Charlie Cradle's Wonderful Existence: A Novella

by Scott J. Callaway

  Chapter 15

  Two days had passed since Charlie had come to stay at her parents’ house. Since that time, she endured the collective sum of all the love and affection her mother was unable to smother her with since the day she had decided to move out on her own. To her mother, it was two days of unrestricted joy and ultimate bonding with her daughter, while to Charlie it was like experiencing how a cat must feel when being dressed up in ridiculous and uncomfortable costumes. She had sampled more perfumes, tried on different clothes, and listened to more Alan Jackson songs in forty-eight hours than she had in her entire life. Charlie didn’t remember her mother being that intense. She wondered if it was because she didn’t get to see her enough. Considering this, she made a mental note to visit at least once in a while to avoid having her mother get this crazy again.

  Rent money, rent money, rent money, Charlie kept reminding herself.

  Charlie hated her relationship with her mother, but not for reasons such as disliking her. She loved her mother. No matter how maddeningly annoying she could be, when it came down to it, Charlie still really cared about her. No, the reason why she hated their relationship was because they were two completely different people. Her mother desired a little girl who she could primp and pamper, while Charlie desired a mom who was cool with just hanging out, going to the movies, and maybe just grabbing a burger together. Her father was more like that, but he was often too busy with work.

  It was now day three of her seven day visit and the whole family was gathered around the table for five o’clock supper. Her mother mentioned more than once how nice it was to have the entire family back together, and sharing a rolling of eyes with Charlie, her father nodded his head in agreement. Obviously, Charlie’s father had learned to tune out most of what his wife said. Then, right before her mother said grace, someone knocked at the door.

  Unable to resist the temptation of being the first to know who was on their front porch, Charlie’s mother hurried to answer the door. Charlie continued to eat the spaghetti she was served and didn’t bother herself with caring who it was, only until she heard his voice.

  “Hello,” said her mother, “can I help you with something?”

  “Hi, Mrs. Cradle,” said Rowan, “I hope I haven’t stopped by at a bad time. I was hoping that I would be able to find Charlie here.”

  At the sound of Rowan’s voice, Charlie immediately leaped from her seat and rushed to the door. “Rowan, what are you doing here?”

  He looked tired. But not in the same way that a person looks tired when they don’t get enough sleep. In fact, Charlie might never have picked up on it if she hadn’t seen that same look in herself when she looked in the mirror. Nobody else would have noticed what she noticed. She wondered if it had something to do with using too much magic like the way he did at Red’s nightclub, but something inside of her told her otherwise. In the expression of his eyes, which usually were bright and full of pulsating blue color, she saw signs of the weariness of life. Those were the same eyes she looked into the morning after she woke up from their unsuccessful second date. They were the eyes of a person who longed for escape.

  “You know this man, Charlene?” asked her mother.

  Charlie couldn’t be sure, but she thought it was surprise she heard in her mother’s expression, like she were amazed her daughter could secure the interest of such a good-looking man.

  “Yeah, mom,” said Charlie. “Could you excuse us for a minute while we talk outside? I’ll be right in once we’re finished.”

  “You mean you’re not going to invite him in for supper? No, no, I didn’t raise you to be so impolite. You come right in, Rowan, and have a seat. There’s plenty more for an extra mouth.”

  Rowan hesitated by the doorway, unsure of how to proceed with the situation. Charlie’s mother was insistent that he came inside, but Charlie’s face had turned lobster red with embarrassment as she feared what might transpire between him and her parents. Her entire life, her mother had nagged her about when she would bring home a man, and seeing that familiar motherly lunacy in her eyes, Charlie predicted catastrophic embarrassment in her very near future.

  Another reason why Charlie didn’t want Rowan staying for supper was because of her complicated feelings for him. A few days ago, she had decided within herself that she wanted to break things off with him, but she never had the opportunity to talk to him about it yet. She hadn’t dated anybody before, so being in a situation where she needed to end a relationship was awkward and frightening. How would Rowan react? Would he be offended that someone as good-looking as him was dumped by an inferior specimen of a human being? That reason also gave Charlie extra motive to end things, because how could she possibly fool herself into believing that someone way out of her league would maintain interest in her forever? The breakup was inevitable. She might as well save herself the pain and mental anguish and just sever the connection. She decided that after supper, when they could afford some privacy, she would tell him how she felt. Rowan could find a better, more exciting, and attractive woman than she was…

  “So, Rowan,” said her mother, “can you tell us a little more about yourself? I’m really excited to hear about how you and Charlie met each other. You are a couple, right?”

