Shh\u2026 be quiet. The dark has come by and knocked on the world. Shh every one and every thing. Hush. These days will pass you on by. The world is still and cool, healing itself and all that live on it. When the little boys run in the fields, they\u2019ll show you what they\u2019re made of, courage and love, with strong little legs that carry them through the uncut wheat. In the meadows they pick the crocus flowers nestled in the grass, as they wander farther and farther away. They look back with trepidation, trying to find their path back home. In the hours they ran through the woods, they lost their track, and the dark is coming. The dark is descending through the thick branches of the Jack Pines as they look for their trail of trampled grasses. In the distance they see the smoke from the home chimney. Their hearts swell, and they smile again, proud chubby children\u2019s hands clenched around bundles of crocus flowers. They find a vase, jam the bruised stems inside, counting each one to the ninety-ninth. They carry them gently back to their aging mother for a smile that banishes the darkness and brings in the sun. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Shh\u2026 be quiet. The dark has come by and knocked on the world. Shh every one and every thing. Hush. These days will pass you on by. The world is still and cool, healing itself and all that live on it. When the little boys run in the fields, they\u2019ll show you what they\u2019re made of, courage and love, with strong little legs that carry them through the uncut wheat. In the meadows they pick the crocus flowers nestled in the grass, as they wander farther and farther away. They look back with trepidation, trying to find their path back home. In the hours they ran through the woods, they lost their track, and the dark is coming. The dark is descending through the thick branches of the Jack Pines as they look for their trail of trampled grasses. In the distance they see the smoke from the home chimney. Their hearts swell, and they smile again, proud chubby children\u2019s hands clenched around bundles of crocus flowers. They find a vase, jam the bruised stems inside, counting each one to the ninety-ninth. They carry them gently back to their aging mother for a smile that banishes the darkness and brings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/s32u0F-hush","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1261,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=1261","url_meta":{"origin":2906,"position":0},"title":"I Can Read With My Eyes Shut Tight","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"July 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was eleven, I was asked to be in a school play. It was about Gilligan's Island. And because I was skinny and had dark hair, they thought that I would be a good match for Gilligan. I loved that show and watched it whenever I could. I studied\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3116,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=3116","url_meta":{"origin":2906,"position":1},"title":"A Place to Rest","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"April 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The little tree grew into an enormous tree. It loved the hill where it had grown up, extended its roots deep into the ground, and tasted the waters of the earth. In the spring, it dropped its cones; the seeds scattered around and the little ones were born. They sprouted\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3047,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=3047","url_meta":{"origin":2906,"position":2},"title":"The Villain I Made","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"March 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I've not been good at villain creation. I've known many of them in my life, but I haven't ever made one. I guess my storytelling child author just assumed people are good or bad. But in reality people are all different shades, moving in and out of these shadows, transforming,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1309,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=1309","url_meta":{"origin":2906,"position":3},"title":"The Making of Villains","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"February 3, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"How do you make a villain that feels credible? Meet Baxter Hickman. Part man, part monster, and totally being used.","rel":"","context":"In "My Thoughts On Stuff"","block_context":{"text":"My Thoughts On Stuff","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2092,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=2092","url_meta":{"origin":2906,"position":4},"title":"Blackhole Grind","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"July 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Nobody thinks about how it\u2019s done anymore. I\u2019m out on the line for twelve hours. I\u2019m tired, I\u2019m beat. I\u2019m in The Suit, and it\u2019s charged up and buzzing in my ears. I can feel the energy crawling on every inch of my skin. Like a bunch angry ants pouring\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.keithbphillips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/goodbyebigba-e1500222979620.jpg?fit=373%2C317&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2835,"url":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?p=2835","url_meta":{"origin":2906,"position":5},"title":"History Lesson","author":"KeithBPhillips","date":"December 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Prologue Despite being new to humanity, Hellas Planitia had a long and very violent history. 3.9 billion years ago a large asteroid had slammed into the Martian surface, vaporizing it, and spreading debris seven thousand kilometers in every direction. The impact was so severe that it affected the core of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Stories"","block_context":{"text":"Stories","link":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2906"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2906\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3036,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2906\/revisions\/3036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.keithbphillips.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}