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those just weren t very good odds at all. What kept me on the boat was the thought of
Dad trying to make it by himself. I loved him. He wasn t completely incompetent but
neither was he an exceptionally intelligent person. And he had the plank arm. That was a
serious handicap.
 No, I said.  I ll go.
 Okay, he said. He found a large machete stuck into the wood of a rail, pulled it
out, and chopped away at the ropes anchoring the ship to the shore. And, like that, the
wind captured the ship and began dragging us out to sea.
I immediately became sick. It was like the ship, piloted by no captain at all, was
piloted by a drunken captain hellbent on making the rest of the passengers feel as sick as
he was. The water was choppy and the ship slapped over the waves, coming down with a
crash, throwing us violently around the deck. I trudged to a railing, leaned over, and
heaved out everything I had not eaten over the past several days. Nevertheless, it was
amazing the objects that spewed forth. Small animals. Numerous fish. A few
indescribable creatures and, finally, the hallucinogenic sandwich. It came out perfectly
intact, as though it had never been chewed. It flew from my mouth and splashed into the
ocean below. Maybe, I thought, that was why everything had been so strange the
hallucinogenic sandwich. Before, things had been moderately strange. Like my stay in
Dayton and my trip to New York. But they had been, let s see, a worldly kind of strange
was the best I could think of to describe it. It was after the sandwich that things began to
shift and rearrange, to become otherworldly. It was after the sandwich that, not only was
the reality around me subverted, but the reality I had come from, my entire past
everything had been subverted. In short, it was after the sandwich that things became
really fucked up.
I almost expected to find myself back in my bedroom or my apartment in Dayton
after throwing up the sandwich. Mom would still be there. Dad would still be the plump,
factory working father I had grown up with. Not this thin, mustachioed imposter of an
imposter with a plank for an arm. But no. We were still on the ship and Dad was still
skinny and his arm was still a piece of wood and the ocean had grown choppier than ever.
The effect was that of a storm even though, if I looked up, I could see the blue
sky. The waves had become so large and the ship splashed down in the water so hard
there was a constant spume covering the deck. Dad held onto a piece of rope to keep him
straight. I continued to clutch the railing, thinking I might have to spew again any minute.
 Maybe we should go below deck! Dad shouted.
I thought that sounded like a terrible idea. That would be like submerging
ourselves in this vicious water so when the ship split apart, as it inevitably would, we
would already be beneath the surface, without a fighting chance. But, perhaps just
because Dad said it, I convinced myself it was a good idea.
On shaky legs, he wandered out to the middle of the deck and headed for the cabin
door. Just as he got close to it, the door swung open and the three Nefarions casually filed
out. I remembered tucking the flame away in some cushions and I quickly scampered to it
and snatched it up, clutching it to my chest and watching the Nefarions. The imposter
with his ridiculously fake beard. The onion-headed bus driver. And, of course, the eagle-
headed creature, wearing some kind of thick, white bath robe.
 What do you want? Dad said.
 You know what we want, the eagle-headed creature said.
 The flame?
 Exactly.
 And do you know what we want?
 Oh, I think I do and I can assure you they are both safe and sound. We will be
happy to return them once we have the flame.
 I m sorry, Dad said.  But we have to see them, just to make sure everything is
okay, before we can give you back the flame.
The eagle-headed creature threw his arms up in disgust.
 Come on, he said.  How much longer do we have to wait?
 I thought you would know these parts around here better than us.
 We ve waited so many years. I m tired of waiting.
 If you knew where it was all along, then why didn t you just come and take it?
  We didn t know anything, the eagle-headed creature said.
 Sure you did.
 No we didn t.
 Bet you did.
Once again disgusted, the eagle-headed creature threw his arms up in the air, this
time turning toward his fellow Nefarions and giving them a look that said he wanted them
to sympathize with him in arguing against this retarded, plank-armed old man.
 Okay, Eaglehead said.  Why do you say we knew about this all along?
 Because you sent that elephant herd after my dad.
 Did you see an elephant herd?
 Well, no... But David was there.
 Did you see an elephant herd? he asked me.
 Yes.
 You don t think it could haven been the product of an overactive imagination?
 No. I heard them. I saw them. I smelled them. I watched Grandpa disappear right
in front of me. Can you imagine how traumatic that would be for a seven-year-old?
 Fuck trauma, Eaglehead said.  All you petty humans are so hung up on your
traumas and injustices it s amazing you ever get anything done except for moping around
and feeling sorry for yourself. Oh wait, I forgot, that s why you do things. Because you
feel so sorry for yourself you have to build things, rape people and whatever just to feel
better about yourself.
 And what do you do? I asked.
Dad shot me a look as if to say arguing with these guys would be futile, even after
I had just watched him engage in it.
 Well, we haven t done much the last several years except look for a certain
flame. Our little society has kind of been paying for it. Luckily we ve had your grandpa
there for amusement. It really boosts morale. And your mom, well, she s a real spitfire
too.
Dad approached the eagle-headed creature, more rapidly than I had ever seen him
move, and cracked him across the head with his plank.
 Ow! Eaglehead said, reaching out an arm significantly longer than Dad s and
pushing him away by his face. Dad raised his arm to come after him again but Eaglehead
said,  It won t do any good. Besides, we haven t done anything to hurt them. When I say
they ve livened the place up it s because they re both insane and there s nothing we find
more entertaining than mental instability.
 I still say you knew where it was all along.
 Well, we knew where your father was all along. We have a sort of... kinship for
people who have been exposed to Brilliance over a period of time. But, Brilliance itself,
it s not like a beacon or anything. We can t feel its burning from a world away. We can
feel those it has touched. So, yeah, we sent the elephant wind just to fuck with everybody.
We were pretty sure, dragged away from his family and his secure life of normalcy, old
Grady would blab away about where Brilliance was. But he didn t. He wouldn t tell us a
thing. It was like Brilliance was the greatest thing he had ever acquired and he meant to
hang onto it. If we had known he was stupid enough to keep it right there above his head,
believe me, we would have gone back for it. But we figured it was held securely in some
remote location. It wasn t until I saw your son there in Central Park I realized I was
looking at someone else who had seen the flame. So I had his imposter follow him
around. On the bus ride back to Ohio, the imposter ate a little of David s brain, and that
told us everything we needed to know. But, of course, by the time we could all rally [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]