stand.
“Oh, look,” Livie says, excited now. “There’s Brian and Annie.”
“Did you think we had the wrong party?” Nathan asks her, amused, but they are all walking faster now toward the bonfire which has grown larger as they near it and the people standing or sitting around it with bottles in their hands, their faces rosy with firelight.
“In this blackness we could still have the wrong party,” Janet says, “and none of us would ever know.” Her voice rises lightly at the end, but neither Livie nor Nathan pay any attention to her.
“Hey, somebody’s coming,” a voice ahead of them says, and a few people turn to peer into the darkness through which Janet, Livie, and Nathan are walking. Then they are in the circle of dancing light, saying hi, exchanging the case of beer for three opened bottles.
“How come you’re so late?” Brian asks, one hand thrust into his trousers’ pocket, the other holding a beer bottle that is wet from the tub of melting ice that must be sitting somewhere nearby.
“I had to work till eleven,” Livie says.
“Where’s the food?” Nathan asks. “I skipped dinner. I’m starving.” Brian points behind them, deeper into the woods, past a cluster of pines.
“Back there.”
There is an awkward moment for Janet and Livie when Brian turns back to the people he’d been talking to and Nathan leaves them to circle the fire and squat, talking, beside somebody he knows. They are still looking around, trying to adjust to the scene, but everywhere people seem to be locked into conversations. The couple on their right who have been talking quietly, their faces close together, begin to kiss, and laughter breaks out among some others they can’t see, who are standing far back in the forest.
“Come on, Janet,” Livie says. “Let’s go over to where they’re cooking.” They circle the fire in the path between its radiance and heat and the cool darkness of the night, behind the backs of the people who stand or sit facing the fire. Janet doesn’t know anybody here. They walk a few feet through absolute black toward the metal barbecue stands on the other side of a ring of huge pines and find another group of people, all men this time, standing together talking, occasionally reaching out with their long-handled forks to turn pieces of meat which are cooking on the barbecues in front of them.
“Hey, Livie,” a man says, sounding pleased to see her. She moves around the barbecue to hug him and he bends to brush her cheek with his lips. “Glad you could make it,” he says, holding his fork lightly in both hands, balancing it.
“I had to work late,” she says. “It smells terrific.”
“I figured that,” he says. “Won’t be much longer till we can eat.” He turns his head to look questioningly at Janet who still stands on the other side of the barbecue.
“Oh,” Livie says. “I’m sorry. This is my friend, Janet. I talked her into coming with us tonight. Janet, this is …” But a conversation next to them which suddenly grows louder, drowns out her voice so that Janet hears only his last name, which is Baker.
“Hi, Baker,” she says, and when he grins at her, interestedbecause she has unexpectedly called him by only his last name, she sees how the glow from the charcoal fire in front of him—even through the smoke that drifts upward from the cooking meat—makes his eyes glint. She moves around the barbecue toward him.
A woman is calling Livie, at first she doesn’t appear to hear, then, without speaking again, Livie turns and goes through the night toward the voice.
“Look at the stars,” Janet says to Baker. “Just look.” He lifts his head and looks. They stand together staring up, while the meat beside them drips juices which hit the hot charcoal and sizzle. High up, above the pines which are unexpectedly, gently swaying at their black, mysterious tops sixty or so feet above them, in the vast distance beyond that, there are the stars, shining
“Oh, look,” Livie says, excited now. “There’s Brian and Annie.”
“Did you think we had the wrong party?” Nathan asks her, amused, but they are all walking faster now toward the bonfire which has grown larger as they near it and the people standing or sitting around it with bottles in their hands, their faces rosy with firelight.
“In this blackness we could still have the wrong party,” Janet says, “and none of us would ever know.” Her voice rises lightly at the end, but neither Livie nor Nathan pay any attention to her.
“Hey, somebody’s coming,” a voice ahead of them says, and a few people turn to peer into the darkness through which Janet, Livie, and Nathan are walking. Then they are in the circle of dancing light, saying hi, exchanging the case of beer for three opened bottles.
“How come you’re so late?” Brian asks, one hand thrust into his trousers’ pocket, the other holding a beer bottle that is wet from the tub of melting ice that must be sitting somewhere nearby.
“I had to work till eleven,” Livie says.
“Where’s the food?” Nathan asks. “I skipped dinner. I’m starving.” Brian points behind them, deeper into the woods, past a cluster of pines.
“Back there.”
There is an awkward moment for Janet and Livie when Brian turns back to the people he’d been talking to and Nathan leaves them to circle the fire and squat, talking, beside somebody he knows. They are still looking around, trying to adjust to the scene, but everywhere people seem to be locked into conversations. The couple on their right who have been talking quietly, their faces close together, begin to kiss, and laughter breaks out among some others they can’t see, who are standing far back in the forest.
“Come on, Janet,” Livie says. “Let’s go over to where they’re cooking.” They circle the fire in the path between its radiance and heat and the cool darkness of the night, behind the backs of the people who stand or sit facing the fire. Janet doesn’t know anybody here. They walk a few feet through absolute black toward the metal barbecue stands on the other side of a ring of huge pines and find another group of people, all men this time, standing together talking, occasionally reaching out with their long-handled forks to turn pieces of meat which are cooking on the barbecues in front of them.
“Hey, Livie,” a man says, sounding pleased to see her. She moves around the barbecue to hug him and he bends to brush her cheek with his lips. “Glad you could make it,” he says, holding his fork lightly in both hands, balancing it.
“I had to work late,” she says. “It smells terrific.”
“I figured that,” he says. “Won’t be much longer till we can eat.” He turns his head to look questioningly at Janet who still stands on the other side of the barbecue.
“Oh,” Livie says. “I’m sorry. This is my friend, Janet. I talked her into coming with us tonight. Janet, this is …” But a conversation next to them which suddenly grows louder, drowns out her voice so that Janet hears only his last name, which is Baker.
“Hi, Baker,” she says, and when he grins at her, interestedbecause she has unexpectedly called him by only his last name, she sees how the glow from the charcoal fire in front of him—even through the smoke that drifts upward from the cooking meat—makes his eyes glint. She moves around the barbecue toward him.
A woman is calling Livie, at first she doesn’t appear to hear, then, without speaking again, Livie turns and goes through the night toward the voice.
“Look at the stars,” Janet says to Baker. “Just look.” He lifts his head and looks. They stand together staring up, while the meat beside them drips juices which hit the hot charcoal and sizzle. High up, above the pines which are unexpectedly, gently swaying at their black, mysterious tops sixty or so feet above them, in the vast distance beyond that, there are the stars, shining
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