Man Made Boy

by Jon Skovron

Javier nodded.

  “Come on.” I held out my hand to her. She slipped her slender hand into my big, clumsy one. Then we walked into the dark room.

  It was hot in the room. Different from the desert heat. Thick and wet, with a smell that reminded me of the air in Medusa’s dressing room, except much more intense.

  We stood for a moment in the dark. I had no idea what to do or why we’d been sent into this weird, creepy room. It felt like they were purposefully trying to intimidate us.

  “Hello?” I said loudly, letting a little irritation show in my voice.

  There was a strange scraping sound off to one side, like scales rubbing together. Then two massive, yellow reptilian eyes appeared, glowing so brightly that they illuminated the space. The room was about the size of a gymnasium. In the center lounged a dragon. She had to be at least fifteen feet wide, with a head the size of a car. Each wing was roughly the size of a small airplane. I couldn’t even guess at her length, since she was all coiled up. Her red and gold scales glittered in the light that came from her eyes, nose, and mouth.

  “Dragon Lady,” Sophie muttered in my ear. “Ha. Get it?”

  “Hello, little monsters,” said the Dragon Lady, fire licking around her lips as she spoke. “I am sorry your initial greeting was so unpleasant. We don’t get visitors very often, and friendly ones even less frequently. In fact, I believe you two are our first sanctioned guests in a decade.”

  “Sorry we startled you,” I said. Talking with a dragon felt weirdly formal. Almost epic, in a really awkward sort of way. “We didn’t really have a way to let you know we were coming.”

  “Why did you come, little patchwork monster?” she asked.

  “We were hoping…that we could talk to the Sphinx.”

  “Ah,” she said, and fell silent. She closed her eyes for a moment so that the only light in the space came from the flickering fire in her nose and mouth. Then she opened her eyes again. “You come seeking wisdom.”

  “Uh, I guess,” I said.

  “I see.” She stretched her massive front paws like a scaly cat. Each claw was as thick as a tree. “I can grant you an audience with him. But…it may not be what you expect.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “You will see.” Then she slowly stood up and arched her long back in a luxurious stretch. “The entrance to the Sphinx’s chamber is on the opposite side of the building. It would take you a while to walk there. It will be much faster if you climb up onto my back.”

  “Uh, okay,” I said.

  She lowered herself back down to the ground. I grabbed a handful of the coarse fur that ran down her back and pulled myself up. There was no way Sophie could reach that, so I held out my hand to her. She looked hesitant for a moment, biting her lip. Then she smiled that bright Sophie smile I’d been missing and grabbed my hand. I hauled her up just as the Dragon Lady rose and swept out of the room in one single fluid motion. I felt the heat of Sophie’s body press against my back and her arms wrap around my torso.

  “Dragon ride!” she whispered in my ear.

  The Dragon Lady flew down the hallway a lot faster than I expected. It felt like how I imagined a roller coaster would feel, except smooth and silent. And of course, there was no track to keep us from crashing. As wide as the hallway was, the walls suddenly felt way too close.

  Sophie dug her pointy chin into my upper back.

  “Ow!” I said.

  “Relax,” she said. “You’re too tense. Enjoy the ride.”

  “I’m trying. It’s just—”

  The Dragon Lady whipped smoothly around a corner. I barely managed to keep us from flying off as she turned. Sophie laughed gleefully and squeezed my sides. I took a deep breath and tried not to think about all the ways we could die right now.

  We turned another corner and I decided that the hallway, and probably the whole building, went around in one big square. We went farther down until I guessed we were about halfway to the next corner turn, then we finally came to a stop.

  For a moment we just sat there, Sophie’s arms still wrapped around me. They each had a slightly different scent, Sophie and Claire. Claire’s was rich, like wood. Sophie’s reminded me of fresh cotton laundry.

  “Little monsters,” said the Dragon Lady. “You may dismount.”

  “Yep,” said Sophie.

  “Okay,” I said.

  I lowered Sophie down to the ground, then slid down, too.

