Today he turned seven. He looked forward to the scrumptious cake his mother always baked for his birthday. He knew Abby planned to have a special gift for him from the meager money she earned from the Muslim family she babysat for. He could hardly contain his excitement as the school day past so slowly. He thought he would age another year while he waited. The usual snubs from his classmates mattered not, his mind focused on the happy party waiting for him at home.
Running up to his now familiar door after the school bus dropped him off, he jerked in surprise, seeing his father’s car in the drive, hearing shouts and angry voices. Letting himself in, he trembled at the sight of his father. His heart ratcheted up, thumping hard as his breathing came fast and shallow, his stomach starting a slow roil. He witnessed his father’s arms looped around his mother’s neck as he tried to force her to kiss him. She fought back, trying to slip out of his grip with little success, her balance a hindrance because of her brace. His father’s expression hardened, angry and ugly. A sneer deformed his thin lips as he slowly strangled her while Scotty beat on his father’s legs, vainly trying to protect his mother. She screamed, fighting him off until a desperate shove sent her falling back on the kitchen table where Scotty’s birthday cake sat, waiting to have the candles lit for his party. Seven beautiful blue candles on top of rich chocolate icing. His mom caught her balance on the kitchen table, sending his beautiful birthday cake flying. Everyone froze as the cake landed upside down, splattering on the hardwood floor. Staring at his ruined birthday cake, Scotty felt his stomach turn inside out, queasiness ready to explode. And, a little something new; anger. The kind of anger that festers and simmers beneath the surface, cooking in its own poison while it twists the mind with bitterness. Picking up the remains of the cake, he threw it at his father who just laughed at him, calling him a crybaby and a little turd. He wasn’t a turd. Sobbing, he ran out the door, up the hill and into the woods. He just kept running, past all his favorite spots, into the deep woods, his sobs turning to anger, magnified by the resentment of his afflictions.
Slowing down, he dropped to the ground, leaning up against a hillside unfamiliar to him. He tried to block the memory of his daddy’s belittling taunting tone and the damaged look on his mom’s face. Restlessly, he wandered along the hillside until he turned a corner, stepping back in surprise.
Before him stood a massive granite boulder. He eyeballed the massive rock, wondering how he dare claim it for his own. He noticed handholds, seemingly carved into the side of the rock. Hmm, could he pull himself up? Approaching the rock, he struggled with the handholds, finally reaching the top. What a great spot for a fort. Curling up in a depression, he felt the warmth from the sun seep from the rock into his body. His drowsy eyes slowly closed over his tear stained cheeks and he drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
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The creature roused herself from a deep slumber, feeling the presence of a large life form. She sensed its closeness, but noted it was not yet in the deep quiet cavern of the Hive. She called the Hive home, her safety well assured for over a century. Sadly, she coped with constant loneliness. Her only companions the occasional woodland creature that found its way into the cavern. Periodically, she would venture out of the cavern to observe the behavior of the human creatures of this planet, caution an imperative.
The trauma witnessed over a century ago still smoldered sharply in her mind; the guilt, just as fresh. She could have intervened when she became suspicious of her birth Brother’s mental and physical damage during her emergence. Or perhaps it happened during the Womb’s entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. Maybe the Womb failed to properly care for Brother, although it certainly cared for her without complaint. She often suspected the Womb deliberately allowed the incident to escalate just so it could study the outcome. How else could the Womb learn how to interpret the actions of the humans? She agreed they merited study but her sensibilities cringed as the slaughter transpired. Most of the time the Womb took a hands-off policy, not wanting to interfere with the culture of any species unless the species became catastrophically aggressive to others, of course. But this was a minion, the Womb’s chosen. She remembered back a full century to the time she last laid eyes on the doomed Sister. She considered making contact without her Brother’s knowledge when the Sister suddenly appeared one day at the rock that disguised the entrance to the cavern.
