Family of the Fox

by F. M. Isaacs

  “I'm a very fast learner, and I've always been good with languages. When I got here, what else was there to do in the beginning, anyway? I studied hours and hours every day. I immersed myself in your country, time, and culture. I have a long way to go, but I'm getting there, and I thank Daniel for every day that I wake up in this time. He's given me the greatest gift ever.”

  “That's why you change him?”

  “Oh, yes. To thank him for all he's done for me. I lived with him too. Well, I did for a while until I was good enough to go out on my own. Now I live behind Owen's house, at least for the time being. It's nice that he hasn't been around much.”

  “He's like the crazy town hermit, honestly,” I smiled, then sighed. “You know, I don't know if Daniel's coming to my graduation tomorrow. My parents haven't been able to get in touch with him. Will you come?”

  He beamed. “I wouldn't miss it for the world.”

  Suddenly we heard banging on the glass windows that surrounded the small area. “Hey, what are you doing in there?” It was Sal, peering at us from inside the building.

  Allen emitted an amused, “Oops”.

  “How the hell did you get in there? It's locked!” the janitor shrilled. “Get out!”

  “Get out. Right,” Allen snickered. “He just told us it's all locked, but we should get out. Brilliant man.”

  “Get out, or I'm coming in after you!”

  “Beyond brilliant.”

  The janitor threw himself at the door, jamming keys into the lock cylinder until he got the correct one. Then he began unwinding the length of chain around the handle. “Here I come!” he yelled in anger.

  “Hang on, my friend!” Allen grabbed me, and in a flash, I was...different.

  “What the hell? Where did you go?”

  As Sal barged in to be met by two rabbits, I tried to figure out where and what my limbs even were. I don't think Sal had seen us change since he’d been focused on unlocking the door. But he must have noticed the flash of light.

  Cursing, Sal threw his hands over his eyes and then released them, gaping right at us. “I don't...I don't get it... Where are you?” Several of the resident bunnies hopped by us, checking us out. I giggled, which came out as a weird squeak.

  “What the hell? Are you laughing at me or something?” He paused, evidently thinking the situation through. “Two people disappear, two rabbits right where they were...” His eyes bulged. “Are you...shape-shifter guys, like from the movies?”

  Allen turned away and munched on some grass.

  This lack of reaction enraged Sal, and he lunged at us.

  Run! Allen called, but he didn’t sound worried in the least. As he bolted around the janitor, I stumbled after him. Again, I'm sure he had the advantage of having been a rabbit before. Sal swiped at me, but I managed to pounce away and run into the school after Allen.

  “Get back here!” The man screamed as we hopped down the hall.

  Allen! Let me teleport us away! I reached for his rear flank and desperately pictured the woods outside. Get us there... I have to concentrate... I can't fail this time...

  Hurry Corinne, he's getting closer!

  “Don’t you run away from me!”

  Get us to the woods...

  “I’ll smash you to death!”

  Allen’s mind-voice had the slightest anxiety creeping into it. Now would be a good time, Corinne!

  My paws met the familiar leaves with a crunch. I was so grateful to be safe that I remained exactly where I’d landed for several seconds. Allen and I could have ended up as rabbit stew if I’d botched the teleporting.

  Allen sat back on his haunches, nodding at me in approval. Nice job saving us. Very nice. His rabbit ears flopped back and forth goofily.

  We could still hear Sal swearing and shouting back by the school. Do you think he’d really kill us? I asked, horrified. What if he goes crazy after what happened?

  Don't worry about him, Allen reassured me. There was alcohol on his breath. I could smell it a mile away. Hopefully he'll think he was hallucinating.

  But he didn't really seem drunk! I pointed out.

  Doesn't matter. It's what he thinks that matters. Now. You like being a rabbit? I wasn't really planning on it.

  We were in a hollow on the outskirts of the woods. I examined my cottony tail and flicked my long ears. I feel pretty cute this way. But what did you plan?

