by N. A. Hydes
“Why is Kamar swimming?” Petr asked. “I could use his nose.”
“Oh, he wants to help, but,” Che-non paused. “Kamar is a water serpent and is opposed to flying. He will swim up the Panama Canal. But don’t worry, he is a fast swimmer.”
Petr frowned. “I wish he would try to fly.”
“For all those concerned, it is best if he doesn’t,” Che-non answered.
“Okay, I will see you soon.” Petr gave Che-non his address in case he didn’t have it.
42
Last Day of School
Matt was sitting on a bench outside of Jennifer’s dorm. She had finished her last final a few hours ago.
Jennifer tiptoed towards him, secretly snickering. He never moved or indicated he was aware of her presence. When she was behind him, she put her hands over his eyes. “Guess who?” Jennifer asked. She fought the urge to say she was Fiona, the person she dreamed she was last night.
Matt didn’t answer with words. Instead, he grabbed her wrist and pulled, forcing her to lay her head in his lap. Jennifer laughed until Matt’s lips came down on hers possessively.
When he backed off, Jennifer moved a lock of his black hair from his eyes. “Missed you, too,” Jennifer let him know.
Matt looked at her, starting at her head and then down to her feet. The look wasn’t seductive. Jennifer would call it assessing. “Something wrong?” she asked.
“No, just making sure you are whole,” Matt answered.
Jennifer swallowed and sat up. Matt didn’t know she had spent the morning as someone else, someone who never really talked. Jennifer wasn’t okay, but he didn’t need to know that.
“I’m whole right now,” Jennifer responded.
“I’m sorry,” Matt said. “I didn’t mean to leave you here while I went to the ocean.”
“It’s okay, Matt.” Jennifer didn’t understand why he was apologizing. She was never mad at that.
“It’s not.” Matt looked at the ground. “You didn’t talk with me for a week after that.”
Jennifer tried to remember. How long ago was it she had last talked to Matt? She saw all the text messages and missed phone calls; she just couldn’t remember if she had called him back or not.
“Matt.” She put her hand on his face and tried to think of a distraction. The one that worked in the dreams was a kiss. Almost every night since Thanksgiving, she had kissed several people. If anything, she should have learned how to be the most fantastic kisser of all time. She wholeheartedly, with all the passion she could muster, kissed Matt.
Finishing the kiss, she moved away from his face and waited. Matt slowly opened his eyes. “Wow,” he answered.
“I’m not angry. I’ve just been occupied. This semester has been…” Jennifer looked for the right word, finally adding, “difficult.”
“Well, next time I chase the sun, I will have to take you with me,” Matt almost whispered and turned her face up so he could kiss her lips again.
“Please tell me it is soon,” Jennifer commented when he pulled away. She shut her eyes and imagined the ocean.
“Oh,” Matt said abruptly. “I’m lying.”
“What?” Jennifer asked.
“I forgot. My parents want to spend this Christmas in the Bahamas. They sprang it on me this morning with a big surprise.”
“When are you leaving?” Jennifer asked. Secretly, she was happy. She didn’t want Matt around when she could lose herself.
“Right after my exam tomorrow. My last exam is the last exam given. When I leave here, I have to study. So, my mom is packing my suitcase.” He frowned.
“Oh,” Jennifer answered. “When are you coming home?”
He sighed. “I won’t be back until right before school starts. I’m sorry.”
“What are you sorry for this time?” Jennifer asked.
“Well, I will be gone for about three weeks. I just want more time with you,” Matt answered.
Jennifer leaned up and kissed him. “Matt,” she whispered, holding onto his neck. “I will be here when you get back. I’m not going anywhere.” She kissed him again, even though this statement might not be accurate. “I will see you when you return.” Jennifer hoped it was true.
43
Bahamas
Matt’s parents had gone to the bar with some colleagues, and Matt was on his own. They left him a credit card and told him to have some fun. And then they went. He frowned, watching them leave the pool area.
