Midday dark

I decided to leave Ed and Jimmy solve their serious problems. I couldn’t stand their deceitful methods and extreme solutions, so I washed my hands of them. I could only expect they would be able to make peace and reach a reasonable agreement without getting killed.

My way back to civilisation was harder than the speedy trip I had been forced to take to the house in the frozen fields with Jimmy Moon. His limousine travelled faster than the speed of light, but I had to go back to Sandwich by my own means.

During my return journey I crossed inhospitable lunar landscapes, iced waterfalls and deep caves. I felt very lonely on my own in that hostile territory. It was cold, dark, wet and gloomy. My adventure finished abruptly when I was suddenly swallowed by a dark whirlpool that dragged me back to my everyday normal life in Sandwich: I appeared in my bedroom, nightie on, holding a glass of water in my right hand... and ready to go to bed.

That same night during my sleep I had a terrifying vision of Jimmy Moon breaking into scene, enfolding me completely in his black cape and dark hug.

- You're a light that shines in the darkness, Leni. Like moths attracted to flame, those whose lives are lost will find hope in your passion. Don't forget. -he said, solemnly-.

Dark people never speak clearly. They use mysterious circumlocutions and roundabouts in their speech, so it's quite hard to get them sometimes. I just hoped not to find the supernatural gang queuing up at my door next morning. I had definitely had my share of weirdos.

- What about your dispute with Ed? -I asked-
- That's finally sorted out. Your man is free to go his own way. I'll go mine and we'll never meet again. -he answered-
- I'm glad you managed to reach an agreement. How come it was so easy?
- Just ask him. -he chuckled, as his rainbow eyes glowed in the dark-.

And all I can remember vaguely afterwards is seeing his impressive silhouette vanish into the night.

During the following days I tried to slowly go back to normal mode and forget about my ordeal.

Christmas was coming. The streets of Grytviken were filled with beautiful decorations, ornaments, lights and garlands. I remember enjoying Christmas big time when I was little. It basically meant holidays at school, presents and delicious food. What else could a kid want?

In Sandwich, Christmas is not just a celebration, but also the time of midday dark: a strange phenomenon integrated in celestial mechanics, that happens only in these Islands.

Midday dark may last several weeks and basically consists in total lack of difference between night and day. The sun disappears and the whole island is dragged down into the darkness. It’s terribly cold too. The poetic side of it –if there’s any- is that the black sky appears splashed with beautifully blurred reddish clouds that move adopting mysterious shapes, shining like a huge bonfire. Some scientists compare it to the northern lights but there is one singularity that distinguishes midday dark from other astronomical phenomenons: it seriously affects behaviour.

Foreigners are immune, but most natives have a hard time when it happens, and they suffer from different disorders going from painful migraines to temporary madness, causing a number of consequences in their lives. It’s a yearly national emergency that people try to bear as a lesser evil. There is no medical treatment to fight against it. They just try to put up with it and remain in standby mode until it passes. So in Sandwich it’s quite normal to ask people about their midday dark condition -just as if you were asking them about their cold-, right after wishing them a nice Christmas and a happy new year.

There is a whole mythology surrounding Sandwichian midday dark: Malicious tongues say that all kinds of dark beings wander around the woods looking for those unaware of their nearness. The unfortunate victims who are caught offguard, risk to be dragged into the forest and ruthlessly abandoned to their own devices. Once there, they will be lost for days or weeks and then found, unable to remember where they had been and what they had done. Like they had been amnesic walkabouting in their dreams.

I always thought that these stories were nothing but silly Sandwichian legends until that fatal day when I went back to Dumbass Industries, after my kidnap.

It was a genuine midday dark morning. I thought Big Cheese would ask me where I had been hiding during the six long days that I had been abducted, but this didn’t happen. Actually, that was a bit fishy. Normally, when I'm absent he doesn't stop phoning and e-mailing me until his brain realises that I'm on holidays and he should forget about me until I'm back. So I couldn’t believe he didn't miss me. I was shocked.

Then I knew that poor Big Cheese was suffering from serious sleepwalking episodes and was unable to notice half of the things going on around him. Another funny consequence of midday dark.

That afternoon I decided to go shopping for food. I had to refill the fridge. And I got this phone call from Ed.

- Hi sweety.
- Hi Ed.
- How’s your midday dark going?
- For the moment I'm fine, thanks –I answered- .
- I hope it won't change into mad day dark.
- I won't comment on this. By the way, that's a bad joke and I dislike it.

I bet he thought I was throwing a genuine seasonal Sandwichian fit, but I was just upset for the things he said to me when I thought I had killed Jimmy Moon. There was a long silence

- I didn't mean to be unkind. Are you cranky? –he asked-
- No, I’m not. But as far as I'm concerned, you've committed several acts worthy of ass-kickery very recently.

There was a longer silence.

- Leni.
- Yes.
- Let's make peace, ok? Tell me something: are you having any days off in Christmas?
- Yes, one week.
- Would you like to go somewhere with me?
- You mean going out together?

- Hm.. not only that; I was thinking about travelling to a nice place. Wouldn't you like to walk with me hand in hand in the Champs Élysées in Paris; climb to the Campanile in Siena; or maybe visit the forbidden city in Beijing... ?
- That would be lovely, Ed. But I need to be here. I always have lunch with my family on Christmas day. It's a tradition that we like to keep alive. What do you do these days?
- I do nothing. I hate Christmas. -he said very shortly-
- Why do you hate Christmas? -I asked, curious-.

He sighed, hesitating whether it was a good idea or not to tell me why.

- I stopped celebrating it when my second wife and son died.

My heart sank. I was paralized with sorrow. I racked my brain looking for some words of comfort but I didn't know exactly what to say.

- Ed. You must learn to live again.
- I'm already dead, honey.
- Please, don't say that. It was very sad, but life goes on for you too.

Suddenly, I had this great idea:

- Hey, I dare you to spend Christmas day together.
- I don't need your sympathy Leni. I'm usually on my own these days. I enjoy sometimes beng this way and I'm not in the mood for Christmas. My mind is still remembering last summer.
- Last summer finished three months ago. And it's not sympathy what I'm offering, but company.
- I don't know.
- Just think about it and let me know what you decide.
- Ok.

I felt happy. When the conversation finished, I walked into a big store and thought I would buy him a nice present, whether he wanted it or not. Not because it was Christmas but just because I needed to buy him something nice.

He had been numb with grief and dead inside for too long. I wanted to make him feel the small pleasures of life again: the smell of spring rains; the sweet taste of a kiss; the sound of a whisper; the beautiful sight of the sunrise; the touch of a loving hand.

Because in the back of my mind, I knew there was still hope for him.

"It can't rain all the time" (Jane Siberry, from the soundtrack of the film "The crow")