1-6, 1: The Hipbone

The Opener:

      In the end there was a bang. And a whimper. She tried not to laugh when she thought about it. And he never even noticed. There was sweat and flesh and fingers and teeth and places where all of them would meet. There was the bed, the bed of apples. The yellow cat. The hip bone. The window. And the blue baby dress. When tongues tangled, and lips met teeth and sweat mingled between flesh, there were still the other things between them. The other things that waited. That would always wait. That would always be there, that would always come. That would push them apart, that would keep them together.

      Without them they were nothing.

          *           *           *      

The Hipbone

      The river always flowed. Through every season, through every drought, the river flowed. Then one year, in the summer of 1983 the season was particularly dry, and the water nearly stopped. The river grew lower and lower to the ground until it was the tiniest trickle one could easily squash against the sole of ones foot.

      The boy was doing exactly that. Walking down the river bed, squashing the tiny stream, when he found a silver fish flopping desperately in the trickle. Not having a thing to put it in, he dug a hole. After enough water collected there, he left the fish and raced home to fetch a bucket.

      At the river, he pressed the bucket into the sand, allowing it to fill with water as much as the flow of it would allow. And plunked the fish inside. It was a pretty fish. Silver and glittery with a blue line down its back. He had never seen one like it.

      Walking to the pet store for supplies, he at one point happened to glance down into the bucket to see the face of a woman smiling up at him. Whether it was the fact that a face was in the bucket or that it was a beautiful face that startled him, he didn't know. But, startled just the same, he tripped on a crack in the road and the bucket flew out of his hand, spilling into the street.

      From out of the bucket with the water tumbled a black and white ball of hair and skin and riverweed which sprouted in all directions and grew taller and taller until a young woman as pale as the moon with hair as black as night and reaching the backs of her knees stood naked in the street. River reeds, duckweed and algae in her hair. She blinked her eyes like a fish and gulped the air awkwardly before settling into her skin.

      The boy stood up.

            What...? What are you? :he asked.

            Blop. :said the woman.

            Are you the fish?

      The woman cocked her head and blinked. Her eyes big and black and aquatic.

            I know this story. :said the boy: We need to get you
      out of here.

      He held out his hand, which the woman paused before taking and he led her, slowly at first, around the three blocks back to his house. Her legs were shaky, but for someone who had presumably never before used them, she picked up on the idea of rushing rather quickly.

      Inside, the boy ran the woman up the stairs, past his parents who called out a halfhearted hello and reminder not to slam the door, and into his room. Which he locked. The woman took her surroundings in without a small amount of interest.

             I have to call my girlfriend. :said the boy: She'd kill
      me if she ever found out i found a fishwoman and never
      told her.

            Blop. :said the woman

      The boy called his girlfriend who brought over some clothes and three burgers, cokes and fries. She said a quick hello to the boy's parents and ran up the stairs. With the door closed and locked behind her, the girl looked the woman up and down in wonder.

            She's real. :she said: Look at her eyes. She even
      looks like she's from the river.

      She reached out a hand to touch the woman, who shrinked back.

            Can i touch you? To see if your skin is like ours? I
      don't know, does it need to be kept moist? Will you dry
      out?... Do you know?

      The woman cocked her head and blinked. The closing and opening of her eyes made an audible sound.

            May i? :the girl asked again.

      The woman shrugged and thrust out an arm as if awaiting a blood pressure test. The girl gently stroked the skin of the woman's arm. The flesh was wet and rubbery. Like a dolphin's. The girl looked over the woman's body.
      She had two breasts. A belly button. Faint lines along the neck reminiscent of gills. And a very pronounced spine in the thoracic region almost like a fin. Down her back from the nape of her neck to the crack of her bum was a thin blue line.

            She had that when she was a fish. :said the boy: The
      blue line.

            Hm. What kind of river fish has a blue stripe down its
      back?

            I have no idea. I'd never seen that type of fish before.

            Well, i guess now we know why.

      The woman's skin did not appear to dry. She was very interested in the boy's posters. While the girl tried different outfits on her, the boy explained his wall art.

             That's Metallica. This is AC/DC. That's Ozzy.
      He's in Black Sabbath. That's KISS. They're all
      bands. They play music. Do you know music? Do
      you think she's ever heard music?

            Probably, if she lives in the river. I used to bring
      my jam box down there all the time. I've seen lots of
      people do it. ...I think the dress would suit her best.

            Yeah. :he agreed: I always liked that one.

            Aw, really?

            Yeah, :he blushed: But it probably won't look
      as good as it does on you.

