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ysabetwordsmithBased on an audience poll, this is the freebie for the December 1, 2020 Poetry Fishbowl making its $200 goal. It was spillover from the October 6, 2020 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from siliconshaman, bairnsidhe, readera, and lone_cat. This poem belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics and Schrodinger's Heroes.
WARNING: This poem contains disturbing material that may upset some readers. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes relationship challenges, interdimensional travel, major character death, universe death, refugee children, and other challenges. If these are touchy topics for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before deciding whether this is something you want to read.
"The Glass Hammer Knocks on the Nursery Door"
[Wednesday, September 23, 2015]
Not far from the cottage that
Elonso and Davide shared with
their sons, a small forest wrapped
around the edge of the compound.
The land there was rumpled and
rocky, left wild because it would
be too difficult to develop.
Elonso walked beside
his bodyguard Edoardo.
Twilight was just falling,
the liminal time that made
the forest seem more magical.
Most of the leaves were still green,
but some were starting to turn gold,
drifting down through the sunbeams
to land on the dark brown ground.
"Autumn equinox today," Elonso said.
"A time of balance," said Edoardo.
"How are you doing, my friend?"
"Better than I was earlier
this year," Elonso admitted.
"Moving to Italy was hard, but
I'd do anything for the boys.
I'm getting used to it here."
"You and Davide?"
Edoardo said gently.
"We're ... working it out,"
Elonso said. "That hasn't
been easy, but I think that
we'll be okay in the end."
Davide had been a superhero,
but had turned his cape --
kidnapping Elonso and
their sons -- to keep
the family together.
It had been rough, but
they'd made progress.
"Good," said Edoardo.
"You deserve happiness."
"Everyone deserves
happiness," Elonso said.
Up ahead, the sunbeams
seemed to condense in
the shadows, twinkling into
lines, almost like a door.
"Get behind me," Edoardo said,
pulling Elonso back even as
the bodyguard stepped forward.
Then they heard a baby cry.
Both men bolted forward,
loping over uneven ground.
What they found in the hollow
of stone defied explanation.
There was a sturdy playpen
crammed with children, at least
a dozen from infants to preschoolers.
The infants had been swaddled
and hung along the sides, with
the toddlers standing in the center.
There was a large gray machine
that gave off wisps of cool vapor, with
a column of green lights down its front.
Leaning heavily on the machine
was a woman with long blonde hair.
At the sound of their approach,
she looked up. One lens of
her large round glasses
was cracked clear across.
"I need your help," she said.
"What do you need?"
Elonso said, stepping up.
"Sanctuary for our children,"
she said. "My name is Alex.
I'm from another dimension --"
"What?" Elonso said, shocked.
"There isn't much time!" she barked.
"We'll listen without interrupting,"
Edoardo said. "Tell us what you can."
"There was a fight. They holed
the Tef -- the Teflon Tesseract --
no way to fix it. Quantum energy
pouring through, going to flood
the whole dimension before long."
"Jesus Christ," Elonso muttered,
then waved for her to continue.
"We only had enough energy
to open the gate once, so we ...
filled it by weight. Pat's kids,
Chris' baby cousins, and
the gamete/embryo bank of
the Waxahachie Fertility Clinic,"
Alex said, hugging the machine.
Elonso realized that all of
the children wore nametags.
Well, at least that was something.
"We will see your children safe,"
Edoardo promised. "I am of
the Marionettes, and children
are among our responsibilities."
"They helped my family,"
Elonso said. "You came
to a good place, Alex."
She smiled faintly. "Yes,
this dimension has
a good reputation."
"Is there anything else
we can do?" Edoardo said.
"We have healers here --"
"No," Alex said, waving a hand.
Sparks glittered at her fingertips,
dripping off like water droplets.
"Quantum instability. Won't be
long now. Nothing you can do
for me, I was in the control room
trying to fix the Tef before we
realized how bad it was."
Elonso's stomach churned,
thinking of his own family.
"What about the children?"
"All from outside the Rim,"
Alex said. "They'll be fine."
The dripping was faster now.
Elonso couldn't see her fingers.
"Your dimension, if it's failing --
how close is it to our own?"
Edoardo said urgently.
"Are we in danger too?"
"No. Lifeboat," Alex said.
"I set the gate to a safe place,
then pulled it in after me."
"How does that even work?"
Elonso said, shaking his head.
"It's like ... pulling one lace
through on your shoe," Alex said.
"The bow still collapses, but the knot
stops it from unraveling everything else."
The sparks flowed up her arms now,
running in lambent streams until
her whole form was lined in gold.
And then she was gone.
Elonso and Edoardo were
left in the liminal woods with
nothing but a bunch of babies,
a softly steaming machine,
and questions that could
never be answered.
While Edoardo called
the compound and asked
for a medical teleporter,
Elonso did what he did best.
He comforted the little ones.
* * *
Notes:
This is NOT core!Alex and dimension, but alters from another dimension.
In Terramagne-Italy, Davide and Elonso share a cottage which belongs to a Marionette compound just outside of Velletri, Lazio, Italy. This forest fills a rugged area on one edge of the compound, left wild because it is too jumbled to develop easily. So they use it as a private park.
Liminal time lies between the ordinary times, like equinoxes and twilight. Unusual things can happen then.
Babies in a lifeboat appear often in literature.
siliconshaman, bairnsidhe, readera, and lone_cat. This poem belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics and Schrodinger's Heroes.WARNING: This poem contains disturbing material that may upset some readers. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It includes relationship challenges, interdimensional travel, major character death, universe death, refugee children, and other challenges. If these are touchy topics for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before deciding whether this is something you want to read.
