Olly, Olly, Oxen Frey

by Paul Manchester

  “Hi!” Millie was still not clear what the boys wanted from her. When she asked herself what she wanted from them, she tried to convince herself that it was to find out what had happened to her friends. And though that was true, she also was curious about this new Finn. He differed from the Finn she was used to.

  “Hey,” said Not-Finn.

  “Hi!” said Not-Jack. He was looking at her weirdly. “Ready to make us real boys?” He said with a stupid smile.

  Millie hesitated thinking perhaps she shouldn’t have agreed to meet these boys after all. What was she thinking? They weren’t Jack and Finn even if they looked like them! “Uh... you are going to need to define that.”

  Not-Finn looked a little embarrassed and turned to Not-Jack. “Hey, I’m still not sure it works like that.”

  Millie had a wave of comprehension. “It most definitely does not work like that.” She could feel her cheeks turning red.

  Jack scoffed. “Fuck. We’ve seen videos. We’ve seen how it’s done.”

  Millie exploded. “Jack Saunders! Or, Not-Jack Saunders! Whoever you are. If you want to pass as the real Jack, first off, we don’t use language like that!”

  “Everybody talks like that! What’s the big deal?”

  “We...” she gestured to encompass Finn as well, “have bigger vocabularies than that! It makes you sound stupid.”

  “Whatever,” Not-Jack scoffed.

  “Wh–” Millie felt speechless, then burst, “and more importantly, we are only fifteen years old! I don’t know what type of videos you’ve seen, but having sex does not make you a real boy.”

  Not-Finn looked embarrassed, but Not-Jack was ready to argue.

  “Of course it is! That’s how it works in songs and movies! You’re not a real man until you’ve done it! We’ve been online. We’ve watched TV!” spouted Not-Jack looking a little angry.

  “Well, if you’re thinking that I’m going to have sex with either of you, you’re crazy! I’m not going to do that for... for years and years! I’m going to focus on school and – well, I’m just not in a hurry to do that! It’s a grownup thing. There’s lots of time in the future for that!”

  “But, not for us,” murmured Not-Finn.

  “Yeah... and why would that be?” scoffed Millie.

  “We have to become real people,” whispered Not-Finn rather desperately.

  Millie stopped and looked at them. “I’m not sure what it means when you say that,” answered Millie. “Talk!”

  Not-Finn took a breath and then spoke carefully, “We don’t have memories from before the hospital. But, we learn really fast... how to speak, and act... we’ve spent hours on the Internet reading everything we can find, we’re not sure what we are – but, we don’t think we’re human.”

  Not-Jack cut in. “But, there is stuff we do know! Stuff that doesn’t make sense... but we know it.”

  “Like what?” Millie whispered. She was trying to decide how crazy this all was and whether she should make an excuse to get out of there.

  Finn looked her straight in the eyes. “We know the other Finn, Jack, and Jenny are all still alive, but they are... in another place. Like in one of those science fiction movies.” He held up his hand. “We don’t know where. We’re just... temporary placeholders for them. When they come back, we disappear.”

  “Disappear?” Millie scoffed.

  “Poof!” Finn made a disappearing gesture with his hands. “We aren’t exactly clear how it works.”

  Millie took a big breath. “Okaaay. What does that have to do with you ‘becoming real’?”

  Not-Jack looked more thoughtful. “Well, this big-boy and I figured if we could become not just duplicates – maybe we wouldn’t disappear? Like when you rename a file so it doesn’t get copied over, when a file with the same name is dropped in the same folder. We have to become people in our own right. Real.”

  “It’s our theory,” Not-Finn added.

  Millie mused. This was all crazy. “What does Not-Jenny think about this?”

  Not-Jack sighed. “She’s planning to kill the real Jenny when she shows up.”

  “But, that doesn’t sound very nice.” Not-Finn quickly added, seeing Millie’s wide eyes.

  “But it does come down to self-preservation,” Not-Jack offered.

  “But we wouldn’t do that.” Not-Finn corrected, looking sternly at Not-Jack. “There’s got to be another way.”

