1. The Changeling Baby


    Date: 1/1/2016, Categories: Supernatural, Author: TamLin, Rating: 3, Source: LushStories

    happening. "We're desperate," said the woman, and William was surprised to hear her voice tremble. It almost looked like she had tears in her eyes. "Find someone else to help you," William said. "Leave me alone." "We can't do that," the woman said. "We need you." "For what?" William said, almost shouting. He didn’t wait for an answer but instead dashed across the room, seized the blinds, and pulled them down over the monster’s faces. A ridiculous gesture, but it was all he could do. His heart pounded as he waited to see what they would do. When the male monster spoke again, his voice was so soft it was barely audible over the wind: "We need your help to get our son back." And then they were gone. *** William woke up the next morning and looked at the window in a panic, but of course there was nothing there. The blinds were up again, somehow, but there was nothing out there to see except morning sun and the face of the building across the street. He rubbed his eyes, wondering if it had all been a dream. Maybe even the baby and the park and Nissa had been a dream too. He went out to breakfast, but when he sat down the feeling of dread come back to him. He'd forgotten all about running away without explanation the other day and how his parents had still not confronted him about it. But to his surprise his mother only gave him a thin smile, and his father, busy in the kitchen, seemed downright cheerful. Neither mentioned his behavior at the Menskr’s. They ate in silence. Which ...
    is to say, William's parents were silent to him. Conversation between the two of them was lively enough, with talk about the Menskr baby, and about work, and about William's aunt's upcoming fiftieth birthday, and as always talk about the new baby. William's mother was so big now that she barely fit at the table, and she rested her hands on her swollen belly, feeling for movement within. William thought about how strange an unborn baby is: half in the world, half out of it. It was Saturday and he was free to do whatever he wanted after breakfast. He thought about going upstairs to see Nissa. He did not stop by her place very often, if for no other reason than to avoid her father's sad, disturbing eyes, but he wanted to see if she remembered their encounter from the previous night. But of course, he was afraid to also. Instead he decided to go to the library. It was partly an excuse to get out of the house, but he also had a particular book in mind that he wanted to look up, one that, if it was still there after all these years, might confirm whether or not the things he was seeing lately were real. He told his parents he was going out and his mother stopped to kiss him on the cheek. She had only ever kissed him on the cheek. His father told him to be home before it was dark, but that was all. He took the bus to the Western Addition branch and, feeling a bit sheepish about it, went to the children's section. He was lucky enough to find the book he wanted, the book he’d liked so ...
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