Our Dried Voices

by Hickey, Greg

  “You better come out of there before you freeze.”

  Sully gulped down a bite of chocolate, took her hand and let her help him out of the truck.

  “What’s your name, young man?” she asked.

  “Sully.”

  “Well, Sully, what am I going to do with you?” She eyed the two double chocolate caramel swirl bars in his hands and on his face. “That’s stealing, you know.”

  Sully unglued his tongue from the roof of his mouth and began to talk as fast as he could. “Please ma’am, I didn’t mean to get in your truck. There was a dog chasing me and I just jumped inside and all of a sudden we were moving and I didn’t even know…”

  She laughed. “All right, all right, Sully. I think we can work something out. I have a few more stops to make today and I could use some help. And since you owe me two ice cream bars…”

  “I could be your assistant!”

  “That’s right. My name is Lucy. Come sit up front with me. Welcome aboard!”

  Sully climbed into the front seat next to Lucy and off they went, cruising down the road, the music playing merrily all the while, calling the children out to buy their treats. They stopped every few blocks, and Lucy stood at the window of the truck and took orders from the long lines of children, while Sully handed her the correct ice cream bar or went around to the back of the truck to get a fresh box.

  “Well, Sully,” said Lucy, after they had been driving around for about an hour, “only two more stops left. Have you enjoyed yourself today?”

  “Oh yes, ma’am, very much,” Sully answered.

  “Good. You don’t have to call me ma’am, you know.”

  “Okay.”

  “So would you like to help me again tomorrow?”

  “I don’t know. On Tuesday my mother always takes us to the market…”

  “Oh, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind,” said Lucy. “Besides, didn’t you like helping me? And you can have all the ice cream you want.”

  “Yes, ma—Lucy,” Sully said. But he wasn’t sure anymore. He liked to go with his mother and Penny to the market. And Penny—where was she now? He had forgotten all about her ever since he discovered the box of double chocolate caramel swirl bars. He missed her very much, and wondered what had happened to her. Even Lucy’s golden blonde hair and the cheerful music of the truck now reminded him of his sister. And so at the next stop when Lucy asked him to go to the back and fetch a new box of peppermint sandwiches, Sully slipped around to the other side of the truck, ducked into the yard of the nearest house and scurried away. The sweetly enticing music called to him as he went, until he climbed over a fence and scrambled between some bushes, through the yard of the next house and onto the adjacent street.

  By now Sully was completely lost. He could not remember at all where they had driven in the ice cream truck after they left the park. Penny and the rest of his family seemed very far away at that moment. He wandered along the sidewalk in search of any familiar landmark until he spotted a group of older boys eyeing him menacingly from the opposite side of the street. Sully looked away and began to walk a bit faster. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the older boys moving in the same direction across the street. Sully quickened his pace again and the boys did the same. He reached a corner and stopped to let a car pass, and the boys crossed over to his side of the road. The car drove by and Sully raced across the street. The boys followed.

  “Hey kid!” one of them called. “Don’t be a chicken! We just want to talk to you.”

  Sully looked back and saw them grinning fiendishly. They were gaining on him. He darted across the next street and was nearly struck by a passing car. The boys stopped to let the car pass, and Sully ducked into an alleyway. It was a dead end. Sully looked around wildly for any escape. The boys’ pounding footsteps drew nearer. He saw a manhole cut into the pavement, its cover cracked open just a bit, and having no other way out, he climbed in and pulled it shut behind him. He scrambled down the ladder to a narrow ledge next to the splashing, surging sewer water and ran down the tunnel. After a few minutes of hearing only his own footsteps, Sully stopped and looked behind him. The sewer was empty. He was all alone.

