Sleepless Nights

by Pierre C. Arseneault

  Doctor Melanson stood with her arms clasped together in front of her as she spoke.

  “I really can’t get him to open up at all. He has all the signs of Autism but I can’t explain why he didn’t have them until last year. That is the part that confuses me the most.”

  Linus spoke to Evee but was looking at his wife watching her facial expressions “He’s withdrawn from everything and stopped talking completely but oddly enough at the same time he is very independent. He dresses himself, feeds himself and is excelling in his school work. I mean he never has to bring home homework. I used to think he wasn’t bringing it but Raylene told us it’s because he always does it while at school.”

  Meanwhile the boy climbed into the small space between the front bucket seats and sat in the driver’s seat. He reached under some Butler Construction businesses cards and into the ash tray, which had never once been used for its original purpose. He began plucking out pennies, ignoring all other change they had recently acquired while purchasing coffee. Sixteen pennies in total. The boy looked at the palm of his hand, which contained all these pennies as if he had a fortune. He smiled as he examined the pennies in a daze when his father opened the door startling the boy. He clenched his hand into a tight fist as he climbed between the seats and threw himself into the back. Quickly he stuffed the pennies into his pocket before seating himself into his booster seat and buckling himself in. He ran his right hand over the coins that formed a lump on his thigh and smiled contently.

  “Who wants ice cream?” asked their mother.

  “I do, I do,” replied Jeffrey who was already buckled in. He had done so while Devin had busied himself collecting the pennies. Devin just smiled and nodded an enthusiastic yes as he strapped himself in also.

  “Last week of school next week then it’s off for the summer, huh boys,” Linus stated as he buckled himself into the driver’s seat.

  As he put the key in the ignition he looked at his sons in the rear-view mirror. For a brief moment he could have sworn he saw Devin open his mouth as if he was about to speak. But he stopped as suddenly as he had begun and just stared out the window. What Linus couldn’t see was Devin’s hand resting on the pennies in his pocket. The father glanced at his wife and saw that she had not noticed this and felt it better than she not know.

  “Ice cream it is then,” he said as he started the SUV listening to everybody cheer. Everybody was vocalizing their happiness except little Devin. He simply smiled looking at them all briefly and then turning his gaze outside again as if removing himself from this very moment in time.

  6

  As the vehicle pulled up to the house, a lazy Muffet lifted his head from the cool grass where he lay in the shade of a maple tree. He shifted his ears about as if analyzing all the new sounds that he was hearing. Recognizing the familiar sound of the family chariot, he lay his head down again as if going back to sleep.

  “He must have been running around chasing birds again,” said Linus gesturing with a crook of his head as he walked to the back of the Ford Escape. Meeting his wife at the back Linus pressed the keyless remote and popped open the back hatch. He smiled at his wife while she looked at the boys as they gathered their comic books and candy before bolting towards the house. She turned to find a man with love in his eyes as he watched his wife, the same woman he had fallen for years ago and was still madly in love with.

  “What?” she asked, finally noticing him staring at her.

  Her husband simply leaned in and gently kissed her on the lips. He didn’t say anything and didn’t have to as a tear welled up in her eye as he turned and opened the hatch fully. She felt the love he had for her in moments like this and wondered how she was so lucky to have found such a caring man.

  “I got it,” she said, grabbing the last of the shopping bags.

  As he watched her push the hatch shut he replied. “Don’t you just love these old-fashioned paper bags Ernie Woodman uses?” Linus was referring to the oldfangled grocery store that was still old-fashioned because he was too cheap to renovate.

  When both parents entered the house and were setting the bags down in the kitchen, they could hear the footsteps upstairs as the boys were already in their rooms.

  7

  “What did you get?” asked Jeffrey as he stood in the doorway of Devin’s room holding his copies of the latest Spider Man, Iron Man and Superman.

  Devin sat on the edge of his bed smiling as he pulled his comics from the bag laying them on the quilted duvet his mother had hand made while she was pregnant with him. He held one in his hands as his eyes scanned the cover art in vivid detail for a moment before turning to show his brother.

  “Walking Dead comics? Mom let you buy those?” Jeffrey said.

  Devin nodded as he turned the comic over again to admire the cover pic of a zombie biting a man’s arm as he struggled with the undead creature.

  Truthfully, Devin had put a Spider Man comic on top of the pile so she had not noticed the rest of his books as the cashier rang them in. The young boy flipped the book open and began to read it intensely as his brother went to his room to do the same.

  A short while later while lying on his back, little Devin sat up quickly turning his attention to the window looking outside. Dreamily he put his comic book on the bed as he pulled himself to the edge and got off, walking slowly towards the window. Standing transfixed his hand slowly felt the lump of pennies that were in his pocket. Quickly, a barefoot Devin ran from his room, down the stairs barely touching them and went out the front door. He ran around the house and towards the back yard quickly being joined by his faithful friend Muffet both disappearing into the living wall of green that separated their home from the forest.

  8

  The smell of Shepard’s pie filled the house as the little family sat at the dinner table.

