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“All I can do is tell you that things will be different this time around. I will give the children what I never had: a place to be whoever they want to be, no matter what they can do or where they come from.”
“Do you remember when Talia tried to make pecan pie but we were out of pecans so she used candy corn instead and there was so much sugar in it, Linus said it’d rot our teeth, but we ate it anyway and didn’t sleep for three days because we could all smell colors?”
But before he could finish, Lucy yelled in unfettered joy, “You can breathe fire? Holy crap, Theodore! Let’s burn everything!” “And that’s our cue,” Arthur said.
“That’s right,” Helen said as she took the last empty seat. “And we’re going to have so much fun. Anything you need, you just ask. Zoe and I will take care of it.” “Anything?” Lucy asked sweetly. “Within reason,” Arthur said. “Stupid reason,” Lucy muttered, grabbing a piece of toast and munching mutinously.
Lucy rolled his eyes. “I know where to get real blood, but Arthur said I’m not allowed to do that anymore.” “I did,” Arthur said simply.
“I wasn’t treated right when I was a child, but I was far from the only one. You have all experienced it for yourselves, in one form or another. I wish I could take that from you, but I can’t. And I don’t know if I would have the right, even if I could. You are more than the sum of your parts, but your past is still that: yours. I wouldn’t presume to take something from you that you might not want to give up, even if it’s painful to think about. I want to do the next best thing: use my voice to bring attention not only to this island, but to others who might not have found their home yet.”
“I won’t lie to you. The road ahead will not be smooth. No matter what I—we say, there will always be those who refuse to accept the truth. They surround themselves with like-minded people, and it creates an echo chamber that’s nigh on impossible to escape. A feedback loop that never ends.
“We’re surrounded by like-minded people. We all want the same thing, or something close to it. Isn’t that an echo chamber? How does that make us any different?”
“I don’t know why we just don’t throw stones at them,” Talia muttered. “Seems to be a waste of a good rock if you ask me.”
“But I believe the greatest weapon we have at our disposal is our voices. And I am going to use my voice for you, and for me. Hate is loud. We are louder.”
Talia rolled her eyes. “Of course it’s another boy. So many penises in this house.” “I don’t have a penis,” Chauncey said. “It’s more like a cloaca.”
“Let them listen to what joy sounds like. Maybe they’ll learn a thing or two.”
“When we live in fear, it controls us. Every decision we make is smothered by it.
“So everyone in the government is mostly terrible,” Arthur said.
“That’s the funny thing about those in power. They underestimate everyone beneath them, even knowing their secrets are heard by someone.”
“A time will come,” she said, “when all of us will have to make a choice between what is right and what is wrong. I worry that time is closer than we think. And I don’t know that we’re prepared.
“I wouldn’t dream of going to war with any of you,” Arthur said mildly. “It would be a battle of wits for which you are wholly unarmed.”
Arthur said, “Yes. Yes to you. Yes to us. Yes to all of it.”
“Would you look at that! Warms my heart, it does. Love, lads. It’s what makes the world go round.”
“Of course not,” Linus said. “Confidence is silent. Insecurities are loud.”
Unfazed, the conductor said, “How wonderful! I, too, am filled with an encroaching dread over my own mortality. I’ve always thought that being aware of one’s impending demise makes for a more interesting life, but I have yet to prove this particular hypothesis. Have a pleasant trip, and do let us know if there’s anything we can do to make your journey as comfortable as possible. Ta!”
If you go into a situation expecting the worst, it may cloud your ability to see what good can come from it.”
“Talia did want me to remind you that if you did not, in fact, buy her a present, you should get back on the train and not come back until you have.” Linus grinned. “I bet she did.”
“He’s not going to fight Jesus,” Talia said. “Last night, Lucy stubbed his toe and cried until Zoe kissed it, so all Jesus has to do is wait for that, and the fight is over.”
You can get away with anything once, sometimes twice if you try hard enough.” “Talia,” Linus said sternly.
Phee glared at them. “If anyone tries to take bacon from me, I’m going to turn them into a tree. And not a good tree. A bad one, like a Bradford pear tree.”