“I guess this was a working vacation,” Matt yelled at them, though he knew they couldn’t hear. He tipped his drink in their direction. The toast caused the rum punch to spill a little on his chest. He was thankful at least he was old enough to drink on this island.
Gung-Gung had opted to stay in the States, saying he would rather stay at home this time. Matt thought his grandfather had the right idea. A beautiful beach, and no one to enjoy or share it with. He sighed, took another drink of the rum, and lay back in the chair.
He was almost asleep when he heard, “Matt?” He opened his eyes to see a short, red-headed girl who looked familiar.
“Um, yes.” Matt tried to think if he had met her.
“I’m Amy,” she said, sitting in the lounge chair beside him. “To be honest, I’m glad to find you. My parents abandoned me to go to some work thing.”
“Are your parents at the bar too?” Matt asked.
“Oh, no.” Amy seemed upset as she sat a purse-like bag beside them. “My parents canceled their plans to join me so they could go off to the Alps, I believe. Yes, I believe it was the Alps.”
“I’m sorry,” Matt sympathized. “But they could be here and ignoring you.” He pointed towards the bar area where there was laughter, music, and dancing. “It’s a work function. I don’t think I will see my parents except at night.”
“Well, where is Jennifer?” Amy asked.
The reference to Jennifer made Matt realize where he knew this girl. “Oh, you are the girl who lives in the same dorm as Jennifer. She is at home. This trip was planned without my thought or input.” He looked towards the bar area.
“I’m sorry. But, hey, at least there is a silver lining. Maybe we could hang out. I mean, I know your girlfriend, so I’m not going to hit on you. But it would be wonderful to have someone to go diving with me. Do you mind doing some of these things with me? I want to go parasailing.” She handed him some tour guide brochures.
Matt had his parents’ credit card. He looked at the brochures and laughed to himself when he saw the Queen’s Staircase, remembering Jennifer telling him about the black teeth. That was a fun night.
“I think we should, Amy,” Matt agreed. “What would you like to do first, and how long are you here?”
“First, I would like to lie out in the sun and get drunk. I just got off the plane, and I want to recover.” She waved over a cabana boy. When he made it to them, she said, “Sir, I would like whatever my friend is having, and keep them coming.”
Amy stood and took off the robe that was around her. She had freckles and a muscular yet lovely hourglass figure that Matt admired. The coral bathing suit set her curves off magnificently.
Amy then reached into her bag and pulled out some lotion. “Friend Matt, please be so kind as to help me put lotion on? Believe it or not, if you didn’t have a girlfriend, I would be uncomfortable letting you do this.” She handed him a bottle of sunscreen.
Matt thought about what Jennifer would say. He couldn’t see this as being a problem. After all, they were just acquaintances. He put the sunscreen on her back, where she couldn’t reach, moving her hair out of the way.
“Thank you, Matt.” She laid back in the chair. “I’m in room 213. Before I get too toasted.” The server brought her a drink. “Please wait,” Amy directed towards the server and downed her drink. “Another, please.”
Matt was impressed.
“Tomorrow, let’s go deep-sea fishing. I have always wanted to fish for sharks. And I’m not leaving until the day before school starts.�
��
One of Matt’s last thoughts, before he was drunk, was he was glad he found a friend.
44
Christmas Break
Jennifer settled into a routine. At seven a.m., the alarm went off. For two hours, she did her best to recall her life as Jennifer Wright.
It was easier to shake off the life she lived the night before at her childhood home, surrounded by her childhood memories. As far as she could tell, her dreams had progressed backward to sometime in the fifteen hundreds, and all the individuals spoke Gaelic.
It bothered Jennifer on two fronts. First, would she keep going back in time until there was no more time? Would her mind invent aliens?
Second, now and then, when she was just thinking and not doing much of anything else, her thoughts were in Gaelic. She found this trend more disturbing than having to get up two hours early just to grab hold of Jennifer Wright. Maybe her mind had created its own language, and the implications of that scared her.