  There was a massive doorway on one side. Bigger than any of the others, it covered the entire thirty feet from floor to ceiling. If this hallway was one big square, all the other doorways were on the outer side. This was the only one I’d seen on the inner side. It was also the only doorway I’d seen with a closed door. It was a dark, rough wood, bound together with tarnished iron. Instead of a handle, there was a massive iron ring, which was probably a lot easier for creatures like the Dragon Lady to grab on to.

  It looked too heavy for me to open, but the Dragon Lady gave the door a push and it opened easily. The room inside was even larger than the dragon’s den, brightly lit by a series of skylights. The ceiling had to be over fifty feet high, the walls at least a hundred across. The room was empty except for the Sphinx.

  I had assumed that the famous Sphinx statue in Egypt had been made larger than life. But it had been done exactly to scale. It was impossible not to feel awed in his presence. Even the Dragon Lady was small compared to him. The Sphinx’s lion body sat poised with breathtaking majesty and his human face appeared ageless, his eyes like deep blue pools of knowledge.

  As we got closer, he didn’t look down at us. Instead, he stared straight ahead.

  “Sphinx!” The Dragon Lady’s voice was so loud and low I felt it vibrate in my stomach. “Two little monsters seek an audience with you. Will you acknowledge them?”

  We waited. But the Sphinx didn’t move, didn’t make a sound. He just continued to stare straight ahead.

  Finally, the Dragon Lady sighed. “I am sorry. He has been like this for several years now.”

  “What’s wrong with him?” I asked in a hushed voice, just in case he could somehow hear me, even if he wasn’t responding.

  “I’m not sure,” she said. “But I believe it just became too much for him. No one can remember everything. No one can know everything. Not even me. And having lived for over five centuries, I know quite a lot. We forget things. We filter them, discard what we no longer need, so that we can continue to think and exist in a productive manner.”

  “Sure,” I said. “Only the stuff we feel is important goes to long-term memory. Then we clear the cache on the short-term memory. Happens every night while we sleep.”

  She stared at me.

  “Computer talk,” said Sophie. “He understands what you’re saying. So what does that have to do with the Sphinx?”

  “He forgets nothing, he has lived a very long time, and I suspect his cup has run over,” said the Dragon Lady. “I believe he still absorbs knowledge somehow, he still gathers new memories. But he can no longer process or comprehend any of it. He has lost all perspective. You and I are, to him, impossible to distinguish from the dust motes in the air or the weaving grain of the wooden door.”

  “So…he’s not going to talk to us,” I said more than asked.

  “I’m afraid not,” said the Dragon Lady.

  We stood there for a moment. Then Sophie asked, “What do we do now?”

  “I don’t know,” I said.

  18

  Wild Things

  BACK IN THE room, Sophie and I lay in our cots, side by side, and tried to figure out what we should do next. I had just assumed that the Sphinx would be able to help us, tell us what to do. I hadn’t really thought about what we would do if he couldn’t.

  “We could stay here for a while,” I said.

  “We don’t belong here. It’s like a bloody retirement home for monsters.”

  “It’s not that bad.”

  “You just need to steer clear of tech, is that
it? Because I can do remote, as long as it’s a remote tropical island or something.”

  “I think my big mistake back at the mall was connecting to my old email and chat stuff. I thought she wouldn’t be able to break my encryption. Now I think it’s a safe bet there’s no encryption she can’t break. But as long as I stay away from computers, we should be okay pretty much anywhere.”

  “You don’t want to go back to New York, do you?”

  “No way. Why, do you want to go back to London?”

  “Possibly the least safe place for Claire in the whole world? No thanks.”

  “Yeah, Robert. Do you think he has any idea where to look for you?”

  “Well, he knows I’m somewhere in the States. But he’s no brilliant tracker, that’s for sure. And I’ve kept a pretty low profile.”

  I gave her a skeptical look.

  “Perhaps semi-low profile would be more accurate,” she said.

