Sean of the Lake
Story by Glycanthrope on SoFurry
A dark fable about loneliness.
She walked through Oakenford park after work, as always. The joggers, the dog-walkers and the old people feeding squirrels, all made her feel less alone. They were her family for half an hour every day, before reality of an empty apartment settled in.
But she always avoided the playground. The sight of laughing children and their proud parents made her sad.
It's too late, she realised.
Today she'd worked overtime and the park was nearly deserted. Even Henry, the hot-dog vendor was closing his stand, and the pond lay desolate, with all the elderly back home feeding themselves instead of the swans.
Then she spotted a plastic bag among the rushes. Just an ordinary shopping bag from a local supermarket, and she almost ignored it as she passed by
-but only almost; it looked like there was something inside.
She broke off a branch from a nearby willow and used it to pry the bag out of the water. It was surprisingly heavy, but when she looked inside, she discovered a thick woollen blanket dyed yellow.
The things people throw out nowadays, she thought and unwrapped the blanket to shake off the pond water.
Then she let out a silent scream; there was an infant inside. A tiny child, but none the less, the child of a human being.
She knew little of children and babies, but she estimated the child to be a few months old. It was dead of course, but it looked like it was only asleep. She turned around, pretending to look for help. Then she wrapped the infant back into the blanket and carried it under her arm.
Back home, she unwrapped the blanket and hung it to dry. Then she put the naked infant in her bed and dried it with the softest towel she could find.
If he were only alive, she thought.
His hands were freezing and his fingers were stiff and curled into little angry fists, as if he had fought for his life in defiance. But she patiently massaged his fingers and they began to warm, and soon he relaxed. She was amazed when she saw the tiny fingers with the tiny little fingernails.
You're home, she said.
She warmed two teabags in warm water, and put them on his eyelids to relax them. Camomile, of course -to avoid infection.
After some ten minutes she was able to open his eyelids, but when she met his gaze, she closed them again.
Better he's asleep.
She snuggled up next to him in bed, and let the warmth of her body spread to the tiny boy. She felt a strange thrill when her lips touched the cold forehead, just once, and for the first time in months she slept without resorting to pills. By the next morning, she could move both his arms and legs. Then she called in sick.
We can spend all day together, she told Sean.
She sad down and brushed the fine strands of hair on his head. Some of it came off, and she decided to buy some scalp remedy, maybe also some vitamin drops for him.
She spend the remainder of the day talking to Sean about his new family, and planning their future together. It was the happiest day of her life.
The next morning she went out and bought a wonderful, but rudely expensive winter jacket.
Is it a boy or a girl? Asked the clerk.
It's for my son, she said. He's three months old.
She spent almost an hour with the clerk, discussing care and proper treatment of babies, and she felt a whole new
world opening to her.
Two and a half weeks to payday, then I'll buy you a stroller, she promised. I'll take you to the playground.
When she returned with her purchases and opened the front door, she quickly closed it again.
There was a sudden change in the smell of the apartment. It was stuffy in a new and unpleasant way.
Maybe he has a soiled diaper?
She took the spray can of air freshener from the bathroom and sprayed the bedroom, until the apartment smelt like sea-breeze.
Not too much, she thought. Infants have sensitive lungs.
She found a tiny scratch in the skin of Sean's forehead that leaked a droplet of sticky liquid.
He's been stung by an insect, I should never have left him alone.
She wiped the liquid away with a cotton bud, and cleansed the little wound with aloe vera soap, then she dabbed it with rubbing alcohol. Sean was very brave and neither cried nor squirmed. She put a band-aid on the wound. It was a bit too large and made him look like a pirate, so she put a cap she'd bought for him on his head to hide the wound.
I meant this as a christmas present for you, she said. But Christmas came early, for the both of us.
The next day, she discovered that Sean had developed more leaky wounds that all required attention, band-aids and plenty of air freshener. He seemed to grow worse every time she went out for a while, so she decided to stay home and care for him.
She went outside to dump the bag of nappies, when Mrs Schultz complained about the strange smell coming from her apartment.
Must be the leaky plumbing, she explained. I've already called the caretaker. Then she taped up the door from inside with duct tape.
The sea-breeze was beginning to give her a headache, but that was all part of being a parent.
_Kids will give you a headache, no matter how old they are. _
She realised that sooner or later, she'd run out of band-aids too.