Jennifer had found a genealogy book of family history on the bookshelf in her dad’s small office. She was reading to see if she was the first crazy person or if there was a trend. Say, every seventh generation, a crazy one popped out. She found a family on the internet with three daughters; two had inherited schizophrenia, which developed after they hit puberty. Maybe her case developed after drinking beer?
As Jennifer looked at a picture of a family in a log cabin, she realized she was singing a Gaelic song. The song loosely translated to Alusdar the Brave, Alusdar the Legend. The song came from the dream last night. Instead of being Alusdar, it was like watching a movie. Alusdar was a boy that the fairies gave to a childless family. He was stronger than others, powerful, almost like a Hercules figure.
“Come on, Jennifer,” Randy called. “The tree is up. Let’s decorate the tree.”
Jennifer opened the door and headed downstairs. Christmas music was playing in the background. Her mother was baking sugar cookies, and the house smelled delicious. Her mother handed her some hot chocolate, and at first, Jennifer watched as Randy and her dad started stringing lights on the tree.
“Dad,” Randy complained. “A pre-lit tree is not bad.”
“It won’t have the same feel,” Jacob replied. “When I was a boy, we had to get a tree out of the forest.”
“Yeah,” Randy said. “We know the story. Snow, walking, cutting down the tree. The year the squirrel got into the house, which I believe is in a movie, Dad.”
Jennifer laughed, put her hot chocolate on a coaster on the end table, and started helping put on the tree’s ornaments.
“Jennifer.” Her mom approached her. “We have a special present for you.”
Jennifer turned from placing a red bird ornament on the tree. Her mother was holding a small box wrapped in blue paper with a large bow. Jennifer’s dad walked behind Pauline, wrapping his arms around her.
“We are going to put the rest of the presents under the tree tonight like we normally do, but we thought this one time…” Jennifer’s dad put his hand under Pauline’s and pushed the present forward towards Jennifer. “We would like you to open this present tonight.”
It had to be something big for Jennifer’s parents to offer it before tomorrow morning.
Randy was in the background, asking their parents what it was, but Jennifer didn’t care. Not so delicately, she tore off the paper, opened the box, and revealed a key on a key chain.
“Now, sky angel,” her dad said, “you will not have to walk to class on rainy days.” It shocked Jennifer.
“Is there a car here for me?” Jennifer questioned.
Pauline nodded yes, and Jake pointed towards the door. “It’s outside. I asked the dealer to drop it off. Your Mom took the keys and wrapped them while we put up the tree.”
“There is a car outside for me?” Jennifer couldn’t believe it.
“Let’s go see it,” Randy said, running to the door before Jennifer. He blocked his sister from leaving the house. “You don’t want it. I’m fifteen; I’ll take it off your hands.”
“Move, Randy!” Jennifer demanded.
“Kids,” Pauline said.
Randy laughed and walked outside with Jennifer.
The car was a blue Nissan Sentra. It was nothing fancy or flashy, but it was new. Jennifer opened the door, breathing the new car smell before taking a seat behind the steering wheel, sitting inside. She made herself comfortable.
“Why don’t you take us for a drive?” her dad asked.
Randy was already opening the door. “Can I take out the cardboard?” There were cardboard floor mats.
“Leave them, Randy,” Jennifer demanded.
Pauline sat beside Randy in the back-passenger spot. “Dear,” she said to Jacob, “I have plenty of room if you want to scoot your seat back.”
“I’m fine, Pauline,” Jake answered.
Jennifer pulled out onto the road, taking her new car for a drive.
After a drive around the neighborhood, her mother brought out cookies, and they watched Christmas movies until they were too tired to stay up.
All in all, the day was a typical traditional Christmas Eve at the Wright household.
They had placed the tree on the right side of the television between the entertainment center and the window. The tree sat in that exact location every year, and the tree’s placement helped inspire the festive spirit. It gave Jennifer a sense of stability.