As it turned out, an evil human Brother stalked the Sister. He captured her and participated in a brutal murder. She knew how bloodthirsty the evil species behaved on this planet, observing firsthand what happened to the Sister and her birth Brother and his own little furry pet from the safety of the hilltop near the forest edge. She remembered with pain, her birth Brother’s golden life force splashed on the unyielding ground. She bitterly remembered the look of astonishment then disgust, as the evil Brother that murdered him wiped the sacred life force off the heels of his boots.
The shock numbed her as the mesmerizing golden light and vital thought projections faded from Brother’s disfigured eyes. She actually felt the genetic mental connection shared by all of her species being brutally severed. Running back through the woods, she vowed never to leave the Hive until she could assure her own safety.
She watched from her hidden position in the forest as the Sister first discovered her birth Brother and carried him away from the Hive. She didn’t understand why Brother did not object. Confusion ruled as she tried to puzzle out why her birth Brother neglected to begin his mission. Instead, he involved himself intimately in the Sister’s life, apparently satisfied with the tiny part of his mission that he did manage to accomplish; creating two new Elders to assist him.
It was incomprehensible to believe the bloodthirsty human Brothers would reject the very gifts meant to rescue them and justify the complex energy expended long ago on their behalf. But they had; making the unfortunate choice that pronounced their death sentence. She wondered if the humans had rejected Sister’s new tail. The humans must realize by now that a tail is nothing new to their species. The success of the mission demanded complex alterations of their physical and biological systems. It’s a good thing only the tail manifested, not the antlers. That would have been a disaster.
Determination coursed through her solar veins. Her job rested on her ability to insure the Elder’s grand plan, offering salvation for both species, not failure. Success would insure the redemption from the Womb that minions sought for hundreds of thousands of years. Perhaps the humans need a different type of manifestation. She would have to ponder. If she could alter a few of her own cells and enzymes, a solution might be available. Maybe the Womb would help her. But her intention would never include getting rid of her own beautiful tail. The engineering for that would be too complex to attempt without help. She felt comforted by her tail; even as she knew it had a life of its own.
She curiously wondered why her Brother did not try to contact her. She would have been willing to complete the mission in his stead. As things stood, now that Brother had expired, her honor (and genetic programming) obligated her to eventually complete the mission for him anyway.
But she remained hesitant. Over the last century she observed the savage violence this species perpetrated on itself. She understood why the Womb authorized the mission. And just like the Womb, she now saw little reason to save this species. She suspected the Elders truly did make a tragic mistake. They offered excuse after excuse for this life form, hoping evolution would tame them. Now, influence from the Elders no longer a factor, the Womb passed judgment, ordering the mission. But the possibility existed her decision might abet an error. She decided to take her time. This planet needed much more observation; direct observation. She hoped the Womb would allow her the time. Maybe if she could just find, The One.
It would truly be a tragedy if she decided to let this species self-destruct, along with Brother’s newly obtained Elder state now tragically lost. What a surprising discovery that was. Her species said goodbye to Elders long ago. In anger for
their hubris, the Womb altered the minion’s ability to become Elders after discovering their fateful mistake, forever preventing healing of humans but not other life forms. Now, minion expiration came thru old age or the birth process. It appears for some reason, Brother’s own genetic instructions, meant to prevent the conversion, failed. She could not know for sure without a laboratory at her disposal. Her mind, distracted by the biology, pondered the complexity of their enzymes.
She wondered if she could achieve that lofty state of Elder herself. Had she already? She easily surpassed her normal life span long ago. She would never know until the first opportunity to heal a Brother or Sister presented itself. Yet she refused to try until she decided this species deserved it. As of yet, her doubts remained strong.
She could stay in the Hive as long as it took but she was in doubt as to the amount of time the Womb would allow her. She wanted to take her time until she received a sign of worthiness. But she was terribly lonely. Her species thrived with close contact. They lived in communal groups; hives. Similar to what was called families here on Earth, only much larger. She noticed that even most of the other species of this planet lived in families. Of course, she expected human life on this planet to have evolved similar habits. Sighing, she worried about the damage perpetual isolation would do to her mental state.
