Cluttered Shelving

Recently one of my stories was published in the Niner Anthology  'We Had Stars Once' . Though this story has appeared here before, I have decided to post an updated and unabridged version. On this blog I can expand my stories out to fill in my growing 'Divide' universe in a way that is not appropriate for a short story anthology. ---- Mountains rose out of stony planes, a long spine of earth and trees that stretched across the horizon. Waning sunlight cast the mountainside in a pale orange glow. Flat pine needles reflected the light, washing the forest in false autumn colors. Cutting a path through the trees, overgrown with moss and creeping vines, was a steep dirt road. The stones that once lined either side of the trail had slipped away, succumbing to the incline. In their place ground cover slowly reclaimed the road. The rhythmic sound of hoofbeats against the ground was muffled by the dense trees all around.

A weak breeze blew, taking some of the stifling heat off Robin’s skin. The relief lasted only a moment and she was again overwhelmed by the hot air. She squinted up at the pale blue sky, unbroken by clouds. She sat in the front row of the large crowd, glad to be one of the few who had a chair. It wasn’t exactly hard for her to stand, her legs weren’t weak, her head was clear, but still she was amazed her legs were holding her upright. Standing took effort, it took a choice and a resolve, and she didn’t think she had any of that. All day, from waking up in the dark after a fitful night of sleep to standing here in the cemetery, she wasn’t sure how she did any of it. But she was here, so she must have accomplished it somehow.