Baby

by J. K. Accinni

  ###

  The creature stood on the inside of the Hive. She felt full of furious agitation, yet oddly exhilarated. She wished the little Brother had not run off. She supposed she could have followed him. She wondered if he might return. If he did, she better figure out a better way to handle the situation. Even though the encounter went badly, she felt different; hopeful. She wasn’t sure why, but she had a feeling about this little human Brother. Maybe he could be The One.

  ###

  The little boy hurried down the path that took him out of his magical woods, the golden coin tucked safely in his pocket. Running down the hill past his neighbor’s homes, he could see his house. He noted with relief that his father’s car no longer sat in the driveway. Bursting breathlessly in the front door, he beheld his mom and Abby waiting for him.

  “Oh baby, we were so worried. Where did you go? We called and called. Didn’t you hear us? We even went up to the woods.” His frazzled mom hurried over as fast as she could, her brace clinking at her side. She awkwardly sat on the floor in front of him, holding out her arms to sweep him to her chest. Tears coursed down her face, the worry lines standing out in relief as she softly ran her fingers over the bald spots on his head.

  “It’s okay Mom. I’m okay. Please don’t cry, I’m sorry I ran away.” He hugged her tight, his young head fitting under her neck for comfort.

  “Hi, sport,” Abby said. “Glad you came home—got’cha something.” Joining her brother and her mom on the floor, she gave Scotty a kiss and put a brightly wrapped slender gift in his lap. He fingered the ribbon with wonder. The bow was bright gold. Unwrapping the gift, he grinned in amazement at the book about fairies. Wow, did this mean they knew? Leafing through the book, he located a whole chapter on Wood Fairies. He would study that chapter first. He knew he would learn everything he needed to know about his fairy in the book.

  “Gee, thanks, Ab. Mom, I met a fairy in the woods today. He left me a present. Did you tell him it was my birthday?” His face shined with unconcealed innocence.

  “Sweetie, I’m sure you met your very own birthday fairy. But what do you mean, he gave you a present?”

  Scotty sighed, knowing his mom worried about child molesters. Though unlikely any lived in the neighborhood, she monitored everything, knowing you must be extra careful ever since they abolished the sexual predator register (declared unconstitutional, they have rights, you know). The Socialist Democrats went nuts over political correctness, although the Muslim Brotherhood rebelled, insisting they police their own.

  “Mom, he did leave me a present. He’s a golden fairy. Abby, do fairies usually have a tail? His tail glowed. And he left me this.” Pulling out the coin from his pocket, he proudly held it up for his sister and his mom. Taking it from him to examine, his mother carefully scrutinized the coin.

  “This coin is very old sweetie, old is good. That’s what makes it valuable.”

  “Is it a special coin, Mom? It must be special because I got it from the golden fairy and he knew about my birthday.” Scotty’s chest inflated, his wandering eye unexpectedly centered in his eyeball.

  Looking over to the kitchen table, a new birthday cake winked at him. He could tell his mom purchased it at the bakery. He wondered where she got the money but the moment contained so much joy he pushed away his guilt. Jumping up, he tugged on both of them.

  “Mom, let’s have cake. I want to blow out my candles and make a wish.” Hurrying over to the table, she lit the candles as she sang to him. While they blazed with flame, he made a wish and blew them all out. Smiling happily to himself, he realized this time, his birthday wish would come true, absolutely convinced his golden fairy would grant it. He couldn’t wait to wake up the next morning to hear of his father’s death.

  When bedtime came, his mother tucked him in. Noticing his gold coin and his new book in bed with him, she removed them, placing both on his dresser.

  “Sweetie, I think we’ll put your coin someplace safe, it’s probably very valuable. I’ll look into it and see what I can find out. Good night, birthday boy.” As his mother shut off the light, the last thoughts filling his head swam with images of the fairy and the most fantastic birthday ever. Scotty slumbered fitfully, unaware of the probing flashes of residual rainbow light that sent fingers to tumble around in his brain.

  Going off to school the next morning, he took his new book with him. Reading the chapter on wood fairies, he found no mention of the golden ones with long glowing tails. As a matter of fact, he didn’t see any fairies with tails. They all wore wings of some kind. Certainly none of them with horns like his golden fairy. His disappointment acute, excitement dimmed, slowly grasping that he might be wrong about his fairy. No, he knew a fairy when he saw one. What else could he be?

  Riding home on the school bus, his spirits flagged, disappointed to find the rain pouring down. He wanted to return to the big rock and wait for the fairy, afraid if he didn’t show up, the fairy might give up on him and find a new little boy to spend time with. His mom waited for him at the bus stop. Taking her hand, he scooted under her umbrella. Smiling gently, she smoothed back the wisps of hair that refused to cover his ringworm scars no matter how she brushed them.

  “Honey, your father called. He would like to visit this weekend and apologize for his behavior. Would you like to see him?”

  “No. No.” Scotty screamed, his face turning white. His father was still alive? The fairy didn’t come through for him. Something went wrong with his wish. Maybe he needed to tell it directly to the fairy.

  “Mommy, I need to go to the woods today.” His voice frantic, he begged her permission.

