My name crawled into sleep, tenderly awakening me. The clock read 4:10 A.M. I went to the door, and there was no fear in this, although at any other time, in any other place, my name and a knock at four in the morning would cause panic.

Sadie stood on the porch in mud boots, a T-shirt with a faded Crawfish Joe’s logo, jeans shorts, and a baseball cap. The overhead light fell onto her exposed skin. She held a pair of bright pink Wellie boots and another baseball hat. At her feet there was a cooler, a spearlike stick called a gig, and a fishing net. I stared at her, absorbing all these sights in the slow-motion way of one who wakes to another world.

“A jubilee,” she whispered, holding out her palms as if whatever this jubilee was, it rested in her hands.

“Huh?”

She leaned down and picked up a thermos to pour a cup of coffee into the top, then handed it to me. “Caffeine. Now go put on a pair of shorts and your ugliest T-shirt, and I’ll explain as we walk.”

I did as I was told, blurry. I slipped the baseball cap onto my head, the boots onto my feet, and then I swallowed the coffee. Together we carried her paraphernalia toward the bay as she explained. “This is it. A jubilee. It’s here for you; I know it. Everyone else will think it’s for them, but I know it’s for you.”

“I’m still confused. I’m sorry. Can I go back to bed?”

“Could it be any more perfect? It’s a sign. It’s a gift.”

“What?” I squinted into the darkness, as if this could make shapes come alive.

“You have no idea, do you?”

“No.”

“This is when a mystical world appears, when weather, wind, and water come together exactly right. The entire town will run to the water now. There will be so much sea life to catch that it won’t be able to be caught.”

“I don’t think I get it.”

“You will. Grab the other side of the cooler.” She gave me directions, which I obeyed without question. We reached the water’s edge, where other people had arrived before us. The bay was a blue and fading bruise against the night sky. The crescent moon sent only the thinnest line of reflected light onto the surface of the water. I stood at the bay’s edge, wearing Birdie’s mud boots, which were too small, and my toes went numb crushed up against the tip of the rubber. I didn’t care one bit because I was immersed in the middle of an enchantment I’d never experienced and hadn’t known existed.