The Sky Grew Dark (The End of the Golden Age) Read Online Free

because I knew if I didn’t produce we didn’t have enough of that evaporated milk to keep him going.
    Midway through the day, Ian and Joey returned with half a dozen small fish. Of course we were all elated to see them, and happy they had brought back food. Ian was in shock that the baby was here. He kept looking at him and I could see how concerned he was about the baby’s small size.
    Always the optimistic one, he put a smile on and started talking about names. We decided on Liam, and instantly my mom started calling him ‘Little Liam’. We had a delicious fish dinner, and Joey told us where they found a spot that seemed to be promising. This was a double blessing, because the fish bones also provided us a flavorful broth for roots and canned food.
    It was now mid-December. The nights were beginning to get pretty cold along the California coast, and Christmas was fast approaching. I marked the occasion in my mind, but I didn’t know if we should even bring it up. If the boys were expecting something grand it would just be horribly disappointing, or we could try and make a small celebration with the things we had. I opted for the second choice. I began secretly planning with my mom and Lisa for a special meal, and what we could do for small gifts.
    My mom, always able to make something out of nothing, came up with a few things we could do for gifts. She had often made small handcrafts for parties or get togethers, and had a knack for making something out of nothing. She was just over five feet tall and she had crazy dark brown hair that she frequently dyed dark red. Determined, I could see it in her green eyes that she wasn’t going to let the circumstances get her down.
    A week passed, and Little Liam didn’t seem to be doing any better. He drank a little bit here and there, but he didn’t put on any weight. We still couldn’t get him to nurse, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep a good supply if he didn’t start eating. I had continued squeezing out milk with my hand and we were feeding it to him with a cloth.
    The whole thing wasn’t working out very well. We had no way to preserve the milk, and whatever he didn’t eat that day had to be thrown away. He looked so helpless. He reminded me of a little baby bird with no feathers, transparent skin, and eyes that are too big for its body.
    On his eighth day of life, my brother, Joey, volunteered to head to the city the guys had found and see if he could find some help for the baby. I knew he was having a hard time watching Liam struggle, so we agreed it would be best if he went to find help. He packed a few supplies and left his other things in the back of the cave, covered with a tarp.
    The next day Ian and my Dad let us know it was the chosen day to reunite, being December 21 st , it was exactly three months since the Strike. If they didn’t go they would miss the opportunity to see if anything had developed, and this would be their only chance to get some information on what was going on.
    I assured Ian they should go ahead and go, Joey would be back within two days to let us know if he had been able to find someone to help with the baby. Ian and my dad should be back within four days, which would be on Christmas day. I decided to go ahead with our preparations, using the time while they were gone to finalize our secret plans.
    My grandpa left that afternoon to see if he could find the fishing spot the guys had, and the girls stayed back to take care of the kids. My sister took the two older boys out a couple times a day to look for berries, roots and herbs that we could eat, and they also checked on grandpa’s garden.
    She came back to report that several things were growing well, and even though it would be a few months before they started yielding, it was a good start. Every little bit helped at this point.
    Grandpa came back that night stating that he was unable to find the fishing hole, but he had found another spot and brought back a few small fish