Fire on the Island

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by Timothy Jay Smith


  “Will you wear my temporary ring?”

  “I’ll never take it off.”

  She held out her hand.

  He slipped it on her finger.

  “Temporary. Was that on your vocabulary list this morning?”

  “How do you guess?”

  “It’s a long word. There’s a more important word I hope you learned, too.”

  “What is that?”

  “Forever.”

  “It’s on my list!”

  Their long kiss announced their romance to the world.

  A truck rumbled up the scrubby hill and stopped at each of the holes, unloading piles of topsoil to fill in around the new trees. Takis, taking off his shirt, said, “Let’s help.”

  Nick worked alongside him, slinging dirt into a hole, when they saw Koufos approaching. They paused, and everybody soon stopped to see what the wild deaf kid wanted. He was dressed in his pearly buttoned shirt and mustard pants, and carried the lunch plate and napkin that Nick had left for him the day before.

  “Maybe he’s hungry,” Takis speculated.

  Nick stuck his shovel into the mound of dirt. “I don’t think so.”

  He faced the boy, and when they were looking only at each other, he made the same series of gestures he had outside the ruined house. He spread his hands, curled his fingers, and tapped his heart. He dropped his hands to his sides waiting for the boy to respond.

  Koufos only stared at him.

  People whispered, “What’s happening?”

  Nick repeated the series of gestures.

  What do you want?

  Come to us.

  We will love you.

  The deaf boy set the plate on the ground and made the same gestures back.

  People murmured, “What’s that mean?”

  “What are they saying to each other?”

  “Crazy kid!”

  “What’s he doing?” Takis asked.

  Nick smiled. “Coming in from the cold,” he said, and lifted a shovel offering it to the boy. Do you want to join us?

  Koufos did, but first he removed his red shirt with its pearly buttons and set it safely aside. Then taking the shovel, he set about using it. Nick grabbed another.

  They were all shoveling dirt when Takis asked, “What did you say to him?”

  “I don’t know. I made it up.”

  “Well, he’s got the right idea.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Taking off your shirt. Why sweat it out?

  “I look like a war zone. Several war zones, and your sister contributed a few more scars yesterday. That’s why.”

  “Do you think anybody is going to care? You’re a hero. You saved the village. You’ve earned your scars.”

  Not entirely convinced, Nick peeled off his shirt. No one took any notice, and soon he forgot about being shirtless, too, as the three men worked together shoveling dirt around the new trees.

  The sun was setting by the time they were all planted. The tractors and backhoes rumbled off. Koufos slipped away. Nick and Takis left for a bittersweet night together, knowing it was their last on the island, and one of their last forever. Once Takis returned to Melbourne, they would stay in touch, but possibly never see each other again. Their lives had crossed but their fates hadn’t changed.

  Weary from a full day of people, Dingo wandered off to find a place to sleep. The rich earth under the new trees was soft and full of good smells. Circling a spot, he plopped down. Sniffing something interesting, he nudged over a clump of earth with his snout.

  Out rolled a white truffle. The woman would be pleased. She always was when he found one.

  With a satisfied snort, Dingo rested his head on his paws.

  About the Author

  Timothy Jay Smith has traveled the world collecting stories and characters for his novels and screenplays which have received high praise. Fire on the Island won the Gold Medal in the 2017 Faulkner-Wisdom Competition for the Novel. He won the Paris Prize for Fiction for his first book, A Vision of Angels. Kirkus Reviews called Cooper’s Promise “literary dynamite” and selected it as one of the Best Books of 2012. Smith was nominated for the 2018 Pushcart Prize for his short fiction, “Stolen Memories.” His recent novel, The Fourth Courier, received tremendous reviews. His screenplays have won numerous international competitions. He is the founder of the Smith Prize for Political Theater. Smith lives in Nice, France.

  Also by Timothy Jay Smith

  The Fourth Courier

  A Novel

  Hardcover / $24.99 US/ $33.99 CAN (available now)

  978-1-948924-10-8

  For International Espionage Fans of Alan Furst and Daniel Silva, a new thriller set in post–Soviet era Poland.

  ** “Smith skillfully bridges police procedural and espionage fiction, crafting a show-stealing sense of place and realistically pairing the threats of underworld crime and destabilized regimes.” –Booklist **

  It is 1992 in Warsaw, Poland, and the communist era has just ended. A series of grisly murders suddenly becomes an international case when it’s feared that the victims may have been couriers smuggling nuclear material out of the defunct Soviet Union. When a Russian physicist who designed a portable atomic bomb disappears, the race is on to find him—and the bomb—before it ends up in the wrong hands. Suspenseful, thrilling, and smart, The Fourth Courier brings together a straight white FBI agent and gay black CIA officer as they team up to uncover a gruesome plot involving murder, radioactive contraband, narcissistic government leaders, and unconscionable greed.

 

 

 


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