Chapter Text
August 1889
Prologue
Ponyboy wailed from under the blanket, tucked into Darry’s lap, as another peal of thunder clattered, the entire house trembling with the force of the sound.
Soda, curled against Darry’s side, stared ahead with wide, spooked eyes, shaking.
Darry held his three-year-old and five-year-old brothers as lightning illuminated the house for a moment. Rain poured down the windows in sheets. The house tremored with each gust of wind.
The three of them were huddled under a doorframe, should any trees fall. That was the instruction their parents had given in the case of any severe tropical storms.
Actually, they’d just instructed them to do that if they ever heard any cracking sounds, signalling a tree falling, but Darry had opted not to take any chances.
Soda tugged on Darry’s sleeve, his big brown eyes teary. “Darry? Are Mommy and Daddy okay?”
Darry kisses the top of Soda’s head, just like Mommy and Daddy did for each of them when they tucked them into bed at night. Even Darry, even though he’d been protesting recently that he was getting too old for that. He was nine.
But right then, he really wished his parents were there.
Darry tucked his hand around the back of Soda’s head, keeping him close and secure. “They’re just at Keith’s house.” The storm came earlier than expected, catching everyone off-guard. “It’s safer for them to stay put. They’ll come back as soon as the storm is over.”
He prayed he was right.
Thunder crashed again, and Ponyboy, still huddled under his blanket, all but threw himself into Darry’s chest, shaking.
“Shh, shh, it’s okay,” Darry cooed, trying to keep the tremble out of his own voice. “Hey. Do you know what happens to fish during storms?”
“Something bad?” Sodapop whispered.
Darry shook his head. “No. They’re fish. They know what to do.” He didn’t know what fish actually did during storms, but he could make a nice story out of it. Maybe it would just happen to be true. “They’re nice and deep under the water. There’s no storm down there, near the sand. It’s quiet. The fish are in their homes. They don’t even know it’s storming. All the little fish are safe. They play with the seashells and the hermit crabs. They’re all friends. Right now, a little blue fish is playing with his friend. They’re playing a game of tag.”
For the first time in an hour, Ponyboy poked his little head out from under the blanket. Only a bit of his face showed—those stormy green eyes and a tuft of russet hair. “Can I name da bwue fiss, Dawwy?”
Darry smiled. “Hey, little colt. Good to see you again. I thought you might’ve disappeared for good.”
Pony shook his head.
“Good. Yeah, what’s the blue fish’s name?”
“Bwuey.”
Darry grinned, trying not to laugh. “That’s a good name.”
Sodapop whined. “It’s not fair, I wanna name a fish, too!”
Darry looked at him, nodding. “You can. How about a yellow one?”
Soda’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Fireflame.”
“Woah! Good one.” He ruffled Soda’s hair. “Fireflame must be a brave, fierce fish.”
Soda nodded. “Uh-huh. And there’s a green one called Wawaweemo, and another blue one called Zipzopawish.”
“No!” Ponyboy wailed, looking at Soda in offense. “Daew's onwy one bwue fiss! My bwue fiss.”
Sodapop stuck his tongue out, which made Ponyboy scream, and Darry didn’t know whether to laugh or yell.
But they weren't scared anymore. And honestly? Neither was he.
They spent the next hours adding to their underwater world, spreading out on the living room floor, pretending to swim through the reefs of the gulf.
Before Darry knew it, he realized the thunder was only rolling in the distance. There were overflows of water in the streets, but the rain wasn’t as heavy as it had been. Pony and Soda eventually curled up on the floor, fast asleep, and Darry draped blankets over them.
And finally, the door opened, Mommy and Daddy soaked up to their thighs, but they were all right. Darry ran to them, getting swung up into Daddy’s arms. Mommy kissed his head, and he didn’t even mind.
“I was so brave,” Darry bragged, but he was very thankful it wasn’t all on his shoulders anymore. “I looked after Soda and Pony.”
Daddy held him close, smiling that smile that made everything good again. “I knew you’d be just fine. My brave boy.”
Everyone was home. Everything was okay.
Because all storms eventually passed.