Zeke awoke Friday morning, glad to see the end of the week. His plans for a quiet weekend included plenty of time for house renovations. He was growing tired of living around drop cloths and paint cans. Still in his pajamas, Zeke started the coffee machine and looked out the window to see something so strange he had to rub his eyes and check again. The ground was covered in dense fog. Zeke had never seen a haze this thick and moved from window to window to get a better view. He quickly made his way to the upstairs balcony to get a better angle. The sun was peeking over the horizon, and the waist-high mist was covering the ground as far as Zeke could see. “You gotta be kidding me,” he thought.
Zeke could hear a dog barking next door, followed by the murmuring voice of Mr. Tremain below. Zeke watched as the torso of his neighbor appeared to float across the yard atop the bank of vapor.
Zeke’s voice cut through the stillness of the morning. “Is this normal, Mr. Tremain?”
Startled by the voice above him, Mr. Tremain stopped. “No. Not at all,” he replied. “Can you see my dog from up there?”
“No, I can’t. Sorry. I’ll be right down.” Zeke rushed down the stairs past the drop cloths and paint buckets. He wondered if they would be there indefinitely. How on earth is anyone supposed to get anything done with all this craziness?
By the time Zeke got dressed and went outside, other neighbors were roaming about their yards, running into hidden lawn furniture. Mr. Tremain safely made his way to Zeke’s porch to get above the mist.
“So, you’ve never seen this kind of fog before?” Zeke asked.
“This is not fog, son.” Mr. Tremain looked down at his trousers which were drenched.
Zeke grabbed his instant camera and started taking pictures from different angles off the porch. Mr. Tremain continued to call for his dog until the animal found the stairs, greeted his owner, then ran back down, disappearing again into the abyss.
“Dang it, Charlie! Come back here!” yelled Mr. Tremain.
“It’s so thick. Even the wind doesn’t move it.” Zeke took a break from taking pictures to help look for the dog.
But I guess that’s a different department. He thought to himself.
Across the street, the heads of giggling children bobbed up and down in the heavy fog. Some were surprised when they returned home all wet. Another neighbor had quickly donned a pair of hip waders which appeared to be working well for him until he tripped over a curb and disappeared. Laughter ensued from different parts of the neighborhood as similar mishaps were taking place.
Almost as amazing as the mist itself was the interaction it had with the rays of sun now breaking over the horizon. As soon as the sun hit the dense fog, it would dissipate, leaving behind a dew-like condensation and a sweet aroma. Animals quickly realized the resulting dew tasted as good as it smelled and began sampling it from whatever surface they could.
Mrs. Tremain was scolding Charlie for obsessing over the residue on a nearby tree. “You stop licking that tree right now! Get inside. Wait, stop! You’re all wet!” she yelled.
Similar complaints were heard from parents when their children discovered the flavorful dew.
Tempted, Zeke headed down the porch stairs for a taste but was stopped by his phone ringing in the kitchen. He hurried in to pick it up and glanced at the caller ID screen on the counter. GREYSON, LUCY.
“Are you seeing this?” he asked.
“God, I thought I was going crazy,” Lucy replied.
“It’s disappearing with the sun.”
“Here, too.”
Although he had never been there, Zeke imagined what life looked like for Lucy out of her condominium window. He realized this was the first time they were talking from their homes.
“Did you walk out in it?” he asked. “Your clothes will get wet.”
“Cheryl found that out first thing and woke me up when she had to come back in for some extra pants.”
“I can see how this will cause some problems.” Zeke watched out the window to see Mr. Tremain wander back across the yard. ”We’ll need to get into the office early.”
“I’ll be there shortly,” Lucy said.
Zeke hung up the phone. For a brief moment, he considered wearing something other than the usual suit today. But he decided otherwise.
—
Across town, Father Vance was enjoying a ride through the mist in the golf cart until he almost hit a fire hydrant. No need to concern the fire department, he thought. After successfully navigating a few street signs, he parked the cart safely on what he hoped was the church lawn. As the mist receded with the sun, Father Vance could see the bushes he had run over. Somehow they stood firm. Unfortunately for him, the tire tracks also survived.
