He won the 4th seat last November and hasn’t had the time to buy his present yet but made an appointment to see the boat seller tomorrow.

With eyes closed, sitting in the lounge chair, he imagines that the light breeze flowing over him is instead the wind as his boat speeds over the lakes waters. Even the drips hitting his face make him imagine the watery spray of waves. Drips?

Greg opens his eyes to Evelyn standing above him. His wife was letting the condensed water from a cold glass of ice tea drip onto his forehead.

“You were thinking about that boat again, weren’t you?”

“Guilty as charged. Thanks for the tea.”

“And why do you assume this is your glass?”

“Because you always put lemon in yours.” He smiles and pats the chair next to him. “Evelyn, sit down.”

She hands him his glass and struggles to lower herself into the seat next to her husband of fourteen years. The difficulty in sitting is due to her wish coming true as well. Greg wanted his boat, and Evelyn wanted another baby. They had been trying for eight years to have another child after their son, Lloyd, turned four, but the stresses caused by their lifestyles prevented her from getting pregnant again, that is until victory night after the election.

She smiles at him and rubs her belly happily while giving him a beaming smile with eyes full of joy.

“What can I do for you, Representative Cavanaugh?”

“Close your eyes, Evelyn. Close your eyes and listen.”

She leans back and listens to the mid-morning world. The leaves in the trees around them are lightly tapping each other and a sprinkler is spraying water in the distance, but she hears nothing else.

“Do you hear it?”

“What am I supposed to hear?”

“You can hear the wind. I swear I could hear a cloud float by earlier.”

Her head cocks to the side slightly and her expression changes to one of concern like the heat of the day or the stress of the bills he has been working on are getting to him.

“I’m talking about Lloyd.”

She gives a nod of understanding. Their son is away at summer camp. Normally, their backyard is a battlefield of terror that only twelve-and thirteen-year-old boys know how to conjure. Their son is especially fond of history, and he and his friends are part of a medieval reenactment group. They are often charging around the yard with swords and in knight and ruffian garb.

“It is peaceful now that you mention it. I was surprised not to find you in the study.”

“We have a week with him at the camp, and I intend to enjoy every minute of it. I don’t know when I’ll be able to spend time the backyard again without dodging axes and swords.”

“Well you’ve earned it mister.”

“We’ve earned it,” he says leaning forward and giving her a kiss. “I won’t be able to stay out here long if this heat keeps up, though. It feels like it’s in the mid-eighties already, and it’s not even ten o’clock. What did the weather people say today was going to be like?”

“I don’t know. They were saying something about it on the T.V. when I came out but I wasn’t listening. You’re right, though, if this keeps up it will be a scorcher.”

“Even with the heat, it’s a beautiful morning. What is this?”

Greg stands up and looks around as the color washes out of the surrounding trees and the world fades to blue.

“Evelyn, what’s going on, are you okay?”

Hunched over her knees, Evelyn is holding onto her stomach.

“I’m fine, the baby just started kicking really hard. I think something’s wrong, everything looks odd.”

“If you mean the washed out blue, I see it too.”

“Oh good. I don’t want anything to go wrong. Could you help me up? I want to go inside.”

Halfway back to the house, a strange howling noise echoes through the air making the hair stand up on Evelyn’s neck.