The Hybrid (4 page)

“But I guess something happened, and things changed.
The fairies got angry. They began to hate humans. People
say that they trick little boys and girls into going into the
forest.” She spoke so nonchalantly, like she repeated this
story on a daily basis, but somehow she sounded eerie at
the same time.

You’re joking. You’re crazy!
“It’s like they are getting revenge against us for making
them so angry.” She looked at Tru and grinned. “Don’t
worry though. It’s just an old wives tale. Every small town
has to have one.” She giggled a little under her breath.
“Where did you hear all this from?” Tru asked, looking
at her.
“Oh, everyone here knows about it!” She threw her
hand in the air like she was swatting away a fly. “Some
say they’ve even seen them, but who really knows?”
“What happens when they trick you into the forest?”
Tru asked. She hated to admit it, but she was somewhat
curious.
“Well,” she paused curling her index finger and thumb
under her chin, trying to remember the story, “the myth
says that you get turned into a tree. Other people like to
twist the story and say that they turn you into a fairy and
that you start tricking your family and friends, too. So
anytime someone around here is gone for a while, we say
that they were
turned into a tree
.” She used her ghostly
voice again. “But, most of the time, they are just on vacation.”
“Do people around here ever really go missing?” Tru
was surprised that Bethany had seemed so relaxed about
the subject. She knew Bethany had said it was just an old
town story to spook people, but she didn’t seem like she
believed any of it herself.
“No.” Bethany giggled, looking at Tru like she was enjoying some small part of it. “Like I said, they are usually
just on vacation.”
“Oh.” Tru still couldn’t help but wonder.
Was that glimmering object in the forest yesterday a
fairy coming to lure me away from my family? Am I
thinking about it too much? Yes. It was just a myth. It
had to be. There’s no such thing as fairies.
Bethany and Tru turned away from the forest, and
walked the rest of the way home together in silence. It
was a short walk and Tru was grateful Bethany didn’t continue to speak. It wasn’t that Tru didn’t want her to talk.
It was just nice to finally have some time to hear her own
thoughts for once today. When they reached Maggie’s
house, Tru turned to look over at Bethany.
“This is my stop.” She pointed over her shoulder at the
yellow house, still focused on Bethany.
“Oh. So soon?”
Tru nodded her head without saying a word.
“Okay, well I guess I’ll see you at school on Monday,
then?” Bethany asked.
That’s right, it’s already Friday
.
“Yeah, Monday.” Tru turned and headed for the front
door.
“Tru,” Bethany called when Tru was only about two
feet away from her, “would you like to walk to school with
me on Monday?” Bethany looked like she was going to get
down on her hands and knees and start begging if Tru
didn’t give her an answer, but part of her looked shy too,
like she didn’t normally make friends on her own. It was
surprising for Gertrude to see her act that way, especially
for someone who seemed to dominate the school.
“Sure,” Tru said as she turned around to look at Bethany. She knew she was going to regret that sometime later,
but Tru knew it would upset Bethany in some way if she
didn’t agree to it.
Bethany smiled. “Okay! I’ll see you Monday then!” She
waved goodbye, and then turned around and followed the
sidewalk further down the street, skipping a little with
each step.
Tru quickly turned away and walked up the path to the
front porch, twisted the brass copy of the key her grandfather made in the doorknob, and pushed the large, heavy
white door open.

Bethany Meyers’ house was one of the nicer houses in
town. It was much larger than the one belonging to Gertrude’s grandparents, and it had been renovated just last
year, making it look much newer than most of the other
houses as well. It was two stories, like the other houses,
but had the added space of a basement, as well as two
extra bedrooms, instead of the three that were standard
in the neighborhood. Bethany didn’t seem to take notice
though ⎯ she was used to having nice things, and the
money to afford those nice things.

“Mom, I’m home!” Bethany yelled as she walked into
the large double-door foyer. She placed her purse on the
entryway table that sat just below a large mahogany mirror,
inconspicuously
giving
it
a
glance
as
she
turned
around to walk into the kitchen.