  “Mom!” said Charlie, shrinking into her seat.

  Her father laughed. He didn’t care about that stuff. As long as Charlie was happy doing her own thing, he considered himself a success as a parent.

  “What?” said her mother. “Can’t a mother question the man who’s interested in her daughter?”

  Charlie was about to reply, but Rowan beat her to the chase. “I don’t mind, Mrs. Cradle. I wouldn’t think of hiding anything from you. To put things simply, I’m just a drifter who’s been looking for the right place to settle down. I was on my way out of town again when I first met Charlie, but after talking to her… well she’s kind of had me under this spell ever since.”

  Rowan paused, and Charlie finally lifted her gaze from her spaghetti and met his eyes.

  “She’s one of a kind,” Rowan continued. “And now that I’ve had the privilege of meeting her parents, I can see where she gets her good looks.”

  Charlie’s mother blushed and fanned her face with her hand, while her father laughed out loud with his mouth full of garlic bread and spaghetti. Charlie, on the other hand, felt the familiar kindling of fire in her heart, the exact same way she felt when Rowan kissed her a few nights ago.

  It was strange, she thought, how she could feel like wanting to end their relationship one moment and then passionately desiring to kiss him the next. Rowan looked at her with a smile, and with all her earlier emotions melting away, she did the same. Maybe she should wait until they talked things over before making any drastic decisions.

  The rest of supper went surprisingly well. Rowan was so charming that her mother basically swooned over him while her father had laughed almost the entire time. Charlie was thankful. She knew that if he were any other guy, he would have been just as awkward as she was and probably would have run away for good. Rowan must have had a lot of practice, thought Charlie, because no one could be that good.

  Sometime after supper, while Charlie’s mother was doing the dishes and busying herself with some other cleaning to do, and her father was leaving for the night shift, Charlie and Rowan went outside onto the veranda where they could talk in peace. The sun had almost completely set and was painting the horizon with different shades of pink and orange, and the autumn weather had warmed enough that night to allow it to rain. Sitting out on the veranda and listening to the rain brought up memories of her childhood. This was her place of refuge from the increasingly scary world. As a child, she was afraid of it for different reasons, such as bullies and dentists. Actually, dentists still kind of scared her. But now as an adult, staring out into the darkening day of this hectic corporate world, she was afraid of everything. She was afraid of being alone, afraid of never finding personal success, and had recently become afraid of th
e unknown. She had learned that her father was wrong, and that monsters weren’t just a figment of her imagination, but that they liked nightclubs and motorcycles. But at least in this moment, within the sanctuary of her veranda, she could stare out into the rain and feel okay for a little while.

  Charlie and Rowan sat on the swinging chair together, kicking their feet against the wooden floor and looking at all the various garden gnomes her parents had spread out over the lawn. There was an uncomfortable silence spreading between them now that they had the opportunity of being alone. After letting the time drag out a little longer, Charlie finally gave in and requested of Rowan what she’d been dying get from him since the beginning.

  “Rowan,” said Charlie, building up the courage to face him, “I need to know the truth about you.”

  “Charlie…” said Rowan, hesitant to answer that loaded question.

  “No, no more secrecy, no more saying that it’s complicated. Because trust me, Rowan, I know it’s complicated. My entire simple, boring life has been turned upside down into complicated. Since you’ve shown up I’ve learned that wizards and demons are not just wild stories people came up with, but real, living beings that run nightclubs and run away from magical bounty hunters. So please, Rowan; please stop trying to act like you’re protecting me from something when I’m already been through enough danger.”

  Rowan looked at her with sad, regretful eyes, then leaned back in the swinging chair and stared out at the sky as the sun made its final dip beyond the horizon. He sighed heavily and ran his fingers through his hair.

  “All right,” he said, “you deserve to know the truth.”

  This was it. Charlie sat up straighter and stared at him more intently now. She was hoping that soon everything would make sense and she would see if things could yet be salvaged.

