The Universe Builders: Bernie and the Putty

by Steve LeBel

  Alcandor grinned as he turned to Bernie and said, “Your girlfriend is delightful, Bernie. I can see why you like her so much.”

  This produced another red complexion outbreak. Bernie said, “I… Ah…”

  “Well… Ah…” said Suzie.

  Alcandor laughed again, and soon everyone was laughing.

  * * *

  It didn’t take long before Alcandor’s transformation was complete. Suzie brought clothes for him, and, with the makeup in place, he would be able to go anywhere without arousing suspicion.

  “Is there anything special you want to do?” Bernie asked his guest.

  “Everything. I’ve read about wondrous things here, and I have no idea where to begin. Perhaps I should leave you in charge.”

  “I’m sure you would like a tour around town. And we have to take you to The Museum,” Suzie suggested.

  “And there are people you have to meet. Lenny would’ve been here tonight, except he has a hot date with Candi. He wants to see you tomorrow. My mom’s cooking dinner for us tonight. I’m so pleased you’re here,” Bernie said in a gush of words.

  “So am I.”

  * * *

  Bernie’s mom arrived with an armload of groceries for dinner. Alcandor stood as she entered, while Bernie rushed to put everything away.

  “Thank you, Bernie. We can put them away later,” said Hannah as she relinquished her bags to Bernie. “Hello, Suzie. I’m glad to see you. In fact, I hope to see more of you in the future,” she said in the special way females communicate with each other with multiple layers of meaning.

  “Bernie, are you going to introduce me to our guest?”

  “Sure. Mom, I would like you to meet my friend Alcandor. Alcandor, this is my mom, Hannah.”

  “I’m very pleased to meet you, Lady Hannah,” he said as he gave a courtly bow of his head.

  “Well, thank you, kind sir.” Hannah returned his bow with a slight curtsy of her own. Even Bernie noticed the pleasure his mom took in the extra courtesy Alcandor showed. He must have read the etiquette book too, thought Bernie.

  “I don’t think I’ve seen you before, Alcandor.”

  “I’ve spent most of my time off-world. Coming here is like a new experience for me. I’m eager to see everything,” said Alcandor truthfully.

  “Well, I’m sure the kids will have no trouble showing you around. But if they don’t do a good enough job, let me know. I can always find time for distinguished off-world visitors,” she said with a girlish smile.

  Suzie noticed Alcandor’s blush remained hidden by her makeup. She had used one with a strong foundation, and if it didn’t let green through, then red had no chance.

  “Is there anything I can do to help?” offered Alcandor.

  “Well, you can open this bottle of wine,” said Hannah. “I think we can let the kids have a small glass, don’t you?”

  “Well, I guess that would be okay. As long as we maintain strict adult supervision.” The twinkle in Alcandor’s eye told Bernie Alcandor was amused to discover the Great Protector was not old enough to drink intoxicating substances.

  When dinner was served, Suzie observed a pattern. Alcandor paused long enough to observe the others. Eating utensils must be different on his world, she realized, and something like this wouldn’t have been in any of Bernie’s schoolbooks.

  “I recognize all of this,” said Alcandor, referring to the food on the table. “This frosip is excellent. And so is the wonreg. I’ve never seen them prepared in this way.”

  “I decided to make Bernie’s favorites. I’ll give you the recipes, if you like,” Hannah offered.

  “That’s a wonderful idea, Hannah. I’m sure a lot of what I eat is on Bernie’s list of favorites,” he said as Bernie stifled his laughter.

  “Well, you make what you love…” Bernie said just loud enough for Alcandor to hear.

  * * *

  After dinner, Bernie walked Suzie home. Bernie liked it when Suzie held tightly to his hand. He enjoyed being her protector, even if there wasn’t anything she needed to be protected from in the woods.

  “Alcandor is amazing! He adapts to whatever is around him. I would never guess he wasn’t one of us,” she said when they were out of earshot from the house.

