When We Were Dragons Page 6

  I could’ve kept asking questions all night about people, places, and things, so I stuck to the David Copperfield topic instead.

  “Huh,” I said, feeling uniformed. “Like an entertainer?”

  Holly nodded. “Yes,” she said. “Don’t you have magicians where you’re from?”

  I shrugged. “I guess. But they don’t entertain. Magic on Paramis is used differently.”

  Holly nodded. “Carl and I were going to get him a top hat and a cape for his birthday. “Of course, we didn’t expect the collision.”

  “When was his birthday?”

  “December second. Sometime during the collision. Funny, he always looked forward to his birthday. He didn’t mention anything about it this year at all. Maybe because of Carl. I think Jody and Mellicent explained things to him. He hasn’t mentioned his father since that night.” She paused. “I guess he should have a birthday. Seems kind of silly for him not to have one.”

  “What was the hat you mentioned?”

  “Huh? Oh! A top hat. Uh. I don’t have a picture. I’d have to draw one for you.”

  She went to a drawer and exhumed a pencil and a piece of paper, drawing a picture of what a top hat looked like.

  “I’m not an artist,” she said, turning the paper my way.

  “Interesting,” I said, storing the information in the back of my mind.

  We finished making sandwiches, and Holly opened the back door, calling the kids in for lunch. We sat around the table in the dining room, Charlie beating his legs against the back of his chair, while Karen continued to tell magical tales of our world. Here we were, the rarest of families, the weirdest of all, tall, strangely colored dragons with Holly and her kids, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

  Charlie bobbed his head back and forth to some tune only he could hear. We smiled at him. We sat laughing and talking until the oddness of the situation nailed me. More and more, the longer we were here, the weirder the situation became, and no matter how odd it was, I couldn’t help feeling entranced by Holly and her kids. Something was magical about them in ways that surpassed the magic we’d come from on Paramis. The collision had done things I couldn’t even begin to put a label to.

  ~

  After lunch, Holly took Charlie into the living room and had a private conversation with him. I assumed it was about Carl’s death, what Jody and Mellicent had tried to explain. I think Charlie already knew about Carl and understood his father was gone, but I think Holly talked to him more for her sake than for Charlie.

  In the kitchen, I looked at Jody and Mellicent. “You guys okay?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Jody said.

  Mellicent nodded. “What happens to us now?” she said. “I mean, not just with Dad gone, but all of us.”

  I knew she probably meant men and dragons, the way the world was now.

  I looked at Karen. Her eyes were wide. I figured I should be as honest with them as possible. “I honestly don’t know,” I said. “There’s so much happening, so much to sort out. We’re just waiting for word from Dilla-dale.”

  They didn’t say anything else. Jody and Mellicent were mysterious, too, I thought. Maybe they were trying to piece together what was happening as everybody else was, but in their own way. It made sense.

  Holly and Charlie soon came back into the kitchen. Charlie seemed troubled, something his tiny mind failed to grasp. I wonder if he really understood the concept of death.

  “We should probably say goodbye to him,” Holly said. “It’s been long enough.”

  “We’ll wait for you,” I said.

  “No,” Holly said, adamantly. “In fact, Justin, I would like it very much if you came with us.”

  I looked at Karen, who simply shrugged.

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  Holly nodded. “We’ll get him some flowers,” she said. “I think we all need to say goodbye to him in our own way, especially the kids.”

  “Here’s some flowers, Mom,” Charlie said, holding a bouquet of brightly colored flowers in his hand. How could you not love him? None of us saw him do the trick. He—as he’d done the night before—simply plucked them from mid air.

  We all looked at each other and smiled.

  “You’re going to have to get some new tricks before that one goes stale,” Mellicent said.

  “Yeah,” Charlie said. “But it’s so cool.”

  Holly burst out laughing. So did the girls, and eventually, Karen and I laughed along with them. Charlie, however, looked confused.

  “What’s so funny?” he asked.

  ~

  We walked out of the house and down the road in the bright, warm sunshine. It took us about twenty minutes to get there. Karen and I walked behind as Holly and her kids walked ahead. I watched them carefully.

