“My father couldn’t speak, and I couldn’t stand to see him so miserable. I looked out the window and saw the light of the new day peeking through the low-sitting clouds.
“I must be on my leave, I said again. Tis nearly daylight.
“You need not mind the daylight, my father said. No one shall come round this day. You’re safe here.
“I cannot be in the sunlight, I said. It pains me.
“My father looked at the sun breaking through to day. He grabbed some quilts and used them to block the light coming in through the window. Do you stay indoors while the sun is high? he asked.
“I sleep, I said. Whilst the sun is high I sleep like the dead, and when the sky is dark I am awakened with life again.
“He gathered more quilts and bundled them on the floor along the wall farthest from the window. It w