  “I know. It surprised me too. Sometimes things on other worlds seem cool, but when you get them back here, they don’t seem as exciting. He’s not like that. If anything, he’s more interesting.”

  “Your mom sure seems to think so.”

  “Yes. They hit it off well, didn’t they?”

  “Do you think Alcandor will be okay alone?” Suzie asked.

  “I can’t imagine any problems. He and Mom were having a great time, and we never get any visitors out here.”

  They walked along in silence for a while.

  At last Suzie asked, “What are you thinking about?”

  “I was just thinking about my mom and Alcandor. What if they got together? That would make Alcandor my stepdad.” Bernie wasn’t sure how he felt about his mom getting married again, but if she did…

  Alcandor as Dad… I would like that, he thought. I would like that a lot.

  What Are Those?

  The next morning, Alcandor was up and ready to go by dawn. Bernie, who would normally have grumbled about having to get up this early, was right there with him. Since there was time before they had to leave for Lenny’s house, Bernie couldn’t resist taking Alcandor for a walk in the woods.

  “It’s beautiful here, Bernie. I’ve never seen such stunning plants.”

  “Well, I wasn’t really going for aesthetics in my plants. I was—”

  Alcandor said, “I meant no criticism of my world, Bernie. I just never imagined all the diversity that’s possible.”

  Bernie chuckled. “You ain’t seen nuthin’ yet. Wait until you see the animals.” Bernie looked around, but his little friends were nowhere to be seen.

  The walk was taking a long time. Alcandor stopped every few feet to examine each new plant he encountered. “All these plants were created by the gods?”

  “No. Most of the plants in the woods are indigenous. We’ll see more created life when we get into town.”

  “Indigenous? You have a term for life you did not create?”

  “Of course. We don’t know much about indigenous life forms. Come over here, and I’ll show you.” He led them to the edge of the plateau. “This is the edge of the plateau we live on. Down there is the wilderness. It just goes on and on. No one ever goes down there.”

  “Why not? Aren’t you curious about what’s out there?”

  “Most people think it’s too dangerous.”

  “Dangerous? What could be dangerous to a god?”

  “We have no real powers here. We don’t age, but we can be hurt. Just like you on your world. Our people stay in town, where it’s safe.”

  “If it’s dangerous, why do you live so close to the wilderness?”

  “After Mom and Dad got divorced, this was all we could afford. We’re saving money to get a better place, but I talked Mom out of doing anything for now.” Bernie saddened, his very real problems surfacing despite his effort to only think positive thoughts this weekend. If he didn’t keep his job, they would just have to move back again.

  “I understand.”

  They walked along in silence. Suddenly, Alcandor exclaimed, “What’s that?”

  “That’s a flying animal. We call them birds.” Bernie held up his arm with his finger extended and gave a shrill whistle. The bird looped back and swooped in for a perfect landing on Bernie’s finger.

  “Alcandor, I would like to introduce you to Platus. Platus, this is my friend Alcandor.”

  Alcandor looked at the beautiful blue and red feathers. The bird had a long mane of loose yellow feathers, which it shook as it turned to face Alcandor.

  Alcandor’s eyes went wide with wonder as he said, “I… I’m pleased to meet you, Platus.” Alcandor waited patiently for a response before asking, “Can you tal
k?”

  “No, he doesn’t talk. Most animals, including Platus, are intelligent. They understand a lot of what’s going on. He likes it when you talk to him, and he even lets me scratch him. Do you want to hold him?”

  Alcandor nodded and held out his finger. Bernie continued talking to Platus as he moved his finger closer to Alcandor’s. Platus stepped up onto Alcandor’s extended finger. “This is extraordinary. What makes him fly?”

  “You can see he’s light and when he pumps his wings, he generates enough lift to overcome gravity. He uses his wings and tail to steer through the air. Fish use their fins to do the same thing in water.”

  “What’s a fish?”

  “You’ll see a lot of those later at The Museum.”

