The day the Sutton Roadhouse burned we were taking a new washer and drier to Valdez for the house down there. I was 14 or 15 and Dad was in his late 30’s, probably the age I am now.

Coming down the hill just past mirror lake we could see a light in the distance where there should be. I had been reading the Dungeon Master’s guide and working out some Dungeons and Dragons character details by flashlight because the sun was hours off from rising but I put it all away to speculate about the light.

It was in the wrong direction to be Wasilla. We could see the lights of Wasilla as we rounded the corner at Eklutna.

It wasn’t Palmer. It was beyond Palmer and Palmer didn’t have big lights like that.

It was closer to the prison but it wasn’t the prison. We could see the lights of the prison clearly from the hay flats. They were tall towers with individual lights the shone directly onto the prison yard.

The miles passed and we rolled down the hill into Sutton and saw the roadhouse burning. We said nothing.