[New Voices] The Healers Chronicles: Birthdays - Short Story
The origin story for the Lazurai named Rochelle - where you meet her adopted Mother and Dad. Family and other secrets. Warning: cliffhanger ahead - 1st in series...
Speculative fiction short story by S. H. Marpel
- - - -
WALKING DOWN A DARK, wet, gritty highway - barefoot, feverish, and in only a nightgown.
At least the storm had quit.
Now if I could get my chattering teeth to stop, it would help – maybe.
A string of cars on the side of the road gave only a promise of help. Some of their lights on. No one inside. I noticed a broken window and an empty baby basket.
Draped over it was a knit shawl. Around my shoulders helped warm me, a bit. Not that it made me think clearer. Socks and shoes might have helped. Not the extra diapers or home-study course lessons left in that baby crib.
By those car lights I saw a city limit sign. Trudging that direction on pain-numbed feet, I soon saw lights ahead.
While my eyesight was blurry, my ears still picked out the wail of a crying babe.
So I hurried, despite my torn feet and shivering.
In that building's front yard, tripping over toys - that didn't help.
Once inside, I reached the source of the wailing and found why it was so loud.
Two babies.
I then realized we three souls had one thing in common.
None of us knew why we were there.
I
I WOKE UP NOT REMEMBERING much of how I got here, where I was, or who I used to be.
There were two babies, one on each side of me, who were sleeping soundly. All of us in a big bed that was soft and warm.
My hair and white muslin nightgown were drenched. Like I'd been out in the rain with them. Even soaked the sheets a bit.
But the babies were both dry.
I could hardly move from where I was, since the top sheet and quilted patchwork comforter had been tucked in around all of us so tight.
A little work at loosening these from under the babies allowed me to carefully scoot up a bit to more of a lounging position. The extra pillows helped me not have to go all the way to vertical and wake up those cherub-faced infants on each side of me.
At least I could take in the room.
It was simple, bare of any decorations. Wallpaper ran from ceiling to floor, in a faded floral pattern. One double-hung window let in filtered light through thin white curtains. Other than the bed, the biggest thing in it was a double-wide crib. And a wide rocking chair sat on the floor between that and the bed I was in. Other than a couple of side-tables, the only other furniture in here was a matching dresser. It and its mirror stood opposite the foot of my bed. Two doors stood in the wall as bookends to that dresser. One had to be the entrance to this room. What lay behind either of them I'd only know when I got up.
But simply trying to sit up showed how weak I was. And how sore I seemed to be everywhere. Especially my legs and feet. Rubbing one sole on my shin quickly told me that I shouldn't do that again. It felt like the bottom skin had been sandpapered off and was barely healed. I could feel the rough scabs and also the pain of those ragged cuts.
This new position did put my face visible in that mirror, a tiny image at its bottom above the frame.
That image had long and wavy black hair, in need of brushing and combing, as well as a good wash. The dark rings under my eyes told me I probably went through hell in the last few days.
Being alive, at least, was a plus.
A stirring next to me brought me back to these two tykes on either side. They were both going to be red-heads. And you can't tell me any baby isn't the cutest darling in the world at that time of their life. I couldn't tell you how I knew about raising babies, but “cute” is too obvious.
Habit or not, I tucked the blanket in again on each side of me to make sure they were comfy and secure.
If I woke up without any memories, I at least was in good company. These two had none or few yet themselves.
Then I heard steps come up the hallway. I'd soon find which door led out. But the question of who was coming in made my heart race a bit.
- - - -
“HEY, THERE, SLEEPY-head. How are you feeling this morning? Brought you something.”
The voice behind that fast patter was a sandy-headed hunk. Tall, wide-shouldered, and a freckled-nose smile that calmed my heart.
He held a tray on one hip with his right hand, since his left opened the door. That door to the right of the dresser.
On the tray was a bowl, its spoon and napkin, plus a short cup. This became obvious as he swung that tray back around to hold it in both hands again. After he got the door shut once more.
“Thought you might be hungry.” That heart-melting smile again.