  As they talked at the edge of the clearing, Bernie looked for his little friends. He was afraid Alcandor’s presence would keep them from revealing themselves, but he had not counted on Bowin’s courage. Bernie spotted Bowin standing at the edge of the clearing. It was his way of telling Bernie, ‘We are here. Summon us if you will.’

  “I have someone else I want you to meet,” Bernie said with muted excitement. As if on cue, Platus chose that moment to depart. Alcandor couldn’t tear his eyes away from watching the bird as it soared into the sky. Not until Platus disappeared over the treetops did Alcandor remember to breathe.

  “We have to move slowly now,” said Bernie. “We’ll sit here and let them come to us. They’re quite shy.” He and Alcandor sat on the soft grass just a few feet from Bowin.

  Bowin stood on his hind legs and walked forward until he stood in front of Bernie. Bowin’s tiny eyes shifted between Bernie and Alcandor, looking for any sign of danger. He found none. The young god’s friend looked as gentle as the boy.

  Bowin signaled for Renot to come out of hiding. He trusted Renot, who had demonstrated both strength and caution in the past. If anything went wrong, Renot could take care of himself. Renot emerged from behind a tree and cautiously approached the young god and the stranger who sat next to him.

  One after another, they came forth. This time, there were nine. Alcandor sat spellbound. He looked from one to another, noting slight differences in appearance and mannerisms. The smallest of the nine had not taken her eyes off Alcandor since emerging from the foliage. As each minute passed, she crept closer until Renot moved to block her way. She was in no danger; Alcandor couldn’t have moved if he wanted to.

  Renot walked to Alcandor and touched his knee. Alcandor did not move. Renot touched it again. Still Alcandor did not move. Twice more, Renot touched the stranger’s knee. Then Renot hopped onto Alcandor’s leg and looked him in the eye. Bowin crept closer in case he should be needed.

  A soft whisper came from Alcandor. “You are amazing.”

  Renot was so intrigued by the stranger that he didn’t notice when the young one crawled up Alcandor’s leg to stand next to him.

  Very softly, Bernie said, “Hello, everyone. This is my friend, Alcandor. He’s happy to meet you.”

  “Can they understand us?”

  “I think they have their own language. We communicate mostly with our hands and tone of voice. The tall one there is their leader.” Bernie pointed to Bowin. “The little one on your knee is quite young. It’s a rare treat to see their young. They usually hide them away.”

  “What are they called?”

  “We call them lookies. They were brought here by their creator. The gods loved them, but after a while, the lookies started breeding so much the Town Council declared them a nuisance and ordered them removed. They rounded them up and sent them back to their home world, but some of them escaped to the woods and became refugees. The Town Council doesn’t know about them, and I’m not telling them.”

  “Why don’t they want to go back to their home world?”

  “They were born here. To them, this is their home world. But they can’t live in The Town because they’ll be captured and sent away. Yet it’s very dangerous for them in the woods because there are things that prey on them.”

  Alcandor looked at the little creatures scattered around him. “I wish I could take them to my world. My people would love them. But I guess that could be more dangerous than just staying here.”

  Bernie felt a twinge of guilt. Alcandor was right. Even though they finished a time of peace in their world, only one day had passed for him. And when the weekend ended, Billy would be back at it again.

  What Bernie didn’t know was that, at that very moment, Billy was planning his next move. He had tired of playing games. He was ready to end it all.

  This Is Lenny

  Bernie should have allowed more time for the trip to Lenny’s house. Dragging Alcandor across town had been a daunting task. Every time Alcandor encountered something new, he simply stopped walking. Coming from a world with only thirty-seven species of plants, no animals of any kind, and a completely different culture, it was easy to understand how everything was new to him. And everything had to be explained before they could move on. Finally, they arrived at Lenny’s home and were ushered inside by an impatient Lenny.

  “Sorry we’re late, Lenny. I had to explain everything we saw between my house and yours. It took longer than I planned.” Bernie shrugged his shoulders and offered an expression of mock helplessness.