  “What’s bothering you, Jeffery?” asked a concerned Geraldine as she watched her oldest son picking at his plate. This was odd behaviour considering this was his absolute favourite thing his mother made. The only other thing that came close to beating this was Skipper Jack’s Pizza on Second Avenue.

  “Devin… the kids at school were making fun of him again.”

  “It’s not your fault,” said Linus as he put his glass of milk down.

  “It makes me mad. They threw money on the floor near the lockers and made fun of him while he picked it up,” said Jeffery as he sat back, his head down clearly upset.

  “Its ok son, look at him. He’s happy and this stuff never bothers him,” his mother said trying to make Jeffery feel better while looking at Devin. He sat at the table mashing his supper up with a large spoon putting a huge gob into his small mouth and chewing happily.

  “Last day of school tomorrow,” added Linus in an attempt to cheer everybody up.

  “Only half a day,” added Jeffery with a slight smile as he picked up his fork scooping up a mouthful.

  Linus chuckled and bowed his head down. He shook his head as his shoulders jiggled with laughter. Geraldine turned to see Devin holding his large white plate to his face moving it around. The boy peered over the plate at his mother who was also now laughing at her son as he licked his plate clean.

  “I guess you boys deserve a little apple pie for dessert,” she said getting up from the table.

  “Can you make some coffee too, hun? Please?” said Linus

  “Sure, dear.”

  Devin put his plate down and his smile vanished as he turned suddenly looking outside the dining room window. He had a new blank expression that had replaced the grin he had moments ago. Linus picked up the now empty plates and carried them over to the kitchen placing them loudly on the counter almost dropping a few. A sudden loud crack of the screen door startled them both as they saw Devin and Muffet run into the brush at the edge of the back yard.

  “I didn’t tell him he could go play yet,” his frustrated mother sai
d as she took out the small plates and forks for the pie. “Go get your bother,” she said harshly before realizing her tone was not very kind. She turned to the older boy and added a smile.

  “Please?” she said.

  The boy smiled at his mother and quickly put his shoes on and ran out the door making a loud clacking noise echo through the house yet again.

  Jeffery ran slower than Devin and had no idea which way his younger brother had gone. He was just about to shout his brother’s name when he heard a rustle and a bark not far away. He sprinted through the thick overgrown brush at what was obviously a happy Muffet. He knew where the dog was, Devin would be too.

  Stopping for a brief moment to listen intently he heard a bark just ahead. Jeffrey burst through the brush. “Mom told me to come and get-”

  The sentence cut short as the boy froze in his tracks at the edge of a small clearing of full grown trees. Before him, Devin stood with his back to him and Muffet was chasing his tail on the opposite side of the clearing. He barked twice and ran into the woods at a fast pace as if chasing something.

  But Jeffery didn’t pay much heed to Muffet as right in front of Devin stood something he had never seen before. A creature out of a science fiction movie with a light blue translucent flesh that stood about five feet tall. Devin stood right before it as if unafraid. A sudden panic rose in the nine-year-old as he could think of nothing else but running to get his parents. Yet for some reason he felt stunned and unable to move. The creature slowly looked up from his younger sibling and clearly saw him. It turned its bulbous head with its clear blue eyes that held what would look like not one, but two pupils. The creature extended a long three-fingered hand towards him and locked eyes with the boy who now felt powerless to move his legs. In a panicked daze he opened his mouth to scream but nothing came out.

  Devin turned and looked at him blankly and then turned to the creature again. He held out both hands palms up and extended them before the creature gesturing for him to take what was in them. The creature took its gaze off his older brother and looked into the boy’s hands with an expression that one could almost call a smile. With a single finger he gently poked into the palm of the child’s hand and held up his own hand looking at what had stuck to his finger tip.

  While frozen in place and unable to move Jeffery watched as the translucent creature held his finger in front of his eyes and looked at a single penny stuck to his finger tip. He opened a gapping mouth and placed the copper looking coin on his transparent yellow fleshy tongue and paused as he pulled his hand away and closed his eyes.

  Somehow the coin, which contained the closest mixture of metals it required seamed to melt into a puddle of copper and silver metals while sitting in the creature’s mouth. Slowly it closed its mouth and for a moment its skin turned a solid copper hue as it lost its transparency. It repeated this process three more times and each time its skin would take on this copper hue. The new skin color would not last long though, and the new color would fade away revealing the same transparency as before.

  Holding out its hands under Devin’s, the young boy dropped the remainder of the pennies into the alien’s palms. Slowly the creature inserted the remainder of the coins into what looked to be a sort of pouch in the front of its belly. For a brief moment the coins could be seen through the flesh of its belly but they faded as if they were never there to begin with.

