Olly, Olly, Oxen Frey

by Paul Manchester

  “My father’s name is James?” Finn paused in his rowing.

  His mother smiled. “James. James the Stubborn! James the Thoughtful! But I called him –”

  Something very big rubbed along the bottom of the boat and a dark form moved out beyond them towards deeper water.

  Finn looked behind him towards their destination and put on a fresh burst of speed with the oars.

  “I think, we need to get to shore as quickly as possible.” said his mother – stating the obvious.

  The rocky shore was yet another twenty feet off.

  Finn pulled on the oars as fast as he could but it wasn’t going to be fast enough. Something long and very big was moving under the surface. It was headed straight for them!

  They were getting closer to the shore.

  Maybe they’d make it!

  Something slammed into the boat from below! The boat flipped high in the air and threw Finn, his mother, and his bag within reach of the shore.

  They scrambled onto the nearest flat stone. Soaking wet, Finn grabbed his bag and a floating oar while his mom crawled higher up onto the rocks behind him. He raised the oar to fight off whatever might be coming out of the water, and was surprised to see giant jaws close around the capsized metal boat, and drag it down to the depths.

  The monster was after the boat? Were there creatures that ate metal down here?

  So much for The Naughty-lush. He felt unaccountably sad for its loss. Like a little piece of his father had been pulled into the depths never to be seen again.

  Finn whirled around when he heard a cry of dismay from his mother.

  “The tunnel! It’s gone. It’s been covered over!”

  Instead of the tunnel opening she expected, there was an outcropping of giant irregular masonry – part of a vast series of steps that had been hidden by the mist. Each step was as high as his waist and a full four feet deep. The steps ascended as high as they could see. There was a huge rock city built into the cavern walls as the steps receded into the upper distances.

  A giant was descending those stairs.

  Chapter 26

  Wishes To Go

  The fuzzy-wiggles squeezed through the small hallways of the beetle-folk’s quarters. The tiny furniture was soon demolished by the parade of fuzzy-wiggles squirming through the corridors. But, those halls led to a broad balcony overlooking a wide chamber that flickered with blue light. It was not as big as Blood Hall but much more intriguing.

  The chamber was full of dark wishes! None of the fuzzy-wiggles had ever actually seen a dark wish before, but they instinctively knew exactly what they were. The blue light cast by the fluttering wishes shifted and mesmerized the fuzzy-wiggles. The dark wishes fluttered teasingly close to the little crowd on the balcony.

  “Those look delicious!” cried Randy ready to throw himself into the midst of the forbidden delights.

  “WAIT! My fuzzy-wigglesss!” shouted a wavering George. “I know thisss looksss and sssmells all very delectable, but we mussst retain sssome ssself control!”

  All fourteen fuzzy-wiggles ogled the bobbing morsels in front of them. None of them had ever tasted human blood or a dark wish before.

  “But it issn’t like eating the blood ourselvess,” countered Randy. “We would sstill retain our free will.”

  “Are you sssure though?” asked a dubious George.

  Burt was drooling. “My free will isss fading.”

  “George, they do look lovely.” Beatrice couldn’t take her eyes off of the fluttering blue lights.

  More dark wishes than any of them could count.

  They had heard of dark wishes, but there were few opportunities to drink human blood in the tunnels. It was a naughty desire they weren’t supposed to have. It was a tale told from one generation to the next – and like a bad Santa Claus or an evil Easter Bunny for humans, no fuzzy-wiggle expected to ever see a dark wish.

  But, here they were. Fluttering and flitting with their luscious blue light.

  The escaping fuzzy-wiggles had stumbled upon the Asphixia’s dark wish farm. The reason that the Blue Queen enslaved the beetle-folk was not merely for their small size and flexible morality. It was also for their complete inability to wish for anything. Beetle-folk were incapable of using her wishes. It wasn’t for a lack of imagination, but rather because they were content by their very nature. The concept of wishing was entirely foreign to them. So, Asphixia entrusted the care and feeding of her dark fuzzy-wiggles to the beetle-folk. They fed the children’s blood to her captive fuzzy-wiggles which made them agreeable to the Blue Queen’s whims.

