October, 1965

It was October ’65 and it was cold night with no moon. My father had died the previous April and I was still pretty pissed off about that, and all that went along with fathers dying. I didn’t like people feeling sorry for me, and I started to like fighting a lot.

I’d stopped talking to anyone but Kippy, he was twelve and I was eight, and twelve seemed pretty old and worldly. He was bigger than me, by a good foot, and I decided I’d not try to fight him, what with his long arms. Besides his dad had been in the Navy and mine was dead, so that somehow gave him authority.

Then the lights went out. Everything was black, darker than I’d ever seen, before or since. My sister was eighteen and she came home and said the whole town was pitch-black dark. She took me out the front porch and we smoked cigarettes and she told me she was sure it was UFOs. I didn’t say nothin’, just trying to inhale those Camels and not choke.

A fireman came to our house down by the lake and yelled at my sister for giving me the smokes. Then Ma’ came out front with us all and the fireman said the lights was out all the way up into Canada. I didn’t know if I should believe him because them fireman had been coming to our house a lot since my old man died and I wasn’t sure I was ok with it. I wasn’t so sure he was even a real fireman, either, and that it wasn’t just some made up shit. I’d never seen him put out no fire. My money was on he was up to something no good. Besides, how could he know about the lights way the Hell up in Canada.

Kippy and his sister showed up at our back door at the same time and came around front and met all of us: Ma’ the fireman, my sister and me. They said we should go to up to their house. Donna, Kippy’s sister, said it was the Soviet’s and we was all gonna die. Ma’ didn’t want to go but I was really agitated.

That summer past I decided to not speak to no one but Kippy, and seeing how his dad had been in the Navy I figured he’d know what to do when the Soviets attacked.

I was a bit confused and Kippy couldn’t explain, but as the dark night wore on I got more agitated because I’d never done a goddamn thing to no Soviets, and now they were attacking my lake and my dad had just died.

The lights eventually did come back on and there was not a Soviet nor a UFO to be found, but from that day on I decided I’d never trust nobody. Not even Kippy.

That was 1965 to the best of my recollection.