Celephaïs: Mother Egret

Thibby bent over until his cheek touched the dirt, carefully checking the alignment of his thumb and the red marble. With his left hand he reached out and pushed a tiny fragment of something out of the way, then lifted his head again.

He straightened up, steadied himself with his left hand and both knees, and took the shot.

The yellowish marble flew out of his hand and clacked into the larger red, knocking it off at a tangent before to the ground and bouncing to a stop.

“Yes!” he shouted, both arms up in the air in celebration and all but one of the other children joined in. Odd man out was Ken, brows beetling, lips slightly pouting: he had just lost Big Red, his favorite marble.

Thibby picked up both marbles, the last two in the circle, and rattled them together in his hand for a moment, savoring his victory. This was his first win at their daily marbles competition in almost two weeks and he was loving every minute of it.

He opened his hand, picked up his yellowish shooter, and dropped it into his bag instead of adding it to the pile of marbles in front of him on the ground.

“Here’s Big Red back, Ken,” he said, holding out the other’s prize marble. “You’ll beat me again tomorrow like always.”

He pushed his pile of winnings into the circle.

“Thanks, guys, for the win. Take ’em all back.”

The other children—Ken and two other boys, and two girls—eagerly snatched back their own marbles, quickly settling one argument about who one common stone belonged to.

Mother Egret watched, quietly sitting in the shade of the giant oak. They met here almost every day, on the paving stones around the fountain when the weather was good, or under the broad branches of the oak when not. They’d played once in the public bath across the street, until they got chased out.

Mother Egret was always there, always with a gentle smile. She had a walking stick leaning against the rock she sat upon but nobody could recall her using it. In fact, as it occurred to them every so often, nobody had actually seen her walk at all.

They’d brought it up any number of times, determined to watch and see where she went, where she lived, who she really was, but every time they seemed to forget about it, only recalling their intentions after they were on the way home, or later that evening. It never seemed that important, after all.

Mother Egret never raised her voice, although when she told them stories her voice could reach the far reaches of the plaza easily. She enthralled her young audience with tales of kings and dragons, of buried treasure and cursed gems, of the heroes of the past and the future, almost every day after schola.

She could bring a smile to the saddest face, and kiss away the pain of a scraped knee.

Children began to leave, heading for home and their chores—most of them came from poorer families, and had to help with the family business, or even go to work for others.

He exchanged a few quips with his friends and turned to go home himself when he noticed Mother Egret beckoning him.

“Thibron, you were very kind to let everyone keep their own today.”

He smiled, white teeth bright though his sun-burnt complexion.

“Thank you, Mother Egret.”

She smiled back, nodding a few times, then reached out to touch him lightly on the head.

“Run along now, Thibron. I’ll see you soon.”

Thibby was smiling all the way home at his victory. He knew he could have kept all the marbles—some of the kids did that and got everyone all angry all the time—but he hated it when everyone got angry at him. Sometimes there were even fistfights when a kid couldn’t bear losing a precious marble in combat.

As he got closer to home, though, his smile slipped.

He slowed down, walking quietly and listening intently for his father.

No banging, no shouting, no crying… in fact, as he got closer, he could hear his mother humming.

The smile came back and he rushed inside the give her a hug from behind.

“Careful! You almost knocked the ladle out of my hand, you rascal,” she scolded with a smile, tousling his hair with her free hand.

“Run along and wash up now, and I’ll get you fed.”

“Yes, mama,” he said, and scampered off.

He ate alone, as always, although his mother sat across from him, watching with a slight smile as he devoured his soup and rice.

He scarfed down two bowls of rice and looked hopefully at the pot for a third, but his mother shook her head.

“I’m sorry, Thibron, that’s for your father.”

Crestfallen but not surprised, he picked up his bowl, cup and spoon and started to walk toward the open door, toward the running stream where he could wash them.

There was a bang at the front door as it was flung open, slamming into the wall.

Father was home!

“Quickly, Thibron, off with you! I’ll wash up later. Go!”

He set the utensils down and ran to the closet that was his bedroom. He pulled the sliding door shut, quietly of course, leaving it open just the merest crack so he could see into the larger room. It was the only room they had, the living, dining, kitchen, and master bedroom all in one, and often all at once.

Bare to the waist, belly bulging out over the filthy dhoti, his father looked even angrier than usual, his stubbled jowls pulled back to reveal yellowing teeth.

He paused for a moment to let his eyes adjust to the relative darkness of the apartment, then took a step toward the cushions spread out along the far wall.

“Ah! Ow! Gods dammit, what the..?”

He hopped up on one leg, then stepped back a bit to stand and reach down to pick something up.

His bag of marbles!

“Your damned boy leaving his damned toys about! Stupid bitch, can’t you keep things clean?”

He smashed the bag against the stone wall.

Thibron heard a marble shatter, maybe more than one.

He clenched his fists in anger and fear, one pushing against his teeth to stop himself from crying out.

“Denh, please… he’s just a little boy…” the woman pled, dropping to her knees.

He swung the bag of marbles with all his force, hitting her on the side of her face, toppling her to the floor. She screamed in pain and terror, barely catching herself with one hand, trying to scuttle backwards, her feet scrabbling uselessly on the stone.

“I’m sorry, Denh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

What began as a whimper grew suddenly into a scream as he grabbed her by the hair, dragging her forward like a bad puppy, holding her head facing up and he struck her again and again with his fist.

“I’ll teach you to be sorry, you bitch!”

Thibron burst out of his closet, leaping across the room to grab hold of his father’s arm, pulling on it with all his strength.

“Papa, no, please! Please don’t hit her anymore! Papa!”

“Leggo, you brat!”

With a snarl his father snapped that arm up, sending Thibron flying to crunch into the wall.

He felt something in his arm snap, and then something hit him in the side and his world collapsed into pain and fire.

Dimly he heard his mother screaming, and the sound of something hard being pounded into flesh, then heavy breathing in silence, and darkness.

* * *

“Thibron.”

He heard the voice clearly, although it was faint.

“Mama?”

“It’s time to go, Thibron. Come to me, child; your mother is waiting.”

It was Mother Egret!

Mother Egret was here, in his home.

But it was so dark.

He couldn’t see Mother Egret at all. Or mama.

“Mama? Where are you?”

He stood, squinting into the black, searching.

“Over here, child,” came Mother Egret voice, and he turned to see her seated by a wood door dimly lit by some indistinct illumination.

“Mother Egret? Where is mama?”

He walked toward her, noticing that his body didn’t hurt anymore.

“You’ve been very brave, dear Thibron,” she said, leaning forward to give him a hug, squeezing him tight for a moment. “Your mother is right through that door; she’s waiting for you.”

The door wasn’t scary at all.

It was pretty, with little carvings of birds and flowers all over it, and perfectly child-sized; just high enough for him to walk through.

“Just push it open, Thibron, and you’ll see. Before you go, though, you won’t need this anymore,” she said, and reached out to pluck something from his chest.

He couldn’t see exactly what it was… something small, something glowing gold, like a marble.

Mother Egret gave him a gentle push on the shoulder.

He pressed on the door and it swung open easily.

Sunlight spilled into the darkness on a playful breeze, rich with the scents of flowers and children laughing.

He blinked.

There she was! Mama!

He leapt through the door, racing into the waiting arms of his mother, her face radiant and unlined with the beauty of a dream.

Mother Egret watched silently as the wood door swung shut slowly, silently, and sighed.

She looked down at the glowing gem in her hand.

“I’m sorry, dear Thibron. Would that it were him instead of you,” she whispered to herself as the soulstone turned to mist and faded away with the light, leaving only darkness behind.

END