Limbo's Child

by Jonah Hewitt

  “So, where do you need to go in such a hurry?” he said smiling.

  She bit her lip. “Do you know how to get to Ephrata?” she asked cautiously.

  “Ephrata?” he replied enthusiastically, “Yeah…It’s right off 322. I take that route from Philly all the time. It’s my favorite way to get to Harrisburg. I hate taking the turnpike.”

  Lucy smiled, but just then she thought she heard someone whisper. It was faint and indistinct, but it sounded an awful lot like someone saying, “Lying scumbag!” followed by a something that sounded like a dull thud and muffled groan.

  Amanda watched the large cream-colored 70’s sedan pull away. Already several people were approaching her, some concerned for her welfare, others just mere rubberneckers. Some came from cars that had come to a sudden stop over the near accident when the Impala sped through a red light at the intersection, others from the hospital lobby nearby. One of them was a security guard.

  “Ma’am, are you all right?! I thought for sure that you were going to get hit. You shouldn’t go out in traffic like that – you’ll get yourself killed.”

  She didn’t turn to face him but kept looking in the direction of the car speeding away. “That’s always a possibility, isn’t it?” she said coldly.

  The security guard didn’t know what to say to that so he just kept on his original thought. “Still, running a light like that. He must have just barely missed you, though I don’t see how. It’s like he was trying to run you down or something.”

  “Indeed,” Amanda said emotionlessly, thinking.

  “Still, I’ll have to call it in.” The security guard reached for his radio.

  “Meddling law enforcement. Can’t have that.” thought Amanda. She turned and placed a hand on his arm.

  “Maybe I can help you make the report…inside. Help me to the lobby, will you, I’m a bit wobbly after all this.”

  “Um, sure.” The security guard put away the radio, offered Amanda an arm and walked her to the sidewalk. She didn’t wobble in the slightest, even on her high heels.

  “Tell me, do you have a morgue here in your hospital?” she asked as they reached the curb.

  “Um…of course. Why?” The security guard seemed a bit perplexed.

  “Oh nothing…I just need to call on an old friend,” she answered cryptically. As he held the door open for her she remarked on one last item.

  “Thank you, sir,” she said and then added casually, “By-the-way…is that a gun?”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The Gates of Erebus

  Nephys ignored the odd glances of the other children of Limbo as he ran down the sandy streets towards home. It had been a long run. The city of Limbo was far from its glory days, but it wasn’t small. Endless alleyways and tomb-lined streets separated the Halls of Death from his residence and Maggie, but he was nearly home now and luckily, his tomb wasn’t far from the causeway that led to the Gates of Erebus.

  Nephys had been so preoccupied with the harrowing journey to the Halls of Death that he gave little thought to what he was going to say to Maggie. He only knew he had to let her know he was leaving before disappearing. He thought mostly about the strange words written on the temple walls, the Chamberlain’s mission, and the glowing stone buried tightly within his fist. Walking through the streets of Limbo, he snuck a peek at it every now and again when he was certain no one else was looking. Sure enough, its green glow confirmed its presence. It was real. He was returning to the land of the living! The thought made him ecstatic until he pondered the journey backwards through the Gates of Erebus against the rushing tide of departed souls. That wasn’t a pleasant thought. Nephys shuddered before he realized he must restrain himself. He didn’t want to attract any shades. He would need all his strength and calm for the passing. He steeled himself and tried to swallow his apprehension, but it kept trying to claw its way back up like he had swallowed a live frog.

  It annoyed him that it took him so much effort to restrain his emotions now. It had never been this hard before. It was Maggie. Before she came he had been, at least to all outward appearances, the perfect child of Limbo: calm, stoical, resigned, emotionless. Now he was giggling in the Halls of Death! This mission was too important though. He would have to stop all that nonsense now. However when he turned the last corner and finally stepped out onto his street he skidded to a halt and nearly dropped his pen case at what he saw.

