Olly, Olly, Oxen Frey

by Paul Manchester

  Chapter 19

  Changeling

  Suspicions

  Millie didn’t understand what was wrong with Finn, Jack, and Jenny since they came back from the hospital. They were... different. The white hair could be attributed to whatever sent them to the hospital. But that didn’t explain how they could become entirely different people.

  Millie followed Finn into the library on the boys’ first day back at school. She sat across from him at a study table. Finn completely ignored her.

  “Finn!” she whispered in a library voice. “How are you?”

  “Hmm.” grunted Finn, half looked up from his smart phone. He seemed to be reading Wikipedia.

  Millie decided on another tack. She pulled out her smart phone and texted him.

  MILLIE: Finn? What’s wrong? Why aren’t you talking to me?

  There was a moment of hesitation where Finn read her message and looked up in surprise like he was seeing her in a new light. His fingers started to type.

  FINN: Hi Millie. I wasn’t sure how well I knew you. Finn is fine. LOL. Fine Finn. I am fine.

  MILLIE: Why aren’t you talking to me?

  FINN: We are in the Library.

  Finn pointed to the sign “Quiet Zone - No Talking Area”

  MILLIE: Okay... Not something that used to bug you.

  FINN: Really? That’s interesting. Thanks. You are pretty.

  Finn gave her a smile.

  MILLIE: You don’t seem like yourself anymore.

  Finn raised his eyebrows.

  FINN: Maybe I am not. Not Finn. Not-Finn. I like that.

  Millie gave him a quizzical look when he looked up at her.

  FINN: But do not tell Not-Jenny. HA! She might kill you.

  MILLIE: LOL What?

  FINN: I think she went bad. Spoiled a bit. She is not as nice as I am.

  Finn gave her a dazzling smile. But, it wasn’t Finn’s smile.

  Chapter 20

  Fuzzy-Wiggles

  Uncaged

  When Jack had wished for all the locks in the room to unlock, he didn’t realize that George and the rest of the fuzzy-wiggles were in the stacked cages on the other side of Blood Hall.

  George and Burt watched the giant Blue Queen take a terrified Jack by the hand and lead him off into the corridor. Jack was slightly taller than the queen’s knees – which made him look like a young child.

  “Well, that’s the lasst we’ll be sseeing of him, I ssupposse,” remarked George.

  “Pity,” sighed Burt.

  “But, it wasss nice of him to unlock our cagess before he left.” observed George.

  “Oh, yesss, indeed! It wasss.” agreed Burt.

  “I won’t misss those pesssky little beatle-men.” came Beatrice’s voice from below them.

  “All of ‘em disssentegrated! Jusst like that!” gasped Cynthia.

  George reached round the bars and opened the latch on the cage door. “All right folksss! We sshould be getting a move on here. No knowing when sssomething nasty might return.”

  There was a bit of a racket as all the fuzzy-wiggles opened their cages and climbed down the rather rickety structures to the stone floor. The noise was only increased with Burt’s shouts to be quiet. Six arms plus varied protuberances were handy when doing extensive climbing. It was one of the qualities that made fuzzy-wiggles a superior species, George thought with pride.

  There were fourteen fuzzy-wiggles in all.

  “Oooh, it isss a bit cold-ish in here.” commented pink skinned Randy who lacked the fur of the others. “Burt, would you sssnuggle clossser to warm me up a bit?”

  “Pleeassse Randy. Not! Now!” hissed George, who went on to whisper, “Well, my noble fuzziesss! I propossse we try to essscape through that network of sstaircasesss on that far wall.” He pointed to one of the larger arches in the Beetle-folk architecture.

  “Ass opposssed to the hallway that leadsss to the Blue Queen.” observed Beatrice.

  “Uh, yesss.” confirmed George.

  “Oh, I second that! I second that!” shouted Burt who was then interrupted by Lance who wanted to second it also. Which turned into a clamor when all the fuzzies competed to second George’s excellent idea.

