispered. He didn’t need to whisper, but it felt appropriate to be as hushed as possible.
“No. Wait for your eyes to adjust. It’s green,” Brooks said. She was also whispering.
Tyler studied the brother and sister. It was dark, but he could see the family resemblance. They were both tall and strong and seemed content in their own skin. He wondered if the other brother resembled Wrangell with his barrel chest and huge arms because that was an intimidating thought. Wrangell looked like he could win a strongman competition.
“There.” Wrangell pointed again. “It’s moving.”
Just as Tyler was starting to feel discouraged, a wisp of pink slithered through his field of vision. Both Wrangell and Brooks gasped. The wisp moved like it was in the current of a river, rippling, and suddenly, Tyler could see it all. The colors unraveled across the dark sky directly over the mountains across the lake. Greens and the occasional pink dancing together, ribbons of movement coming and going, dim and then swiftly bright again.
Tyler realized he’d been holding his breath. He plopped down on a wooden stump that had been placed around the firepit for seating.
“I should go get my friends,” Tyler said, but he couldn’t make himself stand. He didn’t want to miss anything. He didn’t want to blink, much less leave.
Neither Brooks nor Wrangell responded. They were standing shoulder to shoulder, leaning into each other, in their own world.
As swiftly as Tyler had been able to see the aurora, it disappeared.
No one said anything for several long minutes. Tyler kept hoping it would come back. Maybe he should have tried to take a picture, but he had no idea if his phone would have picked it up. He already felt as if the experience was slipping away from him.
Wrangell sighed. “We better go find our wayward brother.” His voice, though it was directed at Brooks, made Tyler jump.
“Yeah,” Brooks said. “Rock, paper, scissors?”
They played a quick game. Wrangell groused when he lost, but he raised a hand to Tyler. “It was nice to meet you.”
“You too. And thank you for this. I would have missed it without you.”
Wrangell gave a sort of friendly grunt, then left Tyler and Brooks to cross the street and climb into an old truck.
“Will it come back?” Tyler asked.
“What?” Brooks said
“The lights.”
“Oh. Yeah, maybe.” She was gazing across the lake, but Tyler suspected she wasn’t seeing it. “It’s a good forecast tonight. The best night for a few days. It’s supposed to rain tomorrow.”
“Rain? Not snow?”
“Yep. Rain. We call it spring breakup. The snow’s melting, temperatures are rising, and river ice is breaking up. Everyone is antsy for warmth and the midnight sun, but it’s still cold enough for hard freezes every other day. It’s the worst time of year. Winters are long, and spring is slow,” Brooks said. She stomped on a tuft of snow. “You see that red beacon flashing in the middle of Skipper Lake? That’s our groundhog, telling us we have several more weeks of miserable, muddy, slushy spring.”
“I don’t understand.”