  He grew into human form and then reached down and picked me up. “I always wanted a pet rabbit.” He patted me gently. “But, if you'd take us to a nice, safe pond, preferably unpolluted, I think you might enjoy being a fish.”

  A fish? How weird would that be? Well, maybe I can take us back in time. That's the way to get truly unpolluted ponds.

  Allen hesitated a bit too much. “When?”

  Oh, Allen. Don't worry, I'm not bringing you home.

  “I ask that you don't.” He now was quite sober, and his eyes flashed.

  I promised you I wouldn't. You know that, I answered sternly.

  He shook his head and placed me down on the ground. Soon I was back to my good old human self.

  “Where will you take us?” he muttered finally.

  I remembered the little trip I'd taken with Daniel, and I knew I had the perfect place.

  “WHERE...WHEN IS THIS?” gulped Allen, nervously staring around him at the thick forest.

  “1328,” I said proudly.

  He visibly cringed. “Ah,” he said. “Where, may I ask?”

  “I think it's around Delaware. Well, it will be Delaware in a few centuries.”

  He kicked at the grass. “1328 will definitely have some unpolluted ponds here. I'm practically home.”

  “You're from this time?” I gasped.

  “Born in 1302, but not around here,” he said, with little emotion.

  “Allen, you know I'm not trying to take you back. You know it.” The whole idea blew my mind. This man, who I had gotten so close to, was really very different from me. The world he had been raised in was a bleak one of plague, terror, and darkness. I knew the history of the Black Death sweeping over Europe in the mid-1300s, and I wondered if Allen had been affected by it.

  I could feel him trying to scan my thoughts, but I don’t think he was able to as neither of us were transformed. Yet he seemed to trust me, and I uttered a small sigh of relief as I saw him relax.

  “I understand why you wouldn't want to go back,” I murmured, as we walked the woods in search of a suitable body of water.

  “Look, there are pros and cons to any time. But in mine, the cons far outweighed the pros. Life might have been simpler in some ways, but we didn't have any of the amenities you have today. We got our own food. We built our own houses. And we always lived in fear. There was disease, famine, foreign invasion... And my village always had the added worry of, well you have a word for it in your time – pogroms. There were people coming and killing us simply because we were Jewish...”

  It was funny – I hadn't thought about Allen’s background. He was so powerful, he seemed like a god himself, not part of any particular ethnic or religious group. “I can't imagine what that would be like in such dark times, living in fear every day of your life...”

  “Several relatives of mine were killed in senseless raids,” he said quietly. “You don't know...”

  “Maybe not as directly, but I do know. I'm Jewish too. I lost many, many relatives in the Holocaust. You heard of it, right?”

  “Yes, I did learn of its horrors. It's very hard to read about. In an enlightened society such as yours, I can't understand how it happened.”

  “We lost over one hundred relatives on my grandfather's side alone.”

  “I know. Daniel told me. I'm so very sorry.”

  In the silence that followed, I thought I heard distant voices. I was nearly sure, but then again, how was that possible? There wasn't anyone here. This was America, before it was settled, and Daniel had said there weren't even Native Americans residing near this immediate area.<
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  “Get down!” Allen hissed.

  We ducked behind some bushes just in time to see a very modern-looking couple jump up from where they sat picnicking in a grassy clearing. When the man turned toward me, the green eyes told me all I needed to know.

  “My parents!” I exclaimed, recalling my father's warning to be care-ful.

  “Okay, that's not good. Of all the days to pick, how did you manage to find one that your parents have also visited?”

  “They came here a lot,” I mumbled. But there was more to it than that. Something had pulled me to this day. Far across time, I sensed familiarity in a sea of empty years. My parents had said that they could tell where in time people were. Maybe I was developing that skill too?

  “This is a nice place, but I'd prefer not to run into your mother and father,” Allen said anxiously.

  “They're much younger,” I smiled.

  “Just get us out of here, please!” he enjoined me.

