Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the time of affliction come, and the years draw nigh of which thou shalt say, “They please me not”: Before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars be darkened, and the clouds return after the rain…
(Ecclesiastes 12:1-2)
Piros “Are you ready for bed, son?”
“Yes, dad.” Adam replied.
“Let’s go over it all again.”
Adam gave an exaggerated sigh. “Bag is packed, fresh shoes are hidden, and I know the route to the supply shed in the park.”
Piros smiled. “See? You’re a pro. This is why we do the hard things.”
“To make tomorrow better.” Adam replied automatically. “Daaad I’m tired.”
“Ok son. I love you, ok? Good night. Tomorrows a new day.”
“Goodnight dad.” Adam burrowed himself deeper into his blankets, hugging his stuffed bear, Stuffy. Piros gave him a kiss on the forehead, and turned out the lights to his sons room. He sighed heavily as he closed the door.
Though it was almost lights out in the bunker, it was the only time he could safely meet his contact. He put on a dark jacket, and stepped out, locking the cabin carefully behind him.
Rushing through the darkened causeways of the bunker, through the greenroom, he came to the doorway for Tunnel 03. His contact always met him there. He stood with his back to the door, and didn’t flinch when he heard it creak open just enough for a voice to whisper.
“Astronomers confirm T-5 days, plus or minus 4. The ship is ready. This is the last boat. Reach your hand behind you.”
Piros complied. “I’m giving you instructions which you can follow to get to the ship.” Piros felt a piece of paper pressed into his palm. He closed his hand over it and shoved it covertly into his pocket. “Like I said, this is going to be the last shot. No one will wait. Make sure you are there.”
“I will.”
“Any questions?”
“How far of a distance is it? When does the ship leave?”
“No less than one days walk. Go west. As soon as it’s ready—I don’t know.”
“Hey, my friend? This is it. Thank you. I’ll see you on the ship. Find me there, please, so I can thank you properly.”
“You got it. Good luck.”
“Curse the dawn.”
“And praise the dusk.”
Piros heard the door close softly behind him.
= = =
Piros’ heart was racing. They’re cutting it awfully close. They would have to leave right away. They had no time. Curse the dawn. He rushed back to his cabin in the bunker, and immediately rushed to wake up his son.
His son wasn’t asleep. “Dad?”
“Adam, it’s time.”
“What?”
“It’s time! Get your things. We are leaving.”
“Right now?”
“Right now. Go, hop to it. I’ll explain on the way.”
Piros had one large backpack, several canteens of water, and one blackout sheet. Adam had only his backpack, but when Piros looked back he saw him struggling to fit the stuffed bear into it.
“It’s time to go, son.”
“Stuffy won’t fit!”
“Are you sure you need to bring him?”
“Yes, I can’t sleep without Stuffy.”
“Ok. Just carry him, he’ll be ok. You ready?”
“I’m ready.”
“Let’s go.”
They exit the cabin with their many burdens, and Piros didn’t bother to lock the cabin door. They shuffled down the halls quickly, Piros was careful to keep his son in front of him, where he could see him in the narrow corridors. They made their way to the park—a green-space that was more illusion than real. There was a shed hidden in a back corner, away from the causeway. It would be poorly trafficked at night. They paused at the shed.
“Son?”
“Yes, dad?”
“This is a hard thing we’re about to do, ok?”
“To make tomorrow better, I know.”
“This is going to be considerably harder than packing your bag or cleaning your room, understand?”
“I think so.”
“We’re going up top. Into a desert. But you know what we’re heading towards?”
“What?”
“A spaceship. It will take us to a new world—one not so desert like. It will make not just tomorrow better, but every day better—the whole future, understand?”
“I understand.”
“Just one measly desert, just one more hard thing, and then we’re there! We’ll have made tomorrow better.”
Adam looked at him.
Piros smiled. “Ok. Let’s go.”
He opened the supply shed. It had some gardening and cleaning tools, as expected—brooms, rakes, wrenches. But on the other side was a door. The door was locked—it said “HATCH 08”.
A week ago, he had planted bolt-cutters in this shed. They didn’t look out of place—he found them now, and cut open the lock. The door swung easily open, revealing a metallic ladder.
“Stay close behind me. I’m going first, ok? I’ll make sure it’s safe. But stay right on my heels.”
“Ok!”