      His words were kind, but incorrect. The woman was beautiful. Stunning. Perfect. They both knew it. And there was no denying it. Only after outfitting her, a strange thing happened.

            Hold on, :said the girl: What's up with her hip?

      As the woman walked around the room continuing her examination of its decor, her hip bone often jutted out strangely beneath the flimsy fabric of the yellow dress.

            I don't know, :said the boy: But that doesn't look right.

            It looks like...bone. Just. Bone. Lift up her dress
      and check.

            You're a girl. Maybe you should lift up her dress
      and check.

            I'm afraid of what i'll find.

            It can't be anything you haven't seen before. Well,
      unless it is.

      Cautiously the girl stepped up to the woman.

            I'm going to check. To make sure you're okay. :said the
      girl: Okay? I won't hurt you.

            Blop. :said the woman.

      The girl lifted up the dress. The woman's left hip was entirely absent of flesh. Her waist just faded into nothing as it reached the top of her hip, as did the flesh at the top of her thigh and of the rest of her pelvic region. The exposed socket of her pelvis where it connected with the ball of her femur made an unpleasant grinding sound when she turned. The girl checked the right side. It looked fine. She lowered the dress.

            Okay, thanks... :she smiled.

      The woman nodded, bobbing her head repeatedly. The girl sat on the bed beside her boyfriend.

            Yep, :she whispered: Just bone.

            How did we miss that?

            I don't know. :she shrugged: I think her hair was
      covering it.

            What do we do?

            I don't know. Nothing? She seems fine.

            Yeah, but, what do we do with her?

            Oh. Hm. Um... She could stay in your treehouse?

            I haven't used that thing in ages. What if it caves in?

            I don't think it would have fallen into such disrepair
      in three months...

            ...Shut up...

            Aw, i think it's cute you like treehouses. I like
      treehouses. I'd live in your treehouse.

            I'd live in your treehouse.

            You practically do live in my treehouse.

      The boy and the girl looked up. The woman was watching them in concentrated observation. Her eyes darted from face to face. The woman lifted a bony arm, pointed to the pair and said:

            Ip blop bu bopopip. Ip?

            Um... :said the boy.

            We don't know what that means. :said the girl.

            Ip. :said the woman.

      Leaning forward, she placed a hand on the back of each of their heads and smacked them together, pressing their faces into one another.

            Ow.

            Why did she do that?

            I think she wants us to kiss...? Kiss?

            Ip :said the woman.

            Kiss me. See if that works.

            When hasn't that worked?

            Just do it.

      The boy leaned forward and kissed the girl. The woman clasped her hands together and smiled.

            That's sweet. :said the girl: I guess she's a romantic.

      That night the boy and girl snuck the woman into the treehouse. They cleaned it up nicely, furnished it as best they could and emptied half the kitchen cupboard for her buffet.
      The boy showed the woman how to talk to him in case she needed anything using the string and cans he had leading from his bedroom window to the treehouse. A short while after they had left the woman in the treehouse, the girl had gone home and the boy had gotten ready for bed, the boy heard a quiet blip in the can resting by his pillow.

            Ipabip? :said the can: Blop? Bip ipabip.

            Are you okay? :asked the boy.

      Climbing out of bed he looked out his bedroom window to the treehouse. The woman sat in the little doorway with her legs dangling over the edge. She moved the can from her ear back to her mouth.

            Op bop ipabip op. :she said, pointing to the distance:
      Opabop bipip. :she looked up at the moon, then down
      to the ground: Ipabip bo op? Ipabip?

            Hold on. :said the boy: I'll come out.

      The boy grabbed a sweatshirt and ran outside. The woman was climbing down from the treehouse.

            You should stay up there. :said the boy: To sleep.
      We don't have anywhere else to put you.

      The woman shook her head, pointing to the distance.

            Op blop. Ipabip bo op. Op bop. Ipabip.

      She started walking.

            Wait, :said the boy: Where are you going?

            Blop. :said the woman.

            Do you need me to take you somewhere?

            Blop bop. :said the woman.

            Here, i'll take you. Just hold on. Don't go anywhere.

      The boy went inside to grab his keys.

             We'll take my truck. :he said to the woman, leading
      the way: I'll take you wherever you want to go, but first
      we need to get my girlfriend.

      They stopped at the girl's house and as on many nights before, he crept around back to her bedroom, tapped on the glass and waited. The girl opened it.

            What is it? :she asked: Is it her?

            Yeah, she wants to go somewhere.

            Where?

            I have no idea. But hurry up, i don't want her to run
      away. If someone else finds her they could like kidnap
      her and do experiments on her and stuff.