  I touched my hand to his shoulder and closed my eyes. I tried to push us away, thinking of water... Allen wants to transform us into fish. We need a pond to swim in when we're fish.

  Suddenly we were both flailing, and liquid poured into my lungs. “Corinne! We're in the middle of a lake!” I heard Allen screech beside me. “Hang on!”

  Everything was bright, and then, with a snap, I was completely different.

  BREATHING IN THE WATER wasn’t quite like inhaling though my mouth, but I had gills now, and my fish body knew how to use them. However, unexpectedly possessing fins instead of arms and legs disoriented me. At first I couldn’t coordinate them well enough to move through the water.

  A bigger, shiny goldfish swam beside me. Flap them, Corinne. There's not much to it. Be sure to use your tail also.

  I tried again, and as my caudal fin moved side to side, I moved forward in the water.

  Very good! You know how to swim, don't you? It's the same as when you're a person, except now your tail is providing propulsion.

  With a few false starts, I soon had the hang of moving as a fish, and I began to dart around.

  Oh, this is fun, Allen!

  Yes, it's fun, but we have to be very careful like this. Everything eats fish. And I don't know what's in this lake. For all I know, the Loch Ness Monster could live here.

  You've heard of the Loch Ness Monster?

  I told you I'm always reading, Corinne. Now come with me, get used to your aquatic form. Just keep an eye out for predators.

  We swam through the lake, exploring. Allen often stopped to nibble at plants or insects in the water, but the idea of eating while being an animal was still rather foreign to me.

  Not hungry? he asked between bites of some kind of water insect.

  Not yet, I lied. I couldn't watch him eat it. I couldn't...

  You'll be eating in no time, he said, going after some other helpless bug.

  And then, seemingly from nowhere, something scooped me up.

  Time froze as a bird’s beak clamped down on my scaly flesh and launched me from the water. From there, everything became a terrifying rush. Hanging from the animal’s jaw, I thrashed desperately, watching as the surface drew farther and farther away.

  Allen! Allen! Help me! I screamed in my mind. I couldn't breathe! I had to get my gills back into the life-sustaining water!

  Allen!

  Could he hear me? Was I too far away? The distance between the lake and my bird-kidnapper was increasing, and my scales were beginning to dry.

  I needed the water. I tried to teleport myself back into the lake, but I couldn't muster the strength.

  Allen! Please! It'll eat me! I can't breathe! I'm going to die!

  I attempted to wriggle from the animal's grasp, but it sank its beak into my midsection so deeply I felt like I was about to break in two. And the bird was so big in relation to me that he'd easily be able to snap my soft little body in half.

  Need...to...breathe...

  Was it getting dark out? Everything looked hazy, and the world was fading away.

  Despite my waning vision, it seemed as if the whole surface of the lake lit up. A huge crane burst forth, heading straight for us. It screamed and shrieked, ripping me straight from my captor's beak. The pain was excruciating, but it didn't matter. Allen's crane-claws cut into my scales, saving me from a grotesque death.

  I'll change you, Corinne. Don't worry. I'm here.

  I vaguely was aware of liquid dripping from me, and I wondered if my fish-guts were leaking from my ruined body.

  Allen...can't breathe... My world was going black...

  I felt him deposit me on the ground, and I twisted weakly, begging him without words to transform me back.

  I must have passed out, because the next thing I knew, Allen was leaning over me, and I was covered by a blanket. And I could breathe again – as a person.

  “Corinne...I'm so sorry. I told you this was a risky change, but you needed to experience it.”

  I sat up, rubbing my head, which ached terribly. Bile rose up in my throat and I shouted angrily, “Why is it so necessary that I experience being ripped to shreds and nearly being eaten alive?”

  He took a deep breath. “It's what you are.”

  I wanted to wring his neck. He just sat there impassively, as if nothing had happened. This only infuriated me more.

  “‘It’s what I am’? Damn it, Allen! I'm not a fish! I'm a person, and this is...crap!”

