Goodnight, Irene

It started as a disagreement over a song and ended in a brawl on the dirt road outside the dance hall. Whiskey bottles and fists flew, friends from both sides joined in, and soon every man and boy there were throwing punches at the nearest target. Tired and bad tempered, old Alton the projectionist and part time barber limped toward the melee and pulling a pistol from his overalls, fired a single shot into the air. The fight evaporated instantly and those involved separated shamefacedly and began drifting back inside. I'll see you all in church tomorrow morning or know the reason why, Alton muttered at their backs as he put the pistol away and climbed the steps back to the booth, I'm too damned old to be breakin' up this kind of foolishness.
We left the dance on foot, in twos and threes, headed for the Old Road and the last ferry. It was a clear night, warm with a bright full moon and the scent of the ocean was everywhere. Laughter carried on the still air and the lights of Westport shone across the water like fireflies. Couples wandered off into the fields and down onto the breakwater to be alone for a few precious moments before the night ended and the Sullivan boys began singing "Goodnight, Irene". Johnny and I left them where the Old Road met the new and cut across the strawberry patch and down the driveway.
We sat on the side porch and watched the glistening water, young and in love and full of things to say to each other. My grandmother, waiting up as usual, dimmed the inside lights and called goodnight to us with a smile - Johnny had always charmed her and she thought the world of him. The dogs came out to sit with us and listen to the night, not even barking at the sound of the ferry engine as it droned its steady way across the passage or the fading sounds of "I'll see you in my dreams" from the Sullivan boys.

I still sometimes dream of that summer night, it's sweetness and salty ocean air, it's innocence and youth, it's gentle perfection when all was right with the world and no harm had come to us. The last ferry made it's peaceful crossing over a moonlit and calm sea and the summer stretched out like a season without end.