            Yeah, okay. I'll be right out.

      The boy waited with the woman in the truck. A few minutes later the girl ran out from around back and hopped in, squeezing the woman in between them.

            Blop. :the woman smiled.

            Hi. :the girl smiled back.

      Every now and then the woman would say something and point. The boy turned wherever she directed and was soon led back to the river, but at a higher point upstream in another neighborhood.

            You want to go back to the river? :asked the boy.

            Blop. :said the woman.

            But you can't. There isn't enough water. :said the girl.

            Blop. :said the woman, and started to climb over her.

            Okay, okay. :she said, hopping out of the truck and letting
      the woman out.

      The boy and the girl followed the woman down a trail. They walked for a while before the woman left the path and went through several stalks of dry reeds. The boy and girl walked much more slowly through the mud and muck.

            I'm going to lose a shoe. :said the girl.

            I already did. :said the boy.

            Where are you going? :the girl called out to the
      woman: We can't walk as fast as you.

            Blop. :called the woman.

      When the boy and the girl caught up, the woman was standing at a pool at the edge of the river. There was more water here, but not nearly as much as there had been. There were a lot of fish. It didn't look very comfortable, packed in such a small space with so little room to swim.

            You really want to go in there? :asked the girl.

            Blop.

            Well, if that's what she wants... :said the boy.

            I guess so... Are you sure you'll be okay?

      The woman turned to face them. She grabbed each of their arms, turned them around and pushed them alongside the riverbed a few feet upstream where all that was left of the river was the smallest trickle of a stream like it was by the boy's house. The woman pointed to the riverbed.

            Ipabip blop. Bopopip ablip bop. Blop. Bip? Blip?

            Uh, i don't know...?

      The woman scowled.

            Do you want us to go over there?

            Blop.

            And do what?

            Blop.

            Is there something there?

      The woman nodded, pointing to the riverbed.

            Okay. :they said.

      The woman smiled, took off the dress and handed it to the girl. She walked into the pool of fish and vanished.

            If we wait until daylight, do you think if we looked
      over there we could see her? As a fish? :asked the girl.

            Probably. I don't think there are any other fish like
      her.

            Let's do that then. I want to see her as a fish. To
      make sure she's okay. We'll still have time to get home
      before our parents notice if we leave right after.

            Okay.

      The boy and girl walked a few feet into the riverbed where the woman had pointed. They looked around, but saw nothing in the darkness. Together they lay at the river's edge and with nothing to do before sunrise, made love in grass.

      Just before daybreak they were awoken by thunder, followed by a downpour of rain. The boy made to run back to the truck, but the girl liked the rain. And she wanted to see the silver fishwoman. This rain was desperately needed and they were glad the drought was finally over.

      Watching the rain pelt down around them, the boy was looking toward the spot the woman had pointed to earlier in the night when he saw something glistening in the faint glow of dawn.

            What's that? :he asked, pointing to the strange
      object in the sand.

            I don't know. :said the girl.

      A thin veil of rain water rushed over the river bed. As they approached the mystery object, it looked more and more like a bone. A hip bone. The boy grabbed hold of it, pulling it out of the sand. It was a human pelvis, the left most side bleached white from the sun.

            Oh my god, :said the girl: Go put it in the grass
      away from the water.

      She dug around in the sand, feeling for more bones. The boy joined her. The water flowed up to their calves. It rose fast, raging down the riverbed. Each bone they found they put in a pile by the hip bone. Some of the smaller ones they knew were carried away by the current, growing ever swifter. When they found the skull it took all their strength to heave it up out of the wet sand and water. And then they were done.

      Sunrise came and went and it was still raining, but they could see the fish swim happily in the pool of the river. After a few moments, a silver fish with a blue streak down its back swam close to the edge, looking up at them before swimming away downstream.

      The boy and girl collected the bones in their shirts, the way they had carried apples from the orchard when they were children, and walked carefully back to the truck. They stepped cautiously, deliberately, taking their time in an effort to preserve their findings.

      Without a word to one another, they drove to the police station, presenting the officers with the bones found in the river. After a few hours of questioning they were released, but called the station once a week to see if they had been able to identify the body. They had not, as most of the teeth were missing.

      After a couple months, the calls became less frequent. Once every few weeks, once every few months, once every few years until one day it was just a curious story one tells to someone else: One time i found human bones in a riverbed. I took them to the police, but they never figured out who they belonged to. Even so, i have a feeling, just a funny feeling, that they belonged to a woman. And that now she is at peace.






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