  Beyond lost, Sully tip-toed along the ledge and searched for any exit. After several minutes, the drainpipe opened into a cavernous hall-like room where water thundered in from all directions. As he tried to discern which of the many tunnels would lead him out of the sewer, Sully glimpsed a faint sparkle in the dim light. He walked toward it and stooped down to find a beautiful gold ring nestled in a corner of the wall and the ledge. It looked strangely familiar. He picked it up and stared at it for a moment, then put it in his pocket. Another glance around him, and he saw a passage that seemed less dark than the others. Having no better point of reference, Sully decided to head in that direction, and within a few moments he glimpsed a faint glow at the end of the tunnel. A few minutes more and he could plainly see that the tunnel opened up into the light. He quickened his steps and soon emerged out of the dark drainpipe and into the sun.

  Sully found himself under a footbridge on the narrow shore of a small stream. An incredible thirst overcame him and he knelt and drank from the river. He slapped his hands into the current, splashing water left and right in his joy to be safe and out of the sewer and away from those bullies. Then he walked along the shore until he found a place where he could climb up the rather steep bank, up to the level of the footbridge. When he reached the top, he gazed around him in amazement. He was at the far end of the park, the very park where he had fallen asleep hours ago while playing hide-and-go-seek with Penny. He could be home in fifteen minutes! He began to walk quickly across the grassy meadow, his heart light with the knowledge that he had finally come to the end of his journey. He was halfway through the park when he spotted a dark-haired girl about Penny’s age pacing around the meadow, her eyes fixed to the ground as she stooped to look under bushes and behind trees.

  Sully approached her and asked, “Are you looking for something?”

  The girl appeared startled at first, having been so focused on her search, but then replied, “Oh, yes. I am looking for my doll. I put it down while I went to get a drink of water, and when I came back it was gone. Will you help me find it?”

  Sully agreed, and the two of them walked together through the park in search of the doll. After some time, Sully turned to the girl, whose name was Callie, and said, “I don’t think we will find your doll today.”

  Callie’s face fell. “Yes, you’re right,” she conceded resignedly. “Well, thank you for your help anyway.”

  “You’re welcome,” Sully replied. “But since you lost your doll, maybe we can play something else.”

  “Yes, let’s,” she said eagerly, tucking brown-black hair behind her ears. “Can we play hide-and-go-seek?”

  Sully frowned. “Let’s play something else. I have had enough of hide-and-go-seek today.”

  And so they did play something else. They skipped rope, played cat’s cradle, hopscotch, jacks and more. Although he did not realize it, Callie reminded Sully very much of Penny, and was almost as good a playmate as she. But they were having such a good time together that Sully forgot all about his long journey and his lost sister. Yet when the sky began to turn orange and gray as the sun dipped behind the trees, Sully remembered he missed Penny and wanted to go home. But Callie would not let him leave.

  “Stay just a bit longer,” she implored him. “The sun isn’t even down yet.”

  “I’m sorry, but I lost my sister earlier today and I want to go home to make sure she is all right.”

  “I’m sure she is,” said Callie. “She is probably at home with your mother and father right now. But won’t you stay and play just a little while longer? I have no brothers or sisters and I will be very lonely if you leave.”

  “Then let’s play tomorrow.”

  This suggestion seemed to comfort Callie, and she reluctantly agreed. “All right. I will see you tomorrow, then. I am looking forward to
it already.”

  “Goodbye,” said Sully. “See you tomorrow.” And off he went across the meadow, walking quite fast despite being very tired from his long day, so anxious was he to return home at last.

  Soon he had made his way through the park. There was his house, just across the street. He went up the steps and opened the door. His mother heard him enter and rushed into the front room.

  “Sullivan Tesla Reid!” she yelled. “Where on Earth have you been? And look at you: you’ve torn your shirt and your clothes are filthy. Take them off and get in the bath right now. We’ve been worried sick about you.”

  “Yes, Mom.”

  Sully slunk to the flight of stairs opposite the sitting room, where Penny lay on the floor drawing a picture with crayons on a piece of paper.

  “Hi Penny,” he said, cheered once more at seeing her. She did not look at him. “Where did you go? I looked for you after the rain, but I couldn’t find you anywhere.”

