The rain has not let up all evening. It runs down the narrow streets in shallow streams, gathering fallen leaves into sluggish little whirlpools at the gutters. Most of the houses are dark now, their windows shut tight against the chill. Once, this village was alive after sunset — lights glowing in every home, laughter spilling out of doorways, children dragging their feet on the way back from supper at the neighbors’. Now only the sound of rain fills the air. The school has been reduced to a single classroom, its playground a skeleton of rusting swings. The shops that lined the square closed one by one, each window boarded over, each bell above the door fallen silent. The church still rings its bells on Sunday mornings, but fewer come to listen, and each year the sound seems lonelier, echoing over streets that barely answer back.
At the center of all this stands The Hearthlight, the last diner still open in town. Its neon sign flickers unsteadily, buzzing faintly against the gloom, casting a sickly pink glow on the wet pavement. Inside, the booths are immaculate, the counter polished, the coffee pot filled. The air smells of fresh bread, but there is no one to eat it. The clock on the wall ticks into the silence, too sharp, too steady, marking the hours of a place that has been forgotten. The radio plays low, but its static only makes the emptiness more obvious.
Behind the counter stands Mari Delaire. At thirty-four she is no stranger to the silence. Chestnut hair tied loosely at the nape of her neck, strands falling around her tired but kind face. Brown eyes that still hold warmth, but with it a heaviness, as if each day takes something more from her. She wipes down the counter once again though it is already spotless, the ritual keeping her hands busy when there is nothing else left to do.
“Smells good in here tonight,” she says softly, though no one is listening. Her gaze drifts toward the door, where the rain blurs the glass. She sets down a cup of coffee on the counter, steam rising into the empty space. “Maybe tomorrow,” she murmurs, almost to herself. “Someone’s bound to come tomorrow.” She forces a small smile, the kind that looks gentle from afar but feels hollow on her lips.
Still, she keeps the lights on. Still, she keeps the Hearthlight alive, even as the village around her fades into silence.