  Millie took a seat on the edge of the stage with them.

  “Well, saying I buy into the trip to crazy-town, and I’m NOT saying I am, but from everything I’ve ever read – and granted, I’m just a kid – but doing that doesn’t make you more real! It’s probably just going to make your life a lot more complicated. My mom would say it’s one of those things that works better when you’re older.”

  “But we might never get older if they come back!” burst out Not-Jack.

  Millie reflected on what makes a person real. How do you even define real? When had she felt most alive? Because that’s what this was all about. Wasn’t it? Being alive?

  “Now again, I’m not saying I believe any of this, but I think the times when I feel most alive are when I’m helping other people. When I forget my self. Maybe that won’t work for you. I don’t know. But, becoming a real boy... a real man... a real girl or a real woman is not about sex... especially when you are just a kid! I’m pretty sure of that. It has something to do with thinking about someone other than yourself. Not staring at your own navel all the time.”

  “The doctors never even noticed that we don’t have real navels!” laughed Not-Jack. “They are totally fake. At least I think they are fake. Show me yours.”

  “Are you just rying to get me to whack you again!” Millie gave him the evil eye, then got back to her point. “When you focus on others – there is a kind of rush when you know that you’ve done something good. At least, it makes me feel more – real. Does that make any sense at all?”

  “Like Pinocchio,” mused Not-Finn. “wanting to become a real boy – then helping Geppetto.”

  “What?” Millie stopped. “Oh, yeah... I suppose. Showing that you can care for someone else besides yourself.”

  “I didn’t take that story seriously,” snarked Not-Jack. “‘Cuz my nose don’t grow, but I’ve got something else that does...”

  “STOP.” Millie put her hands over her ears.

  Not-Finn elbowed Not-Jack to shut him up.

  “We can give it a try? Can’t hurt?” shrugged Not-Finn.

  “And we can always use the other option as a back-up.” added Not-Jack.

  Millie gave him an incredulous look.

  “Or not.” Not-Jack squirmed feeling very conflicted.

  “What do we do?” Not-Finn nudged Not-Jack’s shoulder with his own.

  “Actually, it’s kind of a relief,” sighed Not-Jack. “I was stressing about this. It looked interesting but kind of uncomfortable at the same time, but maybe I was watching the wrong videos...” He looked at an uncomfortable Millie. “I’m still not sure what you want us to do?”

  Millie raised an eyebrow and thought for a moment. “Well, I’m meeting my mom at the homeless shelter in downtown Mount Vernon at four-thirty. We help out with their Friday dinner every other week. We work in the kitchen and wash dishes – it helps out the shelter a lot. The shelter feeds people who don’t have money for food. You could try it tonight? Call your moms and ask if my mom could stand in for them. Maybe they can fax a permission slip or something.”

  “What’s a FAX?” Not-Jack asked.

  “My foster parents have one,” replied Not-Finn.

  Not-Jack followed his lead. “Okay.”

  Not-Finn smiled at Millie like he was looking forward to the evening.

  Millie found she was starting to maybe like Not-Finn more than the real Finn. Of course the real Fi
nn was her friend and she wanted him and the others back. Yet, Not-Finn looked at her differently than Finn ever did. But she was not going to be doing that! She wanted to go to college someday and – she was only fifteen! Boys!

  Boys can be so stupid – whatever flavor they come in, she thought as they walked to where they had left their bikes. The homeless shelter was only across the river.

  Chapter 36

  Finn Gets

  A Surprise

  Finn carefully lifted the small weak body of his mother to the top of the rocky fourth step, it was as high as his waist. The light from the glowing fungi which sprouted from every crack and crevice revealed how pale his mother was getting. Her skin now looked paper thin.

  As he pulled himself up onto the step, he now could see a triangular gap between some rocks to his left at the cave wall.

  The old giant, Frayex, was humming a peculiar lilting tune while fishing from his rock. The notes were not like anything Finn had ever heard before, but they were peaceful and melancholy. He found himself wondering about frit culture. What had their lives been like before their present troubles?