“A bit.” I nodded.
“I'm Arthur, by the way.” He set the tray down on my lap carefully, even though the cup and bowl were only a little over half-full each, to keep whatever was in there just where it was supposed to stay.
Arthur sat on the front edge of the rocker seat and looked the babies over closely. “They seem to be doing nicely now. Last night it was a trial getting them quiet. Food, change, some walking and cuddling finally did the trick.”
I was just watching how his eyes twinkled when he talked about caring for them.
He looked at me and I could see his interest glow in those hazel eyes. A gal could get lost in those. “Of course, you were the biggest help, and I wanted to thank you for coming in when you did. I thought I'd be back before they woke up, but rounding up some formula took longer than I thought.”
I didn't know what to say, so I just started spooning the soup into my mouth. And found out how hungry I was. Delicious. Split-pea. Warmed just enough. And some orange-spice tea that kept the warmth coming.
“This is good, Arthur. Thanks.”
He just smiled again, took the tray while I held the cup, and relaxed back into my pillows.
Walking that tray over to the dresser, he turned and leaned against it. “I don't think I let you answer when I came in – how are you feeling this morning?”
'Better, I guess.” I touched my hair on my right side and tried to get my fingers through a snarl there. “Guess I look a mess.”
Arthur smiled. “Darling, you look just fine. Especially what you've been through.”
A frown crossed his face, and he stood to turn toward the dresser. Pulling the top drawer out a bit, he found a brush and comb inside. By the rattling, it sounded like nothing else was in there.
A few steps and he came forward to place them on the bed by my leg, below the babe on that side. “Whenever you feel like it. I'll see if I can't find you a hand mirror. You probably don't want to get up very soon.” The rocker seat edge took his weight again.
I nodded. “Can you tell me how I got here or where I came from?”
Arthur looked down, and just shook his head before returning his eyes to mine. “Not much. I found you in that rocker, soaked to the skin with only a knitted shawl around you and the two babies. You were singing them to sleep and they had just closed their eyes over their too-cute smiles. I just waited inside the doorway.”
He reached over and tucked in the nearest baby from his side. “You fell asleep yourself right after that. Somehow, I figured out how to get both of them and you moved into that bed so you could warm up yourself. Sometime in the night, your fever broke, by the looks of it. When you came in you were burning up and shivering.”
That made sense of waking up soaked. “The babies didn't wake?”
Arthur shrugged. “Yeah, they did. But when you're holding them, or I am, they don't get bothered. But I think they like you best.”
“Are they mine, yours, or ours?”
His face went a bit pink. “That's a bit complicated. I found them, and then you showed up with them here. So they aren't either of ours, but they are both of ours the way they act.”
“So we aren't...?”
“No.”
I crossed my legs and discovered that the damp nightgown was all I was wearing. That made my own face turn a bit pink. And prompted me to pull the sheet a bit higher across my chest. “Well, I owe you thanks for taking care of me.”
“It's just part of the thanks I owe you for taking such good care of these babes. Oh – I found some clothes about your size. They're clean and dry. I put them in the second drawer down. The bathroom is down the hall, but don't feel like you have to get up until you do. It's better that you rest.”
I nodded and handed him the cup. He placed it on the nearest bedside table.
Then I carefully scooted back down under the sheet and comforter. Not to disturb the babies.
“That soup and tea were good. Thanks.”
“You're very welcome.”
After a quiet pause, he rose and walked over to the dresser for the tray. Then turned back to me.
“Oh, do you have a name I can call you?”
I thought a bit. Because only one name came to mind, but I wasn't sure it was mine. “Molly. You can call me Molly.”
Arthur smiled again. “That's a nice name. Fits you. OK, Molly, I'm going to see what else I can find in this empty town. I won't be gone long. But I'll leave you to get some more sleep.”
I looked from side to side at these sleeping babes.
Pictures of love, wherever they came from. Closed eyes and the hint of a smile on their faces.
And soon my own heavy eyelids pulled dark curtain over everything again.
II
FEEDING BABIES IS A great time to talk.