Piros began to climb the ladder—it was quite a long way, to get to the surface. There was an indicator light that showed where the sun was—it was several hours after sundown. He turned the seal on the hatch, and pushed it open—he was immediately bombarded by hot air, despite that the sun was down. A nearly full moon reflected the red light of the sun above him. The sands of the desert stretched infinitely in all directions. This was it.
He climbed up and out, and then turned and helped his son out. Then he closed the hatch and sealed it from the outside.
The desert was beige and flat as far as the eye could see—with some rocky outcroppings off in one direction. Piros pulled out the piece of paper—It told him West was towards the rocky outcroppings, and that if they followed the bunker hatches in a straight line they would come upon the spaceship ready for launch in no less than a day. The night sky was purple dark, such was the intensity of the sun that almost no other star could break through her rays even at night. Only the moon was bright enough to keep them company.
“Praise the Dusk, son, we’ve arrived at night. We have to travel that way, towards those rocks. We might be able to arrive at the rocks by daylight—but we have this blackout sheet in case we need to keep walking.”
“Dad, I’m scared.”
“I know, Adam. Me too. But remember—one measly desert, and a thousand better tomorrows. Let’s get started.”
He reached down and held his sons hand. His son kept Stuffy tucked under his other arm, close to his chest. And they walked.
= = =
They reached the rocky outcropping before dawn, which was a blessing. The walk had been long and the air had been hot. After spending his entire life in the same underground bunker, being in this vast open space was terrifying. It almost felt comforting to hide in a nook between the rocks, enclosed, covered.
“Let’s watch the sunrise together, Adam. It should be coming soon—look, you can see how the sky is getting brighter over there?”
“Don’t we have longer to walk?”
“Yes, but we can’t enjoy the sunrise while we’re walking—we have to keep our eyes forward and keep the blackout sheet between the sun and us. Here, we can sit and drink some water and enjoy the sunrise.”
“Ok.”
They waited a few minutes, while the horizon progressively lightened. The corona was the first thing to come into view—whispy bands of energy flying off the sun, and being pulled back towards it. But then it happened—a little peek of red sun, that rose and kept rising, and kept moving around the horizon, until it almost wrapped around the whole disc, like it was swallowing up the earth. A massive, red-giant sun, which lumbered ominously up. A hot breeze followed, scorching the earth and eroding away anything that wasn’t flat and featureless. Curse the dawn, Piros thought to himself.
He looked at his son, who was enraptured. It was terror and wonder to see the sun rise for an hour and still not finish rising. All red and glorious and unrelenting. The red-giant sun that was critically volatile.
“How are you doing, Adam?”
“I…is that the sun?”
“It is.”
“It’s so BIG.”
“It is. It’s a red giant.”
“Whoa.”
= = =
After giving themselves a modest rest, they got ready to undertake the second leg of their journey under the blackout sheet. Piros heard voices from outside. He handed his son the blackout sheet, and said quietly “Cover yourself with this.”
A moment later, a man and a woman scrambled under the rocks, panting, and lowered their blackout sheets. They took a moment to catch their breath and drink from their canteens before they looked up and saw that there was someone else there. The woman started—
“Who are you?!” She asked, flipping a gun effortlessly out of a holster on her hip, and pointing it at Piros.
Piros held up his hands— “My name is Piros, I’m from bunker 41206.” He said. “Are you also looking for the ship?”
The man who was with her looked up. The woman nodded— “Yes. I’m here to keep him safe.” She gestured to the man. “I’m Adena. He’s Petersen. He needs to get to the ship—he has some specialized equipment he wants to make sure goes with them.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m here with my son, Adam. Come on out Adam.” He pointed to the blackout sheet, and Adam lowered it, and waved. “We’re just trying to get on the ship. Petersen—she said you just want to get the equipment on. Not going yourself?”
The man shook his head. “I’m old, I’m afraid I will be of no use to our future generations. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, and all that. This equipment will be of considerable use to them, however.” He touched the hard plastic case of equipment gently.
“What is it?”
“I’m afraid I can’t say. It is of special and specific use to those on the ship. Until then, it must remain under lock and key.”
“We don’t have a lot of time. My son and I are on the way, my contact told me the Astronomers…”
“Yes, I know.” Petersen said. “It is very dire indeed. Give us a moment to catch our breath, let us travel together across the hot sands?”
“Sure.” Piros said. “Adam, are you ready to go?”