  The oversized steps led up through a haze towards a colossal city, built into vast rock walls far above. It was spectacular and ascended the sides of the cavern in wide terraces. It was hard to believe that all of this was built in the time since Finn was born. Hatched? Whatever. It had been an empty cave then. When Finn had been in the egg, the tunnel to the surface was unobstructed. But since that time, a colossal city had been built, steps had blocked the passage, and now that city was dying for mysterious reasons. He could see unmoving gargantuan shapes in the mist. He wondered if they were statues, or if they were frit who had reverted to stone.

  “We need to keep moving,” came the breathy voice of Meryth – his mother. He was starting to accept that she might really be his mother, as weird as that was.

  Finn lifted her fragile body and held her to his chest. He carefully crossed the rock strewn step to the cave mouth. The opening between the two boulders was plenty big once they got close. It was about five feet wide at the base and peaked at about ten feet.

  His shirt and jeans were still wet from their dowsing in the lake. Even his boxers under his jeans were wet along with his shoes and socks. It wasn’t very comfortable. At least his bag with his sketch pads was dry. Finn wished he had another set of pants and shoes in his bag. There was probably going to be a rash by the end of the day.

  He did have a t-shirt in there. The one he had tried to push on his mom. Black and short sleeve from a Celtic fair that he’d gone to with Jack’s family. He set his mom on a flat rock and stepped behind a rock and stripped. He squeezed his jeans, socks, and boxers out the best he could, and put them back on with the fresh t-shirt. Better than nothing. Meryth looked better from her dunking despite her illness. He was starting to forget about her exposed boobs. He wasn’t sure if that was weird or not.

  Finn shouldered his bag and picked up his mom again. The dimly lit tunnel led up. The path’s twisted ascent followed the course of the much larger steps outside. At times the wall opened up to let in light and offered a peek at the gigantic city. Phosphorescent fungi provided some light in the tunnel along with an occasional large, phosphorescent insect. None of these bugs spoke to them. He wasn’t sure if they were being unfriendly, or if they just didn’t talk. Nothing seemed dangerous so far, but Finn kept his eyes open.

  Eventually, Finn stumbled and Meryth suggested that they find a spot to sleep. They found a nook near the side of the trail and he was asleep in minutes. It had been a long day. Despite her own exhaustion, Meryth’s motherly eyes kept watch.

  The next morning they traveled upward faster than either of them expected and they were often surprised to look out on dizzying depths. They wound around the metropolis’ empty plazas and crooked towers. Occasionally they would see frits going about their daily business below. He would be as small as a toddler in that giant city.

  They’d eaten everything edible in Finn’s bag and were getting really hungry. He worried about his mother. She was already weak from whatever was wrong with her. She said that she was tougher than she looked, but he suspected that she was lying.

  Huffing and puffing after hours of walking upward, Finn and Meryth looked out from the top of the city. Beyond this point, they would no longer have the city to their right. It was a remarkable view. Goodbye to the city of the frits. He hadn’t asked if the city had a name.

  Finn placed his mother gently on a bed of tiny mushrooms, then sat down himself. He was breathing heavy. His fresh t-shirt was drenched with sweat, and his damp jeans definitely needed a wash from all the dust and dirt of the tunnel. “How far is it to the surface from here?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never been this way. This tunnel and that chamber was your father’s creation. He made it with wishes to hide me while he searched for the cure. He described the tunnel to me many times, but I only came down the one time when he was ready for me, and that was with another wish.”

  “I tried a wish once! I wished for a tuna melt sandwich on sourdough with a pickle on the side for Jack. He likes pickles. The sandwich was delicious.” I wish I had a wish right now, I’d order us something tasty!”

  “They’re actually hard to find, Finn. You were very lucky.” observed his mom.

  “I didn’t think there was any such thing as magic.”

  “Neither did your father, but he became very good with wishes. They began calling him the Wish-Master. There’d never been a human in Frey before. He was the first. Wishes have an curious affinity with humans. No one including my father the king, was quite sure what to make of your father. It was so strange to see a man with legs.”

