Misunderstood Monsters

Chapter 22: The 939 Brothers

Dr. Collingwood winced in pain. She'd been given an anesthetic while the claw marks on her face were being stitched up, and now it was starting to wear off.

The door slid open and John darted in. Three 939 specimens followed him in. Billy stayed near the door.

"Dr. Collingwood, are you okay?" John called softly.

"I'm fine."

The smallest 939 bounded up to her, seemingly full of energy.

"Hi there!" he said cheerfully. "I'm Edward, but you can call me Eddie."

He held out his paw, his ivory claws gleaming in what little light was in the room. She reached out and tentatively shook it.

"So," John began, "Dr. Collingwood, these are Eddie's two older brothers, Simon," he pointed to the middle 939, "and Charlie," he pointed at the biggest one.

Simon simply nodded at her, his ebony claws tapping incessantly against the floor. Charlie gave her a soft smile, the scars on his face making it lopsided. His claws were blood red.

Eddie began running around the room, cheerily introducing himself to everyone while Simon  repeatedly tried to drag him away by the tail and get him to shut up.

"Come on, Simon, I'm just trying to cheer everybody up!"

"You're annoying people, Eddie."

"Oh, fine. Whatever you say, Simon Says."

"You can stop beating the dead horse now," Simon snapped back. "Not that it ever was funny in the first place."

"I'm still trying to calm down from... you know."

"Still."

"How 'bout a good ol' song?"

They were all silent for a moment. Then Simon let out a defeated growl. Eddie's tail began thumping out a beat on the floor.

"There once was a ship that put to sea, and the name of the ship was the Billy of Tea. The winds blew up, her bow dipped down, oh blow my bully boys blow. Huh!"

Eddie leaped up, still somehow thumping his tail against the floor. "Soon may the Wellerman come, to bring us sugar and tea and rum. One day, when the tonguin' is done, we'll take our leave and go."

Charlie joined in. "She'd not been two weeks from shore, when down on her, a right whale bore. The captain called all hands and swore," his voice grew high and harsh, " 'I'll take that whale in tow!' "

The two brother's voices melded together perfectly. "Huh! Soon may the Wellerman come, to bring us sugar and tea and rum. One day, when the tonguin' is done, we'll take our leave and go. Da-da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da."

Eddie jumped and darted around, dancing with surprising grace. "Before the boat had hit the water, the whale's tail came up and caught her. All hands to the side, harpooned and fought her, when she dived down low."

Simon began reluctantly singing along with Charlie and Eddie. "Huh! Soon may the Wellerman come, to bring us sugar and tea and rum. One day, when the tonguin' is done, we'll take our leave and go."

"No line was cut, no whale was freed, but the captain's mind was not of greed, for he belonged to the Whaleman's creed. She took that ship in tow."

 "Huh! Soon may the Wellerman come, to bring us sugar and tea and rum. One day, when the tonguin' is done, we'll take our leave and go. Da-da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da."

"For forty days, or even more, the line went slack, then tight once more. All boats were lost, there were only four. But still that whale did go."

"Huh! Soon may the Wellerman come, to bring us sugar and tea and rum. One day, when the tonguin' is done, we'll take our leave and go."

"As far as I've heard, the fight's still on. The line's not cut, and the whale's not gone. The Wellerman makes his regular call to encourage the captain, crew and all!"

"Huh! Soon may the Wellerman come, to bring us sugar and tea and rum. One day, when the tonguin' is done, we'll take our leave and go. Soon may the Wellerman come, to bring us sugar and tea and rum. One day, when the tonguin' is done, we'll take our leave and go."

Dr. Collingwood clapped. "That was really good!"

Dr. Buck rolled her eyes. "They're a bunch of voice-changing SCPs, why wouldn't they be good singers?"

*The song is The Wellerman by Nathan Evans. There's a video for the song up at the top.