The Hive, under the supervision of the Womb would always take care of all needs a carbon based life form required to survive; irrespective of their metabolisms. The Womb, being indestructible, easily accomplished all tasks in the pursuit of creating life. But she remained alone, unable to stop the toll her isolation undeniably looked to extract. Surely, her own iridescent eyes dimmed. Maybe the time to do something about her dilemma neared.
The creature planned to take an excursion to the surface sometime soon. She needed to check on the various groups that clustered in small buildings on land that previously grew stunning fruit orchards.
Her monumental shock when she witnessed the fruit trees ripped from the earth, destroying a unique gift given to the humans, shook her to her core. Gone—the orchards that would feed so many, for so long. Within a decade, the miracle seeds from those trees and the crops would spread naturally, all over the world, feeding everyone; the wanton waste so unforgivable. As a result, the Womb angrily intensified its plan for revenge. This species clearly refused to learn. How they became programmed for self-destruction, she did not know. Perhaps if the Elders acquiesced differently to the Womb after the discovery of their forbidden experiment, they could have intervened, guiding evolution to a more satisfactory outcome. The very guidance that the Womb enjoyed exerting everywhere else, feeling no planet too insignificant. But the Womb had forbidden the guidance. The humans were on their own, a punishment they were unaware of.
The creature disconnected from the Hive wall, her tail dry as it withdrew from the thick membrane. Leaving her private chamber, she shuffled and bobbed her way up the long lonely trail to the outside world.
Arriving at the end of the underground trail, the creature reached her hand into the cavern wall, asking it to part. When the wall parted, she squeezed and contorted her way around the rocks and boulders blocking and disguising the Hive. Glancing back, she made sure the Hive closed behind her.
She remembered the blame for the catastrophic events of a century ago belonged partially to her. After her Emergence, she left her Brother behind in his helpless hibernation state in her zeal to explore topside. If her Emergence occurred back on Oolah, surrounded by all the help her Brother needed to emerge from hibernation and begin transition, his eventual expiration would have been successful. She herself would receive proper guidance, allowing the time for her awareness to digest all the stimuli being transmitted to her mind from her own transcription cells. She would not have run off halfcocked and uninformed, failing to require the Hive to close behind her, making the fatal mistake that allowed the Sister to enter and discover her birth Brother.
Having reached maturity, she realized her birth Brother must have called the human to use for his own recovery but she doubted her Brother’s powers were strong enough.
The Womb creates the energy she and Brother need to survive as a by-product of its slow feeding on the organic material it rested on. It was an inexhaustible source of the energy she needed to feed on as long as she remained underground. Once above ground, she took all she needed from the sun. She could also use a human Brother or Sister but she strongly planned to stay far away for now. Besides, she much preferred the slower absorption from the sun. It reacted more efficiently with her metabolism. Taking nourishment from a human left her species confused and disoriented. Perhaps the very reason Brother left the Hive with the Sister. Maybe confusion reigned.
The occasional animal that wandered near could obviously smell the membrane and knew the Womb lived. They usually entered out of curiosity and perhaps hunger, causing little damage. But she knew the Sister entered because of her own carelessness.
Not only did she carry overwhelming guilt and barely tolerable loneliness but she knew her species probably did not know she existed. They monitor the energy outflow from the Womb membrane to determine if Brother still lived. The Womb could not make a distinction between its minions. They undoubtedly think she is Brother. The Womb never registered any simultaneous energy draws, cluing them in to her existence back home. Over the last century, they recorded her withdrawal, mistakenly believing it to be that of Brother’s. At some point Brother would have died. They would not know that he had an offspring or that he had become an Elder. They would expect the humans to carry out the mission of their own volition after her Brother’s death. Monitoring this planet would provide few answers. Only an Elder could communicate through the Womb to Oolah. But the Womb knew. That’s all that really mattered. Oh well, she could only do her best. When she thought the humans were ready, she would begin.