No one else was brave or foolish enough to drive a vehicle before the mist was clear. People all over town were late for work, but no one seemed to care. The only time anything like this happened before was the great blizzard of 1985 when snow blanketed the town, and everyone enjoyed a break from work and school. Many just gave up on work and started the weekend early. They reasoned that the mist could come back at any time and leave them stranded somewhere.
Zeke arrived at the agency to find Lucy already taking calls.
“Your car is all wet, you say?” Lucy put the caller on hold and greeted Zeke. “Can you help Mrs. Walker on line two?”
Zeke put his satchel down in his office and braced himself for a challenging morning. Phone calls weren’t really his thing, but he took out his pen and notepad and tried to be polite. The first call was an easy one.
“No, ma’am, I’m sorry we can’t help you find your cat.”
He found the calls went smoother if he just asked a lot of questions and let the person on the other end talk.
“I understand the sheriff and fire department lines are busy. When did you last see the cat? What did you say her name was?”
Zeke learned quite a bit that morning and actually began to enjoy connecting with the families served by the agency.
“You don’t say. You had your last cat cremated?”
In between calls, he sat back in his chair and listened to Lucy as she fielded other calls. Somehow the agency had become a counseling office for the wide variety of concerns related to the mist.
“Is this going to harm my kids?”
“A goat is licking my car. What should I do?”
“Do I have flood insurance?”
“I may need to buy some new shoes. What do you recommend?”
“What will this do to my flowers?”
The frequency of the phone calls subsided after a couple of hours. Thanks to the comedy of it all, the time passed quickly, and Zeke and Lucy laughed as they compared notes.
“Did you have any calls that resulted in a claim?” Zeke asked.
“Remarkably, no.” She pulled a stack of papers from her desk drawer. “I did manage to make copies of the ledger, however. Perhaps you want to keep them with you?”
“Good idea.” Zeke grabbed his bag, and they headed to lunch.
—
The diner was bustling with a packed crowd, and Zeke pointed out the only available seats in a booth occupied by their usual companions.
“Exciting morning?” Lucy asked, sliding into the booth.
“So far, all I’ve done is search for lost pets,” Stephanie replied. “Seems they all just wanted to wander in the fog and lick things.”
“I almost killed a fire hydrant. After that, I talked with a few parishioners who were convinced the mist had healing properties.” Father Vance waved a french fry at Zeke and Lucy, “How was your morning?”
Lucy answered first, as Zeke was looking around to see when Cheryl was going to visit the table. “We fielded calls all morning. So far, there has been no damage reported.”
“What do you mean, healing properties?” Zeke asked Father Vance.
“Well, let’s see, one mother had a kid with a badly scraped knee, but when the child came back indoors, it was completely healed.” Father Vance casually ate his french fry. “Cool stuff like that. I should also mention that the bushes I thought I killed are recovering nicely.”
“Fog that heals people,” Lucy said thoughtfully.
Stephanie joined in. “Barns returned, good as new.”
“Miraculous fruits and vegetables,” Father Vance added.
Zeke reached across the table and stole one of Father Vance’s fries. “We might be looking at this completely backward. What's happening here in Edenbury may be a threat to Heathrow for a different reason. While no damage means no need for insurance claims, natural elements that heal things and people could mean there’s no need for insurance.”
“And no need for Heathrow.” Lucy sat wide-eyed, looking at Zeke.
“But there’s something else.” Zeke pulled his notebook out of his jacket pocket. “Has anyone else noticed that it hasn’t rained since Lisa showed up at the farm?”
The rest of the table sat in silence, so he continued. “Henry Sheldon said that the drought that happened fifty years ago let up after the Warren trees were cut down.”
“Are you saying that it won’t rain again while all this is going on?” Stephanie asked.
“And if we refuse nature’s invitation to be a part of whatever this is, only then will it rain again?” Father Vance added.
“Yes, that is what I am saying, based on the new facts.” Zeke put away his notebook.
“Wait. If the mist is the new rain, how often will it mist?” Lucy asked.
Stephanie threw her napkin on her plate and placed some money on the table. “Great question,” she said. “Maybe my Grandpa will know. I need to check on him anyway.”
Cheryl finally appeared with a plate of food and took Stephanie’s vacant seat. “I hope you guys don’t want anything,” she said with her mouth full, “because I’m on my lunch break.”
Read Chapter 16 - It’s a Keeper
Subscribe to be notified when future episodes are published here.