  Now she turned to glare at him accusingly. “I didn’t go anywhere, Sully. I waited forever for you to find me, and then it started raining so I just stayed in my hiding spot until it stopped. Then I came out and you were gone. So where did you go?”

  Sully blushed. “I did look for you, Penny. But then I found a dog that wanted to play, but it got mean and chased me, and I escaped in an ice cream truck, and the driver let me help her, and then I was chased by some bullies, but I got away in the sewer, and—”

  “Yeah, right. Go take a bath. You stink.”

  “No, I really did do—never mind. I’m sorry Penny.”

  Penny turned around and went back to her drawing. Sully waited a moment and then walked upstairs to the bathroom. As he began to undress he put his hand into his pocket and felt the ring he had found earlier. He took it out and put it on the counter while he used the toilet and had a bath, then took it with him to his bedroom. He was pulling on his clothes when his mother knocked on his door.

  “Your dinner is on the kitchen table,” she said. “Go eat and then come right back up here and get into bed.”

  Sully got dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen. He set the ring on the table while he ate his meal. His mother washed the dishes in silence. When she was finished, she turned around to face him. Her face had softened a bit and there were little lines at the corners of her eyes and mouth.

  “Where were you all this time, Sully?” she asked. “Penny couldn’t find you anywhere.”

  “I looked for her Mom, but then I was chased by a dog and some bullies, and I escaped into the sewer and found this ring…” He held it up to show her.

  His mother glanced at the ring and her mouth opened wide. She moved to the table for a closer look and fell into a chair, as though her legs could no longer hold her. She took the ring from Sully, turned it over in her hands and stared at it in astonishment.

  “My God,” she whispered. “Where did you find this?”

  “In the sewer, Mom.”

  “Sully, this is your father’s wedding ring. He lost it this morning and I was so mad at him…” A tear slipped out of her eye. “Larry!” she called. “Larry, come in here!”

  Sully’s father entered the kitchen carefully.

  “What is it, Clea?” he asked, then noticed Sully sitting at the table. “Well, well. The little runaway returns. Did you have a nice time, leaving your sister all alone in the park?”

  “Larry, look.” Sully’s mother extended the ring.

  Sully’s father glanced at it distractedly, looked at Sully, then quickly looked back at the ring. He studied it in similar amazement.

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” he said as he sat down. “My ring. Where did you find it, Clea?”

  “Sully found it,” she replied.

  “Sully?” He looked at his son. “But how? Where?”

  “I found it in the sewer, Dad.”

  “The sewer? But what were you—the sewer! I must have knocked it down the drain when I washed up this morning. I can’t believe it.”

  Hearing the commotion, Penny entered the room. “What’s going on?” she asked.

  “Your brother just found your father’s wedding ring,” Sully’s mother said. “I thought he’d lost it.”

  “I did lose it,” Larry replied. “I’m just lucky our little hero here found it. Thanks, son.” He squeezed Sully’s shoulder and ruffled his hair, then kissed Clea. Sully looked at Penny and she beamed back at him, and he was very glad to be home again.

  The story came to an end just as the sun began to set and the sky turned a beautiful pink and orange in the fading light of the meadow. The sound of bells rolled across the colony. The colonists were in good spirits once more. Gleeful cries of “ontbe chick!” and “ullvan tesree!” rang out as they meandered off toward the meal halls. Samuel remained seated for a moment and let the story tumble through his mind, hearing the words both strange and familiar, and finally understanding this one small thing he had so long taken for granted. Then he stood as well and set off for the nearest meal hall.

  * * *

  The commotion had already begun by the time Samuel arrived at the hall. A few minutes earlier, the first colonist in the meal line had stepped forward to the hole in the building’s far wall. The small red light above the hole flashed once, there was the usual clicking and whirring sound and a meal cake appeared in the hole. The colonist, an adult male, took the cake and stood in place and stared at it for a moment. An older female nudged by him to the front of the line. There was something different about the male’s food, but he couldn’t quite say what it was. Then the female received her meal. The male stared at her cake as she turned toward him. It was at least twice as large as his. She slipped past him and scurried from the hall as his eyes bore a hole in her back. A younger male stepped forward and received a meal cake even larger than the female’s. Then another adult male received his cake; it was not as large as the female’s but still considerably bigger than the first male’s. A wide grin spread across his face at the first good thing that had happened to him in a long time.