  There, in the open narrow street not far from his tomb were a dozen or so children of Limbo gathered in a circle. They were blind, as usual, none more than nine, or at least no older than nine when they had died. Some were dressed in old-fashioned tunics, others were in more modern dresses or pants but the most surprising thing was that they were playing ball. They were actually playing ball!

  Perhaps “playing” wasn’t the best description. Most were standing around nervously not knowing what to do, looking around uncertainly at the others. The ball looked like it had been speared with several short pikes. When the ball rolled up to one of them there was an interminable pause before anyone would dare touch it. They just stood there looking at it.

  “HOOONT!” it squealed as one boy barely nudged it with a toe before retreating behind another child in fear. Nephys took a second look. It was Hiero. They were using Hiero as the ball?!

  “No! No!” came a familiar voice from the midst of them, “That’s good! That’s good, kids! That’s what you’re supposed to do. Kick him again!”

  Nephys cringed. He knew that voice. Maggie. Of course! Maggie was actually trying to teach the children of Limbo to play ball. What was he going to do with this woman?! Children in Limbo didn’t play ball!! Or house or sennet or tabula or anything else for that matter! This woman just refused to accept things as they were. She was running around the circle in her plaid shirt and jeans desperately trying to encourage the children, most of whom stood as still as statues, utterly perplexed by the whole affair. For all her pep talk, not many responded. Eventually, one kid nervously approached and examined the “ball” thoroughly before violently kicking Hiero to the other side. He ran and hid behind Maggie as Hiero protested.

  “WHOOP!!” Maggie cheered jumping up and down clapping. Hiero rolled away awkwardly, hooting and complaining the whole way. He inflated his sheep’s stomach bag to its full size and tucked in his legs to make himself as round as possible, but it didn’t work very well. Hiero may have been willing, but he was a terrible substitute for a ball. He hadn’t gone far before landing in a pile at the feet of another child who just stared at him as if he were a dead duck that had dropped out of the sky right in front of him. How did she manage to get the imp to do these things?!

  “Kick him!” Maggie shouted somewhere between forced enthusiasm and abject frustration, “Go ahead!! Kick him hard!!”

  “FlufooolAAAAArnt?” Hiero protested, but it was too late. The boy gave a half-hearted kick that sent Hiero scooting a few measly two feet forward in the sand. “Flubbit,” Hiero muttered, underwhelmed. At least real balls didn’t critique your performance.

  Maggie responded like the proud mother of the player that had just scored the winning goal in the championship game. She ran over, fell to her knees and gave the kid a big bear hug. The child was even less enthused about the hug than he was about the game they were playing. Nephys couldn’t remember the last time he had played ball, if ever. Only a few of the girls actually seemed to get the point of it. Some covered their mouths with both hands as if to conceal an embarrassed giggle, only they weren’t laughing or even smiling. This pointless gesture was the last vestige of mirth from their living lives.

  Nephys closed his eyes and looked at them with the Death Sight to calm himself. Twelve little heart flames were burning brightly, too brightly, and Maggie’s was roaring like a bonfire. Nephys opened his eyes and smacked his forehead. Then he walked in a tight circle biting his finger. The whole thing was a disaster!! He had deliberately told Maggie not to draw attention to herself, and here she was teaching them bal
l and getting them to burn their little hearts out. What was he going to do with her?!

  Maggie must have seen him because she called out to him, “Hey, Nep!” she waved to him enthusiastically, “Come join us!!”

  Nephys groaned and took a breath before plunging into the circle.

  “You’re home early,” she said brightly, “Or is it late? It’s so hard to tell here.”

  He ignored her and went right to the interrogation. “What are you doing?!” He tried to calm himself but it came out all squeaky.

  “What does it look like I’m doing?” Maggie said laughing, brushing sand off her hands and knees. “I’m teaching these kids how to play ball. They were all pretty hopeless at first, but some of them are starting to get it. I think I saw one of the girls nearly smile there once.” She put her hands in her back pockets and assumed that satisfied smile she always had.

  “I KNOW what you’re doing but the question is WHY?” Nephys tried not to whine, but he sounded really annoyed.