  “I’m not actually a wizard,” said Rowan. “Wizards are human beings who develop magical abilities here on Earth.”

  “You say the word human like it’s something different than you…” said Charlie, curiously and a bit afraid.

  “Yes, and that’s because I’m not human. Neither was I born on Earth. I’m a faerie, Charlie.”

  “A…fairy? You mean like the little people who fly around with butterfly wings?”

  “Not exactly,” said Rowan, laughing. “The Fae is a realm that lies just beyond that of Earths, where people who are born of magic come into existence – like me. We’re Fae people, otherwise known as faeries. That’s why my life here has been so complicated. It’s not uncommon for faeries to visit this realm, that’s the reason why humans invented folklore and stories about seeing our kind, but the King of the Fae forbids us permanent residency here. He is a strict believer that the immortal races should not live among mortals. He’s the one who’s sent Roxy after me. Like him, most of the Fae beings are self-righteous and believe themselves greater than the younger races. It’s the reason why after centuries of living among such people that I ran away. My hope was that I could pretend to live my life here as human. But, as you may have figured out, it hasn’t exactly been easy.”

  “I never would have guessed,” said Charlie, completely astounded. “But there’s something I don’t understand. If your goal was to life a simple human life, then why tell people you’re a wizard? Wouldn’t that just tip off those who are after you?”

  “You got it,” said Rowan, grinning. “I’ve tried to go without using magic for a long time. But a faerie without magic is like a dog without its bark. It just doesn’t feel right. That’s the one thing I haven’t been able to rid myself of because I love magic. So, when people find out about me, I pretend to be a wizard.”

  “I guess I understand. I’m a gamer, and my parents’ laptop sucks for gaming, and solitaire just isn’t cutting it. But why would you want to leave a realm of magic? It sounds amazing!”

  “I admit that I do love The Fae, regardless of its people. It’s a place unlike any you’ll ever see. Beauty never fades with time, tender moments seem to last forever, and the creatures are majestic and free. But The Fae will never possess one thing, the one thing that I admire so much in humans, and that’s the value of life.”

  “I feel kind of dumb,” said Charlie, “but I don’t understand. Wouldn’t it be great to never die?”

  “That’s the question that took me centuries of living among you to find an answer to. Faeries cannot grasp the concept of death since we can never die. But to mortals, it’s an ever-present fear and reality that one day they will perish and fade away… It’s what makes you unique. It fills you with the desire of making every day of your existence one that will matter. Life is precious to you, and so your passions have that much more meaning.”

  Charlie stared into Rowan’s eyes as the significance of his words tore deep into her heart. Here sat a magical, immortal person who admired humans for their value of life and the intensity of their passions. And in truth, the more she listened to him, the more it saddened her. Rowan loved people for those very reasons, but she couldn’t take credit for any of it. She had never lived an exciting, passionate life. She felt that everything Rowan described was everything she was not. When she woke up in the morning, it wasn’t thrill seeking or different ways of how to make her day count that she first thought of. Instead, she thought of how much she hated her job, how to avoid as much social interaction as possible, and how much time she’d be able to sit in front of her computer and hack away at pixelated monsters.

  All the while Rowan explained these things, Charlie thought of Mr. Morris’ sandwich and of how she actually envied him.

  “Is something wrong?” asked Rowan, noticing the tears welling up in Charlie’s eyes.

  “No,” said Charlie, turning her head away and wiping her eyes with her sleeve. “It’s nothing. It’s just been an overwhelming few days is all.”

  “I’m sorry if I’ve caused your life to becoming something you never wished it to be,” said Rowan, with genuine sincerity. “I never meant for you to get caught up in all of this. I just hoped that I could have made things work this time. But I’m learning that that may never happen.” He paused, and then slowly, he reached his hand to place it over Charlie’s. “I care about you, Charlie Cradle.”

  Charlie turned back to face him, wanting to tell him that no one had ever made her feel the way that he did now. However, their special moment was suddenly interrupted by the sound of an approaching motorcycle. The engine roared so loud that both of them were forced to tear their sights from each other and look toward the advancing rumble. And then, as the woman wearing a black leather jacket parked her bike and raised her helmet’s visor to look at them, Charlie’s heart dropped in her chest.

  Roxy grinned and waved them hello.