Adam nodded—nervous about the strangers. Piros went to him and spoke softly. “Son, when we get moving, I will carry the blackout sheet over both of us. Your job is to stay one pace ahead of me, and stay in my shadow. It’s going to be a long walk under the sun, and it won’t be long until the sun is directly overhead and we need to shift the sheet. But we do these hard things—”
“So tomorrow is better.” Adam replied. “Are we close?”
“We should see the ship before sundown, praise the dusk.”
Adam thought about it a moment, and then nodded. “Ok. I can do it.”
“That’s my boy,” Piros said, beaming with pride. He regretted, deeply, that his son had to experience such days as these. But with one more effort, they would be at the ship, and easier days would follow.
While Petersen drank some water and caught his breath, Adena approached Piros. “Which bunker did you say you were from?”
“41206. What about you?”
“39101. The mood there was…not favorable to the ship at all. Petersen is a scientist, he has been making observations of the sun for some time and…no one cared.”
“It’s the same at 41206. I’m afraid the Bunker Prefects are afraid they would lose power in a new environment, and most people have never seen the sun so don’t even know to be worried. Why did you come?”
“Petersen asked me, honestly. I’m not sure I would have—not sure I felt I deserved a seat on the ship. But now I had a reason to come. If I could help keep him safe, maybe I could put my services at the disposal of those on the ship.”
“Nothing wrong about wanting to save your own skin, too. Me, I just want my boy to live. He’s…” He looked over at his son, who was playing some game with stuffy and a canteen, known only to him. “He’s the best of me. I would feel cruel to bring him into the world, and do nothing to give him a future. I have to try. I have to believe a future is possible.”
Adena nodded solemnly. “It’s no coincidence that we met. We all have good reasons to get to the ship now. We are almost there.”
= = =
The blackout sheet was an imperfect solution, but it would have been much worse without it. It was designed to absorb light and heat, which prevented the worst of the intense red-giant suns rays beating down on them; but it did little to shield them from the overwhelming ambient heat of the desert.
Adam was doing fine staying one pace ahead, in his fathers shadow while Piros held the sheet over his head, alongside Adena and Petersen, who awkwardly shared trying to carry both the sheet and the plastic case of equipment.
Piros watched carefully, step after step, as his shadow grew shorter, and the sun crawled across the sky. He wasn’t sure how they would manage the afternoon in their travel west, as the giant sun set directly in front of them.
At length, he called for a pause and rest. Everyone immediately reached for their canteens, and Adam slunk closer to his father. After a drink of water, Piros said, “Our shadows are getting shorter. We need to adjust so we can keep Adam in the shade.”
Adena said, “If we walk in a kind of diagonal, and Adam stays on our left, he should get the most of our shade. We can rotate our sheets and Adam won’t have to move very much at all. It won’t be long before the sun is coming down in front of us, praise the dusk. Then we can walk a little more normally.”
Piros nodded. “Good plan. Adam, do you understand?”
Adam nodded. “You all will walk differently and I will stay in the shadow until the sun is in front.”
“You might have to walk next to me or behind me, so I want you to tell me where you are ok? If you shift positions I need you to talk to me, hold on to my belt if you can, ok?”
Adam nodded. “We do hard things today to make tomorrow better.” He recited.
“That’s my boy. OK. Petersen, how are you doing?”
Petersen wiped his mouth after a swig of water. “Ready when you are.”
= = =
As the sun began it’s long descent over the horizon, an unusual silhouette materialized from behind the suns piercing rays. As they got closer, it resolved into a tower—
“The ship!” Piros was the first to spot it. “We will be there before the next dawn. We are so close!”
“I’m tired, dad.” Adam whined from behind him.
“We’re almost there son, hang on! Stay with me ok? You’ve got Stuffy still?”
“Yes, dad.”
“We gotta bring Stuffy to the ship too, understand?”
“To make tomorrow better.”
“Atta booooy!” Piros said, smiling. “How are you holding up Adena? Petersen?”
Adena only grunted some affirming noise; Petersen was silent—his eyes fixed on the tower in the distance.
“Let’s keep it up, almost there!”
The ship didn’t seem to be getting any closer, as they marched. The sun began it’s long descent over the horizon, the sky changing from fiery glowing red and orange, fading into a bluish purple. The full moon rose behind them, reflecting the reddish light to the surface, a beacon lighting the way from behind them.
By the time the red-giant sun had finished setting, they were very close to the tower—maybe two miles away, one hard run or one long walk—a walk which seemed short compared to the distance they had covered since leaving their familiar bunker.
