The problematic new life of a half-breed

Datt í hug að henda hérna inn smásögu sem heitir "The problematic new life of a half breed" fyrir þá sem hafa áhuga. Þetta er partur af stærri sögu en vonandi skiljanlegt fyrir þá sem ekki hafa lesið restina.

The problematic new life of a half-breed

A story of Bryce Gray

By Guðný Ella Thorlacius

The first few days were always unbearable. Waking up in a brand new body with any and all the problems following the pregnancy and birth, being a new-born with an adult mind was torture. This time it was different. It had been days of drifting in and out of consciousness and he knew something was wrong. After finding himself being breastfed, his suspicions were confirmed.

In a society of immortal souls, new bodies were provided by any healthy female of the group capable of carrying a child once one member perished. Any child born was in fact an adult born into a new body. In light of this, acts such as breastfeeding were highly inappropriate. Most people watching a woman breastfeeding an adult would probably concur. Bottle-feeding was always the best way to go as long as the new body needed that specific kind of nourishment.

He found his way out of the fog of new neural nets and the movements and functions of the new body in a strange place.

“Where am I?” he whispered in a very fragile baby’s voice. A woman’s face appeared above him horrified.

“Did you say something?” she said in a shaky voice, as if horribly surprised at the impossible notion. She was human. 'I’m in trouble' he thought.

“Yes. Who are you, and where am I?” he asked. The woman disappeared from sight and there was a heavy thud beside him. She’d passed out.

“Great” he said annoyingly. How on earth did he end up here, with a strange human woman who was definitely oblivious to what had happened. Had she kidnapped him? How? And where? Humans weren’t allowed in their society, they couldn’t get in there, and from the light in the room he could tell he wasn’t home. Daylight bathed the room as the sun shone though the curtains of a large window. The sun didn’t shine where he came from.

He tried to raise himself up to see what had happened to the woman but he couldn’t. He didn’t have the proper motor functions yet and he was in a crib. He looked at his hands. They were tiny, very infant like, and he was dressed in a baby-blue striped shirt. How could this have happened?

Commotion beside the crib suggested that the woman was regaining consciousness.

“Ma’am, are you awake?” he asked softly, trying to make sure she knew she hadn’t just dreamt it before.

“Yes” she whispered.

“I’m sorry ma’am but I need to talk to you, we have some things to discuss. Please, tell me. Who are you?” he asked.

“My name is Susan. I’m… I’m, your mother” she said in a shaky voice.

“Who is my father, how did this happen?” he asked.

“Well” she replied slightly flustered, “I don’t really know him well. This… he was a visitor.”

“Was he pale and tall, with steel-gray eyes?” he asked, trying to get as much out of her as he could before she’d have another episode.

“How did you know?” she asked.

“Darn” he replied.

“Why is this happening?” she asked.

“Well, I think you might have to sit down for this one” he replied matter-of-factly. “But you have fallen victim to a very strange and unfortunate coincidence.”

“What?”

He pondered how much to tell her. There were strict rules against talking to humans about our world. They weren’t supposed to know about any of this, but how could he not? Given the situation. “The man you met, he was… special”.

“I know” she said and grinned.

“No, I mean, he’s … not quite, normal” he said. “Both of you have fallen victim to an extremely unfortunate case of bad timing”.

“How so?” she asked.

“Someone like you, and eh, someone like him, can’t have an offspring together except for some very unique circumstances. The timing has to be extremely precise, an event happening only once in months or years, and the timeframe was only an hour or two.”

“Decided by the stars?” she asked dreamily “fate!”

“Eh, no” he replied, slowly getting used to his soft, baby voice. “Or well, something like that” he decided she didn’t have to know the details of the world of the Grays. “What year is it?”

“Its nineteen fifty-three” she replied with a smile on her face. If memory served, that meant she’d carried him the full human pregnancy. His last body died on Halloween, nineteen fifty-two in Houston Texas. He’d been trying to capture a group of stray goblins with his wife Elena when he was hit by a stray bullet.

“Elena” he whispered absent-mindedly. Where could she be? Hadn’t she let his people know what happened? She knew she was supposed to. He’d told her several times how important that was. She must have… unless she’d also been killed. He felt a pain in his stomach.

“Who’s Elena?” Susan asked.

“My wife” he replied. She didn’t respond. “You have to understand, I wasn’t just born like a normal child. I have just been re-born.”

“You’re an old soul?” she asked.

