{"id":4678,"date":"2021-08-02T17:43:17","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T21:43:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4678"},"modified":"2021-08-02T17:43:17","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T21:43:17","slug":"twenty-three-07-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/?p=4678","title":{"rendered":"Twenty-three – 07"},"content":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thomas Merlin Ambrose’s point of view.]<\/em><\/p>\n

Carolyn stayed silent for what seemed like a long time\u2014almost all the way to the bridge itself\u2014her gaze distant, thoughtful.\u00a0 I almost didn\u2019t think that she\u2019d say anything and my stomach roiled as I wondered if I\u2019d somehow made a mistake in telling her what I\u2019d seen.<\/p>\n

When she finally spoke, her voice was soft and low, as if she feared someone might overhear us\u2014so quiet that it was almost inaudible over the sound of the branches rustling above the ravine.\u00a0 \u201cI remember hearing about that night,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cIt feels like it was forever ago.\u00a0 We were sophomores.\u00a0 Your parents had been dating for a few months at the time.\u00a0 Your mom used to go hiking in the ravines a lot\u2014it started our freshman year.\u00a0 I used to go with her every so often.\u00a0 It was when we were sophomores that more and more of us used to go, though.\u00a0 Usually, it was only in daylight.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t until maybe end of September that sophomore year that they started to go at night, and it was only a few of them\u2014her and your dad, Drew, Kellin, Rory.\u00a0 I don\u2019t really remember who else.\u00a0 Jay might have gone once or twice.\u00a0 We don\u2019t talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy not?\u201d I murmured.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy would we?\u201d she countered.\u00a0 \u201cOh, Lin.\u00a0 It stopped mattering within a couple years of the world ending.\u00a0 We had you guys to worry about, the village, surviving?\u00a0 The only things that mattered from back then were what we\u2019d learned and what we wanted to pass on.\u00a0 Those nighttime hikes weren\u2019t something we dwelled on anymore, not after those first couple years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause it was quiet,\u201d I said.\u00a0 \u201cBecause there was peace?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch as it was,\u201d Carolyn said.\u00a0 \u201cAnd things had changed.\u00a0 None of it was the same anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I saw them,\u201d I whispered.\u00a0 \u201cI saw them down there, Aunt Caro.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[This post is from Thomas Merlin Ambrose’s point of view.] Carolyn stayed silent for what seemed like a long time\u2014almost all the way to the bridge itself\u2014her gaze distant, thoughtful.\u00a0 I almost didn\u2019t think that she\u2019d say anything and my … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[336,337,373,14],"tags":[340,150,163,171,170,149,148,168,147,165,200,146],"class_list":["post-4678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ambrose-cycle","category-book-8","category-chapter-23-book-8","category-story","tag-ambrose-cycle","tag-awakenings","tag-carolyn-roberts","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-original-fiction","tag-post-apocalyptic","tag-serial","tag-serial-fiction","tag-story","tag-thomas-merlin-ambrose","tag-web-fiction"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1EBlN-1ds","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4678"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4679,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4678\/revisions\/4679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/awakenings.embklitzke.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}