A Fall Story from Lightport . . .

    Hay was stuck in Hannah’s braids, and dust was in her eyes, yet she couldn’t stop laughing. Her sister, on the other hand, was yelling at Micah and Beau to cut it out. Their mom always said Kate was nine going on thirty, which Hannah didn’t really understand until this moment. Nine wasn’t that much older than seven, so why couldn’t Kate just have fun? It was a hay ride, for heaven’s sake. There was lots of hay. Micah and Beau, being nine year old boys, were naturally going to throw it at people. Boys threw things, Hannah knew this well already. 

    Kate teared up, rubbing at her eyes. 

    “Ow, see what you did!” she shouted indignantly. 

    Micah rolled his eyes, but Beau dropped the fistfuls of hay he’d been about to rain upon Kate’s head. 

    “I’m sorry,” he told her, “did it get in your eyes?”

    “Yes! And it burns!”

    “Hannah’s younger than us, and she’s not being a cry baby,” snapped Micah. 

    “Just shut up,” Beau snapped back.

    “Fine,” Micah huffed, plopping down in the shredded piles of hay. 

    Kate’s hay bale was still intact, but Hannah had yanked fistfuls out of hers to throw back at the boys. The four of them were quiet for a moment as the tractor pulled the hay-filled truck bed over the rutted trail. The wooded lot behind the church had been used for functions like the fall festival for much longer than any of them had been alive, and the trail for the hayride showed it. Through the trees you could see the steeple of Community Fellowship Church piercing the October sky. 

    “I’m bored,” grumbled Micah. 

   He was always bored, but he had also taken the hay ride four times now. Being the pastor’s sons, Micah and his older brother Josiah had been here all day and wouldn’t be leaving until close to midnight after the bonfire hymn-sing. Of course, the Andersons would do the same. Their mom was in charge of the carnival games, and their dad was helping build the bonfire. 

    “I know!” Micah exclaimed, jumping to his feet. “We should jump off into that big pile of leaves near the parking lot.”

    “I don’t know . . .” Kate was frowning in concern. Like their mom said, nine going on thirty.

    “That sounds fun!” Hannah said, jumping up. She gave her sister’s shoulder a little push.

    “Come on, let’s do it.”

    “We could get hurt,” she argued. 

    “Nah,” Micah scoffed, “this thing’s going like two miles per hour. The leaf pile is super big, it’ll be like landing on a pillow.”

    “We’re the only people riding,” Beau added.

    Hannah jumped up and down. “I’ll do it, I’ll do it!” She would never let the boys think she was a scaredy cat. 

    Micah grinned and extended his hand to Kate. She tilted her head as she looked up at him. In the end, his dimpled smile and charm won her over. 

   They lined up on the edge of the flatbed. Hannah held Beau’s hand, which was a bit sweaty, in hers. She gripped it tighter. On Beau’s other side was Micah, and Kate held Micah’s hand.  

    “One,” Micah shouted, “two . . . THREE!” 

    They all jumped, aiming for the pile of leaves to their left. They all yelled, though Hannah wondered why Micah’s was more like a scream. He was never scared, or at least he never showed it. Micah and Beau both ended up on top of Hannah, and she heard a loud snap followed by a sharp pain in her left arm. She let out a scream, and then her entire left side felt hot and numb. 

    Micah was still screaming his head off. “Kate! KATE!”

    He scrambled off Hannah and went running back towards the hayride that was rumbling away towards the parking lot. Hannah started to cry loudly, clutching her arm. Beau asked if she was okay, but when he tried to touch her arm, she flinched away and screamed again. She heard Micah shouting now, and she really wished he would shut up already.

    “Kate, you are the most annoying girl I know, and if you weren’t a girl, I would punch you so hard in the -”

    “Micah!” Beau shouted. “Get over here, Hannah’s hurt!”

    “What?” Micah jogged back over and knelt beside Hannah.

    “What’s the matter with Kate?” Hannah managed to gasp out, clutching her arm close to her body. 

    “Nothing,” grumbled Micah, “she didn’t jump. She scared the crap out of me! I thought she got pulled under the wheels or something!”

    “Ohhh,” Hannah moaned, curling in on herself as the pain in her arm throbbed even more. 

     She was vaguely aware of the boys running and shouting for parents, but she really didn’t care about anything. She wanted her mommy and daddy. 

    And then her mother was there, brushing at Hannah’s forehead with cool fingers. “I’m here, honey.”

    She couldn’t open her eyes against the pain, but shadows fell over her, and she felt boxed in. People had gathered around, and if she’d had the strength, she would have shouted for them all to go away. She heard her sister call her name.

    “Hannah, are you okay?” Beau asked anxiously. 

    “Of course she’s not okay,” Micah snapped, “I think she broke her arm.”

    Beau glared at him. “Shut up.” 

    “Well, it snapped real loud, didn’t it? She hit the ground pretty hard.”

    “And you jumped on top of her.”

    “So did you!”

    Hannah groaned again, wishing the boys would take their argument elsewhere.

    “I want Daddy,” she whispered.

    “He went to get the car, sweetie,” her mother told her in a soothing voice, “but he’s coming.”

    “I’m so sorry, Hannah, please, I’m so sorry.” 

    She managed to open her eyes enough to see Beau hovering above her, tears streaming down his face. He was crying? She’d never seen Beau cry before.  

    “Nobody forced her to jump,” Micah grumbled.

    “Boys,” her mother snapped, “enough.”

    “Micah Phillip Barrett, what have you done now?” 

    Hannah moaned again at the sound of her pastor’s deep voice. It made his voice carry during service, but it sure felt too loud in this moment. Her head was throbbing. 

    “It wasn’t just me!” Micah’s voice was shrill, and if she wasn’t clutching her arm, Hannah would have clapped her hands over her ears.
 
    “You’re supposed to be an example for the rest of the kids, son.” Hannah saw Pastor Barrett give Micah a little shove towards where she lay on the ground. 

    “Sorry, Hannah,” he muttered.

    “Is she gonna be okay?” Beau asked Mrs. Anderson nervously. 

    “Oh, I’m sure she will, sweetie,” Hannah’s mother answered softly with a reassuring smile. If she was worried, she didn’t show it. 

    Beau stayed right beside Hannah as her father came running from the parking lot. Hannah shut her eyes tight as another wave of pain hit her. Beau took the hand of her uninjured arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. 

    “I’ve got you, baby,” her father told her as he lifted her into his arms. He tried to be careful, but the jostling made her wince nonetheless. 

    As they neared the parking lot, Hannah heard the shuffling and whispers of a crowd of people. She heard Elizabeth Barrett offer to take Kate home with them. Somehow, Beau was still keeping pace with her father, still gently holding her good hand. He was still crying, and so was Kate. 
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    Later, she would know she was in shock, but for right now, she couldn’t really feel her arm. All she could feel were her parents arms, her friends' tears, and a hand in hers. Over her father’s shoulder as he lifted her into the car, she saw the church’s steeple shining in the autumn sky.