  Every single one of the queen’s fuzzy-wiggles had metamorphosed into dark wishes over the last few days. This room contained her entire stock. For this very reason, the queen had decided to throw a big party for herself on the following evening.

  The winged temptations became too strong for the little band of fuzzy-wiggles to resist. Like a fraternity house facing a holiday with too much beer, or dogs accidentally left inside a butcher shop, it was chaos. It was a feeding frenzy.

  Randy ate the most. His appetite and voraciousness astounded the others. They’d never seen a fuzzy-wiggle spring to such heights before, snapping eagerly at every dark wish he passed on the way down.

  Fourteen fuzzy-wiggles dined very well that evening and not a single fluttering dark wish was left by the time they collapsed on the floor in a wish-full haze.

  George had enough presence of mind to herd his fuzzy wiggles into a small pantry where they could sleep off their wish binge. But, Randy (from the sheer quantity of wishes that he’d consumed) had grown too big to fit through the small door, so he collapsed in the middle of the dark wish chamber – fuzzy in all the wrong ways and too big to move.

  And so the bloated fur-less fleshy colored fuzzy-wiggle with red spots and black hairy bits, slept alone and vulnerable in the center of the cold stone floor.

  Chapter 27

  A Real Boy

  The screen door swung open with an unwelcome screetch, but Mrs. Saunders looked happy to see Millie. The girl stepped into the cluttered kitchen and gave Jack and Jenny’s mom a hug.

  “It’s so nice to see you Millie!” exclaimed Mrs. Saunders. “It’s been a crazy few days!”

  Millie fidgeted a bit. She’d never come visiting an adult on her own before. “Mom’s down in Tacoma visiting Bryton and Grandma Wilde. She’s been sick. Today seemed a good day for a bike ride. I thought I’d pop by. Jack or Jenny around?”

  “You just missed them! They went off with Finn just thirty minutes ago.”

  Millie already knew this. Not-Finn had mentioned that he was meeting up with them. Not-Finn hadn’t said where they were going. Millie wanted to talk with Mrs. Sanders while Not-Jack and Not-Jenny were out. She didn’t exactly have a plan. She just wanted to know if Jack and Jenny’s mom noticed anything different about her kids.

  “Can I offer you a cup of tea, Millie?”

  “Sure!” Millie responded with a smile. It boosted her confidence to be treated like a real adult. Maybe this visit would be easier than she thought.

  Mrs. Saunders checked the electric kettle for water, and flipped it on. “I haven’t heard Jack or Jenny mention you since they got home from the hospital. You haven’t fallen out have you?”

  “Oh no, Mrs. Saunders. I don’t have any classes with Jack. But Finn and I have some classes together. We talk.”

  “You always did have an eye for Finn, if you don’t mind my noticing.” Jack’s mom said with a sly smile at her while she excavated some store-bought cookies out of a cabinet and placed them on a plate.

  Millie blushed deeply.

  Mrs Saunders hesitated as she pulled out a cannister of tea. “I wish I could say differently, but I think you might be hunting in the wrong forest when it comes to Finn. I wish he didn’t spend so much time with Jack.�
� She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Not sure if he’s a good influence.”

  Millie felt a little speechless at that.

  “Oh, don’t be shocked. It’s nothing you don’t know, I suppose. Finn’s mother and I have talked and prayed about this more times than I can count. Hoping for the best. And I’m starting to wonder if maybe my prayers have been answered... at least with Jack. Since he’s been home from the hospital, you know, he’s not quite the same boy. Not so – ” She searched for the right word, “sensitive?”

  Millie wasn’t quite sure what to say.

  “Herbal all right? I’ve got Twisted Berry and Exquisite Orange... where do they get these names...”

  “Exquisite Orange is good.” Millie mumbled – not feeling like an adult at all.

  She grabbed two mugs hanging above the sideboard, dropped in a couple tea bags and poured the hot water.

  Millie realized that she didn’t like adult conversations any more. This wasn’t going at all how she had expected. She wanted to leave, but instead she stirred her tea.