  Devin turned to walk towards his older brother. A terrified Jeffery wanted nothing more but to turn tail and run back the safety of his home and parents. His mind wanted to but his legs wouldn’t move. He felt as if he had lost control of his body and was helpless. The creature began walking on short stubby legs and oddly shaped feet when Devin stopped and looked up at the creature, extending his hand like he would to his parents. Taking the boy’s hand in its, the creature and the boy walked slowly until they stood before the terrified child. Devin smiled at his brother and then looked up at the creature who slowly reached out its hands placing them on each side of Jeffery’s head. He could feel the cold mushy flesh on his cheeks as the fingers coiled around to the back of his skull where they must have laced together. Jeffery’s eyes rolled back into his head showing the whites only. He twitched hard twice as if in pain. For a brief moment all was clear to the boy. He could see what his brother had been doing. The creature was weak and needed help to find food and his food was copper. The easiest to come by were pennies, even though there was so little copper in them, and Devin gathered them wherever he could and so he had fed the creature for a long time.

  Upon releasing the boy, Jeffery staggered as if he was light-headed and dazed. It took a few seconds for his mind to clear but before it did he had a vision in his mind’s eye of a peaceful place where many others like the one who stood before him lived. It was a strange place where the earth was grey and the sky was pink. This image faded from his mind as he opened his eyes and felt his fear fade away as he looked up at the creature. Devin held out his hand and Jeffery took hold of it without a second thought.

  The being turned to Devin and smiled at the small boy and gently touched his forehead with what looked like a long thumb and spoke a word in a language no one else here understood.

  The translucent being turned and walked away as the boys watched it go back into the brush. It entered a thick part of the forest at the base of a large maple tree and vanished from sight. The boys looked at each other and then smiled and ran towards the house. Devin beat his slower brother to the house yet again. Muffet appeared out of nowhere only to scoot past the boys on their way into the house. He barked twice as each boy sat at their place at the table and began devouring the apple pie before them.

  “For a minute there I thought you boys didn’t want any pie.” Geraldine spoke as she sipped her coffee in front of an empty plate where her piece of pie had been a while ago. Their father got up and began clearing the table as he glanced at the boys who would look up at each other while gobbling down the pie. Bed time would come soon and Geraldine would find each boy sound asleep comic book in hand and light still on.

  “I haven’t seen them that tired since Christmas,” said Geraldine as she climbed into bed next to her husband. He took off his reading glassed and set his copy of “Dark Tales for Dark Nights” next to his brightly lit lamp. She snuggled herself into the crook of his arm and lay her head on his chest as he wrapped his arm around his wife. He reached out and gave the touch lamp a light tap and the room was plunged into complete darkness for a brief moment. Soon getting accustomed to the light of the moon, Linus planted a kiss on the forehead of his wife.

  “I love you,” he whispered.

  She smiled and kissed him on the lips

  “I’m a very lucky woman,” she said laying her head on his chest as they held each other tight.

  9

  “Hey retard,” said Garner Boucher as Devin was closing up his locker after getting his things. His brother Jeffery stood idly-by watching him as he did so.

  “Say something,” added Peter Willet as they all poked each other smiling as if they had said the cleverest things.

  Devin turned and looked at Garner and then Peter and spoke.

  “Like what? I doubt either of you have the intellect to comprehend anything I might have to say anyway. Neither of you are intelligent enough to come up with anything new and are always using the same old taunts that never worked in the first place. Not very bright if I do say so myself.”

  The loud sound of books hitting the floor made Peter jump as a stunned Raylene McPhee stood nearby with her arms now empty, her books scattered at her feet. Garner stood with his mouth gapping and speechless at the fact that Devin had spoken to him and in such an intelligent manner.

  “Come on, Jeffery,” he said as he held out his hand to his older brother who just smiled and took his hand. As they began walking away, Jeffery stopped and crouched as he picked up a couple of pennies that were on the hallway tiles.
He stood looking at them in the palm of his hand and then tucked them into his pocket while smiling.

  10

  As their parent’s car pulled up to the school early, a waiting Miss McPhee and Principal Sullivan were waiting for them.

  “Are you sure he spoke?” asked Geraldine as she got out of the vehicle.

  “Yes! I couldn’t believe my ears,” said Raylene.

  Devin and his bother walked out of the building and towards their parents as if nothing unusual had happened. As if all was normal for them, but the waiting parents both got on their knees on the hard concrete before the boy not saying a word themselves.

  “Hey, Mommy,” said Devin. “Can we get pizza at Skippers tonight?”

  Both parents wrapped their arms around the boy and cried while Devin watched his brother Jeffery walk past them, stop to pick up a penny from the ground and put it in his pocket and then proceed to get in the car to wait for the others.

  11

  Sitting in a booth in front of a nearly empty very large pizza box, Linus had his arm around his wife as they watched their sons devour the last of the pizza. Linus smiled at his wife and almost crushed her as her pulled her close to him in a sideways hug. Geraldine grunted and wiped away tears of joy with a napkin as she watched them.

  “Can we have money for a gumball?” asked a smiling Devin

  An overjoyed Linus pulled out a pocket full of coins as both boys scooted out of the booth. Devin picked a pair of quarters out of his father’s hand while Jeffrey picked out all the pennies.

  Devin smiled at his brother. “Come on.”

  The younger boy put the first quarter into the machine and pulled out a shiny red gum ball which he handed to his brother. Jeffrey, busy feeling the coins in his pocket didn’t notice at first. Devin poked him. “Here,” as he handed his brother the shiny red treat before getting a shiny green one of his own.