Because the two of you are sitting there and have both hands busy until she's got the bottle empty and it's time for you to walk and burp her.
“Arthur, what are their names?
“Hami and Rochelle.”
“Hami?”
“There was a Bible study guide in her baby basket about Hammurabi. And if there's any justice for an abandoned baby in the back seat of a car – well, the name stuck with me.”
Molly worked at her poker face to disguise her reaction to my choice. “And Rochelle?”
“I named her after my aunt Shelly. There's a wild rose bush that grows out of her grave. Rose plus Shelly...”
That she smiled at. “Seems appropriate. How do you tell these two apart?”
“Hami has lighter hair, and her nose is perkier.”
That made her chuckle. “I can see that now. Thanks.”
We both just cuddled and made goofy faces for awhile – at the kids, that is.
“Molly, how are you feeling today?”
“Kinda funny, but all those flu symptoms have gone, and even my sore feet have healed.”
I was surprised at this.
She held up one foot at me so I could see it from where I sat on the bed.
“Yeah, you're right.” I looked down at Hami in my arms and then back at her. “Didn't the shoes I get fit? I'm concerned about you going barefoot after that fever.”
She smiled. “You're sweet, Arthur. I take off my socks when I nap, as my feet sweat. But set your mind at rest. I always wear socks and shoes outside.”
I nodded, still concerned about her, but I looked back down at Hami.
After a few quiet moments, Molly asked, “Can I ask you about your own parents?”
I looked up at her and smiled. “Sure. I was adopted myself. And my adoptive parents raised me in a library. It was the only one in town, which was in an abandoned village like this one.”
“Being raised in a library must have been fun.”
“Sure. Kinda spooky, though, because there wasn't any electricity in the town. So after dark, all those shelves full of books became places where spooks and ghosties hung out.”
“Seriously?”
I grinned. “No, of course not. But you wanted to get your bedtime reading picked out well ahead of sundown, as trying to read a Dewey-decimal number by candle is a real pain.”
“What kind of reading did you like?”
“I liked the action-adventures, mostly. But like my dad, I also had some construction and repair manuals to get through. Like my mom, I liked gardening and cooking books.”
“Well, that explains your delicious split-pea soup. And I think I put on a few pounds in the last couple of days alone.” Molly smiled.
I smiled back. “Well, thanks. I work at it. Cooking is a lot like engineering to me – or maybe a combination with chemistry. You put things together in the right arrangement and it works. Of course, my mom's cooking is a lot better – she told me the reason is that she put love in everything she baked or prepared.”
Molly nodded at that. “She's got that right.”
“How about you – have you been able to remember anything else?”
“I get snatches in my dreams, sometimes during naps. Nothing that really makes sense yet.”
She looked down at Rochelle, who'd finished her bottle and was smiling back.
“Does she seem larger? And she's focused on me. Last night, she didn't hardly have her eyes open.”
“It's the virus.”
“Virus?”
“My parents caught it when they were only babies. The scientists who raised them with the others in their maternity ward – they called it the Lazurai virus. Only babies survived it. Highly infectious. And those infected babies grow rapidly until about the equivalent age of 12.”
“Infectious? Were you infected?”
“Sure. Anyone who meets one of them would catch it.”
Molly went wide-eyed. “So that means you could give someone else that virus.”
“Not always, apparently.”
“How so?”
I tried to look comforting. Especially as she was still holding Rochelle. “Because you'd be dead by now.”
III
TOBY SHOWED UP THE next day. He was Arthur's friend. Grew up together. So I guess they were in the same town.
That's about all the explanation I got. Right after that, Arthur went off with him to the town's garage. The one with the fuel pumps out front.
One good thing about this town is that the power was still connected. For now. How long it would stay on, I didn't know. You'd think the power company would turn the deserted towns off. Unless they didn't know it was empty?
I had the kiddie watch. No longer babes, they were in a big play pen in the main room. Toys inside, they could pull themselves up to stand on the side bars as they wanted. And their mutual red hair was just long enough for them to pull on, too. So I had to watch for their curiosity. So far, they played nice with each other.
