Blue Skies

 The mattress groaned, giving the man away.

 “John?” his wife asked, the quiver in her voice plucking at her husband’s heartstrings.

 “Yes, Char?”

 “Where are you going?”

 “I can’t sleep. I’ll be in the kitchen.”

 “Okay,” Charlotte said, yawning. She wanted to fall back asleep, but something was gnawing at her. “Will everything be okay?” she asked. The question loomed in the air, and Charlotte felt embarrassed for asking. She was a grown woman, after all, a mother. She was supposed to know everything would be okay.

 “Of course. Now get back to sleep, babe.” The mattress grumbled under John as he tucked his heart into bed. When she was properly cocooned, he widened his eyes and stuck out his tongue. John was a grown man, a father, yet he needed the rumble of his wife’s laugh to know everything would be okay.

 Closing the bedroom door behind him, the husband took one last glance at his wife. Everything would be okay.

 John turned around, fumbling for the light. When it flickered to life, he felt his lungs shrivel. A majestic stroke of brown covered what was once blue sky.

 John stumbled back, colliding with the bedroom door. “John?” Charlotte yelled, startled.

 “I’m okay. Everything’s okay,” John said instinctively.

 “John, what’s going on?” He didn’t know how to tell her. “John, please.” Charlotte’s urgency made the reality of the situation sink in.

 “The sky. The sky is brown.” Saying it felt like giving up.

 Charlotte scrambled out of bed. She had always known this day would come, yet she hadn’t expected it. Not today. Not when the kids were young. She was grown now, but she felt so small.

 In the neighboring room, their three-year-old, Benji, whimpered.

 Charlotte looked to her husband for answers, but he was already rushing to his child. He needed to protect him; he was a father, after all.

 “What’s going on, Daddy?” Benji asked, wiping tears from his cheeks. The expectant look in his eyes made his father’s heartstrings snap.

 “Nothing, Benji Bear. Did you have a bad dream?”

 “I heard Mommy yell,” Benji said. He looked to his feet, scared of what his words might mean.

 Charlotte took a deep breath and swallowed her fear. She walked over to her son and took his little clammy hands in hers. “I was just startled, Benji. I’m alright.”

 “Okay,” Benji said. He seemed to ponder this for a second, before he pointed his chubby finger to the window. “Why is the sky like that?”

 Charlotte looked into her son’s young eyes—so similar to his father’s—and felt something dissolve inside her. “Like what?” she asked, squeezing his hand.

 “It’s… brown.”

 Charlotte locked eyes with her husband, finding solace in his calm smile, his subtle nod. “Of course the sky’s brown,” the mother replied. “It always has been.”

 Benjamin still looked unsure, but no longer existentially. His parents forced a smile.