  “Don’t be silly. You’ll get soaked. You’re not going anywhere, except home with me, silly.” Arriving at their front door she closed the umbrella and scooted him into the house.

  Hanging up his jacket, he ran to Abby’s bedroom where he found her studying. She belonged in high school now, her time no longer as available to him. He climbed up on her bed trying to fit in her lap like he used to as a tot.

  “Come on, little dude, I need to get my homework done.” Abby laughingly rained kissed down on his sad face, signs of his infant impetigo less a beacon now that a growth spurt looked to be in play. Stroking his patchy fine hair back from his face, she pushed her books aside, cuddling up with her brother on her pillows. “What’s wrong, Scotty?”

  Tears slowly leaked down his chubby cheeks as he snuggled up to his sister. “Abby, I love you.”

  “I love you too, champ. What’s going on?”

  He put his ear up to his sister’s to whisper. “I think daddy is going to move back in with us.” He quickly looked to his sister’s face to gauge her reaction. Abby looked grim but she hugged him tightly.

  “No, Scotty; that will never happen. Mom promised he would never get the chance to hurt her or demean us again. So put a smile on your face and get ready for dinner.”

  “Ok, but if he does, I’m going to make a magic sword to protect us with. I’ll always protect you and Mommy.” Scrambling off Abby’s bed, he ran to his own room. He took out his book of fairies from his backpack and slid it into a drawer. He would solve his fairy dilemma on his own and in secrecy. That’s probably what his fairy wanted anyway.

  Sitting down to dinner, he noticed his mom serving mac and cheese again, on the fancy blue and white plastic plates she got as a wedding gift before his birth. The aroma of hot gooey cheese tantalized him. Mom made it almost every other day because he loved it, naturally. Chowing down, he noticed Abby and mommy talking in low voices about the welfare money. They needed the welfare money. Everyone got welfare money.

  “Kids, I have some important news for you.” He looked closer at his mom’s face, her lips tightly pursed, her eyes tense. Not with anger, more like scary disappointment. Did he see fear on his mom’s face? What was going on? Looking at Abby, he could tell she already knew.

  “We’re going to have some new house guests.”

  “No, not Daddy, please.” His
stomach started to ache. His mommy reached over to stroke his arm, calming him.

  “No baby, it won’t be your father. He’s gone for good. I don’t even know where he’s going but I do know he’ll leave New Jersey. We’re going to share the house and expenses with another family. It’s all arranged. You know the Diaz family, isn’t Jose on your bus, Abby?”

  “No, mom, he’s still in grade school. Is the whole family coming?”

  “Yes, except for Mr. Diaz. He’ll be heading to Mexico to try to jump the fence. If he’s successful, he stands a good chance of nabbing a job. They’ll probably move out if that happens. If he gets caught, he’ll go to prison. It’s a felony in Mexico; they’re very serious about protecting jobs for their own people. Then we’ll have to think about a more permanent solution.”

  “Solution to what, Mom?” Abby asked.

  Honey, anyone with a job is being removed from the welfare rolls. We can keep our housing stipend and our energy assistance, thank God. And the food stamps will help until they cut them out. My paycheck will not cover the rest of our expenses. Not with the co-pays for Abby’s dialysis. The Diaz family is losing their welfare check too.

  “But, Mom—why? Why is the check going to stop? Can we talk to the mailman? Is this the week that he comes, or is it next week?” Scotty’s voice faltered with fright.

  “Don’t worry, honey, everything will work out if we all pull together. The government is just finding it difficult to collect the money from the rich people. They can’t give it to us unless they collect it first. I know it’s not fair, the rich have so much compared to us. It’s not the government’s fault. The rich people are just getting better at hiding the money. We’ll learn to make due. That’s why the Diaz family is moving in.

  “All the boys will sleep together in your room, Scotty. The three of us will sleep together in Abby’s room. I’m going to move my bed in there. The Diaz family will have two rooms for six people. Most importantly, they’ll pay us rent. That’ll make up for most of the loss of the welfare.” Grinning, his mom tried to put a smile on her face but Scotty could see the struggle.

  “Mom, as long as we’re together, that’s all that matters,” Abby got up, putting her arms around her mother. “Hey, champ, since we’re going to be roomies, why don’t we do the dishes and give Mom a break?”

  Scotty understood that many changes loomed large in his life. As he cleared the table, he thought about Jose Diaz, the only one in the family he recognized. Jose, an older kid on his bus, didn’t speak English very well. He kept to himself, never horsing around with the other kids, although he nodded now and then as Scotty boarded the bus. Rumors said he grew up in another country.

  Helping his mother up from her chair, he glanced out the window, hoping the sun finished chasing away the rain. The thunderclouds covered most of the sun as it began its nightly disappearance below the horizon. Oh well, maybe tomorrow.

  ###

  Sunny skies greeted Scotty as he rose to get ready for school. Unexpectedly returning home after getting early dismissal when his teacher failed to show up, he changed into his old jeans and ran up the hill to find the path to the woods.

