Raising the Dimmer Switch

As I stood there with Atticus while he smelled the same clump of dune grass he smells every morning, reading the calling pees of the other dogs that have passed this way in the last 24 hours, I could feel a light behind me, much like headlights on my back. Except our car was the only one in the parking lot.

I turned and realized it was the sun growing stronger and brighter literally while I watched it. It was like someone slowly, steadily lifting the dimmer switch on the sun. I had a strange feeling while standing there, like someone was raising the dimmer switch on Hope as well, and it was filling the air along with the light.