In the relative cool of the sunless night, they took one last rest by a rock. Adam hovered close to his dad, Adena half-sat half-stood on a rock, and Petersen set down his case with a huff. They all enjoyed a momentary pause, the last drinks of water from their canteens. Piros was anxious, being so close. He wanted to do one final push, they could see people emerging from a bunker to board. They were very close. The hard things are almost over, he thought.
“Are we ready to go?” he said, making sure Adam finished the last drop of his water.
Adena stood and made ready—but Petersen swiftly came up behind her and removed the gun from her holster.
He pointed it at the three of them:
“My friends, I am sad to say it, but this is the end of our journey. For all of us! Ashes to Ashes, as they say. I am afraid my purpose is complete and your purpose in helping me arrive is completed too.”
He kicked open the hard plastic container—it was a rocket launcher. Adena gasped, Piros clenched his fists. Poor Adam didn’t understand what was happening—but he saw the gun, and was afraid.
“Petersen…what are you doing?” Piros asked as calmly as he could. His heart pounded in his chest.
“This is it. I am here to ensure the rocket does not launch. Humanity is intimately tied to earth. It is our birthplace. What are we if our birthplace is reduced to stardust? What are humans without a home? We are nothing. Who is to say there is even a planet out there ready to receive us. Lies—lies and vanity. Why delay the inevitable. Let us face our doom, boldly and bravely, not whimpering into the eternal night of space.”
Adena was angry. “I agreed to keep you safe. You said you were going to help people!”
“You succeeded admirably! I did not come to harm. I release you of my service—but I will keep your gun.”
“Let them go.” Piros said. “Let them go to the ship. I will stay here with you.”
“HA!” Petersen barked a bitter laugh. “You cannot stop me. If you let them go you only give them false hope. No need for them to go. Stay, and watch my final act of mercy on all humanity.”
“YOUR act of mercy? This isn’t mercy. You’re insane!”
“Am I?” He fired the gun once in the air, causing all three of them to jump. “No—I am afraid I am the only one seeing clearly. You are deluding yourselves.”
With that, Petersen began working on unpacking the rocket launcher from the case, while looking up frequently to ensure the gun was still pointed at his hostages.
Piros reached out for his son, and squeezed his hand. “I love you.” He whispered.
Adam hugged his waist. “I love you too, dad.”
“I’ve got one more hard thing.” he whispered.
“Dad…no…”
“Adena…”
Petersen waved the gun around, while fumbling with the rocket launcher. “Stop talking! Enough chit chat—in a few moments you will see my triumph.”
“Adena…” Piros whispered very quietly. She silently turned her ear towards him.
“Take my son and run. As fast as you can. Drop everything, let him take his bag. Just get to the ship.” His voice was a breath above a whisper, barely enough for her to hear.
She silently nodded.
“When I go, you go. He is the best of me. Please. Take care of him.”
She nodded again. “I will keep him safe.”
Adam whimpered, “Dad…”
“On three.” He squeezed his sons hand—as if he could transmit a lifetime of love through this one last fleeting moment of contact.
“One…” Adena slowly lowered her pack to the ground.
“Two…” Petersen had assembled the launcher, and was waving the gun haphazardly.
“THREE!” Piros shouted. He rushed forward and tackled Petersen, Adena scooped up Adam and ran. Petersen yelped, while Adam wailed. Petersen fired wildly into the air, BANG BANG BANG, while Piros grappled with him, trying to get control of the gun. Piros punched him in the head, tried wrenching the gun out by twisting his arm. Petersen groaned, and swung wildly, landing an elbow against Piros’ side. Piros groaned in sudden pain, and momentarily released the gun. He caught a glimpse of Adena and Adam in the distance—still running.
Petersen tried to scramble to his feet, and pointed the gun at Piros.
“You’ve doomed the woman, you’ve doomed your son, you know that?”
Piros hung his head. One more hard thing.
“Now they might be hit by my rocket—when they could have sat safely with us and met our doom with honor.”
Piros looked out—they were getting close to the rocket. Smoke was coming out, lights were flashing. They were going to leave very soon, it was clear. He could see people crowding the base of the tower, trying to get onto the elevator that would board the craft. He waited.