  The ground under his feet felt spongy from all the rain. Small puddles collected in layers of dead leaves, turning the clear water tannin. He took a deep breath, smelling organic matter rotting, a contribution to the cycle of life. He soon found himself approaching the path that led up to the rock. He crept slowly, not wanting to scare the fairy. Scotty’s eyes scanned the area, coming up empty. Struggling with the hand holds on the rock, he pulled himself up, grunting loudly in the silence. Well, he thought, I hope that didn’t scare the fairy away. Scaling the top of the rock, he discovered an empty surface.

  Dejectedly, he surveyed the surrounding area from his perch. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a plastic wrapped piece of birthday cake. A bit stale but he didn’t think the fairy would notice. Smoothing out the plastic wrap, he pushed the squashed cake toward the edge of the rock. No, he better put the cake closer to him. Standing, he eyeballed the position of the cake. Still not liking it, he stood to move it again, a bit more to the middle. Turning, he glanced at his seat and gasped, doing a double take. There was his fairy, sitting in the spot he just vacated.

  Thumping down hard on the rock, he stared at the fairy’s eyes. They made him dizzy with their pulsing golden rainbows leaving him speechless and mesmerized. Neither one moved.

  “Are you a fairy?” Scotty finally demanded an answer, getting no response. “The fairies in my fairy book don’t have tails. How come you do?” He felt pressure, his mind filling with a strange aura. He stared at the fairy, who just stared back.

  “I am an Oolahan.” Scotty heard the words whispered in his mind, the aura bright with color.

  “Did you say your name was Lula?” Scotty wondered why the creature, um Lula, did not move her mouth. He heard it speak quite clearly. The aura and colors formed mind words; weird.

  “Do I get a wish?”

  “What do you mean, young Brother?”

  “My wish; everyone gets a wish from a fairy.” Scotty grew agitated. If everyone got a wish from a fairy, he wanted to make sure he got his before he disappeared again.

  “Brother, I do not have a wish for you. I am here for a mission. I have chosen you. You will be the one.” Huh? The boy scratched his head. He stared at Lula.

  “I want to pet you, Lula.” Standing, Scotty walked toward his new friend. Walking past the cake, he bent down to pick it up to give to Lula. Being the clumsy little boy he was, he tripped. Caught off balance, he crashed down, head first, rolling near the edge. Dazed, he sat up, perilously close to the edge. Still maintaining a hold on his gift to Lula, he stepped back, falling straight over the edge, landing in a broken heap on the sharp pile of rocks at the base.

  ###

  The Oolahan scurried over to the edge and looked down. She saw blood, lots of blood. The boy’s head sat at an unnatural angle, but she could tell he still lived. Unbidden, her tail shot up in the air, directed down at the boy. The air filled with pressure and the smell of sulfur as her tail extruded its membrane to do its miraculous work.

  Unfortunately, the meeting failed to produce the results she hoped for. The unexpected disaster changed everything. Sighing, the creature spun her head in frustration, trying to contain her disappointment. Lamenting the frailty of human offspring, she realized her mission must wait. Even though the boy appeared a good choice, at the moment his youth disqualified him. She should measure her expectations carefully next time. Remembering the young of humans took twenty-two years for their brain to mature, her mistake shamed her.

  Life worked more efficiently for her species as all the young were born with their birth parents genetic memory. The fact that humans did not evolve this necessary trait is a severe handicap. She would love to know what the Elders thought they were accomplishing as they handicapped this life form. A simple adjustment to their enzymes during evolution could turn the trait on. She knew the Elders rarely made mistakes. Perhaps they did it deliberately. She promised herself to ask the Womb.

  Now, forced to rectify the situation the only way she knew, even though it might cause more problems, she must leave the boy alone. Sadly, she climbed down the rock, wobbling over to the boy. She watched his eyes flutter, bringing him back to consciousness. Hurrying, she reached out to grab the cake, still remarkably intact, clutching it tightly under his arm. She wobbled over to the cairn of rocks that marked the way to the Hive and disappeared.

  ###

  Scotty sat up slowly. What was he doing on the ground? He could feel the rough edges of the cold rocks digging into his tender skin. He picked himself up off the cold rocks and made his way back to the glen he usually played in. Looking around, confusion made him dizzy. Shaking it off, he stretched and yawned, freakishly feeling vigorous. Deciding to return home, he wondered if Abby was back from the doctors. She’s so tired of late and he needed to help move Mom’s stuff from her bedroom to ge
t ready for the Diaz family. Trudging back down the hill, he wondered what happened to the piece of birthday cake he took into the woods with him.

  ###

  Deep inside the cavern, the creature blinked her golden eyes, curled up in her chamber, golden tail wrapped protectively around her furry body as she contemplated the shrinking piece of cake in front of her. She did not take it to eat, not having that capability. Curiosity compelled her. It belonged to the human Brother. Maybe it would help with the sadness she felt, knowing he could have been the one. The only reason the Womb even allowed the healing was because she caused the incident. The humane solution called for the creature to let him die in the fall. Sadly, even though he now lives, the human will confront a troublesome road.

  She ached with the knowledge that the only thing she envisioned for herself was the unremitting loneliness of passing years. Reaching out with one of her long golden leathery fingers, she stroked the tiny piece of cake and closed her eyes.

  The End

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