  “Why did you come back to Frey with my dad?”

  “Well, it is hard to be a mermaid in your world for one. But also, none of us can stay long in your world. Eventually, Frey sucks us back. I warned James that it would happen. He wanted to come to Frey. To be with me. I warned him that he’d never be able to return to your world, but he said that I was the best bit of tail he’d ever find.” She giggled. “He came back with me. He was such a bad boy.”

  Finn smiled at her faraway look. Her face always lit up when she spoke of his dad.

  “My father of course did not approve. Everyone thought him deformed, an aberration, not good enough for me. But with time, he charmed them all. My father was often asked to settle disagreements between land-folk. They knew that the merfolk would be impartial. James ended up being really useful to my father. He could go on land and investigate. Frey folk saw him as impartial like the merfolk. He became a representative of the crown. Land-folk liked him. He couldn’t live in my father’s underwater palace, so he and I built the Cottage-By-The-Sea where we could live together. You’ll see it when we get to the surface!”

  Finn saw that it was time to be getting on. She was tired. He needed to get her to wherever they were going.

  “Next time we stop, I want to hear more about my dad. But for now, we have to keep moving.” Finn gathered her up in his arms and stood.

  Maybe nakedness was something that one got used to. Finn realized he’d forgotten all about his mom’s naked... chest. He wasn’t sure if that was okay or not. Maybe he should still be feeling shocked or embarrassed. But there’s only so long that someone can blush. At a certain point you just have to get over it.

  His mom was a mermaid! It was still sinking in. How freaky was that? Would it give him some sort of Aquaman super-power? Like being able to breathe underwater or have super strength? At the moment he was pretty beat. So, probably no super strength.

  Eventually, they stopped again to sleep. Finn had no sense of time in these caves. When he awakened later he saw Meryth fast asleep. She did not awaken when he pulled her into his arms and began walking again. They had to keep moving. They had neither food nor water left in his bag.

  The next
stretch was not as well lit as the lower tunnel, but occasional patches of glowing fungi kept them on the path. Just as Finn felt that he couldn’t take another step, Finn saw light ahead. It wasn’t bright – but it was brighter than the fungi. Curiosity propelled Finn forward until he reached a cathedral size cavern which opened to the night sky. Finn sank down on a grassy slope just inside the cave mouth. The air was warm. The moon was bright. And big.

  There was a pond here. Meryth awoke at the smell of the water and eagerly slipped into the pond’s embrace and soon looked much better than she had.

  “Look!” she cried. “Mugwort!” Meryth began picking various bunches and stuffing them in her mouth. “Want any?” She looked up to see if Finn was interested.

  “Maybe?” Finn reached over and grabbed a stalk of greenery. He sniffed it. “Uhm, it smells like sage...”

  He pulled a leaf off the stalk and tasted it. Swallowed. He made a face.

  Meryth swallowed a mouthful, “You don’t like it?”

  Finn ate another leaf. “Well, it’s not exactly bad. I am hungry...” He tried another taste. “Eh... it’s just kind of bitter... there’s got to be something else ‘round here that’s edible.”

  “It’ll give you crazy dreams tonight,” she giggled like she was getting high off the stuff.

  Finn laughed. No dreams could be weirder than his present reality!

  Finn grabbed a flashlight out of his bag and walked down an overgrown path that was flanked by trees. There was a winding creek to his left. He seemed to be in a culvert running down from the hills behind him.

  When the path turned to the right, Finn stopped short. Ahead in the moonlight a wide bay led to an ocean. Was this the Pacific? Or was this an ocean not on any map from home? Dark arms of land stretched out on either side to embrace the bay. In the center of the water he could see the small shape of an island.

  So, this was Frey. Finn took a big breath. The air was sweet. Different than the air at home. It smelled of flowers and a spice he couldn’t identify. He could smell salt water in the distance, and moisture in the air, not unlike on a rain pregnant day at home. It felt like a place where anything might grow.