But as these kids grew so fast, so did my own questions about this “Lazurai virus” stuff. Arthur tried to answer my questions, but those explanations just prompted more questions.
Like, if the virus killed people, then why was I still alive? If Arthur could selectively give the virus to certain people, then why did he infect the babies? And then, could those babies later give that virus to me?
All I knew is that I woke up again every morning, only remembering back to that first day I woke here. Like every day was a birthday for me. That meant I was five birthdays old at this point. Five awake days. Happy birthday to me.
Useful enough for now. I could live that way if I have to. And it looks like I have to.
- - - -
TOBY SHOWING UP AT least gave both Arthur and I a break. Arthur already been through every house in this small town, and pulled whatever food they had to this one. With his friend in town, he could get out of this house and away from my endless questions.
This house seemed to be a day care center before – when this town had kids and parents. Some folded clothes of all sizes in the closets. Food for kids from everything starting with babies and going up to where they could eat “adult” food. Cribs, playpens, toys of all kinds for different ages. Even some shoes and socks of all different sizes. And plenty of children's books.
Those books are what Hami and Rochelle liked the most. They weren't talking yet, but they loved to listen to me or Arthur talk. Soaked in every word. And they loved to hear that lullaby I sang them the first night, or so Arthur told me. Anyway, I remembered a lullaby and those kids would stop whatever they were doing to listen. And since I always sang it when they should be sleeping, it usually had that effect. Even now as toddlers:
Sleep my child and peace attend thee,
All through the night
Guardian angels God will send thee,
All through the night
Soft the drowsy hours are creeping
Hill and vale in slumber steeping,
I my loving vigil keeping
All through the night.
While the moon her watch is keeping
All through the night
While the weary world is sleeping
All through the night
O'er thy spirit gently stealing
Visions of delight revealing
Breathes a pure and holy feeling
All through the night.
I'd been looking out the window at the garage where Toby and Arthur had gone. And sang it absent-mindedly to myself.
When the kids got quiet, I turned around – they had each curled up on the play pen floor, sleeping. Perfect angels, as usual.
If I didn't know better, they had grown while I'd been looking out the window. But my “knowing better” was suspect – since I didn't remember what I was supposed to know, and these children were growing faster than a “normal” child could. But that was based on what? My intuition of what child-raising was supposed to be?
Other than some first-aid books, there weren't any child-raising texts in this house. We'd both looked. Arthur has pulled all the books from the other houses in town and put them on high shelves out of reach of these kids. But where we could both reach them.
Mental note: those lower shelves will need to be emptied or removed in a couple of days when these kids start climbing everything. So my “intuition” told me again.
IV
THE TOW-TRUCK DIDN't have anything missing. A couple of gallons of gas, a little oil, and all the other fluids topped up – all while we had a charger on its battery.
Then it roared to life. Toby could do that with machines. So we left it warming up to make sure it didn't overheat for some reason.
The garage door was open. While inside, the cool temperature from the concrete floor and solid walls was the same as the air outside. But those fumes weren't good to breathe – and smelled that way.
We were outside, listening to its rumble as the tow-truck idled.
“We need to check all the pneumatics and chain-connections.”
Toby was right. He nodded.
“As soon as it warms up, then.”
Toby nodded again.
“Hey, what's up? You never just don't talk unless something has you torqued.”
“It's her, Arthur.”
“Molly?”
“Yeah.”
“What about her?”
“How long do you think she has?”
“Dunno.”
“Days, weeks, hours?”
“Dunno.”
“What'd you tell her?”
“Maybe the virus is selective.”
“Selective! Seriously?!?”
I just nodded, looking at Tory with a sideways glance.
“You're hooked on her, aren't you, Arthur?”
I just looked down and nodded.
Then, another voice spoke, clear in the morning air.
“So, Tory, is it days, weeks, or hours until what exactly happens?”
We both turned around to see Molly standing there.
V
ARTHUR LOOKED TO BOTH sides of me. “Where are...?”
“Don't worry, Arthur. They're in the yard, inside that fence, with all those toys.”