  “Do you see that?” I asked.

  Karen gripped my hand. “I’ve been watching it for a while,” she said. “I’m just not sure I understand it…let alone believe it.”

  I continued to watch Holly and her children. I wondered if they could see it in one another, a silvery golden light surrounding them in an umber-like mist. Holly turned and asked why we were lagging behind. We quickened our pace and soon caught up with them.

  I still couldn’t get over the neighborhood, how the trees intertwined with stop signs, houses, cars, and telephone poles. I didn’t mention the umber I’d seen, and Karen didn’t bring it up either.

  Holly, carrying Charlie’s flowers, walked ahead, holding his hand. They were all holding hands, a family chain connected at the palm. Watching this closely knit family was interesting. In its own way, it seemed a ritual, a silent benediction toward the dearly departed.

  Once at the house, Karen and I hung back. One by one, Holly and her children dropped to their knees, and bowed their heads. I had never seen the act of prayer before. Sure, we had Cerras, but we’d never actually prayed to him. It was a different sort of spirituality toward the god, I suppose.

  Karen and I exchanged a puzzled glance, and once again, their actions mesmerized me.

  When they were done, Holly set the flowers down where the front porch still angled upward, facing the sky. Birds filled the trees in a strangely warped and rolling yard.

  After a time, they stood up. Holly looked to where she’d placed the flowers; she turned and embraced each of her kids one by one, kissing them on the cheek. Holly was smiling…something different about her. She looked more at peace, wholesome, untroubled. It was a relief to see.

  They walked over to us. Jody, very softly, saying, “Bye, Daddy.” She turned and waved at the house. Her eyes were glossy with tears, and when I caught a glimpse of her, she quickly looked away.

  Holly sighed, putting her hand on my arm. “Thank you,” she said.

  “You keep saying that Holly, but it’s not necessary,” I said.

  “Yes, it is,” she said. She turned to the children. “Come on, kids. Let’s figure out what we’re gonna have for dinner. There’s gotta be something to eat besides sandwiches all the time.”

  “A-men,” said Mellicent, dramatically.

  They walked ahead of us. Something weird was happening to me lately, and I wanted to sit back and survey it, think about it for a while. Something was obtainable here, some semblance of understanding, and if I concentrated hard enough, I’d be able to grasp it. Things were moving quickly, and I had a hard time comprehending this unfolding turn of events. I wasn’t sure what was going on, no more than the rest of them, but the Underhills had me under their spell. They were here to teach me something, and whatever it was, was vital, immensely important. I just didn’t know what that thing was.

  I looked at Karen, and she smiled at me. I looked behind me, toward the house, and for a minute, I thought a vandal, a thief had come to steal the flowers. A man was standing near the porch of Holly’s old house, holding the flowers to his face. I thought of the night before, of Holly’s description of her husband. Yes. It was Carl Underhill, and he wore a black sport jacket,
a white shirt underneath as Holly had described. He was six-foot four with big brown eyes. His hair was almost black, styled thick and wavy, combed back from his head. His skin was slightly tanned, not the pale hue of a ghost at all. He’d leaned over, picked up the flowers, and now held them close to his face, inhaling their fragrance. He smiled and nodded to himself, as if thinking of something only he knew about, reliving a memory of himself and his family perhaps.

  Was I imagining this? Could it be real? Was I, for the first time, actually looking at a ghost?

  I stopped, and Karen stopped as well. She followed my gaze. Her surprise mirrored my own. A slight gasp escaped her throat. I was looking at something impossible, a miracle, I suppose, but it wasn’t. It wasn’t at all. It was very real.

  Carl looked up, as if sensing our presence, and met our eyes. He smiled, nodded to both of us, and his eyes seemed to brighten. Carl put his hand in the air and waved to us. I felt silly, but I couldn’t help raising my arm and waving in return.

  He nodded a single time, still smiling, and turned. He did not put the flowers back, but took them with him. He turned his head up toward the sky, and then bent his head to take another whiff of Charlie’s flowers.

