Antumbra - A Lost Cause

Hand to God - Chapter Two

Arva rolled out of bed lazily, not particularly keen on getting up so early. After a day of walking she'd all but been absorbed into her bed, utterly exhausted. She swung her feet out of bed so as to dislodge herself from the comfortable position she was in, forcing herself to wake up, and finally got up properly. She took a quick shower, threw on her "work" clothes and headed downstairs. No one else was up, not even Hannah, though Arva figured Gramma should be waking up shortly. She rubbed her eyes as she poured herself a modest bowl of cereal, as it was their last box of the month. She stuffed the nearly empty box back in the cupboard, then pulled it back out when she remembered her sister couldn't reach that high, and just left it on the counter for her. As she opened the fridge to get out the milk she could see through the plastic container that it was nearly empty. She groaned, leaving the jug where it was. Hannah would want some for her breakfast, not to mention Gramma's tea, so Arva reluctantly poured herself a glass of water and ate her cereal dry before cleaning up and heading out. The sun had just started to rise, and it was still a little chilly. The ill-fitting clothes she wore did little to counteract the cold, but it'd warm up soon enough, especially once she got moving.

"Hi Mr. Baker!" She waved to the friendly old man already out on his lawn. She'd passed by him on her way home last night and he'd signed to her that he could use some help cleaning up. Speech had left him, and he was not as fit as he once was, waddling around on his three stumpy legs, so Arva had immediately agreed. Plus, he said he'd pay her, which certainly didn't hurt.

"He got you too, huh?" A boy said as he crossed the street towards them. Another good friend of hers, Travis, was a year younger than Arva, but much taller and looked older. Once teased as the "rhino boy," Travis had extremely leathery and creased skin, not unlike a pachyderm, which was especially wrinkled around his otherwise youthful eyes. Arva always found him the least deserving of such insults, yet the taller he got, the less mockery he accrued.

"Yep, preying on my guilt," said Arva with a playful accusation. Mr. Baker opened his mouth in a silent laugh, grinning ear to ear. He signed to them that two more children would be helping, and sure enough the twins Arva was well familiar with quickly ran over. Gren showed up ahead of his brother, Charlie, and Arva still wasn't used to seeing them separated. Not that their newfound independence meant they really went anywhere without the other, being conjoined for thirteen years had created a bond neither was about to break.

"Mr. Baker's paying us to clean his property!" Gren said excitedly. Charlie caught up, exhausted. He shoved his brother with his armless side, and the two immediately began to squabble. Mr. Baker clapped his hands to get everyone's attention, then proceeded to sign his instructions. The backyard was still unfinished, his shed recently demolished, and he needed them to lift the big parts out. He added that in addition to payment, they could keep whatever they could take home with them provided it was all cleaned out by the end of the day. A tantalizing opportunity given crews often gathered the charred remnants of the Umbra before citizens could do much with it, and the children agreed that sounded fair.

"Whoever finds the biggest chunk of divine wins!" Gren asserted, not that his brother had a chance to say otherwise before they scampered off around back. Travis shrugged as the children ran off, and the two soon followed, only for Arva to be stunned when she saw the sheer amount of debris and junk leftover. The backyard looked more like a scrap yard, with little of the green grass she knew was there visible through the mess. Dirt, rubble and rocks were mixed in with scrap and the destroyed shed, and Arva didn't even know where to start. Travis was the first to dig in, rolling aside a large boulder. It wasn't from the Umbra, but rather a decorative boulder that had been knocked away from the back corner of the yard.

"Jeez," Arva helped him roll it, "imagine if this had flown under the dome and hit the house?"

"He was pretty lucky," Travis said in between rotations, "heard one of the houses on the south side got hit so hard the dome broke. They lost everything."