Laughter Lines

I Won't Go Screaming In The End

It took three days of patient coaxing for Gareth and Ginny to figure out how to shift back. When they managed it, Ginny was glowing and crowing. She ran around the compound, flapping her arms and bragging about how she was going to fly with her Mommy in another year or two, once she traded the rest of her down for flight feathers. Gareth, on the other hand, stopped speaking entirely.

After two weeks of his silence, Arthur took Gareth for a walk.

Arthur's pace was slow. Methodical. He picked his way around the annual rain trails eroded deep into the baked earth. Could probably move a little faster with a cane, he thought, but he was putting that off as long as he could.

"Never did like the desert," Arthur said aloud. "Not enough green for me. On the other hand, it's quiet out here. Private. That's worth more than an eyeful of plant life to me at this point, so I'll take it and be happy." He stopped to admire a waist-high cactus in bloom. "On the third hand, it can surprise you from time to time."

No sound from Gareth. Not even a grunt.

"I'm going to play a guessing game with you, okay? Think you can squeeze my hand once for yes and twice for no?"

Tentative little fingers slipped into his hand and squeezed once.

"Now that's gas in the tank." Arthur walked on with Gareth for a bit, then asked, "Did Mommy talk to you about the siren voice?"

Squeeze.

"Mhmm. She told you more things about it when I wasn't there?"

Squeeze.

Arthur sighed. The little hand tugged urgently at him, and he looked down. Gareth's face was scrunched up with worry.

"Hmm. I'm not as good as your sister at this, but I'll try. You look worried, are you worried?"

Squeeze.

"About me?"

Squeeze squeeze.

"Ginny?

Squeeze squeeze.

"Mommy?"

Squeeze. Plus a little shrug.

"Worried... that I'm upset with Mommy?"

Squeeze.

"I'm not upset with Mommy. I'm just a little sad."

Gareth tilted his head to the side.

"It's just that... you were talking a little bit. Like you finally decided you had things to say, and now you stopped. That makes me a little sad."

Gareth quickly looked away.

"Did Mommy tell you all the reasons to be careful with the voice?"

Squeeze.

"Did she tell you anything good about it?"

Gareth's blank look said everything. Arthur squatted down slowly, grunting. "Listen very carefully to me. I know that Mommy is a siren and that there are some things that she understands that I can't, but guess what? I'm a human, and there's some things I understand that she can't. And I want to tell you some things about the siren voice, too. Think of it as the next stone, but it's a special stone just for you to carry.

"Yes, you have to be careful. Yes, you can hurt people or make them do things they don't want to, including me. But you can do good with it too, just like a doctor does. When I was lost and afraid in my head, Mommy sang to me. She reminded me who I was and how to get back to her. But even before she ever sang to me, I thought she was beautiful and kind and someone I wanted to get to know better. Sometimes she is still afraid to believe that, but it's true."