Now I'm not so lonely, now I have my hope and glory.

The sound was startling. Brown eyes suddenly open, staring into the darkness until they adjusted to what little light the full moon provided, reflecting off of the snow that hung from the pine trees behind her cabin. Slowly she would push herself up into a seated position, the blankets falling away from her skin, her form wrapped in a tank top and boxers. The chill of the air making goose bumps rise on her skin,
“Fire must be dyin'” she muttered to herself, there was no one else to hear it. She stood, unclear as to the source of the sound that woke her. She knew the noise, usually when it woke her it was coming from her own throat. Madi looked to the picture on the nightstand, lifting it to trace the faces with her free fingertips. A wistful smile tugged one corner of her mouth upwards as she looked at the grinning faces of those who had left her behind. A young version of herself was smiling broadly, caught in a near headlock by her older brother, the proud parents behind with their arms around each other. In a year, her mother would be gone. 2 later her father would follow as a product of his broken heart. Finally, her brother would rise to the call of his country, only to be left in China to die. She growled at the thought of the hunk of medal they had sent to console her. As though stamping it into a pleasing shape and attaching it to a ribbon had made the sacrifice worthwhile.

With a growl she placed the picture back down, lifting a blanket to wrap around herself before moving through the house. That sound. From everywhere and nowhere at once. What was that sound? Was it a sound? It wasn't as though she put hallucination past herself. Feet would slide into the mocassins that served as sandals before she descended the steps into the main living area. “Rufus?” Fingers moved over the wall clumsily as she sought out the light switch, flicking it on and recoiling a bit, eyes shut tightly. The sting of the shock slowly wearing away as she blinked a few times, the dog she had called for came from the other room, clearly uncertain of something. She looked to him before heading in his direction, moving to her knees to look him in the eye. “Awww, Rufus, what's wrong, buddy?” She ruffled the fur behind his ears, the co mbination of voice and touch seeming to calm him. “Is that noise freaking you out? Do you hear it to? Do ya? Tell mommy she's not crazy.” She sighed as he simply stared at her. If dogs understood humans at all, Rufus was clearly not speaking her language tonight. “Well, as long as we're up, ya gotta go pee? Wanna go out?”

'Out' seemed to be the only word Rufus understood as he suddenly became animated, tail wagging as he bounded for the front door, looking over his should as though to say “hurry up, mom!” She would open the hall closet, finding a jacket long enough to cover her to her knees before sliding into her snow boots, leaving only her knee caps exposed. Next a knit cap was thrown on to cover the mass of curls she had roped into a bun atop her head. Rufus was beginning to scratch, his patience having worn thin. She hurried herself, looking down at the damage he had done over the years, the bottom of the door and the wall beside it a mess of his scratches. “You're lucky I don't give a shit, Rufus, you really are.” He barked then, and she laughed, patting his head before opening up the door to let him out. She stepped out on the porch as he ran out into the snow, a shiver running up her spine before she let out a shuddering breath, the moist air from her lungs hanging in the darkness as fog. 20 “Hurry up, Rufus! It's frickin freezing out here!”

It was then she noticed the snow. Before it had only been marred by the prints of her own boots and Rufus' paws, but now there was barely a smooth spot, animal prints scarring every inch. And it had a strange pink and purple glow, not the normal shade of eerie blue that the moon cast. Head tilted back as she looked up, mouth gaping at the site of the Northern Lights, dancing against the stars in colors more vibrant than she had ever seen them. Electric pinks and purples and blues instead of the normal pale yellows and greens. And the sound. The crying. It hadn't changed in tone or volume. It was coming from everywhere and nowhere. She blinked, suddenly unsure of whether she were dreaming or awake. She hoped for the latter. It was a miracle of nature. She would step back, leaning against the railing of her porch to watch as Rufus played in the snow, the cold bothering her less now.

She stood like that for hours, entranced by the play of the colors in the sky. Madi only finally turned away when a new sound disturbed her, the rumbling of an old beat up truck, the one working head lamp casting a pool of yellow light in front of it as it rumbled up the driveway, Rufus nipping at its heels. She smiled, lifting a hand to wave “eyyyyy! Gilly! Are you seeing this shi t?” A finger would point to the sky as she spoke to her neighbor and paper delivery boy. “It's absolutely crazy!”

Madi was caught off guard by who stepped out of the truck, not Gilbert but Johnnie. A hand rose to cover her mouth as she blinked back tears. He looked to her, simply nodding before closing the gap between them and wrapping his arms around her. She would let herself sink into the warmth of his body for a moment before head would roll back to look into his face. “But-“ It was Johnnie. She must have been dreaming. She had gone to visit Johnnie not even 12 hours earlier, to hold his hand and to watch the flat line of the monitor measuring his brain waves. “How?” The single syllable was all she could manage, the accident had happened over 3 years ago, Johnnie had had one too many at her brothers wake and driven into a tree. He was never too recover.

“They don't know, Madi. They don't know.” The sound of his voice was too much, she buried her face in his t-shirt, letting out the sob that had been trapped in her throat. He lifted her easily, calling to Rufus over his shoulder as he carried her inside, setting her on the couch and letting her slide out of her boots. He looked around the house, she really hadn't changed the place, hadn't moved a single piece of furniture, taken down or added a single photo.& nbsp; It was exactly as it had been when Chuck had passed. She sniffled loudly, wiping at her eyes and nose.

“I'm sorry, I shouldn't be crying.” She laughed through her tears, her voice nasal and weak from her tears. “I just, I don't know, it's kind of overwhelming to see you awake, let alone driving and talking.”

He laughed “Yeah, even I'm a little surprised based on what the folks at the hospital told me. Apparently, I'm not the only one either. Every coma patient woke up, all at the same time. And it's not just here.” It took a moment for the information to process, her eyes drying up as confusion took over.

“What do you mean?” She watched his face as he reached over, picking up the remote and flipping on the television, turning it to the 24 hour news station.

“They're saying it's Satan, trying to lure us away from the savior. Madi, what the fuck happened while I was asleep?”

“Johnnie, you, you don't even want to know.” She shook her head, rising to her feet to walk into the kitchen. Lights flipped out she would move towards her fridge, looking over her shoulder. “But if I'm going to try to explain any of it, we're gunna need beers.” She laughed, turning back towards the fridge before remembering her plants, she hadn't watered them befor e bed. New seeds she had planted just yesterday to grow the herbs she needed to carry herself through until she could replant her garden in the spring. She filled a glass with water and poured it over the small pots, leaving the glass on the counter before moving back to the fridge and grabbing the promised beers. She would look back to flip off the lights, her jaw dropping again. “What the fuck?” She walked back to the sink, looking at the pots on the windowsill… there it was, a single leaf extending from a stem that had breached the soil in each pot. That wasn't possible.

“Where's that beer?” Johnnie's voice came from the entrance to the kitchen as he walked in, catching her stare. He came over, looking over her shoulder. “You germinate those from seeds? Impressive. You always did have a green thumb.” He patted her shoulder, taking one of the beers from her hand before he saw the expression on her face “What? How long ago did you plant 'em? You can't expect them to be full grown this qui-“

“I planted those yesterday, Johnnie.” He looked to her then back to the plants.

“Maybe there was something else in the soil you used?”

“No, Johnnie, it's all 5 pots. Exactly where I planted them. Something weird is going on.

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