Free Gray Skies by Brian Spangler Page B

thinking that she and Declan were safe. She only wished that she could have just as easily dismissed the pain gnawing at the middle of her back. Stretching out the rift that was tensing up beneath her shoulders, she glanced over to see Declan’s grinning face staring forward. She could see in his expression an unsettled excitement that was just waiting for him to explore the theater.
    Though his smile was sweet, the mess they’d been through had left Declan’s face a pulpy jumble of blood and dirt. Sammi turned to him, and used the cuff of her sleeve to wipe away the grime. When he winced, she pulled her hand back and offered a quick apology, promising to be careful, avoiding where he’d been hit. As she cleaned his wounds, Declan became quiet. Standing close to him, and feeling his breath on her, she looked up, and met his eyes. For a moment, she did nothing except return his gaze. A flutter of excitement turned her knees weak, causing her to lift one foot, and then the other. A warm flush crept up her cheeks, as his eyes stayed with hers.
    Declan leaned in, and before she could say anything, he kissed her. Sammi dropped her arms as his lips moved over hers, and he placed his hands behind her, resting them on the small of her back. She didn’t know why, but she loved when he touched her there. She loved it even more when he opened his hands and tightened his hold on her. She let herself fall against him, as his fingers gripped her, pressing until she thought he’d pick her up into his arms. The skin on his face was hot, but it wasn’t from the excitement of the moment. Declan lifted his head just enough to break the kiss, and cover one of his bruised eyes. He shook his head, smiling, and raised his brow, as though apologizing for ending their kiss.
    “I’m sorry,” she whispered, and gently rested her fingers on his. “Are you okay?”
    “I’m fine,” he nodded, pecking her lips with his. “Just got a little carried away. How about we take a look around, and see what’s inside?” Anxious to explore, Sammi nodded hurriedly, and turned back to the theater. Toward the front, she saw a long narrow stage with a yellowing screen that was broad, and as high as the ceiling. It seemed to loom over the theater seats, like a fretful parent guarding its young.
    “That’s where they showed the moving pictures. ‘Movies’, they called them,” she mumbled to him.
    Sammi watched Declan follow the screen with his eyes, taking in the size, and nodding his head. The huge canvas was torn and tattered, like the ceiling, and wore long, jagged rips that staggered in different directions, like old potato sprouts that she’d seen on the farming floors. But, to Sammi’s delight, it was still in place, and was standing. She imagined it as a large window for the audience to peer through.
    In the back of the theater, a balcony that lifted high above them had somehow survived the centuries of fog. A lonely set of stairs leading to the balcony accompanied the far wall, and Sammi wondered if the stairs could hold their weight. Row upon row of antique theater seats curved around the screen; the crescent pattern reminded her of their classroom, only this was much larger. She imagined that, at one time, the seats had been plush, and cushioned. But years had aged them, decaying the comfortable fabric until there were only strands of rotting cloth hanging from the remaining wooden frames. Large areas of the chairs were missing, leaving behind rusted metal posts that stuck up out of floor. The posts were tapered and sharp, like the stabbing ends of the spears that she’d seen dancing above the hunting teams when they gathered for an excursion.
    “Do you think it’s safe?” she asked, recalling Declan’s question. She laughed at the sound of her own voice as it echoed against the far wall. Declan raised his brow at the sound.
    He motioned his head toward the entrance. “I think it’s safer in here than it is out there.”
    Sammi