by Mike Hopper
“Sorry Mother,” Sam knew this would be better discussed with Dr. Klesel.
“Sorry Mother,” Steuart walked towards his room.
Olivia turned out the lights, walked down the hall, got into her bed and then screamed, “If I come back, I’ll return with my wooden spoon.”
Sam lay stiffly under her covers and wondered exactly what was going on. Steuart looked at Ed. He reached down, picked Trista up and whispered, “Let’s go to my room.”
“But, what about the chocolate?” Ed whined.
* * *
People say that children often learn things more quickly than adults. Perhaps that’s because it’s okay to embrace magical thinking when we’re small. As children, we’re encouraged to believe in things unseen. Fairies, giant bunnies, elves and other magical creatures are known to visit, leaving gifts and trinkets as we sleep.
As children, our minds are open to what if and why not. We believe the idea that anything is possible. Perhaps this is because we live in a time when new discoveries occur daily in our lives, proving that anything can happen and quite often will. We are young enough to realize that we do not know what we do not know. We are bright enough to realize that it might be foolish to say something does not exist strictly because we’ve never seen it. As children, we know better. For whatever reason, children tend to accept things sooner than adults. And then, sadly, as we grow, our fears grow also. With each year, our ability to believe in things unseen becomes more fragile and fades much too soon. Eventually, we are fully-grown.
As the younger sibling, Steuart was immediately comfortable with his new knowledge of the Wayward Gifted. Sam, however, was not only skeptical, but also frightened. She came around more slowly. Her mother’s comments, my children are broken and they need to be repaired, played repeatedly in her head.
The fact that Sam knew nothing about her biological family added to her troubled feelings. She wondered if something terrible could be wrong with her and with her brother. She wondered if the two of them had snapped. Did they need medication? Were they b-r-o-k-e-n? If so, what exactly did that mean? Were their actions indicative of a bizarre, childhood folie a deux?
Eventually, Sam came out from under the covers. She found Steuart, Trista and Ed conversing in Steuart’s room. For a moment, she stood silently watching the group before turning around. She walked into the bathroom, turned on the faucet and splashed cold water across her face. She returned to Steuart’s room where nothing had changed. Steuart and the dolls sat quietly talking.
Again, Sam turned around. She walked to her room and picked up the chocolate bar, returned to Steuart’s room and seated herself at the far edge of his bed. “I’m ready to talk. I brought chocolate.”
“I knew I liked her,” Ed smiled and held out his hand.
Olivia’s voice came from the end of the hall. “Are the two of you still awake? Don’t make me come in there.”
At that, Steuart, Ed, Trista and Sam decided it was time to stop for the night. Ed stayed with Steuart. Trista accompanied Sam to her room where the two got under the covers. Neither girl said a word. Sam smiled at Trista and Trista smiled back. No longer afraid, the girls slept.
TEN
Olivia woke Sam and Steuart early the following morning. “What in the world were the two of you doing last night?”
Sam, half-awake, remembered the excitement. Did it happen? Did the dolls come to life? Was it just a strange, wonderful dream?
Her mother’s voice brought Sam back to the moment. “You are not allowed to keep me awake like that. I’ll be a zombie all day because I didn’t get a fraction of my required sleep. And now, I’m running late. There will be consequences.”
Nanny Claire arrived as Olivia left for work. Sam listened as the garage door closed.
Steuart walked into his sister’s room, “Can you believe it?”
“No, I thought it was a dream.”
Steuart shook his head, “That wasn’t a dream. That was definitely not a dream.”
Sam brushed her teeth and combed her hair. “I have to think about my history test.”
Nanny Claire shouted from the kitchen, “You’ll miss your bus if you don’t get moving,”
Sam put her comb away and looked at her brother, “We’ll figure these things out when we get home.”
* * *
Steuart and Sam did not care for Nanny Claire. The feeling appeared to be mutual. The woman was happy to see the children leave for school and less than thrilled upon their afternoon arrival home. Claire preferred reading mysteries in privacy and quiet. “I dislike interruptions,” she’d say, “Your mother tells me that you’re accustomed to amusing yourselves. That’s a good thing.” The upside to Claire’s disinterest was how easy it became for Sam and Steuart to get out of the house. After a snack, with the dolls in their backpacks, Sam and Steuart asked permission to go out to play.
Hiking to the tree house, Steuart asked his sister, “Do you think she was always so large, or do you think it’s because she’s an Éclair?”
Sam giggled. “That’s not a nice thing to say. Maybe she can’t help it.”
“It’s a perfect anagram. Maybe I’d feel differently if she were nice.”
“Maybe. You’re probably right. Let’s keep her around—she doesn’t care what we do.”
After climbing to the top of the tree house, Steuart and Sam carefully pulled the dolls from their backpacks and seated them on the floor. They readied for a frank and sincere discussion.
“Hi,” Steuart said. “We’re sorry that we couldn’t spend the day with you, but we had to go to school.”
The dolls said nothing.
“Don’t be angry,” Sam said. “We didn’t have a choice.”
The dolls didn’t move.
“Why aren’t they talking?” Steuart looked at Sam.
“I don’t know.”
