A Constant Companion

A Constant Companion

By Heather Ann Martinez

That’s the thing about this city, it’s always sunny. The scientists don’t know why, but the sun never sets here. The temperature never changes more than a few degrees, and the people are the nicest you will ever meet. Crime is at an all time low. There aren’t any shady deals happening in some dark alley. There is no darkness here unless you create it with blinds and shutters. It is hard to tell the time by what you see outside. Most everyone works to keep our city both safe and beautiful. Unfortunately, there are always the grumblers. Every city has them. I don’t know why they haven’t moved out of the city. They complain to the representatives at city hall all the time.

There was once a billboard that stood off Main Street and Gail Avenue. The grumblers said it was too glossy and the sunlight bounced off it and caused temporary blindness when they were driving past. The grumblers won that battle but complained the next day about something else and the day after that. I don’t think I’ve had a moment’s peace since I took office. If you guessed that I am the mayor of this fine city, you are correct. If you wondered why I campaigned for this position, I did not. My uncle became ill and had to step down unexpectedly. I wasn’t prepared for this position, but I do take my responsibilities seriously. I personally financed free sunglasses for visitors. Not everyone who visits here knows that the sun doesn’t set. They expect that its brightness will dim after several hours and they do not expect the night to look like the day. It is common for our residents to work long hours. No one notices how much time has really passed until they look at a clock or some sort of what we call “foreign” time piece. We have much of our commerce in other cities that do have shifts between light and dark. Almost everyone who lives here and calls it home has been to another city.

Those that have left our city have experienced darkness. They have been to areas of the world where it is dark most of the year. Some have left because they wanted a change in seasons, a change in temperature, a contrast. There are, however, those of us who like the constant. I know every day that I wake up, it will be bright and sunny. It will be warm and cheery. I don’t have to worry about having winter clothes or snow boots or look for a cloudy day. I don’t feel despair. The sun anchors me in many ways. It hasn’t shifted. The scientists tell us that it will some day. The scientists have said that there will be a cloud hanging over our city. The universe is always moving, they say. Our rock is not sitting by itself in the heavens. Everything could change at the drop of a hat and we could be powerless to change it back. The scientists tell me often that I need to leave the city. I need to experience what others endure in rocky mountains and cold evenings in the dark. I have never had to leave the city. I am often depressed by what I have heard about living in places that have the contrast between sunlight and dark evenings.

If I am being honest, that is my worst nightmare. My life revolves around this predictable city that rarely changes. The scientists have asked me to make public service announcements and tell the people change could be on the horizon. It could happen in our lifetime. It could be as soon as tomorrow or in a few years. I asked the scientists if my generation with outrun it and they have assured me I will see a shift in my lifetime. I don’t want to warn the public. I want them to live out their days as long as they can in this constant. They are happy and productive. Darkness doesn’t offer us any benefits. A sun that dims and rises and hides behind clouds is almost too overwhelming a thought. I know the grumblers will have a field day. They will complain about having to wear a coat or jacket. They will probably want to wear shoes more often in the evenings. It may teach us to have gratitude for what we have in this moment. It may also cause fear and panic. The thought of having to deal with all those emotions about the end of living in paradise is not something I want to address publicly.

Can’t we just stay ignorant? Can’t we just forget that our city is going to be like other cities on this planet? There is always a possibility the scientists are wrong. They might be making a mistake. Their instruments are full-proof. We could still be cloudless. We could still wake up every morning to the sun in the same position. Scientists have called it a fluke, an unexplained phenomenon. They say it can’t be sustained forever. I don’t want to believe them. I can’t accept that reality. The people here shouldn’t have to accept that reality either. The sun has been our constant companion for generations. We don’t know how to live any other way. We don’t know what it is like to wake up in the morning and have to look outside to see if it is sunny or raining or cloudy or snowing. Maybe I don’t fully accept the realities other cities do accept. I don’t want darkness to enter my city limits. I don’t want to know what the color grey looks like out my front window. I don’t want the in-between. My family came here generations ago for the predictability of the sun’s presence at all times of the day and night. There was talk of doubt in every generation. They would ask if it could last not knowing or caring about how or why it was the way it was. I was content living in that bliss until the next day. I opened my curtains after a full night’s rest. I was not expecting to see what was on the other side of that curtain. I thought I had been betrayed. The sun was gone. My phone didn’t stop chiming for hours. It was dark outside.