"The Glass Hammer Knocks on the Nursery Door"
[Wednesday, September 23, 2015]
Not far from the cottage that
Elonso and Davide shared with
their sons, a small forest wrapped
around the edge of the compound.
The land there was rumpled and
rocky, left wild because it would
be too difficult to develop.
Elonso walked beside
his bodyguard Edoardo.
Twilight was just falling,
the liminal time that made
the forest seem more magical.
Most of the leaves were still green,
but some were starting to turn gold,
drifting down through the sunbeams
to land on the dark brown ground.
"Autumn equinox today," Elonso said.
"A time of balance," said Edoardo.
"How are you doing, my friend?"
"Better than I was earlier
this year," Elonso admitted.
"Moving to Italy was hard, but
I'd do anything for the boys.
I'm getting used to it here."
"You and Davide?"
Edoardo said gently.
"We're ... working it out,"
Elonso said. "That hasn't
been easy, but I think that
we'll be okay in the end."
Davide had been a superhero,
but had turned his cape --
kidnapping Elonso and
their sons -- to keep
the family together.
It had been rough, but
they'd made progress.
"Good," said Edoardo.
"You deserve happiness."
"Everyone deserves
happiness," Elonso said.
Up ahead, the sunbeams
seemed to condense in
the shadows, twinkling into
lines, almost like a door.
"Get behind me," Edoardo said,
pulling Elonso back even as
the bodyguard stepped forward.
Then they heard a baby cry.
Both men bolted forward,
loping over uneven ground.
What they found in the hollow
of stone defied explanation.
There was a sturdy playpen
crammed with children, at least
a dozen from infants to preschoolers.
The infants had been swaddled
and hung along the sides, with
the toddlers standing in the center.
There was a large gray machine
that gave off wisps of cool vapor, with
a column of green lights down its front.
Leaning heavily on the machine
was a woman with long blonde hair.
At the sound of their approach,
she looked up. One lens of
her large round glasses
was cracked clear across.
"I need your help," she said.
"What do you need?"
Elonso said, stepping up.
"Sanctuary for our children,"
she said. "My name is Alex.
I'm from another dimension --"
"What?" Elonso said, shocked.
"There isn't much time!" she barked.
"We'll listen without interrupting,"
Edoardo said. "Tell us what you can."
"There was a fight. They holed
the Tef -- the Teflon Tesseract --
no way to fix it. Quantum energy
pouring through, going to flood
the whole dimension before long."
"Jesus Christ," Elonso muttered,
then waved for her to continue.
"We only had enough energy
to open the gate once, so we ...
filled it by weight. Pat's kids,
Chris' baby cousins, and
the gamete/embryo bank of
the Waxahachie Fertility Clinic,"
Alex said, hugging the machine.
Elonso realized that all of
the children wore nametags.
Well, at least that was something.
"We will see your children safe,"
Edoardo promised. "I am of
the Marionettes, and children
are among our responsibilities."
"They helped my family,"
Elonso said. "You came
to a good place, Alex."
She smiled faintly. "Yes,
this dimension has
a good reputation."
"Is there anything else
we can do?" Edoardo said.
"We have healers here --"
"No," Alex said, waving a hand.
Sparks glittered at her fingertips,
dripping off like water droplets.
"Quantum instability. Won't be
long now. Nothing you can do
for me, I was in the control room
trying to fix the Tef before we
realized how bad it was."
Elonso's stomach churned,
thinking of his own family.
"What about the children?"
"All from outside the Rim,"
Alex said. "They'll be fine."
The dripping was faster now.
Elonso couldn't see her fingers.
"Your dimension, if it's failing --
how close is it to our own?"
Edoardo said urgently.
"Are we in danger too?"
"No. Lifeboat," Alex said.
"I set the gate to a safe place,
then pulled it in after me."
"How does that even work?"
Elonso said, shaking his head.
"It's like ... pulling one lace
through on your shoe," Alex said.
"The bow still collapses, but the knot
stops it from unraveling everything else."
The sparks flowed up her arms now,
running in lambent streams until
her whole form was lined in gold.
And then she was gone.
Elonso and Edoardo were
left in the liminal woods with
nothing but a bunch of babies,
a softly steaming machine,
and questions that could
never be answered.
While Edoardo called
the compound and asked
for a medical teleporter,
Elonso did what he did best.
He comforted the little ones.
* * *
Notes:
This is NOT core!Alex and dimension, but alters from another dimension.
In Terramagne-Italy, Davide and Elonso share a cottage which belongs to a Marionette compound just outside of Velletri, Lazio, Italy. This forest fills a rugged area on one edge of the compound, left wild because it is too jumbled to develop easily. So they use it as a private park.
Liminal time lies between the ordinary times, like equinoxes and twilight. Unusual things can happen then.
Babies in a lifeboat appear often in literature.
Well ...
Date: 2020-12-10 01:16 am (UTC)They took Pat's kids and Chris' cousins because those guys were already on the team and their families knew enough about the weird shit to believe them quickly. And they had a friend at the clinic, which was a long shot but worked, letting them save a lot more.
It's not a great solution, but it's less bad than the alternatives.
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-12-10 01:49 am (UTC)Hmmm...did they maybe set up a phone tree or 'Tef Wierdness Alerts' for things like 'Stay indoors until we've caught all the facehuggers,' or 'please call us if you see the tye-dye Bigfeet,' that was used to summon everyone to a central location?
Being trusted with someone's kids is a major indicator of how much they trust you. (So is seeing exactly how kids interact with a given adult.)
The handful of people I know who'd listen to me if I said "Give me your kid and RUN" is pretty small...and most of them already consider me a reliable authority on risk assessments.