mbarker | What Child Is This? (1100 words)

In response to my prompt at https://moreoddsthanends.home.blog/2020/01/22/week-4-of-odd-prompts/

My prompt was:

A truck driver going down a state highway late at night sees an obviously distressed woman walking along the side of the road carrying a child. She refuses all offers to help. When the driver looks back she is standing on the side of a bridge, looking down at the river and the child is no longer in sight.

And here’s what I came up with...

What Child Is This? (1100 words)

By Mike Barker

Harold double-clutched and downshifted, slowing his rig. It was late, dark, and... there was somebody walking on the side of the highway up ahead. He hit the clutch again, and braked. Oh, man, what is somebody doing out here at this time of night?

He had the rig, and his load, almost at a walking speed. He hit the window button, and called out, “Ma’am, are you all right? You need some help?”

She turned, and her face was pale white in the running lights. She shook her head. She had a bundle in her arms. He thought it looked like she was holding a baby, but...

“No, thanks. I don’t think anyone can help at this point.”

He slowed down a touch more, as she turned away from him.

“No, now, that’s where you’re wrong. I can give you a ride, or I could call the police for you, if you’d be more comfortable with them. Heck, I can call just about anybody you like. You really shouldn’t be wandering around out here, all by yourself.”

He brought the rig to a stop. Glanced around to make sure there wasn’t someone sneaking up or something, using her as a distraction. But they were alone, nothing moving. There was a bridge just in front of them, but he knew that river. It was just a short stretch running down to the nearby ocean. He put it in neutral, and set the emergency brake. Then he unbuckled and swung out of the rig. When he got down, he stretched. Then he looked at the woman.

Nice looking woman, but she was really nervous. He looked at the bundle. That was a baby, for sure.

“I see you have your child, too. Out for a walk at this time of night?”

She shook her head, and squeezed the bundle a little tighter.

“Oh, you wouldn’t understand. Look, I just want to walk up to the bridge, and then I’ll be fine.”

Then she hummed for a moment, and sang a funny little tune.

He blinked. Okay, she had some kind of plan. And he was making her really nervous. All right, give her some space. Might keep an eye on her, though.

“Tell you what. I’ll pull up past the bridge, and you can walk up there, and then meet me on the other side. Then I can give you a ride wherever you want. Sound good?”

Her shoulders dropped as she relaxed.

“Okay. We can do that. In fact, let’s do that.”

He didn’t understand quite why, but as she spoke, he suddenly felt it was urgent to get back in and drive ahead. So he climbed up, buckled in, took the brake off, and let the big rig roll forward. It rattled over the bridge, and he brought it to a stop, just a little past the bridge.

Then he watched in the rear view mirror as the woman walked up to the bridge. She strolled up, and looked over the side. He saw her hug the bundle, and... then she turned a bit, and he blinked. What happened? Then she turned back, and walked towards the truck.

He swung the passenger door open. It was a long stretch, but he was used to it.

She tossed the bundle into the seat, then climbed up behind it. He was still gaping at the empty blankets on the seat when she pushed them aside and sat down.

“What? Where’s your baby?”

She blinked, and wiped at a tear. Then she half-laughed, and sang a little melody.

Suddenly, he couldn’t move. He could still hear and see, but his body... it just sat there.

“I am really sorry to have to do this to you, but let me tell you who I am, and where my baby is going. Then, well, later I’ll have to take the memories away from you, but at least for a while, you’ll understand.”

She took a deep breath.

“You see, you have met a siren. You might have heard of us, we sing sailors to their doom? Not really, and not always. In fact, most of the time, I’m a housewife, just like so many others. But... my child, my baby, needs to grow in the ocean. He’s almost a year old, which is when the first change comes on us. See, we are born on dry land, but then we spend our childhood in the ocean. And in... oh, a dozen years or so, he’ll feel the urge to come back to where he first entered the waters, and he’ll find this river, and come back for the second change, to walk on dry land.”

She blinked, and tears ran down her face.

“But I had to let him go! My baby, out there, by himself. It’s natural for sirens, but oh, my heart aches!”

She sang another little melody, and he found himself in his body again. His jaw dropped.

“You’re a siren. And you just put your baby in the river?”

She nodded.

“But... how can you stand it? I mean, wow...”

She grimaced.

“I don’t want to, but it is the only way we can live. And I will be here again, when the seasons call him back to land.”

“How can you tell me all this? What if I tell someone?”

She snickered.

“Oh, well. The stories of the powers of the sirens are almost true, you see? First, let’s get me into town... then I’ll sing you another song, and I’m afraid you will forget all about this.”

She started to hum, and then his hands and feet moved, and the big rig started rolling. As we cruised, he listened to her talk. She enjoyed telling him about her life, about the house she had, about her husband, and everything.

And after they reached the next town, she climbed out of the rig and sang another song.The first few notes caught his attention and he stared at her, blinking slowly. She wasn't all that pretty, but her song reached down into him and made him shiver. He felt his world turning into a cascade of wonderful music, a shimmering torrent of sound...

Harold looked at the dashboard clock, and the town around him. What the heck was he doing idling along here? He put the rig in gear and started moving. He thought to himself, “I must have been half sleeping to be so far behind schedule.”

As he pulled into the street, he saw a young woman waving at him. He reached over and pulled the air horn, a couple of short blasts, just to let her know he saw her.

He didn’t know who she was, but it’s always nice to let them know you saw them.

The end.