  Again, I was dumbstruck, speechless. Awe enveloped me, and I felt paralyzed with wonder. I couldn’t get over how puzzling and incredible all of this was. Something stirred in my breast, an alien feeling I’d never felt on Paramis before.

  A magical world, I thought? Sure, Paramis was magical, but what about the world we were in now? How could I explain it? And suddenly, my understanding of Earth was beyond anything my small mind could grasp. Yes, there was more going on here than I could possibly comprehend. Even if Cerras explained it to me, I still wouldn’t get it.

  Trying not to let it get the best of me, I turned, still holding Karen’s hand, and hurried to catch up with Holly and her kids.

  ~

  When we got back, I turned to Karen. No one was as somber as I’d thought, but they were quieter than usual. I had an idea on how to bring them out of their shell.

  “I want to go into town,” I told Karen. “Wanna come with me?”

  “What are you going into town for?” she asked.

  “It’s a surprise.”

  She raised her thick, black eyebrows. We told Holly we’d be back later, and she gave us a puzzled expression. Not to worry, I told her in a glance. It’ll be worth it.

  We left the house, transforming into dragons for the first time since we’d arrived, and took to the sky. The shift came, and with it, a sense of peace. Oh, how good it felt to fly again, the cool wind under my wings, and I realized we had yet to show Holly or the children our ‘other’ forms.

  I closed my eyes, the brisk cool wind against my scales. Below, Paramis Altered and New Earth unfolded under us. I flapped my wings slowly, savoring the view.

  Changing into dragons is more a focused, centralized thought. Massive wings spread wide, and we are—in all aspects I give Earth credit for—similar to many pictures your artists convey. Of course, when we are dragons, we cannot talk, but we issue loud, echoing cries, and breathe fire.

  I didn’t know what to look for at first. I was going on instinct. The department store might have what I was looking for, but after our visit, I couldn’t remember seeing anything similar to what I was looking for now. Karen was persistent, wanting to know what the mystery was. I could’ve made it easier by asking Holly where to look, but I wanted it to be a surprise for her, too.

  We found a shopping mall several miles away in another town, but the collision had swallowed most of it, making the entrances inaccessible. Finally, I took to a larger town, one I didn’t know the name of, which was at the base of large, red colored rocks.

  We transformed again, taking to the streets, and finally Karen pointed to a store I hadn’t noticed.

  “Is that what you’re looking for?” she asked.

  I followed where she pointed, a store called, All Occasion Costumes, and grabbed her hand. I didn’t know how she knew.

  We walked across the street. The shop was open, still intact, at least. Some places, like Holly’s newer house, were untouched by the collision. The costume shop was one of them. I walked inside. The silence was eerie. The shop was deserted. Lines of costumes, masks, display cases of make-up, took up the entire store. I walked through, staring at goblin masks, alien heads, a skull with a forked-tongue between dry, green teeth. What kind of festivals did these people celebrate, I wondered?

  “They like their entertainment, don’t they?” I asked Karen.

  She smiled at me, looking at a long-white robe. It made me think of Dilla-dale.

  Behind the counter on a shelf, high up on the wall, was the thing I was looking for. I reached up and took it down. It might be a bit big for Charlie, but remembering Holly’s drawing, I knew this was what a top hat was. It was beautiful, black silk, absolutely perfect. The price on the tag said $120.00. I didn’t have any money. I felt awkward for a minute, thinking of Granger’s speech…about thievery and looting.

  As I turned, holding it up for Karen, she must’ve read my mind. She was holding up a black cape with red, silk lining underneath.

  “It might be a little big,” I said, looking at the hat. “But he can always grow into it.” I walked around the counter and put the hat on Karen’s head. “It’s you,” I said.

  “It’s too small,” she said, taking it off.

  I leaned over and kissed her. “I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe we could create a new fashion trend.”

  “Dragons are not made for hats,” she said.

  “Depends on the dragon,” I said.

  Her powder blue skin turned pink for a second, and she looked down, embarrassed.

  “Karen,” I said. “I haven’t seen you blush in quite some time.”