  Mrs. Saunders registered Millie’s silence. “Don’t get me wrong, I’ll love Jack however he turns out to be, but it does seem nice to see him turn over a new leaf. I was losing hope.” Mrs. Saunders added. “But now, he isn’t writing fairy tales with Finn anymore. That always seemed odd to me. Now he’s playing those shoot-em up video games online like the rest of the boys his age - not that I like those sorts of games - but it is a bit more normal, and I don’t know, he doesn’t always look at me like he might have a deep uncomfortable conversation. I was always a bit afraid of what he might say. Silly me I suppose... a mother worrying about what her son might say.”

  Millie herself wasn’t sure what to say. “Jack has always been really nice.”

  Mrs. Saunders took a sip of her tea. “Yes. He’s absolutely a nice boy. We are very proud of him. But I always did have to practically drag him to church. But now, he’s growing up. He even went to bible study on Tuesday night without me forcing him. He likes to talk with Pastor Steve. Well, it all makes me hopeful.”

  Millie finished her cookies and her tea, and offered a non-committal nod.

  Mrs. Saunders gave her a conspiratorial grin. “Maybe you should be turning your eyes toward Jack? You might have better luck?”

  Definitely TMI. She tried to smile naturally. Millie put down her cup. “I need to go Mrs. Saunders. Homework. Thanks for the tea.”

  “I’m sorry Millie. Don’t mind me. I’m sure that if you waited a bit longer you’ll see them. I bet Jenny would love to see you.”

  “Would she? How is she doing by the way. I haven’t seen her much since...” Millie rinsed out her cup.

  “Oh, Jenny? Well... kids do have their moods as they get older and I think she is getting to a sullen phase. It isn’t very attractive but I suppose she’ll grow out of it. I’d appreciate it if you’d spend some time with her. She has always looked up to you.”

  Millie paused and stared at some crumbling plaster near the kitchen window. She placed her cup on the sideboard and moved towards the door. “Oh, I’ll see her before long. I was just riding by and took a chance.”

  Mrs. Saunders sat at the kitchen table lost in thought. “Jenny lost her pirate hat during all that awfulness too. I do miss that silly hat. That’s ridiculous of me, I know. She’s lost some of her sense of humor... just growing up I suppose.”

  “I suppose.” Millie shrugged and pushed open the screen door. “Thanks again for the tea, Mrs. Saunders.”

  As she stepped down into the yard, she could see the Not-kids walking down the driveway from the road. Not-Jenny was in the lead and the boys were following behind.

  Not-Jenny’s eyes darkened when she saw Millie. “What are you doing here!”

  Millie felt suddenly exposed. “I stopped by to say hello. I had tea with your mom.” She felt herself blushing, but wasn’t sure why.

  Not-Jenny made a smiley-face. “Well, hello then,” She shrugged. “And, bye, bye now.” Not-Jenny shoved past Millie and stamped up the stairs. The screen door banged shut behind her.

  Inside the house Millie could hear Mrs. Saunders’ voice, “That didn’t sound very nice, Jenny.”

  “I don’t feel like being nice.”

  Millie could hear another door slam inside the house. Mrs. Saunders apparently followed after, and soon came the sounds of an argument.

  Millie didn’t want to eavesdrop and moved towards the boys.

  “This Millie girl knows, doesn’t she?” said Not-Jack’s voice not caring if Millie could hear him.

  Millie stopped in her tracks.

  Not-Finn smiled at her. “She’s all right. You don’t need to worry about Millie.”

  “Who are you?” Millie asked. “Where are the real Finn, Jack, and Jenny?”

  Not-Jack didn’t look her in the eye. His eyes looked lower and he smiled. She gasped and whacked him.

  Not-Finn shoved him away and responded quietly with an eye to the screen door behind her. “We really don’t know. We’re trying to figure out who we are.”

  Millie glared at Not-Jack as she responded, “I don’t understand.”

  “Neither do we,” shrugged Not-Finn.

  “But, we have clues.” added Not-Jack, rubbing his shoulder where she had punched him.“The three of us are trying to pool what we know, but the little creep keeps losing her temper.”

