Chignik Lagoon Gandalf (EXERCISIN' 2)

The slow chug of the diesel engine reverberated throughout the ship – from the engine room and through the bulkhead, along each deck and into the wheelhouse. The boat entered the bay silent and without light. The man behind the wheel killed the engine and the reverberation was gone and the ship came off step, knifing through the silent water.

The humble half-night of summer had fallen and the man behind the wheel saw hovering points of light as the last lights went out in the small village. He checked the time. Midnight. He felt his way towards the bow of the ship in the dark, not daring to turn on the bright halogen deck lights. In the pocket of his jeans he found a lighter and then the fuse. Running back to the wheelhouse the man found a leather jacket lined in sheepskin and a pair of antique pilot’s goggles. He glanced at himself in the mirror.

The explosion burst – phosphorescent effigies climaxed and diffused and the scream of hot chemical burn rattled a hollow falsetto in the open air over the bay as the village howled and trembling hands lit the lights. The man played loud raucous music from the ship's stereo.

The explosion rang and in the fading light the man dropped anchor. In the wheelhouse he began to load box upon box until the seine skiff was full. He fired up the outboard engine and motored towards the beach. He lit fireworks as he motored toward the beach – bottle rockets and roman candles, M80s and meandering rockets as a flush of bodies ran out towards the beach.

In the flash of each burst the man saw the dark faces that lined the shore – round native faces with dark hair – thick men and women and wire-wrought children. He thought that smiles suited their faces well – particularly the children with their unabashed, five-tooth grins, but also the smiles of the sullen parents.

He ran aground like a beached whale or some fortuitous providence. The men heaved his skiff higher up the beach and unloaded box upon box of fireworks while the children ran the labyrinth of bodies to get view of the boxes, thirsty for fire.

This was fourth of July.