Tyler

It’s been a busy couple of days. The weekend was one of big annual yard sales nearby, and my daughter’s dance recital, which was quite good. I’ve got to get the video card from A’s camera to post the videos of some of the dances, including both of my daughter’s. Unfortunately, he hadn’t used the video feature before, and so the one of the first dance isn’t as good as I would like, but it shows her amazing leap reasonably well. I’ll be excited to get the actual DVD of the recital.

Okay…on with the story.

***

Tyler stood at his hospital room window looking down at the street below. A drizzly morning had kept people hurrying along but now the sun was burning the clouds away, and pedestrians slowed their rapid pace. A shabby bag lady shuffled along the grassy median between the north- and southbound lanes of traffic. Tyler saw her every day, checking for discarded lunch bags or bottles or cans. He had never seen a homeless person before coming to Toronto. Everyone back home had someplace to live, even if it was a cobbled-together cabin. Where did she sleep? Where was her family? Did she really eat the stuff she found? Yuck. If he ever got out of there, he was going to buy her a meal from McDonald’s or something.

She stopped in her tracks. Her head snapped to one side as if she’d heard something. He saw her throw one of her rescued cans at something, then she ran in the other direction. Who would’ve thought she could move that fast? He leaned his forehead on the glass as if that small distance would improve his view of what had frightened her.

A gurgling sound came from his throat as a small, black and sinuous something sped along the median in pursuit. Several more followed.

Run, lady! Run!” he screamed a the top of his voice. He banged on the window with clenched fists. “Oh, run!”

The bag lady rushed out into the street. A slow-moving car jerked to a halt, narrowly missing her. The driver shook his fist. She threw a terrified glance over her shoulder at the median, and kept going. The driver shook his head and the car moved forward.

Tyler shouted again. “Yes! Kill it! Kill them all!” as the front tire ran over the creature in the lead. The others stopped and sniffed at the bloody carcase of their comrade and began tearing it apart with their teeth. “I hope you choke!” Tyler yelled.

The door opened and Nurse Belenchuk came into the room.

“Tyler, what’s wrong?”

Tyler glanced over his shoulder. “It’s Them! They’re here.”

The nurse joined him at the window. “What are here, Tyler? Where?”

“Out there. Look.” He pointed at the street where only a bloody smear remained. “They were there,” he said. “The things that ate Dylan. They were right there!” Tears welled in his eyes. He hadn’t said a word until now and he just knew no one would believe him.

Nurse Belenchuk put her hand on Tyler’s shoulder and led him back to his bed. “Tell me what happened just now, Tyler. Tell me everything.” He told her about the homeless woman and the car and the creatures. He knew she didn’t believe him and he said so.“I’m sure you saw something,” she said. “There is blood in the street, but could it have been a squirrel?”

Tyler remembered he had seen black squirrels along the median before. They had frightened him horribly at first until he realized they didn’t move the same way as the monsters did. He shook his head. “No, they looked a little like mink.”

“Mink?” Nurse Belenchuk’s eyebrows rose.

“My uncle raises mink,” he said. “These looked kind of like that but faster. Really fast.”

“Mink. Where are you from?” asked the nurse.

“Nova Scotia,” said Tyler. It felt weird to be talking to someone. He hadn’t said anything to anyone since Dr. Freed asked if he wanted to go outside. There hadn’t seemed any point. Everyone wanted to know what had happened to Dylan but how could he have told them? It was all so blurred and fast and he had kept thinking they were coming after him next, but they had just torn Dylan apart and then flowed away like black water and melted into the undergrowth.It was only now that he could face the memories. It was probably seeing the homeless woman in danger that brought it home. And somehow, even though he was sure the nurse didn’t believe him, he felt that she didn’t exactly not believe him. The things down there are the same as the ones that killed Dylan back home. Only there were way more at home. They were all over him in like a minute. He hit at them and tried to get them off, but there were so many…” His voice trailed off as unwelcome images rose in his memory. He shook himself and went on. “He screamed at me to help but there were too many. I couldn’t move. You know?” He looked into her eyes, willing her to understand.

“Yes. I’ve been that scared,” she said. “I was in nursing school and someone had a bad accident. I thought I would never be able to be a nurse because when I saw all the blood, I just froze. It was good someone else was there or the person would have died. I can’t imagine what you saw, but I know that feeling. Go on.”

“There’s a lot of blood in a person,” said Tyler. “Even in a kid like Dylan. I never saw so much blood in my whole life. He just screamed and I guess they bit his throat because he kind of g

urgled and fell down and I just stood there and watched them ripping him apart, and then they ran away.” He frowned. “Why did they run away? Why didn’t they kill me, too? Why did they leave me alone?” He raised troubled eyes to her.

“I can’t answer that for you, Tyler,” she said. “But maybe there’s someone who knows about these things. Tell you what: when I go home, I’ll see if I can find out anything on Google. Okay?”

“And you’ll tell me what you find?” he asked.

“I promise. Now, do you think you could eat something? It’s just about lunch time.”

Tyler nodded slowly. “Yeah. I think so.” “Good boy. Now, I have to go let Dr. Freed know you’re a little more talkative. Is that okay with you?” She smiled at him.He grinned back, feeling like himself for the first time since that dreadful day. He watched her hold the door open for the person who brought the meals, then his attention was drawn to the smells coming from the tray. It smelled pretty good. Maybe it was half-decent today. He sat up and took off the lid, putting all thoughts of the creatures and the bag lady out of his mind.

***

 I’ll be back in a day or so with more.