She slept in her house, a camper she had plopped down on ten acres of land she had bought on the outskirts of Craven. Cedar trees protected the north side of her home from the wind that blew so harshly. Inside Regina was warm, Mama Colbert was safe. The nurses at Craven Memorial Hospital proclaimed it problems with her blood sugar. She had left Mama Colbert's oldest daughter, down from Tulsa, in charge of her mother. Gwendolyn Farmer, Regina thought while drifting off to sleep, was undoubtedly tucked into a twin bed at her grandmother's home.
So she slept, drifting in to the warmth of a Florida sunset.
She watched from the table as a lizard scurried across the kitchen floor.
She consumed two of the oatmeal cookies her mother had given her, folding the third up in a napkin and tucking it into the pocket of her pajamas.
She hadn't even heard her father come into the kitchen
"What are you doing with that cookie, Regina?" He looked stern, Regina was alarmed.
"The boy likes cookies, Daddy. He likes all kind of sweets. Sometimes, I save him a treat. It's nice to share, isn't it?"
"There is no boy, Regina."
She knew she had to choose her words carefully. She knew her father had never seen the boy. Until now, she was glad to keep him unseen by her parents and older brother. It made her feel privileged, special. Now she was wondering if what she had done was wise. Despite previously being charmed by her stories of the exploits she and the boy had shared, her father was no longer pleased.
"Regina, there is no boy."
Her stomach lurched uncomfortably. Could he want her to say it too? Tears stung her eyes. Denying the boy was a betrayal, there was no doubt about it in Regina's mind.
"There is no boy. You will be starting school in a month. No more make believe. There is no boy." he was scowling, eyebrows knit together behind his glasses. "I want to hear you say it. Right now."
Her father was so tall, so strong. He squared his shoulders, making himself appear huge. She pulled in shallow breaths, fighting the fear that was tightening across her chest. Her rosebud mouth opened and closed. Her blue eyes were wide and wet, but she knew what she had to do.
"There is no boy, Daddy."
In her sleep, Regina struggled for air. Stars exploded across her eyes. As she clawed her way back to consciousness, she came to a realization.
Someone was sitting on her chest.
Sitting up quickly, the room swam. The boy landed on the floor with a very solid thud. He hadn't dropped the piecrust he had been eating.
"You got taller, didn't you?" his face was grubby, dirt streaked across his bare chest. He gobbled down the remainder of the crust and stood up. His pants were shaggy and fell just below his knees. His feet were bare.
"Those are new, aren't they?" She was looking at the tiny nubs of horn sticking out of his forehead.
The boy who was rifling through the items on her dresser, stopped. He struck a pose in front of the mirror, grinned and winked at Regina.
"Yeah. Manly, huh? You grew those I see." He pointed to her chest. He unwrapped a peppermint he'd spotted and popped it into him mouth.
"I did. Couldn't be helped, I suppose. You don't seem to have aged much, Boy." It was true, the boy was older than Regina the last time she had seen him when she was five. Now he looked less than fourteen.
"No, we don't age as fast as your kind, Regina. That's why we don't often hold on to our friendships with you folk. It hurts the heart, getting attached to a human. If you want though, I can be older. I thought such glamour was probably not needed between you and me."
He finished the peppermint and went into the kitchen. Regina followed. He was opening cabinets.
Regina, anticipating what he was looking for pulled a box of cupcakes out of the breadbox and handed them to him.
"Tell me it's not needed, please Reg? Tell me you didn't mean what you said to your dad. I know you didn't mean it. You always saved me dessert. You would pitch it out in the trees, but I didn't mind." His eyes were the color of swamp water.
She smiled.
"Not needed"
The boy grinned, teeth covered with cupcake.
"I knew you were different. I knew you were worth it. I knew the minute I found you sitting there in that sandbox. Remember, Reg? Remember?"
She flopped down on her sofa, her t shirt falling past her hips. With all her might she thought, but couldn't remember her life before the boy. She stretched out on the sofa and closed her eyes
"Tell me?" The boy had stories, Regina remembered. Stories like none other.
"You were so small. Tiny. Not like now." The boy walked over to where Regina reclined and sat by her feet. "You were at a picnic with your parents. Some other big folks were there. It wasn't the place you lived, it was another place. Maybe it belonged to the other big folks."
"There was a dog, a bitsy, yappy thing. Try as I might, I couldn't get it to stop yapping. It saw me so it just wouldn't stop. Glamour doesn't work well on dogs. Well there was this stream. Not very deep, but I was on the other side. I was watching you. You were in that sandbox, singing songs to yourself while the big ones smoked and drank and ignored you. But you were just as happy as you could be, building your castles in the sand."
The boy stopped for a minute and pulled a blanket down from the back of the sofa.
"What then, Boy?"
"Well the dog came down by the stream, barking like none other, and I'd had enough. I caused an alligator to come and snap him up. Lickety split, no more yappy little dog. Of course, the big ones were upset, but you weren't, Reg. You looked thrilled. Pleased. I decided to show myself to you right then. Know what happened when I did? You grinned even wider. Imagine, a human toddler. There seemed to be no fear in you, Regina Woodward."
The boy stopped and listened. Regina's was snoring softly. Gingerly, he spread the blanket out and covered her legs.
He lifted her shirt and nursed until her milk came in.
Comments (3)
Very interesting.
I was a bit surprised by the end.
very nicely written. A good feel of the environment setting this up...