  “Quiet down my noble fuzziesss!” George attempted to bring order. “You can all sssecond it! You don’t have to fight about it.”

  “But, how would that work? We can’t all be sssecond.” asked Randy.

  “Yes, sssomeone would be a third or a fourth – or dare I ssssay it - a thirteenth!” proposed Cynthia.

  Right then there was a serious bit of grumbling – as no one wished to be the thirteenth. THAT would be entirely unacceptable!

  “AHH, BUT! We could all be in agreement as ONE!” suggested Beatrice.

  There was a quiet cheer of approval. Being ONE was preferable to even being second.

  So with a fresh burst of unity, the party of fuzzy-wiggles waddled as quickly as they could possibly waddle to the little staircases, after which they successfully wiggled their way into the quarters of the beatle-folk – who now only seemed to be dusty bits of memory on the floor of Blood Hall.

  Chapter 21

  Long Last

  Weirdness

  I think I’m your mother,” said the wrinkled little sea chimp with the boobs.

  Finn was definitely not looking at his mom’s boobs. His alleged mom’s boobs. “No-no-no-no-no –” Finn muttered like a mantra while staring at the ground. “This is not how I thought I’d meet my long lost mom. No.”

  “You’re older than I expected. You are Finn? Aren’t you? You had the key –”

  Finn cringed. This was a nightmare.

  Finn hesitantly nodded in the affirmative without meeting her eyes.

  He began taking slow measured breaths so he wouldn’t hyperventilate. He’d never been so uncomfortable in his life.

  “How old are you?” she queried. She looked apprehensively at the tall, slender boy with blond hair.

  “Fifteen.” he said, still looking at the tile floor.

  “Fifteen! Dear me... well.... my name is Meryth. Meryth of mer’Rinn – but I think you can call me Mom.”

  Finn was not sure what to say to that.

  “So much time has passed!” She was quiet a moment. “My dear Finn. This isn’t how I wanted this to happen either. Where’s your father? You have his satchel.” She sighed. “I’m sorry. I know this has to be a lot to take in.” She paused. “Finn? Is there something the matter? Oh, my dearest boy... why won’t you look at me?”

  Finn was very uncomfortable and fumbled for words while keeping his green eyes on the ground.

  “Oh my dear Finn. Won’t you forgive me? I didn’t want to abandon you...” his mother pleaded.

  Finn squirmed. “I’m kind of uncomfortable. Your, uh, Boobs –”

  “Boobs... What? My... breasts? What do they have to do with –”

  “Oh! Yes! My bag!” Finn suddenly remembered. “I’ve an extra t-shirt in there!” Finn began scouring the contents of his bag.

  His mother was at a loss for words. “I’m not sure what –”

  “So you’ve got something to cover up with!” Finn held out a blue t-shirt while looking the other way.

  “This is about... what... my breasts? I really don’t understand.” His mother asked incredulously.

  Finn took a deep breath. He couldn’t believe that he had to explain this. “I shouldn’t be seeing my mother’s boo–” he stopped. “Breasts. You’re my MOM!”

  There was a beat of awkward silence.

  “What type of twisted world were you brought up in? Are you saying that they are always covered up where you were raised?”

  “Well, yeah. No. There’s actually lots of um, them – on TV, in magazines... just not MOM breasts!”
<
br />   There was silence.

  Finn found the silence excruciating.

  His mother felt speechless. “I’m not even sure what to say here. I’m not going to cover up! You’ll just have to get used to it!”

  Finn opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He inspected the marble pattern on the far wall.

  His mother continued, “Granted, I don’t look like I normally do.” Her eyes took on a watery cast. “I’ve always been proud of my beauty – and my breasts,” she added rather defiantly.

  Finn couldn’t imagine having this same conversation with his religious foster-mother. He appreciated his foster-mother in a way he’d never considered before.

  “But, you did see my breasts... before... before –” she asked hesitantly.