  He bowed his head a bit. Good! I hoped I’d made him feel awful. But I wasn't done.

  “I know you're going to give me all the 'you're part of nature' garbage, and I don't want to hear it! I just nearly died being part of nature!”

  Allen remained silent.

  “I assume you mean I'm part of nature because I made the plants, is that what you were talking about all this time?” I didn't bother to wait for an answer. I was too enraged to listen to anything he had to say. “Listen, I’ve totally had enough. Let's get back before my parents find us.”

  I brought us back into the present, depositing us in the woods by my backyard.

  “You're getting very good at traveling,” he finally commented.

  I shot him a nasty look. “Yeah, right, it didn’t help me when that bird had me,” I snarled, trying to look brave, but it didn't work. As the full impact of what might have happened hit me, I gagged. The sensation of being completely powerless and at the mercy of a hungry animal was horrendous. Seeing the water and Allen recede farther and farther from me, knowing that soon I would endure a horrible death – being crushed and swallowed...

  I grabbed at my stomach. “Oh – I really need to go home.” Crashing through the trees, I stopped on the edge of our back lawn to glance at Allen. He remained where he stood, watching mournfully.

  “Sorry,” he whispered.

  I turned and stomped away.

  DINNER THAT NIGHT WAS a quiet affair. I was shell-shocked from my near-death fish experience, which I refused to tell my parents about, and we still hadn't heard from Daniel. I knew there was no way he would miss my graduation. Something was wrong.

  “We're going to go see if he's at his apartment. We'll be right back,” Mom informed me when we finished eating.

  My mind, however, hadn't clicked into my new reality. “A round-trip drive will take you all night!”

  Smirking, Dad placed his arm around Mom and winked at me. “Be back in a sec.” And they were gone.

  Oh, yeah. They could do that.

  As promised, they were back within minutes. Alone.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Graduation Day started out bright and warm, the perfect way to bid my high school life a fond farewell. Well, it wasn't all fond, but I guess it could have been worse.

  Yet a dark cloud hung over me. Excitement over my new abilities was tempered by the fact that I might never be able to share them with my older brother, if something terrible had indeed befallen him. My parents had contacted the police last night. They explained that calling in law enforcement
was a near-last-ditch effort, as they preferred to work things out on their own whenever possible. I guess going back and changing history to help Daniel wasn't an option quite yet.

  In spite of our worries, we all determined to make the best of my day. And as I marched out with my class in a line clad in blues and golds, I scanned the bleachers to see where everyone was situated. Immediately, Matthew raised a large sign that read, “CONGRATS, CORINNE”. The rest of my family surrounded him, including Uncle Jonas and both sets of grandparents.

  But there was one glaring omission – Daniel.

  My mother had been exceedingly anxious about his absence all morning. She broke a glass, which she said was a bad sign. Patricia Greene was hardly the superstitious type, but I noticed when she was particularly stressed, she dropped back on some of the old world beliefs she'd heard from her parents and grandparents. When I observed her from afar, I could still make out the pained expression on her face. She was tightly clasping my father's hand, saying something that made him flinch.

  I didn’t see Allen, and I wondered if he'd show up after our fish disaster. I really wasn't ready to forgive him. I understood he was trying to share an experience with me, and it wasn't his fault that a hungry bird had chanced upon us. But his planning had not been the best.

  As Principal Marks started calling out our names, I glimpsed a large

  bird of prey in one of the nearby trees. It waved its wing to me.

  Allen was present after all.

  THE CEREMONY CONCLUDED, and we all threw our caps into the air in victory. High school was over! The years never seemed as though they would come to a close, yet here I was, a graduate. It didn't even seem real, honestly. Done with high school? Me? Who would have thought it would ever happen?

  The Parent-Teacher Association had set out some light refreshments, so graduates and families alike rushed over to the tables. I lagged slightly behind, hoping against hope that I would spot Daniel waltzing over. He didn't, but a monarch butterfly landed on my shoulder.