Time and Tide: A Fractured Fairy Tale

by Dane Hatchell

  The devil ray had them both on his back. Mikey coughed and gasped while Blaine looked on in confusion. With a flick of the ray's pectoral fin, Blaine went flying through the air and splashed into the Gulf. With a supernatural act that defied explanation, the ray lifted out of the water and deposited Mikey back on the pier.

  The three boys treaded water in the Gulf, looking at each other for direction. Kenny was the first to turn and swim for shore, the others followed right on his heels.

  Mikey stood by the edge of the pier. His glasses and hat that had been lost in the water materialized in his hands. He put them on.

  The three boys rapidly swam toward shore. As Mikey watched, a pod of dolphins broke into view and formed a circle around them. The gulls from the beach hovered above as the circle tightened.

  The shrill calls of gulls mingled with human screams as the dolphins fed in a frenzy, ripping meat off bone with their tiny sharp teeth. The water boiled blood red. The gulls dipped to the surface for scraps of sweet flesh and gulped them down, then went back for more.

  “Well, Mikey, things sure did get out of hand here,” said Ray.

  The water's calmed and the dolphins disappeared back into the deep. The seagulls headed back to shore.

  “They killed Mr. Manatee. They were going to kill me.” Mikey looked down at the pier, and then back at Ray.

  “Let that be a lesson to you, lad. Life is simply not fair. You, my boy, were born a little . . . slow. Was that fair? Of course not. So, you see, the key to happiness in life is to take advantage of others before they can take advantage of you. Now, what would it take to make you happy in life?" Ray asked slyly.

  “I want Mr. Manatee to be alive again.”

  “Heh, well, resurrections are not my department. But, there you go, thinking of others first. Now it's time to think of yourself. What would make your dreams come true?”

  “Well, I want to be captain of a ship and sail the world and search for treasure,” Mikey said, feeling selfish.

  “Yes, oh yes! A ship! With three large sails and seven canons on each side. A crew to swab the deck and mend the sails, and an endless keg of rum,” the Ray exclaimed.

  With a motion from his tail, a sixty-foot two mast schooner appeared, floating majestically behind Ray.

  Mikey’s eyes lit up. A broad smile exposed his jack-o’-lantern teeth. It was a real Pirate ship just like he had always dreamed of captaining. The Jolly Roger flew high from the deck and a parrot sat preening itself on the bowsprit.

  “How would you like this to be yours?” Ray asked.

  “I would like it very much, Mr. Ray.”

  “Obviously. But you see, treasures such as these come with a price. Are you willing to pay that price?”

  “How much does it cost? I don't have a lot of money.”

  “Oh, pish-posh. Money can’t buy such treasures in life. This is one of those opportunities that only come around once. And it can be yours if you do just one little thing for me,” the Ray teased.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “Kill your mother,” Ray said coldly. “I want you to kill your mother.”

  “Kill my mommy? I'm not going to kill my mommy! You're crazy, Mr. Ray!”

  “No, I'm just trying to protect you. Your mother is unfit. She will be the death of you in time.”

  “She won't kill me. She loves me. She says so all the time.”

  A large black void appeared in the water next to Ray. Images of Estelle in various stages of inebriation flashed like pictures on a movie screen.

  “She's a drunk. Just look at her. Every day and every night she lives in a bottle. She’s not caring for you properly. One day she could get so drunk that she could give you the wrong medicine and kill you. Or be so drunk out of her mind she’ll cut your throat while you sleep and won’t even remember it the next day.”

  Mikey stood speechless, but shook his head no.

  “Your mother is certainly popular with men, isn't she?” The void displayed Estelle in all sorts of sexual positions with a countless number of different men. “Quite the hose beast I would say. That's what she does when you go to bed at night. Right after she gives you your medicine to sleep. Look at her, she really likes it doggy style on the couch. I warn you that if you find any deflated wet balloons lying about, don’t pick them up and play with them,” Ray said sarcastically.

  Mikey watched in silence.

  “What if, what if she meets a man that wants her and not you? A few extra pills before you go to bed and you never wake up. That's why you must kill her. Not just for the ship, but for your very life.”

  “No! No! No! Why do you say these things? You’re mean, Mr. Ray. You’re mean!" Mikey said, pulling handfuls of hair out of his head.

  “The truth hurts doesn’t it? The truth hurts.” The void switched again, with Estelle in a collage of images, and in her own voice saying, “He’s such a retard . . . Mikey’s a retard . . . so fucking retarded . . . retarded is as retarded does.” Over and over again she said those words to his friends and neighbors. Retard this and retard that; retard, retard, retard!

  Mikey closed his eyes and let out a wail from deep within his soul. When he looked up, he was standing on the deck of the Pirate ship, a two-foot silver saber in his hand. He wore a puffy-ruffly white shirt and a long black leather jacket. His black boots came up to the knees on his black pants, and a triangular captain’s hat adorned his head. A mirror of polished silver hung on a mast. Mikey admired himself in it.

  The Ray swam up to the side of the ship. “You’re so close, Mikey. So close to all this being yours.”

  A table materialized on the deck. His mother lay on it bound at her hands and feet, unconscious.