  “Come on,” she said, rolling her eyes at me.

  We left the store. No one would miss the costume, I thought. I didn’t feel terribly bad about taking it.

  We took to the sky again and flew back to Holly’s house, changing back once more before we hit the ground. The dark was coming on, the light in the west fading over the mountains. The stars shifted, moving here and there, lighting the neighborhood.

  I walked inside Holly’s house with Karen behind me. She was holding the cape and the hat behind her back.

  “Hi,” Holly said. “You weren’t gone very long.” She wore a burgundy sweater with a strange looking A on the front, a sweeping trail of snow. It looked like an emblem, but I couldn’t make out what it meant.

  “Where’s Charlie?” I asked.

  “Up in his room,” she said. “Why?”

  “We have a surprise for him,” Karen told her.

  “You might want to get everyone together,” I said. “We got him a late birthday present.”

  “I wished I’d have known,” Holly said. “I could’ve baked a cake.”

  Holly went upstairs to get the kids. One by one, they trotted down.

  “What’s the gig?” Mellicent said.

  “We heard Charlie missed his birthday,” Karen said. “So we got him a present.”

  “Hopefully its stilts to make him taller,” Jody said, and she and Mellicent shared a laugh.

  “Heard you had a birthday a while back, Charlie,” I said. “Sorry we didn’t have time to wrap it.”

  He looked curious, but didn’t say anything.

  “Mind if we give you a late birthday present?” Karen asked.

  Charlie shrugged as if it didn’t matter to him one way or the other. “Sure,” he said.

  “This is from all of us, Charlie,” Karen said. “We all saved up our gold and silver coins and chipped in. Hope you like it.”

  She pulled her hands out from behind her back, bringing the top hat and cape into view. Charlie’s eyes lit up, and he beamed, smiling from ear to ear. Holly, also, was smiling along with Jody and Mellicent.

  “That’s kinda cool,” Mellicent said, trying to downplay it.

 
; “Wow!” Charlie said, stepping forward. “That is tight!”

  “Actually,” I said, not understanding his jargon. “It might be a little too big.”

  Everyone laughed at me for reasons I didn’t understand, and I blushed stupidly.

  “Boys shouldn’t miss their birthdays,” I said. “Your mom told me. I hope its okay.”

  I said this more for the kids’ approval than anyone else’s. Holly sensed it and nodded. I was glad we decided to get the cape and hat.

  “Can I try them on?” Charlie said, excitedly, turning to his mom, who shrugged.

  “I’d be a witch if I said no,” she said.

  Karen handed Charlie his new outfit. He put the hat on. It was, indeed, somewhat large, but it only added to his youthful charm. He put on the cape, clasping the hook together in front of his neck. He moved in a quick circle, making the cape swirl. We all laughed and clapped.

  “So, do a trick, Charlie,” Jody said.

  “Yeah, Charlie,” Mellicent said. “No more flowers. Let’s see what you can really do.”

  Charlie looked to each of us. He pushed the brim of the hat out of his eyes. The outfit, despite being slightly big, looked perfect on him.

  “And now!” he said, theatrically. “Ladies and Gentleman! I will perform a feat to dazzle the senses! You won’t believe your eyes! Watch closely! Abracadabra! And…!”

  I was smiling as wide as he was, entranced.

  He wrapped the cape around himself, covering his face, and before he unfurled it, Charlie Underhill vanished before our eyes.

  ~

  Two minutes later, he came walking down the stairs, still wearing the hat and the cape. We all clapped and cheered.

  “Bravo!” we cried.

  Near the bottom of the stairs, Charlie took off the hat, and bowed with elegant grace. He was blushing madly, but enjoying himself all the same. “Thank you,” he said, bowing again. “Thank you. You’ve been a great audience!”

  ~

  The next day was bright and cloudless with a brisk breeze in the morning air. The neighborhood settled down, and things were returning to normal again, at least as much as they were able to. We still hadn’t heard anything from Dilla-dale or the others, and I was starting to feel a bit useless, but all in all, Holly’s neighborhood was a neighborhood once more.