  Instead of responding, Lenny walked around Alcandor, looking him over from top to bottom. “The makeup looks okay. I don’t see any green. How did Suzie get him to shimmer? It’s really quite good.”

  “Lenny, you’re being rude.”

  “Huh?” said Lenny in genuine surprise. A distinct clucking sound was heard as Lenny cocked his head, listening to something the others could not hear.

  “Oh… Oh, sorry. Where are my manners?” Lenny turned to Alcandor and carefully enunciating each syllable, as if talking to a child, said, “I am pleased to meet you, Alcandor.”

  “I’m pleased to meet you too, Lenny. I’ve done a lot of gawking myself recently,” Alcandor said with an easy smile.

  Lenny tried not to show it, but Bernie could see his friend had not expected Alcandor to speak their language. Lenny was burdened by generations of builder training that insisted created beings, such as Alcandor, were just constructs. To treat one like a real person was a foreign idea, especially since no construct had ever before spoken the language of the gods. Bernie smiled as he thought of Sissy, who had been the first to open Lenny’s eyes. That wasn’t to say his friend didn’t need to be reminded occasionally.

  “Would you like to see some of my universes?”

  “Oh, yes. Very much,” said Alcandor with eagerness. “I’ve been amazed by everything I’ve seen today.”

  “Alcandor seems especially interested in the animals. I never got around to putting any on his world,” Bernie reminded Lenny.

  “It is hard to imagine such a variety of creatures. Each of them is so different. My favorite, so far, are the lookies.”

  “Well, I have some animals that will blow them away.” Lenny led them to his wall of viewing windows.

  “No carnivores, please, Lenny,” Bernie said. Lenny, who had stopped in front of one window, pouted as he led them to a different window.

  “Okay, but you’re missing some of my best work.”

  Alcandor was eager to see everything. No matter what Lenny talked about or showed him, Alcandor wanted more. Two hours later, Lenny showed no sign of slowing as he dragged Alcandor from one room to another, showing him treasure after treasure. No matter what Lenny talked about, Alcandor was interested, asking questions and making relevant comments. Lenny treated him to a display of universes with stars so thick they looked like clouds, worlds where the animals looked like rocks, a flying machine from his Off World Technology Collection, and even the star-crossed tawalla seeds he had used to capture Candi’s attention. They were having such a good time, Bernie hated to interrupt them.

  Finally, Bernie said, “We’re going to have to leave now or we’ll be late meeting Suzie at The Museum.”

  The d
isappointment on Lenny’s face was a memory Bernie would relish all day.

  Time to End It

  Billy had grown frustrated, and very angry. His street cred had been questioned.

  At lunch last week, Donald had the impudence to ask, “What’s taking so long to get rid of Bernie?”

  It was a fair question. Billy had asked it himself often enough. Uncle Shemal had never hesitated to pull the trigger before. The formula was simple. Plant evidence of the person’s incompetence, and Shemal’s quality assurance systems would find it right away. It never took long for Shemal to throw them out. It had been easier to get Ronny and Chrissy fired, and they’d had excellent work records until he decided to go after them.

  What was different now? Maybe Shemal was influenced by Bernie’s big-time dad and giving Bernie the benefit of the doubt. Maybe Suzie had influence in the Personnel Department and was doing something to keep him around. Whatever it was, it was frustrating. Billy had done enough to Bernie’s universe that no one should see anything there except gross incompetence.

  That was when it hit him. Bernie was different. He wasn’t part of the quality assurance system. His work, unlike everyone else’s, wasn’t being measured and recorded every day. If Bernie messed up, it didn’t show up on Shemal’s production record at all.

  Billy growled. He was being entirely too subtle. If Uncle needed to see he was wasting his time on Bernie, then it was time to take things to a new level. No more little mistakes and minor disasters, it was time to demonstrate how inept Bernie really was. It was time to unleash an apocalypse. And, as everyone knew, a good apocalypse had to be done with style. Just blinking something out wasn’t good enough. When you do an End of the World, it was a lot more fun if everything went out in screaming pain.

  And that became his plan.