The boy sat down between the bear and the husky. 

He dropped his head into his hands, doing everything he could to hold back the tears. 

His voice crept out from behind his hands, the ghost of a tremble slipping through his words. 

“I just don’t get it, why does it have to end like this?”

They had died today. That crew of women and men, our last hopes, our last shelter from the coming storming. 

We figured, screw it. Let’s celebrate their lives. Let’s have an Irish Wake. 

It had been a long goddamn day and it just wouldn’t end.

Ted had been up and on the road before the sun made its first appearance that day. Hours and miles had blended together as he tackled the full-day drive back home. The weekend away with the lads was worth it, but an entire day in a car could be as mentally fatiguing as standardized testing.

“Should have flown,” he mumbled to himself for the 40th time that day. 

He looked over jealously as the sun sank below the horizon. Its day ending while his slogged on. Luckily home wasn’t such a far off hope anymore. It drew ever closer. 

It wasn’t until most of the sky had darkened to a navy blue that he first saw it. The shadow.