“Oh that’s wonderful, Sweetheart!” Her mother sounded as though she was only half paying attention, and
Bethany knew it meant she was probably busy.

“Yeah,” Bethany said under her breath. Bethany stood
from her spot at the table and walked over to the refrigerator. When she opened it, she grabbed a stem of grapes
out of the crisper, and then headed for the stairs near the
front door.

As she walked up to the second floor, the faint sound of
shuffling could be heard coming from her mother’s bedroom. When Bethany had entered the room, she was immediately hit by a flying pink dress. Then, a shoe. Bethany quickly picked up the items that struck her and walked
further into the room. It looked as though her mother’s
closet had blown up, leaving pieces of clothing strewn
across the room.

“What’s going on, Mom?” Bethany asked, holding up
her mother’s things.
“I can’t find anything to wear!” her mother said as she
emerged from her walk-in closet, wearing only a black
silk robe.
“What, do you have a hot date or something?” Bethany
asked enthusiastically.
“Yes, actually.” Her mother pushed past her and into
the bathroom. When she came back out, she held a necklace in her hands. “Could you please?” she said to Bethany, unhooking the necklace.
“Sure,” Bethany replied, taking the silver chain.
“Do you remember that nice man that owns the bakery?”
Bethany shook her head. “Mhm.”
“Well, he comes to the flower shop almost everyday to
get flowers for his store, and today, he asked if I wanted
to go out to dinner.” Bethany’s mom turned around to
look at her, brushing a piece of her blonde hair behind
her ear.
Bethany couldn’t help but look at her mother with a bit
of bitterness. She didn’t like her mother going out. She
didn’t like that her parents weren’t together anymore. But
there was nothing she could say to change it.
“What?” Ms. Meyer said as she looked at her daughter.
“You and dad just got a divorce like a year ago. Can’t
you wait just a little longer before you start dating again?”
Bethany sat on the edge of the large bed that sat in the
center of the room.
Ms. Meyer walked over to the floor length mirror in the
corner of the room, picking up a black dress off the floor
on her way. As she held it to her body, admiring herself in
the mirror, she spoke. “I am a grown woman, Bethy. I
deserve to be happy don’t I? Your father is happy now. I
think it’s my finally my turn.”
“I just think you should wait.” Bethany stood from the
bed and walked quietly out of the room.
A few feet down the hall, Bethany came to a stop at a
closed bedroom door. She gave the door a few knocks,
and then waited.
“Yeah?” a male voice shouted over the faint sound of
music.
Bethany cracked the door open enough to see her
brother sitting at a desk, staring at the bright screen of a
laptop.
“Looks like it’s just you and I for dinner tonight.”

As Tru walked through the foyer of her grandmother’s
house, she slid her heavy backpack off of her shoulders,
still holding it in her hand, and placed her stack of books
on the small entryway table against the wall. When she
entered the living room, she placed the backpack on the
floor by the old striped couch and walked to the sliding
glass door that looked out across the backyard. In the distance, past the wildly growing lawn, she could see the forest.

The backyard at her grandparent’s house was much
larger than the backyard at her old house. There were
probably about sixty feet between the house and the first
row of trees on the other side. There was a small, circular,
cemented patio stretching from the sliding door that was
only about twenty feet in diameter. It was meant for a
table and some chairs, but Maggie had only managed to
place
a
simple
freestanding
barbeque
along
the
wall
where the cement met up with the house. The backyard
had grass, but it was the only living plant out there, and it
was hardly ever mowed. Tru liked it though. It made the
yard look more natural against the forest backdrop.

Slowly, Tru raised her right hand and pressed it flat
against the glass, slowly gliding the door open. It was
nearly halfway ajar when she heard a noise coming from
behind her.

Tru quietly
slid the
door
closed again and turned
around to face the empty family room. “Yes, Grandma?”
She called back to the woman.

“Just making sure it was you.” Maggie came walking
through the kitchen door, wiping her hands into an old
towel she was holding, then stopped just a few feet in
front of Tru. “What are you up to today?”