  The black void appeared above her. The images and words repeated the word retard over and over again.

  “She’ll kill you, Mikey. You better get her before she gets you. Do it! Kill her! Kill her now!”

  Estelle’s eyes opened wide. Her lips moved and mouthed the word retard.

  Mikey's anger grew to the point that his sanity was now in question.

  “Retard . . . retard . . . ,” Estelle spoke the words aloud now. “You fucking retard. Do it! Do it! You fucking retard!”

  Mikey cried out and raised the blade high into the air. Estelle spat like a rabid animal demanding him to kill her.

  Mikey closed his eyes and screamed at the heavens; then turned, and jumped off the side of the ship, plunging the silver blade into the head of the devil ray.

  *

  The ship in all its historic glory returned to the time from which it was stolen. The devil ray swam unharmed over to the manatee.

  The spear that had been in the manatee's side blinked out of existence. The manatee up-righted himself in the water. “I told you there was none more true than Mikey.”

  “Yada. Yada. Yada. You win. I get it. You don't have to rub it in.” Ray sighed. “I guess my rein for winning in the Garden of Eden will end soon enough now. Imagine, a whole new world with eons of peace and happiness; no disease, or hunger, or malformation. How dull, how overwhelmingly, utterly dull . . . ."

  “You'll get another chance, one day. To the victor go the spoils. We’ll do my thing for a while,” the manatee said. “That is, after we erase the slate.”

  *

  Mikey woke flat on his back on the beach not far from the pier. The sun neared the horizon and appeared like a giant orange ball descending into the Gulf. His shoes were gone, and his feet with the unusually large gap between his big and second toe were wet from the reach of the waves. His hat partially covered his eyes. When he sat up to adjust it, he realized his glasses were on his face too.

  He stood cautiously waiting for full command of his balance and walked out into the water to wash off the sand. His glasses had an oily smear coating, so he dunked them in the water and wiped them with his shirt. He waved the glasses back in forth in the air and dried them as best as he could as he trudged back to shore.

  When he put h
is glasses on, and as his eyes focused, there she was. The girl by the water. The mysterious, beautiful young woman that had taunted him throughout his life; his beloved Princess.

  He was afraid to move. Afraid that if he did one thing wrong—had even one wrong thought—she would disappear again. Mikey so wanted to meet her this time. He forced his eyes open as wide as he could, and ran toward her. He didn't look down to see where to place his steps. His did not blink, for in a blink, she could go away. His heart raced faster as he neared.

  She gazed directly into his eyes. His heart jumped a beat when she gave him a smile.

  He was nearly out of breath and in somewhat disbelief that she had not disappeared.

  The girl held a Triton shell in one hand and stretched out the other to receive him.

  He trotted to a complete stop before her. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but was afraid. Afraid of doing something wrong. It was a feeling he couldn't explain. His genetic gift of a protruding tongue felt dry and sticky in his salt dehydrated mouth. He wanted to speak, but he didn't know what to say.

  The girl handed him the shell. It was upside down and full of clear liquid. “Here, Mikey, drink this. It will refresh you.” Her light red lips looked plump and soft. Mikey felt a curious attraction to them.

  Without question, without words, he took the shell and drank a mouthful of liquid, keeping his gaze on her. When he finished, he let the shell drop to the ground as his body began to tingle.

  His vision blurred. He removed his glasses thinking he needed to wipe them again. But once off, the world came into new focus. The beauty, his Princess, was still there.

  “You see, Mikey. I told you would feel better,” she said.

  “I do . . . I do feel better. And I don't need my glasses anymore,” he said without his usual confusion.

  “All things have a reason, but all reasons are not evident. You do understand that don't you?

  “I guess so,” he thought a moment. “I know there’s a reason why I see you. I just don’t know what that reason is.”

  “All reasons are not revealed, and those that are, are known only at the proper time. How would you feel if your mother read you the end of a story first, and then wanted to read it to you from the beginning?” she asked.

  “Well, I would know how the story would end and it wouldn't be as much fun.”

  The girl took his hand and sat him down on the beach. Mikey's heart fluttered with emotions he had never felt before. A shy grin crossed his face as he blushed a spotty pink.

  “Lie next to me,” she said.

  Mikey did. The girl nestled by his side. With her elbow in the sand, she propped her head in her hand. She reached out with the other hand and rubbed her fingertips on his cheek. Her fingers felt soft like the satin pillows on his mother's bed. She lowered her face near his.

  Her breath lingered over his lips. It was an earthy, arousing sweetness that unlocked things hidden in his brain. His body once again flooded with unfamiliar feelings, of passion, wanting, and animalistic urges of desire.

  Mikey's penis started to stiffen. “Oh, no!”

  “Mikey . . . Mikey, what's the matter?” she asked reassuringly.

  “My pee pee is being rude . . . when my pee pee is rude, Mommy tells me to run cold water on it.”

  The girl lowered her head and gave a tender kiss to his lips. Mikey's tense body immediately relaxed, and all the distractions of anxiety melted away.

  She gave him more kisses, longer and deeper with each one. Mikey returned them in kind, trying to match her slow methodical pace.