“I guess you could say that?” he replied.

“How exciting!” she shrieked.

“I can’t stay here” he replied.

“What? What do you mean?” she asked, all joy removed from her voice. This was why they’d always tried to avoid this. Having children was different for humans. It was special for them, it wasn’t just necessary. It wasn’t unknown for Grays to stray, occasionally, outside their own society, but it was rare, and they had to be careful. Whoever impregnated this woman hadn’t been careful enough. It had to be an outsider.

“I have to get to my own people, as soon as possible” he said softly. “I have a role there, a purpose. Being half-human will have its drawbacks of course” he said to himself.

“Half human… and, half what?” she whispered. She sounded shaken.

“It doesn’t matter” he replied. “How long has it been, I mean, how old am I?”

“Three weeks” she mumbled.

“Where am I?” he asked.

“Connecticut”

“Great” he said. He wasn’t too far from home.

“I need a nap” she said. “Will you be ok here? Alone?” she asked and got up. She was trembling.

“Sure, I need to rest as well” he said as she left the room.

The coming weeks were strange but oddly comfortable. He got strangely used to his life there with Susan. Some days they chatted for hours, some days they didn’t talk at all. He grew faster than a human child would, but slower than a Gray. Soon he would be fit to travel, to contact his people and go home. He’d been working on a plan. If she could drive him to the farthest outpost, a guard would find them and bring him into the city. He’d been working hard at convincing Susan this had to happen. She was slowly starting to understand the severity of the situation. This was what had to happen, but as time went by he couldn’t help but wish she hadn’t been put in this situation. She was losing a child and she had done nothing do deserve it.

He started walking when he was ten weeks old. She was so proud of him. It hurt him to see the pride in her eyes. To her, he was still her little boy.

The day came and they got ready. Susan was a widow. She lived alone and didn’t have a big family. She’d bought him a little suit to wear as a good-bye present. He put on the crisp, freshly pressed shirt and buttoned each button carefully. His fingers were still small and his movements clumsy but he got it done.

They sat down in the kitchen. She’d made crispy banana-waffles. They ate in silence, he could tell she’d been crying but he chose not to bring it up. This was a hard day for her. He respected that. Even if she’d known for a while that this day was coming, he knew it wouldn’t help much. After spending this time with her he could tell she was trying to put on a brave face. He’d been an unexpected joy in her life after losing her young husband in the war.

“It can’t just be tomorrow?” she asked, her voice breaking slightly and a tear escaped her eye.

“Do you think it’ll be easier tomorrow?” he asked.

“No”

“Then I don’t think we should wait”.

“Alright” she whispered. “Will you visit?”

“I’ll try”

“Do you think you’ll be able to?”

“Hopefully” he didn’t want to promise anything and even if he wasn’t sure he had a suspicion that he might not be in this body for very long. The Grays hated half-breeds so this body might just be killed and he’d have to go through the birth and infancy of a new body. A pure-bred Gray. She’d be devastated if she knew.

“I hope you will” she said. “I look forward to it”.

It was a long drive. He filled her in on the history of some of the locations they passed if he knew something interesting. She sounded interested in every word. She wasn’t educated so a lot of these things she was hearing for the first time. Before long they reached the edge of the tree-line marking the edge of Gray territory.

They turned down a small gravel road that weaved through the trees. It wasn’t long until he felt it. They were being watched.

“It’s time” he said softly.

“Already?” she whimpered.

“I’m afraid so. I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me. I am truly sorry this has happened to you and I wish you all the best. I’ll visit as soon as I can” he said. He knew he was giving her hope, perhaps false hope, but he had to give her something. “I’m stepping out of the car. As soon as you can, back up into the clearing we passed a moment ago and turn around. Drive away and don’t look back”.

“I can’t” she whispered.

“Yes you can” he said and opened the door. “Be brave. Good-bye.”

The door slammed and the car made a gurgling sound as she switched to reverse and backed away.

He stood there, alone, in his little suit, with his little hands and his long, light brown hair.

“My name is Bryce Gray” he said in a slightly raised voice.

“No!” a female voice said from the bushes. “I don’t believe you, human.”

“I’m no human” he said and turned to face the voice.

“Prove it” the voice hissed. He bent down to pick up a large stone. Raising it above his head and then releasing. The stone fell right through him and landed between his feet on the gravel road.

The female stepped out of the shadows. She had the easily identifiable pale gray skin and dark eyes. His last body had been more like hers, but now there was a distinct pinkness to his features. He had color in his hair and skin.