Steuart tapped Ed on the shoulder, “Hey, Ed, it’s okay, you can talk now.”
Ed did nothing.
“Was it a dream?” Sam asked.
“How can two people be in the same dream?” Steuart shook his head. “I don’t think that’s possible?”
“How can dolls talk? Is that possible?” Sam turned to Trista, “Hi Trista. How are you today?” Trista did nothing. Sam turned and looked at her brother, “This is not good.”
“They were alive last night. I know they were.”
“They’re just dolls. They’re not alive. It was some wild, absurd, unbelievable, strange, dream.”
“Is that what you think?”
“Yes,” Sam nodded, “I do. Maybe it was something we ate.”
“We didn’t eat the same things.” Steuart spoke to the dolls again. “Hello. Ed, Trista, come on guys, let’s talk.”
Sam shook her head. “I don’t know what happened, but something caused you and me to have the same dream.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“I’ve heard this sort of thing happening when people eat rabbit.”
“We’ve never eaten rabbit.”
“I’d rather think that we’re having terrible dreams than think that we’ve lost our minds.”
“We’re not nuts.”
“Mother says that we’re broken.”
“Mother says a lot of things.”
“Maybe she’s right. Maybe she sees something we’re missing. Maybe we are mad.” Sam stared at the dolls.
“We don’t act like we’re crazy.”
“What do you think this is? We both think that we had a conversation last night with two inanimate objects.”
Sam and Steuart sat in silence looking at one another.
Steuart frowned. “Do you believe we’re broken? Is that what you think? Are you listening to Mother now?”
“We’re seeing a shrink. That’s not a good sign.”
“We’re seeing a shrink because Mother has this obsessive thing about perfection. It’s not us.”
“I don’t know.”
Steuart sighed. “Raw E
ye Czar.”
“What?”
“Are we crazy?”
“Could be,” Sam frowned.
“No,” Steuart shook his head, “Tone Wary Car Zone.”
“I don’t know that. How do two kids figure out what it means to be crazy? What’s crazy? It’s like asking what it means to be creative.”
Steuart tried talking to the dolls again. They didn’t move. He looked at his sister and frowned. “I don’t know. I think it’s something else.”
Sam nodded. “We should talk with Dr. Klesel.”
“Maybe.” Steuart looked away, “You’re probably right. I didn’t eat my lunch today. I feel hungry and confused. Do you have anything?”
“Help yourself,” Sam reached into her backpack for the remainder of last night’s candy bar. She handed it to Steuart. “You can have it.”
“Are you sure?”
“I don’t want it. I’m not hungry.”
Steuart unwrapped the bar. “Chocolate makes everything better.”
“Finally...” Ed jumped up and laughed. “They’re speaking our language!” He looked at Steuart, “Can we have a bite too?”
“What?” The children were shocked.
“Practical joke! Ha! Ha! Good one, huh? How’d you like it?”
Trista stood, looked at Sam, and shook her head. “It was his idea—not mine. He’s in charge. I didn’t think it was funny. Seriously, I tried to talk him out of it.”
“What’s going on?” Steuart asked. “Why would you do that?”
Sam looked at Ed. “You’re not funny.”
“That was mean,” Steuart said.
Ed continued laughing, “Get over yourselves. It was just a little joke, that’s all. Why is everyone always so serious around here?”
Sam looked at Ed, “That wasn’t nice. You should be ashamed of yourself for scaring us like that.”
“Come on kid,” Ed pointed to Steuart. “Look at your size. Now look at me. Look at Trista. Who do you think should be afraid here?”
“We’re not afraid. That’s not the point. We don’t like being teased.” Sam looked at Steuart, “I don’t believe this.”
“Oh, for God’s sake. Get over it already.” Ed continued laughing.
“You shouldn’t play jokes on friends,” Steuart said. “It’s a terrible way to behave.”
“Oh, come on,” Ed chuckled, “We have to get our thrills where we can find them. Now, please, share some chocolate.”
“You think I should share with you?” Steuart asked. “Why?”
“Because you’re a nice person.” Ed smiled, “Look at the bright side—you’re not nuts. Would you rather we become quiet again?”
“I’ll share the chocolate,” Sam said, “but if we’re going to be friends you’re not allowed to do that again. Also, we need answers.”
Steuart nodded, “She’s right. Where did you come from? Are you space aliens? Are you from another planet? Does Dr. Klesel know?”
“Okay,” Ed began. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “No more dead doll games.”
“Where did you come from?” Steuart persisted.
Ed took a piece of chocolate, bit down, chewed, and swallowed. “I love chocolate. We don’t have it at home.”
“Where did you come from?” Steuart asked again.
“I’m not sure how to describe us.” Ed reached for the chocolate bar.
“Just tell us,” Steuart said, handing Ed another bite of chocolate.
“We are—from another place.”
Steuart rolled his eyes. “Oh, that’s great. Why not tell us something obvious.”
“Where?” Sam asked.
“In some ways it’s a lot closer than you think.”
“Does Dr. Klesel know who you are?”
“I’m not allowed to answer that question.”
“You’re being vague,” Steuart argued. “I’d appreciate answers.”