Pushing all the unanswerable questions from her rambling mind, she stepped around the cairn of rocks that helped protect the Hive and stretched up to the sun. Sensing the life form she detected earlier, she peered around the rocks, unable to locate it. She decided she would scramble up her favorite rock to get closer to the sun where she would be unobserved. She loved to curl up in the depression at the top. It soaked up the sun and warmed her fat belly when she nestled in.
Reaching out with her long slender fingers she touched the rock. Her suction-like pads helped pull up her body as she climbed, creeping up the side of the rock. Her head swiveled up and down as she gauged the distance from the top to the bottom. Pulling herself up and over the top, she made an unexpected discovery. There, in her depression, lay the life form; a small human Brother. He wore the coverings humans liked to swaddle themselves in, measuring almost twice her size yet appearing harmless enough as he slept. Quivering with anticipation, she decided to quietly sit and watch, wrapping her golden tail around herself.
As she observed, she weighed the attraction her Birth Brother felt for his human Sister. She longed to reach out and touch the long fibers on the young Brother’s head; very different from the fuzz and fur on her body. She wondered if it felt softer. It certainly did not keep him warm like her pelt did. She guessed that explained the swaddling. They would not be so vulnerable to heat fluctuations if their metabolisms evolved closer to that of her species; so much simpler. She sniffed, knowing if she consulted on the design she certainly would make improvements. Her puzzled eyes drifted over the strange markings on his head and the scars on his skin, shaking her head at his obvious signs of disease; the poor human Brother.
It is no wonder the Womb decided they must be revisited for intervention. Perhaps the time should have come much sooner, before they started to live inside caves and instead of the open like herds; before they learned to practice wanton bloodlust, employed so often for reasons other than survival. They were a lost cause. Banishing all her troubling thoughts, she concentrated on the little Brother. Without realizing what she was doing, she let her probing aura coalesce in
his mind. And suddenly his eyes flew open.
Chapter 3
What the …? Scrambling quickly up on his butt, Scotty scooted out of the depression, edging to the back of the rock. There he sat and stared at the funny looking creature, eh … no, elf. No, fairy. Yeah, he must be a fairy. Wow. He found an actual golden fairy. Hopping up, he made a grab for it. The fairy unwound his long tail and disappeared over the side of the rock. Scotty leaned over the edge, the fairy nowhere to be seen.
Carefully, he lowered himself down the rock, slipping on the sharp footholds as he descended. Desperately, he looked around, trying to discover where the fairy disappeared. Gee, Mom will never believe this. He wasn’t sure he could convince her unless he brought the fairy home. Holy mackerel, no one will believe this. His excitement gripped him, a touch of something special in his life for the first time. He knew he must find the hiding place the fairy lived in. Stumbling over the loose pile of rock heaped near the hillside, he discovered an enormous rip in his pant leg. Squatting down he examined it. Mom will not be happy about this. And he didn’t even have the fairy to show her. Straightening up, something caught his eye. A golden glint; just like the fairy.
He tripped over the rocks, his footing unsteady until he located where the glint came from. Digging down between the rocks, his fingers withdrew an object. A coin. He rubbed it on his jeans, removing some of crusted dirt so deeply embedded. He stared, his wandering eye refusing to focus. Turning it around and over in his little fingers, the heavy coin finally revealed more of the golden sheen and a date, 1702. Hmm, it wasn’t even new. He wondered if the fairy left it for him. Maybe the fairy knew of his birthday and left it as a gift to make up for his dad ruining his day, hurting his mom and calling him bad names. If he did, Scotty wished the fairy could make the coin a new shiny one. But at least he could show some kind of proof to his mom now. Glancing around for the last time, he brushed off his pants and started home.
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