  Maggie laughed, “Well excuse me, Nep, but it isn’t exactly a pleasure cruise here alone without you. I had to do something to fill up my dance card.” She turned back to give some pointers to one of the children who seemed to be paralyzed without her input, “Go on! It’s ok, give the phlegm-bag another kick for me.”

  Nephys groaned, “No! Don’t give the phlegm-bag another kick. Go home! ALL OF YOU! Go back to your tombs now! The game is over!” Nephys grabbed Maggie by the arm and pulled her aside a bit forcefully.

  “Nep!” Maggie protested, brushing off his arm, but Hiero just deflated and burbled out “Blllurburant” as if relieved it was finally over and scampered back inside the tomb before someone changed their mind about continuing the game.

  Nephys sighed. “I need to talk to you, privately. I have something important to tell you.” She must have heard the urgency in his voice because she didn’t protest too much after that.

  “Um…okay, kids, we’re done for the day. GOOD GAME! Go Aggies!” She gave them a double thumbs up, but from their blank expressions they had no idea what to make of the gesture. Some just looked upwards to see what she was pointing at. “We’ll meet back here, same time tomorrow? Okay? Go on now, go back home, see you tomorrow.” She hugged a few around the shoulders and patted some of them on their behinds gently to get them started. The sport rituals of Maggie’s age were truly bizarre. Most continued to stare blindly at her for several moments before eventually sidling off. The rest then followed, breaking off towards their own tombs and familiar paths once they passed the corner.

  It took them an excruciatingly long time to disperse, even with Maggie waving and encouraging them on continually. Most were as dead-eyed and sullen as ever, but a few, as they were meandering off, did look back wistfully over their shoulders, and the youngest girl, a black-haired girl wearing a black and blue threadbare silk Asian dress gave a faint smile before suddenly hurrying off. She even tried to skip as she went, but couldn’t manage it as if she couldn’t quite remember how.

  Maggie smiled as she watched the last of them go before turning back to face Nephys, his arms folded.

  “Now, Nephys, what squirrel’s got your nut?”

  “Unngh!” Nephys groaned, annoyed, and marched back inside the tomb as Maggie followed, “I thought we agreed you couldn’t keep doing this?!!” He turned around abruptly once he reached the garden, and she almost ran into him.

  “Doing what?!” She threw her arms up in the air. “All I was doing was trying to teach them how to play or run or have fun like normal kids!”

  “But they’re NOT normal kids! They are in Limbo! Don’t you understand?! You can’t drag them here…”

  “I didn’t drag them here! They came on their own!”

  “What?”

  “Yes! They started gathering around outside when I was out doing the gardening. They were just standing there staring at me.”

  Nephys covered his eyes with his hands in frustration.

  “You did bring them here.”

  “No, I didn’t!” she replied indignantly.

  “Yes, you did!!” Nephys screamed at her. She was so taken aback by this Maggie fell into silence. Nephys felt a strong pull downward. His anger had gotten the best of him again. He didn’t like to yell at his elders, it was not the way his grandmother had raised him. He tried again. “Yes, you did,” he said calmly, “You went around…gardening, working…improving…things. All of that made your heart burn a little brighter.”

  “My heart?”

  “Yes! Remember? Whenever you try to remake Limbo, shape it to your consciousness, it takes away some of the flame of your heart, your soul. You were burning yours a little too brightly. You can’t see it yet, you don’t have the Death Sight yet, but THEY do. They are drawn to it, like moths to a candle. They came to see what was going on, that’s all.”

  “Well I didn’t mean to bring ‘em here.”

  “It doesn’t matter, but then you went and made the whole thing worse by actually trying to teach them ball!”

  Maggie went on, “Well what was I supposed to do?! It was so creepy having them watch me do the gardening I decided I might as well give them something to do. What’s wrong with that?”

  “What’s wrong with that? Everything!!”

  “Everything?!”