Sam stared at her brother, “Steuart, we’re talking with dolls.”
“Yeah, we are, and they’re talking with us too. We’re not crazy.”
Steuart turned from Sam to Ed, “Are you dangerous aliens?”
“No.”
“What can you tell us?” Sam asked.
Ed reached for the chocolate bar, “Just a small bite this time.”
Steuart broke off a small chunk of chocolate and handed it to Ed, who bit and chewed as he spoke. “Look here’s the thing. We can travel from where we live to where you are. We use dolls as placeholders. Yes, we’re aliens, but not in your traditional, dangerous, weird, we’re going to cook you and eat your for dinner, fictional sense. If we wanted to hurt you, we could have done that days ago.”
Sam gasped.
“It’s okay,” Trista said. “We’re harmless.”
Ed looked at Sam, “Don’t worry. We haven’t hurt you. You can stop being afraid.”
“What about Dr. Klesel?” Sam asked.
“I don’t know.”
Sam folded her arms, “Keep talking.”
“Yes, keep talking,” Steuart nodded.
“It’s not an exact science.”
“What?” Sam asked.
“If you don’t remember anything else that I tell you, remember that this is not an exact science. It’s one of the rules.”
“What rules?” Steuart asked.
“The rules of comedy.”
“Now I’m really confused.”
“The rules of comedy. They apply to everything we do. One, know your audience; two, timing is everything; three, it’s not an exact science.”
“Are you serious?” Sam asked.
“Very serious,” Ed nodded. “Always remember the rules.”
“Why are you here?” Sam asked. “Are you looking for something? Are you here to take something back to your planet?”
“Right,” Ed smirked. He looked at Trista, “She’s cute.” He looked back at Sam and shook his head, “No. We’re not here to deplete your resources.”
“Then why are you here?”
“If you had the means, would you travel to other places?”
“Yeah,” Steuart nodded. “Definitely.”
“There’s your answer,” Ed reached for more chocolate. “I never tire of this stuff.” He tried to give a piece to Trista.
“I don’t really like sweets.”
“Scary,” Ed said.
“How does it work?” Steuart asked. “Tell me how you travel.”
“It’s complicated. I’ll give you the simple part for now.”
Sam and Steuart nodded and listened.
“I’m here at this moment, but I have a doll back home. My doll acts as a place holder when I’m here.”
“What?”
“Just listen for a bit. When I go home, my doll and I switch places.”
“How do you do that?”
“It’s sort of like going to an airport or a bus station. We travel from portal to portal.”
“How does that happen?”
“The doll acts as my placeholder.”
“I don’t understand,” Sam said.
“Don’t worry. It takes a while to put it all together. It’s a straightforward travel situation—most of the time.”
“Most of the time?”
“Yeah,” Ed took a deep breath. He scratched his head. “Portal to portal. That’s the way it generally goes. Easy, simple, and you’re there.”
“That’s it?” Steuart asked.
Ed took a deep breath, “Most of the time. However, there are occasionally odd situations. For instance, my doll and I can end up in the same place and sometimes if that happens, the only way that I can travel is to make certain that the doll is with me, in my possession, at the time of transport. When we do that, only one of us will actually travel. The tricky part about that is not knowing which one of us is going to transport and which will stay behind. It’s not a big deal in most situations, but if you can avoid it, it’s best to make sure that you and your doll are at opposite sites. It
can be messy if I’m in a hurry.”
“Huh?”
“He’s right,” Trista said.
Ed looked at Trista, “Things usually go smoothly. I’m here now, but my doll is somewhere else. When I decide to travel I go to a transport station and we switch.”
“Is it dangerous?” Sam asked.
“I wouldn’t say it’s dangerous, but it’s not without risks.”
“Such as?” Steuart asked.
“Such as what happens if a doll becomes lost or damaged.”
Trista grimaced.
“Yikes,” Sam took a deep breath.
“It’s okay,” Ed reached for more chocolate. “I’m giving you worst case scenarios first. We’re talking about things that almost never happen. I’ve only known of a few people who’ve had a bad experience and every one of them eventually made it home.”
Sam and Steuart stared at Ed.
“I’ve never lost a traveler.”
“This sounds silly to me. Can you prove any of this?” Sam asked. “Can everyone travel?”
“Sometimes I can prove it, but not always.” Ed shook his head. “No, everyone does not have a doll. Only a percentage of the populations travel.”
“I want to do it!” Steuart said.
“No,” Sam snapped.
“Why not?”
Sam looked at Ed, “What do you mean by populations?”
“You’re getting ahead of me. Let’s take one thing at a time.”
Sam thought for a moment, “I might try it, but I’d have to know a lot more before I did anything.”
“Okay. We can tell you a little more.” Ed took a deep breath and became serious. “But, before we can go any further we need to talk business. Let’s talk about our needs. You’re going to have to do something for us.”
“Needs?” Trista questioned Ed.
“Shh!”
Steuart looked at Sam, “Needs?”
“My brother and I are just kids. I don’t know how we can help you.”
“We have needs,” Ed insisted.
“Ed, did you hear Sam? We’re kids. Older people call us children. We’re future adults.”
“So?”