He sighed with relief. “We'd better get back. You don't know what trouble they can get into at that age.”
“Wait.” I turned to Toby. “What did you mean days, weeks, hours?”
Toby shrugged. “Usually anyone who meets one of us is dead by now.”
“Dead?”
“Yeah, that virus is a killer.”
“So why am I still around?”
Toby shrugged and looked at Arthur. “What happened when you found her?”
“She found me, actually. Or, she found the babies. Then I found her. Asleep.”
Toby said, “Wait – she found the babies, but after you found those babies.”
Arthur nodded.
“That means something else happened. Something inside those kids.”
- - - -
THE TWO KIDS WERE FINE. Arthur was holding Hami and I had Rochelle. Each on a hip. They were that big now, way too heavy to hold in either of our arms for very long.
They weren't in any trouble. They were both smiles and happy. Bigger little girls now.
No, I don't know how their clothes grew, too. I'd put them both in jeans, sneakers and t-shirts when they went out to play. Figuring those were the easiest to clean. They were still wearing the same outfits. Some smudges on them, but nothing serious. Those jeans and t-shirts were just longer, but fit to their size.
Rochelle smiled at me, reached up and touched my face.
And my mind went calm. Very calm.
Then I knew.
She'd healed me that first night.
And now I was a Lazurai, too.
VI
“SO, NOTHING LIKE THIS has ever happened before?”
Arthur and I were watching the kids play in the yard. We were sitting in an outdoor bench swing.
“No, Molly. This is something new. Nothing my parents told me was possible. Nothing they ever saw happen before.”
We just watched the kids play. Hami was making mud pies. Rochelle was petting a stray cat that had found it's way into the yard.
“Wait, Arthur – your Dad studied engineering and your Mom studied anything besides cooking and gardening?”
“Dad also studied all the advanced sciences he could. Mom would keep some of the weirder spiritual stuff around. And you should have heard them compare notes. Sometimes I could hear them laughing and carrying on. No clue what they were talking about.”
“Did they ever tell you about these conversations?”
I just smiled. “Sometimes. They'd make a joke about things, and then would have to explain it to me. Most of the time, I still didn't get it.”
“Anything about healing?”
I shook my head no.
“Arthur, think. Anything at all?”
I just stopped and thought. For a second the world drifted away, then...
“Mutation.”
“What?”
“Viruses mutate.”
“Meaning?”
I looked at her into her eyes. “They also said this was a sentient virus, one that learned from its host. So I think I may have changed its mind.”
Molly took my hand. “What did you do to make that happen?”
“What I thought when I found you. I knew the kids would be fine, but when I heard your lullaby -
Soft the drowsy hours are creeping
Hill and vale in slumber steeping,
I my loving vigil keeping
All through the night.
“I knew you needed to live, to be safe. Because I needed your help with these babies. Someone to keep a loving vigil all through the night.”
Molly's eyes went soft and she squeezed my hand. “Just so I could help you...”
“Sure, I know a lot but, I don't know everything. And here you showed up, singing that lullaby. You got them both asleep, even though it wore you out. That's when I knew I had to help you live.”
She put her head on my shoulder.
And we just rocked in that cool afternoon as our kids played in that yard.
- - - -
THE GIRLS WERE RUNNING around now, bringing us stuff and giggling.
Molly and I liked to come to this bench swing to watch them play. But now the kids were allowed to run out of the yard – just as long as they didn't get out of our sight.
Hami liked to bring us mud-pie tarts that looked delicious, all golden-brown. At first, they were the same grit and taste as the mud they started out from. But I took her into our bakery and made some from scratch – and she watched the whole time. Once the rack of them had cooled, she tried one and her eyes went wide with understanding.
So now her pies come out perfect. While transmutation is now in her makeup, she should be an amazing cook and baker on her own – one of these days soon.
Hami already helps out Molly in her restaurant next door. That's Molly's passion these days. Like my bakery, we want things ready for any visitors. And the girls both help her keep it clean, as well as my bakery.
