78 The Meadow One of the firefighters begins screaming and pointing East. One by one, the others look up and stop what they’re doing. A hose, bursting with water, gets loose, and it flails with such intensity that it knocks several of them down. But none of the others seem to notice. Even from across the street, the dread on their faces is evident. When we turn, it’s as if we’ve entered a hazy, unfamiliar painting. We are staring at the sun, which seems like a normal sight, until we realize we shouldn’t be able to see it yet. The mountains are gone. They are not shrouded in clouds or smoke: they simply aren’t there. The anchor for the city, the skyline, our lives, has vanished. Lupita leaps from the Prius. The steaks. The cars. I have to find my sister, I think, following this woman who will never ever love me, as she stumbles across the parking lot in the direction of the wrecked horizon. It makes no sense, but Brigid is the only person I want with me right now. She has destroyed everything, yet I’d rather be with her, staring at this dreadful hole she’s ripped in the landscape. The tooth. The scorpion. Lupita is on the ground now. She calls for Danny, sobbing, and I turn from her. The mountains. I cross the street and breathe in the smoke, letting the ash from the prayers I said for Brigid fill my lungs.
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