How Long 'Til Black Future Month?

Nahautu raises her head to see a group of four Sky-People and her father at the edge of the field where she is picking okra. Her father summons her and explains that the Sky-People want to use one of their family’s buildings for research for a few months. Nahautu wonders aloud what they will get in return, but she knows that her father wants to let them use the space because he seeks admiration from the community—an admiration he has not been able to achieve on his own since Nahautu has not given him any grandchildren.

Nahautu gives them a “nod” of assent and the four Sky-People move in (115). The younger male watches her bathe each night and eventually asks her “How do you like the sky?” (116). The sky had changed from blue to “rose” recently, and the clouds now moved with “intention” instead “of floating” aimlessly (115). The Sky-People are on a mission to find out what has caused the shift. Nahautu says she is indifferent to the sky, but the young Sky-Person goes on to explain some of the research they have conducted. When Nahautu asks him about the “dragons” in the sky, he says they are just clouds, but she thinks this is “stupid” (117).

Eventually, the sky turns from pink to red, though other than influencing a bunch of artists, the change in color causes no tangible results. Nahautu continues to hang out with the young Sky-Person; one day, he asks her why she thinks she sees dragons in the sky, as he did not think dragons were something people on earth contended with. She explains that Earthlings dream of dragons even if they don’t physically touch them. This causes the young Sky-Person to ask her what she specifically dreams about; she says she dreams of “traveling the world” (119). The Sky-Person is confused as to why she is not already doing that, and she explains she needs to stay and care for her father and that on Earth she is not appreciated because she is “unwomanly” (119). The Sky-Person says that where he comes from, a place called The Ring, a lot of women are unwomanly. The Ring is a place where people who cared more about convenience than the comfort of Earth went to live when it was decided Earth could no longer sustain technological advances. People like Nahautu and her family chose to stay on Earth and to “live simply,” sacrificing modern technology for a place on their home planet (118). Though their homes are very different, Nahautu can’t help but remember that she and the Sky-Person are of same “species” (118).  

Soon after the discussion of dragons, the Sky-People crack the sky’s code and determine that some lingering poison from Earth’s technological days had combined to create the new sky. Excitedly, they report their findings to Nahautu’s father and explain they now plan on fixing it. Nahautu’s father, however, says they like the new sky. The Sky-People insist that they would just be restoring the sky to its natural state. Nahautu’s father explains that Earthlings have agreed not to change the earth for any reason at this point and then he shoos the Sky-People off his property. Once they are gone, he forbids Nahautu from communicating with them. She feels “more alone than ever” (121).

A fair amount of time passes before the young Sky-Person returns. He meets Nahautu in the fields and asks her to follow him to the river. At the river, they watch as the sky slowly turns blue, white, and then violent. Certain death approaches on the horizon so the young man pulls Nahautu towards his ship, shaped much like a coffin, and asks her to escape with him to The Ring. She is hesitant to leave her father and betray the earth, but she does. They live together on the Ring, which she doesn’t entirely hate, but also doesn’t entirely enjoy given the guilt she feels each time she looks up at the sky.