  “Well, yes – and no – ” Finn lied. Of course he saw her breasts. They were hard to miss. But he wasn’t going to admit that he was looking at his mom’s! “I was looking at a MERMAID for the first time! YES! You’re beautiful! You’re probably more beautiful than anyone or anything I’ve ever seen in my entire life!” he sighed. “But, I didn’t really notice your um... breasts. Uh, they were there, but didn’t really see ‘em. Like to really look at. Maybe it was all that hair? Your hair looked great underwater!”

  More awkward silence. Would she think it was weird that he noticed her hair but not her breasts?

  “Okay.” She took a breath and rolled her eyes. “Moving on, tell me what’s going on now in Frey. Something must have gone wrong. I’ve no idea what’s happened since you hatched and your dad put me in here.”

  “Hatched?” Finn exploded.

  “Of course. From your egg,” she laughed. “How else do you think you were born?”

  “Uh... okay... let’s skip that part for now... my father? I have a father?”

  His mother looked at him with some concern.

  Finn continued. “Scratch that! That’s stupid. Yes, of course I have a father. But who is he? Is he a mermaid... or a merman or whatever like you?”

  “Well, your father can’t be a merman or you’d have a tail!” She laughed and it was one of the most musical yet most annoying sounds he’d ever heard. “Your father is human. He’s from your world... I’d hoped he’d be here with you,” she said wistfully looking about.

  Finn was stunned. But, who was he? What had happened to his father?

  His mother continued. “I couldn’t keep track of the egg of course. With all the merfolk getting turned into THIS...” She gestured to herself with disgust. “Your father and I used water magic to create this tube to keep the disease from progressing, and I sent your father to the Southern Islands to look for the cure! Something clearly went wrong.”

  Finn was lost. “Okay...”

  “I’m sorry. I know this is confusing for you. I asked your father to hide you till it was safe. Horrible things were happening in Frey. Mermen have an egg pouch in their tummy to keep an egg safe till it hatches. But your father was sadly deficient. So we waited till you hatched. Your species is awfully confusing. I can’t imagine how you hatch eggs if your men don’t have pouches!”

  She suddenly looked at Finn with curiousity. “You’re half human and half merman – do you have a pouch?”

  “Wha–? Eh no! No pouches!” blurted Finn, immediately feeling his gut for the appearance of a pouch. “Not... that I’ve noticed.” He couldn’t help but remember the green scales that had been appearing on his hip for the last few months. Great! A new thing to worry about.

  “Pity.” His mother gave him a sympathetic look. “But, don’t worry, you might develop one yet,” she offered encouragingly.

  “Great,” Finn mumbled.

  The little sea chimp with the boobs moved on. “We can talk about your father later. First, what’s going on in Frey without the mermaids?”

  “I’ve never heard of a place called Frey,” Finn shrugged.

  “We’re under Frey. Your father built the crystal tube deep beneath our sea-cottage on the Bay of mer’Rin.”

  It was getting too complicated. Magic. Mermaids. BOOBS! Finn groaned.

  “All I know, is that Jack and I fell through a wall, and we’ve been trying to find his little sister who got pulled through before us. We’ve been wandering these tunnels and we can’t find his sister! And now Jack’s missing! And I can only find a trail of disgusting red goo that leads to a crack that I can’t get into - and maybe Jack’s dead, but he can’t be dead!” All of Finn’s feelings poured out in a rush. “And now you and your boobs are here and I don’t know how I feel about that! And I have to find Jack! That’s all I can think about right now. I have to find Jack!”

  Finn felt more like that puddle of red goo up top than a fifteen year old boy. Mer-boy. Whatever he was.

  His mother’s voice brought him back from total panic. “If I get back to my original form, I might be able to help you find your friend... Jack? We need to get up to Frey. Red goo sounds like the Redduns. They are servants of the upstart queen who I suspect was involved with what happened to my people. Your father and I were in hiding after she assumed control.” His mom’s webbed feet slapped on the wet tile as she moved to the front of the chamber dragging her thick polliwog tail behind her. “If the Redduns took your friend, and if she still commands from the northern hills, Jack will be at the old castle that she commandeered. Perhaps they have his sister as well.”