  “Well, even if it’s unlikely, we still need to factor in Robert. Theoretically, he could show up any time. And if we’re out somewhere on our own in some remote place, we’re screwed.”

  “You could take him,” she said.

  “Maybe, but I can’t guard you 24/7. We’ll need to get jobs and stuff like that. Plus, we’ll eventually drive each other nuts if we have to be around each other all the time.”

  “True.”

  “We need support. A community.”

  Sophie sighed. “Do we really need a community?”

  “I grew up in a community, and it kind of sucked sometimes. But looking back on it, it was also pretty awesome. People look out for one another.”

  “Claire and I have gotten along just fine without anybody looking out for us.”

  “Do you have any idea what it’s like to actually feel safe among a group of people who know what you are?”

  She was quiet for a moment. “I had it a little with Adam and Allen.”

  “Imagine that times ten. Or twenty. Or who knows how many. Mozart said there are other places. Other groups of monsters. The Commune is just one of them.”

  “But where are these other groups? And more important, are any of them even slightly cool?”

  “I don’t know. But maybe the Dragon Lady has some ideas.”

  “Arbiter of cool that she is.”

  “You got a better idea?”

  “The Bahamas?”

  “A realistic idea?”

  She put her hands behind her head and smiled serenely. “We’re monsters. Realism cramps our style.”

  WE TALKED FOR a while longer, but didn’t come to any real decision on what we wanted to do. Finally, Knossos the gryphon appeared in our doorway.

  “The Dragon Lady has asked me to conduct you to the garden room so that you can eat.”

  “Brilliant!” said Sophie. “I’m famished.”

  Unfortunately, it took us nearly an hour to walk all the way around the building to the garden room.

  “It seems like we walked in a big U shape,” I said.

  “We did,” said the gryphon.

  “Wouldn’t it have been a lot quicker if we’d walked in the other direction?” asked Sophie.

  “That corridor is off limits to you,” he said. “After you have eaten, you must go back the way we came to return to your room. Now, if you will excuse me.” He bowed his eagle head, and then stretched out his wings, and took off back the way we’d come.

  “Hmm, I wonder what’s back in the forbidden corridor….” said Sophie, her eyes narrowing as she looked in that direction.

  “I thought you were famished,” I said, nudging her.

  “And so I am. Doubly so after that long walk. Let’s eat!”

  The garden room had glass walls and a glass door. Inside was a lush greenhouse with bright skylights similar to those inside the Sphinx’s hall, except smaller. I wondered again how all of this was being concealed. It was so huge, and clearly at least somewhat exposed to the open air.

  “Fresh fruits and veggies! Divine!” said Sophie as she walked dreamily into the room.

  Inside it was warm and humid, like a lush jungle atmosphere. It even looked a little like a jungle, except there were neat little paths that wound through it paved in smooth, golden pebbles that glistened in the sunlight.

  “So what, we just eat stuff right off the plant?” I asked.

  “That is the natural way of eating fruits and vegetables,” said Sophie, her bright eyes scanning the foliage.

  “I know. It just seems…a little unsanitary to me.”

  “This coming from a bloke who ate out of a Dumpster for a month?”

  “Yeah. Okay. I see your point.”

  “Look! Bananas!” She pointed up to the top of a nearby tree.

  “How do we get them?”

  Sophie didn’t answer. Instead, she started climbing the tree.

  “Is that a good idea?”

  “Of course it is.” She moved smoothly upward from branch to swaying branch.

  “I just don’t want you to fall and h—ouch!” I said as a bunch of bananas dropped on my head.

  Sophie slid down the tree. “Come on, then, there’s a nice spot.” She pointed to a flat rock a few yards from the path. So we settled down and cracked open some bananas.

  “I wonder if any of the monsters here ever go outside,” Sophie said as we ate.

  “I doubt it,” I said. “You have to remember, most monsters can’t really blend in like you can. Most of us spend our whole lives hiding.”

  “You blend in just fine.”

