Light for a Vanished Sun

<p>Brenda froze in the stable where she lay. Strangers with painted clubs crept through<br />the pueblo starlight glinting off their silver necklaces belts and ear loops. Quiet<br />as fog they entered individual houses. First came the crack as bones were crushed<br />then the shrieks of terror.<br />A screaming woman ran past the stall with a naked infant in her arms. “Navajo!<br />Navajo!” She cried as if it were as vile a curse as she could utter.<br />The girls crouched in the far corner of the stall trying to be still unnoticed. But their<br />bodies shook with fright and. Merrilee began to wail.<br />“Hush baby hush!” Brenda charged shielding her sister between herself and the wall.<br />“They can’t see us. Everything will be okay. Just be quiet.” She tried to close her eyes and<br />pretend that they were all having the same nightmare but her eyes wouldn’t stay shut and<br />she watched the dark hair-raising spectacle that ran wild in the center of the pueblo.<br />The invaders lit torches from the live coals in the central fire pit and eerie nimble<br />shadows flickered across her vision like a video game. One of the strange men lifted a<br />woman over his shoulder and raced into the night. Dogs barked; children howled; women<br />shrieked and in the midst of the din came the sickening sounds of bones cracking beneath<br />the heavy blows of the clubs. Sarah crept to the stall opening.<br />“Oh Jesus” Brenda breathed “Lord Jesus . . . help!”<br />Sarah crawled back “They’re cracking people’s skulls out there . . .”</p>