Tru ignored Maggie’s question by asking one of her
own. “Do you believe in the myth?”
“Which one?” She looked at Tru with curiosity, folding
her arms across her chest. The towel dangled out of the
crevice just below her armpit.
There’s more than one?
“The one about the fairies,” Tru replied, a slight questioning tone to her voice.
“Oh.” Maggie stood silently for what seem like an hour,
placing a hand gently on the back of the couch for support.
“Do you believe in fairies?” Tru asked when she still
hadn’t responded.
“I believe that people like to tell stories, and I think
naïve people like
believing
the stories,” she finally replied. “You shouldn’t believe everything you hear, Sweetheart.” She looked over her shoulder for a slight second.
Her pot of water on the stove was bubbling quietly in the
background.
“Do you think the myth could be true though?” Tru
needed a straight answer. But she didn’t want to tell Maggie that she was possibly one of the myths believers.
“Why
do
you
ask?” Maggie
turned
her
head
back
around and looked out of the clear glass door behind Tru,
then
back
at her
granddaughter’s
face.
Her
face
was
blank, completely expressionless, making it difficult for
Tru to tell what the woman was thinking.
“Never mind.” Tru was getting nowhere. “I was just
curious.” She looked at the floor, and then pushed past
Maggie,
heading
for
the
kitchen.
Tru
could
tell
her
grandmother was avoiding something but she couldn’t
put her finger on it.
Tru stopped short of the kitchen door and turned to
look
back
at
her
grandma.
Maggie
was
still standing
there, her body facing the glass door as she stared at the
floor, turning her wedding ring with one hand, while still
holding the towel with the other. Tru slowly walked back
towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder, realizing
quickly that she had startled Maggie when she shuddered
at her touch.

“Oh my, look at the time,” Maggie said, looking at the
watch on her left wrist. “I guess it’s time to check on that
pot roast in the oven.” She all but ran back into the kitchen, clearly remembering something she didn’t wish to
share.

Tru moved further into the hallway across from the
guestroom door, making sure Maggie couldn’t see her
anymore. She watched as Maggie’s shadow moved back
and forth against the black and white tiled floor. She
moved across the room so many times, that Tru had almost become dizzy.

Then, after she was sure she was too busy to notice,
Tru walked slowly back to the sliding door, trying not to
make a sound so her grandmother wouldn’t turn around
and stop her again. Once at the door, Tru looked at the
oiled handprint she had left behind the first time, and
then placed her palm against the glass, in exactly the
same spot. She gave the door a slight push and watched it
slide open with ease. Then, Tru paused, listening for any
changes in the kitchen. She hoped her grandma couldn’t
hear the slight sweeping noise the door made as it slid
through the casing.

When she was sure Maggie didn’t hear it, Tru pushed
the door wider and took one last look at the shadow on
the ground.

She’s still moving. Go.
Now
. Just do it.
Tru ran out of the door immediately, knowing exactly
where she was headed. She wanted to see for herself if the
myth was true. She not only wanted to know, she
needed
to know. She needed to know why her grandma avoided
her questions. She wanted to know what had made her so
fidgety after their conversation.
Tru darted back to the small field in the forest where
she first saw the glistening object, pushing through the
tall trees and rocks and ferns. As she made it into the
clearing, just beyond the tree line, clouds began to slowly
cover the sun, making her worry that she would not be
able to see the object even if it were there. But that didn’t
stop her. Slowly, Tru walked to the center of the meadow
and sat down on the dampened grass. The blades tickled
her ankle where her sock and blue jeans met. The moisture seeped through the seat of her pants, but she continued to sit there anyway.
The young man looked at the girl as she sat in the center of the field. He knew she couldn’t see him, and it excited him. She was back, for the tenth day in a row. She
was so close to him today, but there was nothing he could
do about it. Last time, she was too close. She had seen
something that day. She would have seen him watching
her if she hadn’t have been called away.