“How did this happen?!” the female asked.

“Someone impregnated a human while I was in limbo” he replied.

“That explains it” she replied. “We received news of your demise from your wife and the process begun, but resulted in no successful pregnancy. They were sure you’d been born at another tribe, no-one suspected this” she said in disgust. “I’d heard it was possible but it’s gross. You’re all pink and fluffy. I’ve never seen one like you.”

“Can you take me in?” he asked sighing in relief at hearing that Elena hadn’t been killed.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to just end it here? You want them to see you like this?” she asked and frowned.

“I’m sure” he said. He knew how she felt. He’d probably have shared her feelings if he hadn’t lived through it. He felt certain awe for the humans now. Their life was so hard, so unforgiving. They only got one chance. Disposing of this body felt so unfair to Susan. She’d put so much work into carrying and raising him these past months, and she got nothing in return and asked for nothing.

“Serves you right for marrying an outsider” she mumbled. She was referring to Elena, his fairy wife.

“That’s none of your business” he replied.

“I’m sorry but not everyone feels that way. A Gray elf marrying a fairy, it’s weird and it’s dangerous. I don’t get your fascination with everything non-Gray” she said.

“I guess you don’t” he replied. He knew she wasn’t the only one harboring those feelings. His marriage to Elena hadn’t been popular, and now being reborn half-human wouldn’t help matters one bit. This body would surely be killed before the sun set behind the mountains.

They got to the large stone wall and stepped through it. The familiar path through the granite wall ended in the large unfurnished cave they used to store outsiders they needed to contain without letting them see the underground city. There they were greeted by Alma, their leader. She must have felt them coming.

“I knew I felt something strange, but I had no idea how strange. This is quite the sight!” she paced the room. “I haven’t seen a half-breed for quite some time. Why didn’t you just end it out there?” she asked the female guard.

“Ask him that” she said and rolled her eyes.

“We’re all set up to get you a new one. Let me just end this one right here. We can’t have you walking around like this. This is completely unacceptable”.

“No!” he said and backed up. He didn’t know why but he was terrified. He stepped back into the wall and started running. He had to get away. He had to find Elena.

He considered finding Susan again. She would be glad to see him, but he couldn’t put her through that since he’d have to leave again. He’d have to find Elena.

He spent a year in the wilderness, hiding from them. He kept to himself, outside populated areas. Hunting for food or stealing it when he had to. In just under a year he roughly reached puberty. He’d been searching for her but he hadn’t had any luck and it had been difficult since he still looked like a child. Humans who ran into him alone would be concerned. They’d think he was lost, or a runaway. As soon as he became a teenager people would care less. He could be out in the open, free to travel.

She was all he had now. He often thought about why he hadn’t just let them kill this body, why he’d run away. He couldn’t explain it, but he couldn’t think of killing this body on purpose.

After looking for her for a year he was getting lonely and desperate. He had to find her soon. She must be worried after not hearing from him for two years. Perhaps he hadn’t found her because she was on the road looking for him. Desperately searching every possible place she could think of. He knew how much she hated being on the road so that must be killing her. He had to find her soon.

After covering a lot of ground he finally found her in one of the safe-houses they’d used in Vermont. He knocked on the door and when the light reached the peep-hole he knew she was at the door. He could feel it, it was her. Finally the search was over. He knew she felt it too.

The door opened and she yanked him in. Her light and her warmth filled the room right up. He’d missed that. He’d missed her so much.

“Bryce?” Elena whispered.

“Hello Elena”.

“What happened? Where have you been?” she asked.

“Unfortunate turn of events” he replied.

“You’re different”

“I’m half human” he said and scanned her face for a reaction. She looked shaken.

“I thought I lost you” she said apologetically.

“What do you mean?” he asked. “You know how this works?”

“I, I just …I didn’t hear from you. It had been so long” she said in a strange tone.

“What are you saying?” he asked confused.

“Baby, who is it?” a man’s voice asked from the other room. She jumped at the sound and shook her head apologetically.

“It’s… I’m” she started but he just shook his head. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. She wouldn’t. She didn’t. It hadn’t been that long. They were married for thirty-nine years before this. She just moved on? Just like that?

“I don’t know what to say” she said, a lone tear rolling down her face and quickly evaporating from her warm skin.

“Just… don’t” he said and backed up. He slid out the door and into the night. He couldn’t handle this. It was official. He was alone.