Rochelle doesn't cook like her sister. And Hami teases her about “burning water”.
But if she can't be found, we know where she'll be. Right down the street at the old Vet clinic.
She keeps an “open door” policy for the local stray cats and dogs. First come, first served. They might go in with a limp or a crooked tail, but come out sleek and grinning. I've even seem some wildlife go there. But if anything big comes into town, she somehow has them go around back where she can deal with them outside. Yes, even bears – but those are usually by appointment. It seems she's the only vet in the area. And especially the only one that heals by touch.
- - - -
TOBY DROVE OFF IN THE tow truck days ago. To where, he didn't say, only that he'd be back.
We just didn't expect what he brought back with him.
That afternoon, he rolled back into town, with two other people in that cab.
Behind him rolled in a small yellow school bus. Packed with people.
Of course, Molly and I rose and called the girls in as we all walked to meet them.
Once they stopped, Toby swung out of that cab on his side, and so did his guests on the other.
Of course, I ran up and gave those last two my biggest hugs.
“Molly? Here are my Dad and Mom.”
Another set of big hugs.
By the time they were done, there was a huge crowd of people surrounding us. They'd come off the bus and were all smiles now. Many of them I knew.
Molly went and greeted each of them to introduce herself, while Rochelle took each person's hand and looked into their eyes, smiling.
Hami went with me to lead them over to Molly's restaurant. Some good home cooking after a road trip is always welcome.
Hami was serving appetizers from out of our adjoining bakery, while Molly started pots and pans with fixings going in the back. Rochelle was handing out menu's and hostessing.
I didn't have much to do right now except smile. My Dad was on one of my sides and my Mom on the other.
Toby came up as the last of our guests had entered.
“Well, Toby, did you ask them or do I get to?”
He just smiled and nodded at me. “Mostly, I was talking to them on the way over about this town and how it would be a perfect place for all our friends to live.”
All three of them were smiling at that idea.
“Dad, Mom, I'm so glad you were both able to come. Because you see that chapel down the road? There's going to be a wedding soon. Maybe right after the meal. We only needed a pastor, a best man, and someone to give the bride away. But Toby outdid himself.”
More hugs, along with tears of joy.
The two babes were getting parents – a family.
As Molly would say, a perfect birthday celebration. About ten days old and counting.
VII
ARTHUR WAS GONE WHEN I finally woke up.
I called it “finally” but that's because my nightmares had been getting worse, and waking me up all through the night.
The girls were big enough to sleep in their own room now, but Arthur was my comfort during those bad dreams.
Being too tired to feel or hear him get up, was more my own lack of sleep than anything wrong between us.
He was such a catch, and so devoted.
When I got up to dress, I saw in the mirror those dark hollows under my eyes. And that told me something had to change.
- - - -
I FOUND THEM AT THE restaurant. My restaurant. Sitting together for breakfast. All smiling and talking about family things, I imagined. Once I got through the front door with that dinging bell over it, they all looked up at me with those smiles, and I relaxed. Coming over to sit with them, Arthur got up to help me with my chair – not that he had to, but that's always appreciated.
Arthur's dad spoke first. “Molly, I think it's time we told you about the Lazurai history, as short as it is. All we know about how this is affecting you and the children.”
Arthur put his hand on mine. “Darling, those bad dreams could be from your life before you first woke up here. Your memories may be coming back.”
I tensed. “Meaning that the recurring vision of my home blowing up might have me to blame for it?”
Notes: This is pretty straight forward - you meet Rochelle’s adopted Mom and Dad, how they met, and how the healing powers started. Also, we find the town they adopted - that became featured in other stories. I kept wondering about Rochelle’s origin, so this story came around. Molly’s cooking features later as well. Oh - the Lazurai virus also spreads through food…
Oh - this is the last story in the Primer. So now, we’ll start at the beginning and fill in the holes. Then you can see how all this progresses. We’ve got around a hundred and fifty to still post here. If you’ve missed any, search on the main page for this Substack for “New Voices” - or just get the book below…
Available in ebook and paperback - pretty much everywhere.