  I looked at Sophie next to me, sitting with her legs tucked under her. The neck of her T-shirt slipped over one pale, freckled shoulder. Her cheeks were rosy in the tropical air, and her blue-green eyes gazed at me with emotions I still couldn’t quite read. She could never understand what it was like.

  “I pass as human,” I said. “But I don’t blend. I’m too ugly.”

  “Who on earth ever said you were ugly?”

  “Nobody needs to say it. I see it in their faces. Shock, pity, sometimes even fear.”

  “Did it ever occur to you that perhaps you’re misreading those looks? That maybe it’s not shock you’re seeing, but awe?”

  “Awe? At what?”

  “At you, you big git!” She punched my shoulder with her tiny fist.

  “Come on.”

  “I’m serious. Here these humans are, just walking about, living their dull, human lives. And then out of fucking nowhere, this gigantic creature comes striding into their lives with forearms bigger than their heads but a voice so soft and sweet, it could put a baby to sleep. How could they do anything but marvel at such a person? You are like a demigod in their midst and they bloody well know it.”

  “You weren’t awed.”

  “Who says?”

  “Well, you didn’t act like it.”

  “You think I’d let someone I didn’t know see me off balance?”

  “Probably not.”

  “Precisely.”

  “So now that you know me, what do you think of me?”

  Sophie cleared her throat. “You know what I think? That I’m thirsty from all those bananas. And do you know what would be great to wash them down with? Coconut milk!”

  She jumped to her feet and climbed a nearby tree. This time I was ready for things dropping on my head and caught the two coconuts that came sailing down. Those would have hurt a lot more than the bananas.

  “Damn,” she said as she sat back on the rock.

  “What?”

  “Just realized. Nothing to open them with.”

  “Oh, I can probably do that.” I split the outer layer open and tossed the two pieces aside. Then I took the smaller inner nut in both hands and pressed my thumb against the side until it punctured the shell. “Here. The hole’s a little messy, but it should work.”

  Sophie took the coconut from me and lifted it so that the liquid drained into her mouth.

  She grinned at me as she wiped her lips with the back of her hand. �
�You want to know what I think of you? I think you’re bloody useful.”

  That wasn’t exactly the response I’d been hoping for, but I’d take it.

  AS WE STEPPED back out into the hallway, Sophie turned in the direction of the forbidden section again, her mouth pursed.

  “I wonder what’s down there,” she said.

  “Doesn’t matter,” I said. “It’s off-limits for us.”

  “I’ll bet it’s a brewery.” Her eyes widened. “Or a pot farm!”

  “What?”

  “Lots of old people smoke weed! For arthritis or glaucoma or something. It can be quite medicinal.” She smiled mischievously and started walking in that direction.

  “I really don’t think we should…” I said.

  “Come on, Granny.” She tugged at my arm. “I tell you what, if they have a pot farm, I might be persuaded to stay here after all.”

  I sighed and let her pull me along.

  It took about ten minutes to get there. But when we turned the corner into the forbidden hallway, it looked just like the other three.

  “Bugger,” said Sophie. “Nothing exciting here.” She shrugged. “Well, at least it’s a shortcut back to our room.”

  But as we walked, I noticed there was one difference from the other hallways.

  “All the doors are closed,” I said.

  “What?”

  “In the other three hallways, the doors were all open. But in this hallway, they’re all closed. And no windows, either.”

  “Huh,” said Sophie.

  As we walked farther, I started to notice sounds coming from behind the closed doors. Heavy thuds, or slow scraping, or weird chittering noises.

  “Um,” said Sophie. “Slightly creepy.”

  “Yeah. Maybe we should, uh…”

  “Walk quickly? Let’s.”

  We moved into a fast walk.

  “This may not have been my most brilliant idea,” Sophie said.

  “You think?”

  “As long as the doors stay closed, we’ll be fine.”

  The sound of a door opening came from behind us.

  “Shit,” whispered Sophie.

  I heard a sniffing sound and turned back to look. It appeared to be a man poking his head out of the room.