  The colony had long been simmering in the wake of the recent incidents, but now the situation had reached its boiling point and long-repressed emotions began to bubble over. The first male took in the other’s self-satisfied smirk and the size of his meal in one glance. A low, guttural, savage growl escaped his lips. He dropped his cake to the floor. His legs flexed.

  Samuel entered the hall to the sounds of astonished screams. The first male had just launched himself at the second and grabbed at his meal cake. The latter, who had not even noticed his disgruntled neighbor until that moment, was shocked to find his meal knocked from his hand and sent tumbling to the floor, followed hungrily by the first male. But he did not hesitate to react. In an instant, the second male dove on top of the first and the two men clawed at each other’s face and scrabbled for the fallen cake. The other colonists screamed and backed away. A young adult female was next in line; she received an undersized portion as well. Seeing the much larger cake on the floor between the two brawling males, she made a dive for it. And at that moment, just as Samuel walked through the door, the meal hall descended into chaos.

  XIV

  As it turned out, the same malfunction had occurred at the other six meal halls that evening. Similar skirmishes broke out across the colony. One by one, each colonist approached the food machine hesitantly, not knowing what his fate would be. Each hoped to receive a large meal cake, but all who did feared reprisals from colonists who had not been so fortunate. No single cake was normal sized. Those who received bigger meals shielded their prizes and scuttled quickly from the hall. Some who received smaller cakes waited near the food hole and ambushed those who received larger portions. Others merely bowed their heads, walked away and ate their tiny cakes alone, too worn down to fight.

  Samuel received a larger meal cake. He was a bit surprised by his good fortune, but he took his food and strode calmly from the hall. A group of less fortunate colonists eyed him warily. He passe
d them without a word, neither avoiding their gazes nor staring back at them. They watched him go and waited for what appeared to be easier prey. Outside the hall, Samuel spotted Penny seated under a tree nearby holding a small, untouched meal cake. He hesitated as he neared her, feeling for the first time the weight of the food cradled in his hands. Penny turned her head up to Samuel, her lips drawn wide and flat to create little hollows in her narrow cheeks. She fingered her meal cake reflexively but only picked at it in her lap. Samuel broke off a piece of his food and extended it to her. She stared at the piece of cake, then at him, not seeming to comprehend this act of selfless generosity, perhaps the first she had ever witnessed. Slowly, she extended her hand and took it.

  “Thank you.”

  Samuel nodded graciously and sat down next to her. They both held equal portions about the same size as a normal meal cake, and they ate together as the cool breeze swelled to a wind and brought an end to the day’s warmth. The sun seemed to set more quickly than usual, leaving bruised streaks of indigo and violet in the tired sky.

  * * *

  The problem with the meal cakes continued. The clashes between colonists intensified. Informal marauding bands of colonists who received undersized cakes assembled outside the halls to wait for particularly weak-looking victims with large meal cakes. But even these groups shared no real unity, for as soon as they had bullied a meal cake out of the hands of a more fortunate colonist, they would set upon one another, each trying to claim his ill-gotten gain for himself.

  The morning after the first incident with the meal cakes, a female colonist lost three teeth when attacked by two younger males with smaller portions. At the midday meal, an older male’s arm was broken as he tried to fend off another assailant. Where once the sound of the bells had prompted an immediate colony-wide migration to the meal halls, now the colonists feared to even set foot inside those doors. Some loitered near the halls all day, waiting for the bells to toll so they could rush inside, grab their meal cake, and either escape before there were too many looters or join those same looters and wait in ambush for a potential victim. Many of the older colonists who required less sustenance stayed clear of the halls until long after the bells had sounded, hoping to avoid the violent clashes altogether.