“I will literally blow up the entire planet if you do that,” Lucy growled. “You think meat is bad? Try breathing when you’re hurtling through space.”
“In a perfect world, yes,” Arthur said. “They would endeavor to dismantle their prejudices and welcome those who are different with open arms. But we don’t live in such a world, and we must do what we can with what we have.”
Lucy’s eyes flashed. “I don’t want to hurt people.” He paused, considering. “Okay, some people, but I don’t do it, not all the time.”
Lucy tilted his head back, staring up at the ceiling. “It’s hard.” “What is?” “Being alive.”
“They aren’t weapons but implements of my trade. If the inspector has a problem with that, they can die mad about it.”
“That certainly sounds disturbing. I approve.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a grown man hurl a pillow at a child with as much force as you did.”
He said it’s okay to not be okay, so long as it doesn’t become all we know.”
Lucy nodded. “And I’ll open up a dimensional doorway in the fabric of reality and send her to a place where even demons fear to tread. What is this evil place, you might be asking? Great question!” He spread his hands wide in a practiced display of showmanship. “It’s called … Florida.”
“I won’t be intimidated by you. I have God on my side.” Lucy groaned. “Oh, you’re one of those. Ugh.”
“Remove your hand from him immediately before I burn it off.”
But before the phoenix could erupt, Lucy tugged on Arthur’s shirt, making him look down. “This is what she wants, Dad.”
“Actually, I’m older than you,” Talia said. “So that makes me your elder. As such, a bit of advice: I’d be careful if I were you. Some of us are more powerful than we look.”
“Thank you, Merle. Your kindness is not only welcome, but a salve to the soul after the events of today. But worry not; I have plenty of children who know how to hide a body.”
“Remove your hand,” he said in a low voice. “And if I ever see you touch anyone on this island without their permission again, there is nowhere on this earth you could run that I wouldn’t find you.” She pulled her hand back slowly. “Another threat, Mr. Parnassus?” “It is,” he said. “And I mean every word.” She didn’t speak again.
“You have to trust me. Trust us. We may be kids, but we’re your kids, Dad. You made us all believe we could do anything. Now you have to trust us to do that.”
“You’ve broken him,” Linus said. “I never thought I’d see the day when—” “He’s Dad,” Talia said. “And you’re Papa. We’ve all decided, so you can’t go switching.” “I wanted to call you Pappy, but I was outvoted,” Lucy said sadly. “Oh,” Linus whispered as he wiped his eyes over a watery smile. “I see.”
“Why?” Sal asked. “What does she want?” Arthur hesitated. “What people in power always want: more power. Rowder thinks she can use you all to get what she wants. To remake the world until everyone is subservient.” Talia sighed. “It’s so hard being this popular all the time. Like, we get it. You’re obsessed with us. Calm down.”
“That’s because it wasn’t,” Miss Marblemaw said with a sniff. “That’s the problem with the world today. Everyone is so ready to be offended by just about anything.”
“She’s gonna be so mad when she finds out about my nocturnal emissions,” Chauncey said. “I can’t wait.” Linus sighed.
“History is full of different people making the same mistakes over and over again, never learning from the actions of those who came before them. Time can sometimes prove to be a vicious circle in that regard. People in power attempting to tell others how they should live their lives, but only in the bounds of what they consider acceptable. Gatekeepers who believe it is up to them to decide what is morally correct or not.
Children running amok without supervision—” “I’ll give her that,” Lucy said. “I amok all over the place.”
“This must be how Jesus felt before they put him on the cross,” Lucy said. “Surrounded by paparazzi and sex workers.” “I beg your pardon,” Linus said with a frown. Lucy tilted his head back to look up at Linus. “I didn’t make that up! It’s in the Bible. Like, for a book about God and trying not to sin, there is a lot of stuff in there that makes me look like an angel. For example! Lot’s daughter wanted to have a kid of her own, so she got her father drunk and—” Linus covered Lucy’s mouth with his hand as the strangers around them snorted in laughter. “I think that’s quite enough. I can’t
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“They’re a power couple,” Phee breathed with stars in her eyes.