  “How do we get up to the surface, and this castle?” asked Finn.

  “Across the lake is a tunnel to the surface.” said the small amphibious creature with the boobs (that Finn wasn’t looking at). “Your father used to have a boat stored below.”

  She stopped and gave him a sideways glance.

  “Do you have something to eat? You wouldn’t believe how hungry someone can get over fifteen years.”

  He looked in his bag. He had one more tuna sandwich. He sighed. He handed it over to her.

  She gave half of it back. “We’ll split it! I love tuna sandwiches! Your dad used to make them. I lived near Seattle... in a cabin for a bit. That’s where I met your father.”

  She could see his interest perk up.

  She laughed again.

  Finn wondered how mermaid laughter could be so inhumanly beautiful and incredibly irritating at the same time. Or maybe that was a mom thing?

  Chapter 22

  In The Blue

  Boudoir

  The Queen’s boudoir was blue. Blue as the ice where man has never tread. Blue as the veins in those hospital charts. Blue as death in those horror movies that use too many filters. There was altogether too much blue in the room as far as Jack was concerned.

  Jack was sitting in a large blue enameled bird cage hanging from an ornately crafted stand in the corner. Fortunately there was no bird in the cage with him, as he was convinced that it must have been a very large meat-eating bird. He carefully nudged aside the scattered bones which littered the bottom of the cage. Even so, the fabric of his diaper was not much of a barrier between his butt and the cold dirty floor of the cage.

  It was colder in the Blue Queen’s boudoir than it was in the hall where the bleeding was done. There was a sort of feeder hooked into the cage bars that appeared to have once functioned as a toilet for prisoners in the past. Jack sat on the other side of the cage due to the smell. Nasty. Maybe the Queen didn’t have much sense of smell. He shivered, pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs to stay warmer.

  When the queen had stepped through a grand arch to what seemed to be her bed chamber, Jack had taken a quick peek into his diaper to confirm that he still had the one wish left. Yup. It was glowing with a golden light. He knew that he’d have to be smart about spending it.

  He was crazy hungry at this point. He hadn’t eaten anything since the PBJ with Finn in the tunnels. That was like... a day ago?

  * * * *

&nbs
p; On the previous evening when the Blue Queen had first discovered him, Jack didn’t know why he hadn’t run. He hadn’t even thought about running. He’d read about snakes hypnotizing their victims. Or maybe that was just a Disney movie he’d seen. He’d always thought that would be pretty stupid. But, he just froze up – like a rabbit. Like she might not see him if he stayed perfectly still. But, nope. She’d looked down at him... and she’d smiled.

  The Blue Queen was horribly frightening, but not in the way that Jack had expected. He had seen his share of horror films. But it wasn’t like that at all. The Queen was a giant, blue scaled humanoid.

  Freaky.

  Check.

  Jack’s height stood slightly above her knee. Below which, her legs bent backwards like a dinosaur’s leg would bend. She wore diaphanous robes that flowed about her, and the tail extended behind her – again, much like a T-Rex.

  Also freaky.

  Double check.

  But oddly, none of these things were what made her so frightening.

  Above the narrow waist, she was like a woman. Her arms were long and slender with three clawed fingers on each hand. Her face was humanoid and narrow, with the lower jaw projecting further forward and her brow slanted back to meet thick fungal-shaped curls – which expanded into tiers of teal growths that curved up and over her head. Her chin projected out into a thin horn, and delicate horns curved out from her eyebrows, ears and cheekbones.

  Again, super freaky.

  Triple check.

  But as weird as all those things were, none of these aspects pushed the freaky experience over the edge.

  It was her excruciatingly good manners. Bad people weren’t supposed to be so polite – were they? He wasn’t sure what to make of how nice she was.

  She was downright friendly.

  “Well, that was impressive,” she had said sweetly. “Annoying of course. But... impressive.”

  Jack had felt terrified. There was a disconnect between her words and something behind her twitching reptilian pupils.