Just before bed, Jennifer’s mother placed the angel on top of the tree. Jennifer recognized it as the same one from the dream with her grandmother as a little girl.
The day’s excitement made it hard to go to sleep, but sleep she did.
45
Barry Christmas to You
Jennifer’s Dream
There was no color; everything was in shades of brown or yellow. Jennifer’s surroundings were giant-sized, or she was miniature. A dog as big as a two-story house sniffed her, forcing her to the cold ground.
A voice whispered to her, “The name is Barry. These are my memories.”
Barry looked at the three fingers per hand. But this distraction didn’t last long as a delicious aroma coming from a brown shell attracted him. Recognizing the smell as fried eggs made his stomach growl. He ate the crunchy yet delightfully scrumptious thing. When he had finished, he smelled more nearby.
An unhatched egg was sitting in front of him. He sniffed it, confirming the edible scent. Barry bit through the outside to the gooey, creamy middle. The middle squirmed, but eventually, he devoured it.
The part of him that knew these eggs would have become his brothers and sisters didn’t care. They just tasted so satisfying.
Jennifer protested the thought, but Barry was okay with cannibalism for survival.
Lifting his head, he noticed the third egg. He ran towards it without seeing the other creature.
A lizard with a gigantic head, the same height as him, jumped from behind a rock. It lunged at Barry and knocked him off his feet. With a thud, he felt the back of his head hit a sharp object. Tall grass and small pieces of dirt stung his eyes, scratching some, but not enough to cause harm.
The pain that came next transmitted through the dream, and Jennifer felt the injury. The discomfort was more than she remembered ever experiencing.
The agony struck around Barry’s stomach. He looked, seeing the creature’s head, a shiny brown lizard, biting at his tummy.
Another smell caught his attention, and it was strange, almost like the smell of someone sweating from being outside on a hot summer day, only more robust, much more substantial.
Then a human hand, shaped like a toddler’s or baby’s, chubby fingers and all, but the size of a small airplane, grabbed Barry.
“No, no,” a child’s female voice said as she lifted the lizard creature off Barry.
“Here,” the little girl said. She picked up Barry’s limp body, inserting him in her basket. “I will take care of you.” Aromatic smells of various berries filled Barry’s nose. He leaned over
and ate the fruit until he was full.
Hunger quenched, Barry crawled into a corner and was lulled to sleep by the swinging basket. The injuries by the other dragon were healing.
Maud, a small girl with raven-dark hair and freckles on her nose, couldn’t have been much over six when she found the baby Wyvern. She had a small bed of hay in the corner of her parents’ farmhouse, where Maud first hid the creature, where no one would see. She would sneak milk to the Wyvern from the family goat.
The first word he understood was what she called him: Barry. His second word was food.
Barry grew quickly. In two weeks, he was completely healed and wanted to play and explore his world. He was spotted by her father one night after dinner.
“Maud,” her father said. Her father’s dark hair fell into his eyes as he turned to where Maud was practicing her needlework, and he asked, “Why is your bed moving?”
Maud turned her head towards the bed and saw the blanket jerking. Dropping the needlework, she ran to her bed to defend Barry. “It’s just a lizard I found in the woods. I want to keep him, Fadres. He’s fun and, and he really doesn’t eat that much.”
Barry, sensing his time for introduction, stepped forward and put his arms around Maud’s legs. He looked at her father. Maud’s father was a tall man with a more substantial frame and Maud’s raven hair. Barry looked at her mother sitting at the fireplace. Her eyes were large and brown, but her hair was fair, almost blond. She had a lovely face like Maud’s.
Maud’s mother dropped her knitting, a gasp escaping her.
“His name is Barry. I named him after the berries. See, he is all purple and blue like a berry. And he loves to eat them.”
“Is it?” Her mother stood, her hand covering her mouth. She moved towards her husband.