  “Your speech is sounding more like them. Are you sure you aren’t them? Maybe you were brain-washed or something?”

  Not-Jack laughed. “They didn’t do a good job washing my brain, it’s still dirty!”

  Not-Finn whacked him. “We’re not them,” he said quietly. “We’re trying to figure it out. They might be coming back... but we don’t know. It’s... complicated.”

  Millie didn’t know what to think.

  “Okay.” Millie felt oddly flustered. “Do you need some help?”

  “Sure,” answered Not-Jack suddenly.

  “How can I help?” Millie believed in being helpful.

  “We want to become real boys.” Not-Jack said with a funny smile.

  * * * *

  Not-Jenny sat up in her bedroom steaming with anger. She’d slammed her bedroom door in her mom’s face and shoved a chair under the knob.

  “Honey? Open this door right now!” came the muffled voice of the annoying lady in the hall.

  “Go away!” the little girl screamed.

  Not-Jenny kicked her shoes off across the room and they knocked over a stupid pirate lamp. It was so unfair! She didn’t know how she knew, but she did know that when the real Jenny came back, Not-Jenny would disappear. All three of them knew this. It was sort of hard-wired into whatever they were.

  She kicked and clawed at her bed in tears till she was too tired to hit it again. It just wasn’t fair!

  Coming back to herself she was surprised to find that her sheets and blankets were entirely shredded. She whirled around and looked at herself in the mirror.

  Not-Jenny didn’t look like Jenny when she was angry. She got a lot bigger and a lot scarier looking. A lot bigger.

  “Jenny Saunders! You come right out of that bedroom this instant!” came the voice of the annoying lady.

  Not-Jenny marveled at the size of her claws. She liked the feeling of power they gave her.

  She heard a mother’s sigh and footsteps receding.

  She smiled as her anger dissipated and she shrunk down to her seven year old self.

  Chapter 28

  Dark Appetites

  The notion of personally eating dark wishes had never occurred to the Blue Queen. Asphixia had been a notoriously picky eater since she was just out of the egg. She was not remotely adventuresome when it came to trying new foods.

  But now that she knew a human boy had eaten a large wish and suffered no ill effects, she was
thoroughly intrigued. To have the magic running through one’s veins sounded particularly thrilling.

  Asphixia had no intrinsic magic of her own. She had been clever enough to acquire the virus which caused all the mermaids to devolve into progressively weaker semblances of their species. And she had been clever enough to take over the rule of law during the confusion that resulted from the mermaids’ sudden absence. There is power in ruthlessness. Most people are too nice. Most people don’t want to make a fuss and are thoroughly flustered by bold tactics. The best way to get what you want, is to simply take it. Of course it helps if you are quite a bit larger.

  Asphixia reflected on this delicious new possibility.

  “But how should I do it? Does one eat dark wishes raw? Or with a family of roasted rabbits?”

  There were so many choices.

  The Blue Queen traveled quickly downstairs to her dark wish farm. There were hundreds of dark wishes that were waiting for her to taste.

  The dark wish chamber was insulated from the hall with two sets of doors separated by an antechamber which prevented wishes from fluttering out into the main corridor. Asphixia swung open the inner door and stopped cold.

  The Blue Queen screamed.

  The room was empty! All of her dark wishes were gone! She was furious! How? HOW!

  It was then that she noticed the small, bloated worm curled up in the center of the floor. She nearly stamped on it out of sheer vexation, but hesitated at the last minute. These were the creatures that wishes came from. Maybe, there was a path forward after all.

  The Blue Queen decided it was time to speak with Mordette. The Wish Monger was the expert on these things. She slipped the small sleeping worm into her pocket.

  * * * *

  The Blue Queen did not have a very good sense of smell. If she did, she would have smelled the dark figure who was watching from the hallway.

  Rip-One the gaseous accountant had decided to interrogate the prisoner in her boudoir and having tracked the events from the last day or two, Rip-One seemed to be the only one to discover that the golden boy was missing. He was going to catch him and find out what had happened to the other two. He would prove that he deserved to be in the gang. Actually, he deserved to be the leader of the gang.