Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet No. 18 by Gavin J. Grant Kelly Link

Author:Gavin J. Grant, Kelly Link
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: zine, Science Fiction, Short Fiction, LCRW, fantasy
Publisher: Small Beer Press
Published: 2010-08-17T17:21:24.053833+00:00

A Half-Lizard Boy, A Reptile Man, and An Unjaded, Shiny Something

Matthew Lee Bain

Summer sweat runs like a fever: sweet and sick; saline licks of forehead drips; eyes and bees sting; rain is less than a memory, and a memory is more than a flood. When my skin starts to crisp and crack—turn to scales and shed—I remember a half-lizard boy named Me, Luke, a dad named Him, a full-grown reptile man—cold-blooded and all—and a momma named Her, a jewel, as pretty as sunshine and not a lizard at all. Momma was an unjaded, shiny something with too many layers. She could say things like, “Pick me the stars, reptile man, they wanna wear me.” She would say things like, “Can't you do something, reptile man? something beautiful and shining? for me? a something that would twinkle?"

And Dad would say things like, “You have enough stuff that sparkles, don't you?"

"Something...” she'd mumble, “please,” and start to cry a little.

"Don't start this with me now, don't cry ... I, I'll buy you something, just stop crying! Stop that!” But the reptile man never understood that what she wanted he couldn't buy, and what she longed for, he couldn't give. Other times she'd be quiet, like library people, and wash dishes or clean; she made things shine. When the great king reptile scuttled to work, Momma and I would tell stories and play games. She'd tell stories about the amber moon and of how it would be stolen by thieves during the day and about a place past the moon, where there were:

"Insects made of emerald, that never would bite, people made of crystal, that never would lie, nights made of onyx, that never would frighten, and skies made of sapphires, that never would fall..."

And I asked and I wished that there could be dinosaurs!

"Yes! Yes! Yes!” she said. “Big ones—like our reptile man—made of topaz, that never would yell.” After that, we'd play lizard games: I would scurry on all fours, or elbows and knees, while Momma would try to catch me. But even then, I'd squirm free; but even then ... Dad would come home and chill us with his cold blood. He couldn't help it, he was born a reptile.

"Stop it, Jewel! The floors are dirty ... why do you have him crawling around? Why!? Can't I trust you to take care of my boy? Can't I? Huh? Trust you at all?"

"He's a lizard because of you! I'm only teaching him to shed his skin!” And if Dad would get real mad, she'd start screaming. The same word over and over:

"Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold! Cold!” until Dad and I wanted to crawl away because she was too bright, and jewels aren't supposed to scream.

Then one day, right after the fourth of July, I decided that I would get Momma some twinkles. But even then, I didn't understand what she really wanted and needed ... even then. Every day on the roadside and every night on the roadside, I'd see the shines and twinkles in the gravel.

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