Chapter 1 - The Sun
Even though the entire city voted to change the name from Barrow back to Utqiagvik, Tecasuk preferred to call it Barrow. The way the boarding schools kept pushing assimilation on them, it wouldn't be long before he chose to go by "Tommy" or "Teddy" instead of his Iñupiat name. Tecasuk shivered as he watched the sun set for the last time before the North Slope Borough would be left in two months or more of pure darkness.
It was difficult to put the phenomenon into words, and most of Tecasuk's friends loved the uniqueness of the way nature behaved around them; it was all they knew, and even though they watched movies based in Hollywood and shows based in Texas, they could only imagine what sunlight from November to January looked or felt like. There was still a week before the end of October, and Tecasuk's family and tribe did not recognize Halloween as a holiday. Too many Sometimes he wished it were warmer so he could see what it would feel like to wear a button down shirt outside, or a short-sleeve, or a polo. A sigh produced a puff of white air that ruffled the fur around his collar.
"Tec!" A voice yelled from behind him, growing louder as the teen who it belonged to rushed Tecasuk. Tec turned around, flashing a grin at his best friend. The other teen was bent over in exhaustion, and caught his breath before he spoke again. "Are you really sitting here watching the sunset when this could be the last whaling we'll do for the rest of the year?"
Tec rolled his eyes. "If this were my first time this year, sure. But I've been a few times, remember?" The friend's eyes darted to and fro, and Tec smirked. "Better question, why're you here when you haven't been yet? I know there were a few hunts earlier today."
The youth shrugged. "I thought you'd want to come with, is all." He looked around. "You're here by yourself?"
Tec sighed, throwing his hood over his head and shuffling past his friend. "Yes, Amaruq, I was here alone. We never say goodbye to the sun, but we always say goodbye to the whales."
Amaruq tilted his head and bunched up his eyebrows, then asked, "Yeah, but the sun doesn't keep us warm during the months we don't have it, it's the whales, right? So we have to celebrate when they're here!"
Tec looked ahead, his gaze following the fresh set of footprints that Amaruq had left on his way there. "Yeah, and then we say goodbye, but isn't it when the whales come that the sun leaves?"
Amaruq looked into the cooling sky, his eyes reflecting the same dark navy color they took in. "Huh. I never thought about it that way, before." He sat down, throwing his head back and turning those same navy irises towards the cool violet hues in the encroaching dusk. "I always thought the sun left us because we enjoy it for too long. So much light, a little dark can't be too bad." Amaruq tilted his head forward once more before throwing it back and yelling, "GOODBYE SUN!"
Tec shook his head, feeling his face begin to warm faster than it would if he went inside. He made to walk away, but Amaruq spoke again. "Thank you for shining this light on our paths and on our homes and protecting us from the cold!" Tamaruq stood, slapped his right hand on his chest and looked defiantly into the setting sun, its rays having long lost their potency for blinding, and now only smearing the blues and pinks in the sky into violets and purples. Tec turned around after he heard the coat smacking followed by silence and shook his head again, this time fighting a smirk.
Tec couldn't help but grin and chided himself for beginning to get so upset. He walked back to Amaruq, putting his own hand over his heart and doing the same. "Goodbye but not for long! I hope we see you rise again!" Tec and Amaruq waved at the sunset vigorously for a moment, then turned to each other. "Well, that was the Inaugural Sun Setting Seance, Ruq!" Tec said as he placed a gloved hand on Ruq's shoulder. Tec turned and jogged a few steps away from Ruq. He turned his head over his shoulder and yelled back, "Let's go say goodbye to the whales now!" Tecasuk bolted as he finished his sentence, his laugh lost in the light crunching of the ground beneath his feet. Amaruq followed, and the two boys made their way back to the wharf, where the whale hunt would end tonight. All the while, the sun continued to descend behind the frigid Alaskan skyline.
It would be the last time Barrow would see the sun.. for three dark, dark months.