  “Yes! EVERYTHING!” Nephys tried to calm himself. “Remember what we talked about?! Remember all the rulers of Elysium? Well they burned themselves out! Do you want that to happen to you?! Forever is a very long time and if you don’t make it last you could spend most of it as a shade.”

  Maggie became very quiet as if trying to conceal her anger, but Nephys could tell she was very cross. “Nep, I’m very appreciative of how much you’ve done for me. I would be lost without you, and I want you to know that I know that, but I am NOT your child. I am a grown woman and I can make my own decisions. There is NOTHING to do here all day, and if I choose to burn my soul light, or heart-flame or Anima, or Ib or whatever you call it, and live a short, bright afterlife of purpose and beauty instead of wasting away slowly over millennia then that’s MY decision to make and no one can tell me otherwise.”

  Nephys just blinked at her. It was very threatening the way she thumped her fist over her heart when she said “MY decision” and pointed to Nephys when she said “no one.” She could be very stubborn when she wanted to be, but Nephys sighed and steeled himself to try and make her understand one last time. He hated to correct an elder, but he had to let her know how he felt. “And what about them?” He pointed out towards the street where the children had recently been gathered.

  “Them?” Maggie looked suddenly shocked, as if the thought hadn’t occurred to her before. She looked down at the ground and pulled her hair behind her ears nervously.

  “When you help them play ball you make their lights burn quicker too. Do you get to make the choice for them too?!”

  Maggie looked abruptly back at Nephys with fire in her eyes and he was instantly sorry he had said that last remark. She opened her mouth as if to yell back at him. Nephys flinched, but she instantly softened and looked down somewhat ashamed.

  “I’m sorry,” she finally said simply. “I’ll try harder to fit in.” After a long while she stepped forward as if to hug him and only then did Nephys realize that he was still cowering.

  “Farnt-Hoont-hoont-hoont-hoooont!” Hiero chortled at Nephys from where he was perched like a gargoyle on the garden wall. He had obviously been enjoying the fight and the keen taste of Nephys’ fear. Interrupted by the imp, Maggie instantly stepped back sensing the awkwardness as Nephys stared at his sandals.

  “So…” she said clapping her hands in front of her, “Is that what you wanted to talk about or was there something else?”

  “Oh!” The ballgame had made Nephys completely forget the stone and his mission. “Um…I have something to tell you…something really important.” That was as far as he could get before freezing. Maggie widened her eyes and rocked on her heels, but stil
l nothing.

  “Okay,” Maggie eventually prodded him, “Go on.”

  He swallowed and looked down. “Um…I have to go. I have to go…now.”

  “Go? But you just got here!” she chuckled nervously.

  “No…I have to go…” and then he leaned in to whisper the last word, “back.”

  “Back? Back to the scriptorium?” she laughed. “Well…Okay. Just checking up on me, huh?” she laughed again and started turning to go back to work in the garden. “Ok, I’ll see you when you get back. I’ll have supper ready when you get here, I hope you like leeks and lumpy tubers. That’s all that seems to grow here.”

  “No, you don’t understand!” He ran forward and grabbed her arm. She turned, suddenly aware of his urgency. Her angry glance made him immediately let go. “I…I won’t be back, or at least maybe I won’t be…not for a while anyway, and I wanted to say goodbye.”

  “Goodbye?” she looked at him genuinely concerned. “You’re scaring me, Nep.”

  “Flubbit!” Hiero tooted in equal dissatisfaction.

  “And that’s hard to do in this place,” she said coolly, eyeing up Hiero contemptuously. She folded her arms and looked back at him with an unwavering stare. “What’s going on, Nep?”

  “Um…” he hesitated.

  “WHERE are you going, Nep?” she demanded authoritatively. For a moment it was like his grandmother was standing there scolding him.

  Maggie raised a stern eyebrow at him and he decided there was no discrete way to say it, so he just pointed one finger slowly upward. Her eyes followed it all the way up to the empty sky and the overhanging clouds or cavern roof, whatever it was. She looked up puzzled for a moment and then back at him. As her eyes widened and her mouth opened soundlessly he knew she understood.