Petersen got the rocket ready, loading one into the launcher. Piros clenched his fists. Petersen aimed carefully at the spaceship…and Piros kicked out, knocking Petersen over. He accidentally fired the rocket, and it went up and away from the spaceship, exploding in midair.
“CURSE YOU!” Petersen screamed. “CURSE YOU! There will be no mercy for man now! Look what you’ve done! You’re sending them to die, you hear me!” Petersen was disconsolate.
Petersen fumbled the gun out in his rage, and Piros tackled him again. Two more shots rang out— BANG BANG. Piros punched Petersen in the face, his bitterness coming out in rage—he punched and tears began to flow from his eyes. Petersen began to fight back—trying to maneuver the gun, but Piros wouldn’t let go of his hand. A standoff while they grappled…Piros looked up for a moment, and saw that there weren’t any people waiting at the base of the tower anymore. Lights flashed, and even more smoke came from the ship. It would launch soon. It just needed to launch.
Petersen said, through blood and spittle, “Why are you fighting me? We’re all going to die. Ashes to ashes, stardust to stardust. This is the end for us all.”
Piros wiped blood off his mouth. “No.” He said, “It’s the end for you and me—but tomorrow will be better for them. No more bunker, no more oppressive sun. They will find a home. But you—may you be cursed like the dawn.”
Petersen looked like he was about to sneer something in reply, but they were both interrupted by the spaceship’s engines firing to life, a brilliant flame that lit up the desert. Petersen yelled, “NO!” as the ship lifted up and away. Piros smiled. “You’ve failed, Petersen. Give up.”
Petersen glared, his eyes dark, his face contorted with rage. “You’ve doomed us all.”
Petersen gave one final effort to get control of the gun, but Piros finally wrenched it from his hands. He shot Petersen twice in the chest.
Petersen’s eyes went wide—blood filled his mouth, and his body relaxed. “Ashes…dust…” he whispered, as life left his body.
Piros fell back on the dirt, exhausted. He could see the bright star of the spaceship moving across the dark of space. He spit blood—his own wounds from the fight taking a toll. But he got up and looked at the scene. Adena’s bag lay where she dropped it, along with his own bag. But off a ways, beyond the tracks which Adena left after she scooped up Adam, was Stuffy—Adam’s stuffed bear. Piros smiled, and walked over to it, picking it up.
Adam would never part with Stuffy lightly—he felt sure that Adam had dropped it on purpose. A friend, to keep him company. Tears welled up in his eyes.
He dusted off the bear and tucked it under his arm, in much the same posture that Adam had had when they left the bunker. He propped up his bag against a rock, and sat down, and hugged the bear tightly. “I love you, son.” He said, his eyes locked on the bright light of the starship.
Suddenly, a flash of lightning, and the light of the starship was gone. Hyperspace—they were safe. They made it.
Piros relaxed. He looked at the full moon in the sky. “Guess it’s just you and me.” He said. The moon—Earths constant, faithful companion, right up to the bitter end.
He sat and calmly hugged the stuffed bear, and watched the moon. Soon, the moon began to brighten, shining brighter and brighter—until it illuminated the sky and was as bright as the sun. Piros smiled—one last hard thing.
= = =
Adam had his face pressed against the screen in the view room. Adena was with him—and they weren’t alone. The view room was filled to capacity, and it showed the deep darkness of space, with one bright red star in the center. The room was filled with chatter, people nervously contemplating their adventure to come. The star on the screen suddenly bloomed brightly, a brilliant flash of the supernova’s first moments.
All chatter stopped. They watched in awe at the nebulous beauty of their home’s annihilation. Adam could only think about his father. Tears filled his eyes, and he hugged Adena. She silently caressed his head, with no words to say.
Adam whispered, burying his face in her shoulder, “Tomorrow will be better.”
THE END
Thank you for reading Father And Sun. This story idea has lived in my head for a long, long time, and I struggled to bring it to life. This is my second long-read story, the first being Blood or Flood, published last June. This is a very long piece, so if you are reading this, it means you have read it to the end! Thank you so very much.
If you enjoyed this story, or if you enjoy my other works, and you would like to read more, kindly consider subscribing if you haven’t already? If you would like to read some of my other stories, consider checking out The Volume which is the section where I put my completed stand-alone stories.
Thank you, again, for reading! I hope you enjoyed!
AJPM
This was actually too good. To say I was choked up at the end would be an understatement. Pure magic, Scoot. Well done 👏
Very Ray Bradbury...and that's meant as a compliment...!