  The girl worked off his swim trunks while continuing to soften his protest with her passion. The hormones flowed through Mikey's body and sent a slight buzzing through his head. He became totally lost, drifting in a dimension unexplored.

  A sudden warmth engulfed his penis. He opened his eyes and saw her sitting on top, and felt the slow movements of her hips.

  She rose above him, moving her long brown hair away from her breasts to behind her back. This was the first time Mikey became aware that she was naked. He watched through his partially opened eyes as her mouth opened. Soft moans of lovemaking oozed out.

  Mikey flowed with the enchanted rhythm. Their bodies moved as one. His breathing increased and he felt an urge that both excited and scared him.

  His release sent waves of pleasure through the girl, her body quivered as she cried out in orgasmic triumph.

  In Mikey's mind and body, something wandered into nothing, and an incredible expansion of heat inflated into the nothingness. It happened for an instant, lasting seemingly for billions years. Heat of an incredible magnitude consumed him and gave way to forces creating matter. The tiny atoms joined hands. The more that touched, the faster they collected, until blazing suns formed and hurled away from center point. The suns lived and died. Explosions rocked the universe. The death remains resurrected to build galaxies, solar systems, and planets.

  He saw an unseen force rip the moon from the forming Earth and hang it in perfect orbit to guide the life that would soon appeared on the privileged planet. Comets streaked toward the surface, bombarding the fiery rock with its quenching ice. Oceans formed, chemical compounds chained and replicated. Cells were born and joined, evolved, and invaded the land that had risen above.

  The sounds of waves crashing on the sand pulled Mikey back to the present. The girl’s head rested on his shoulder. Her hand touched his chest. He rolled on his side and gave her a soft kiss, watching the top of the sun disappear over the horizon.

  "It's time for you to go back home to your mother," the girl said.

  The beach, the sand, the thoughts of his mommy, all of the things in his world pushed against the mystical experience. But he didn't want the memories to go. He wanted to hold on. It felt like holding on to a dream when he would first awake, as if trying to hold water through open fingers.

  She rose and took Mikey by the hand. The two walked into the Gulf and washed in the ancient waters.

  “You must go now.” She stopped ankle deep in the surf as Mikey retrieved his swim trunks and hat on the beach.

  He put on the trunks and adjusted the hat on his head. “I have something I want to give you.”

  “You can give it to me the next time you see me. Goodbye.”

  “Your name. I don't know your name,” Mikey said.

  “I am, Ocean. I am the mother of all.”

  Mikey turned, feeling compelled to leave. He glanced back a time or two to see the girl still on the shore, as if waiting for him to leave from sight.

  The sunlight faded fast. Mikey quickened his pace home. He knew his mommy would be worried.

  The young woman used her big toe to etch a single line in the wet sand. She pulled her hair back behind her head and stretched her arms up to the sky.

  The salt waters of the ocean poured out of her ears, nose, and mouth; and then from the tiny pores of her skin. Her flesh withered, shrinking until it was reduced to a mass of fertile goo.

  The waves crashed over the seed, and washed it out to the warm waters of the primordial womb.

  *

  Estelle had been worried sick and was just about to call the police when Mikey finally arrived home. She noticed something different about him immediately. He didn't even seem like her son, but someone older that looked like him. She didn't scold him for scaring her like that. Mikey just walked in, and said, ‘Sorry I'm late. What's for dinner?’ and went and bathed without being told.

  He was never the same from that day forward. He spent most of his time walking the beach as before, but always carried his cardboard with the tiny little doves glued to it with him.

  A few months later, Mikey became very, very sick. He could no longer walk the beach in search for his elusive love. He would spend the day on the porch in his grandfather's rickety rocking chair. The gift for his love held tightly in his hands.

  One afternoon, Estelle brought out a pitcher of lemonade and some gingersnaps for a snack.

&n
bsp; Mikey's head tilted unnaturally to one side. His gray-blue eyes stared in the distance, his mouth unusually open, with droll clinging to his chin. She knew he was gone and felt a peace from within.

  Estelle closed Mikey's eyes, brought his favorite blanket, and wrapped it around his face and shoulders before she called for help. And even thought she looked all around the porch and all around the house, she never found Mikey's cardboard of treasure. She never understood why those brittle pieces of calcium held him in such fascination, but they did.

  *

  Time is a river that sweeps all mankind along, waiting for no one. History repeats itself as the oceans rise, the volcanoes erupt, and asteroids and comets bombard the Earth.

  The eons pass unabated. Time and tide wait not.

  In the new beginning, the spawn of Mikey and the Ocean that lay dormant in the deep waters begins to multiply. Chaining one nucleic acid at a time, and forming molecules carrying the message of self-replication. The seeds produced a new host of swimmers to rule the ocean; a new array of crawlers to dominate the land; and a new collection of flyers to command the heavens.

  The man and woman walk hand in hand through the garden. A variety of delicious fruits hang low from trees. The two enjoy the simple pleasure of sharing a meal.

  The lamb lives with the wolf. The leopard lies with the goat. The calf and yearling plays with the lion. The tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is nowhere to be found.

  The End