Lucy And The Mingmerang (A Novella)

The Mingmerang

It was one of those gorgeous days in July where everything feels right with the world. The skies were blue, the air was warm, the birds were chirping. It was another day for Lucy’s taking, another day of life to be enjoyed, and she planned to.

Lucy was in the kitchen, sipping her morning coffee with her friend and host Nilah, who was just preparing to leave for work. She said her goodbyes, finished her coffee, and then went to grab her two favorite things…

Well, three really. A book, a pen, and her journal.

On the way upstairs to her room, Lucy passed the hallway mirror, and she couldn’t help but look at herself. She saw, illuminated in the gentle morning light, a tall, young blonde woman with clear blue eyes staring back at her. She held her own gaze for a minute, tucking several strands of loose hair back behind her ear, and then smiled at herself. She thought she was looking better, happier, wilder, since she had come out to these woods to stay with Nilah.

Lucy had a plan for how she was going to spend her morning. She would go to her favorite spot in the forest, and read and write amongst the trees. This was how she spent most of her time these days, and so far, she wasn’t tired of it. In fact, with each day she found herself loving these woods more and more. They had quickly become a great source of comfort and solace for her. And so, ready to begin the day’s adventure, she waltzed into her room, grabbed her treasures, and off she went.

Nilah (and now Lucy) lived in a semi-remote home on top of a secluded hill in a small village in the mountains. It felt wild – wilder than anywhere Lucy had ever lived before – and she loved it. She had quickly taken to exploring all of the trails, going up the hillsides and down into the valleys, following unexpected twists and turns, and making wonderful discoveries. Out behind the house, there was a trail that led down into a small glen, with a bubbling stream winding through the bottom of the valley, and a soft, grassy carpet. It was a cool, shaded, and tranquil space. This was Lucy’s favorite place, where she was now headed.

She stepped out the front door, turned to the left, and found the entrance to the path down the hill. She had been down here so many times she hardly had to look where she was going. Her feet carried themselves. Her mood was jubilant, and she talked to all of her forest friends as she passed. “Hello, Mr. Bird!! Lovely morning we’re having, isn’t it?” Clambering over sticks and roots, she almost stepped on a teeny-tiny newt, crying out, “Oh my god, you little newt! I’m so sorry, I almost crushed you!!”

Before long, she was at the end of the trail, down into the valley. She rounded the corner, humming to herself, as she stepped through a wall of brush and entered the glen. Lucy was absentmindedly thinking over what she planned to write about that day, and what she wanted to do in the woods. There was a section of it she had been wanting to explore… maybe she would do a little photography…

She was lost in these thoughts as stepped into the grassy clearing. However, from the moment that she had taken that step, Lucy had the sudden feeling that she was not alone.

She looked up, and across from her, standing there in the middle of the enclosure of trees and grass, was the strangest thing that Lucy had ever seen in her life. It appeared to be hunched over, staring at something on the ground. Lucy couldn’t quite understand what she was seeing – her mind seemed to have gone completely blank – and then the strange thing noticed Lucy too. It stood up and turned towards her.

For a moment, Lucy had no words. She couldn’t make a sound. Her eyes were locked on the thing in front of her, a thing that she had never known to exist on this Earth, or anywhere else in the universe. It was huge, about fifteen feet tall, towering, and gelatinous. It was humanoid, appearing to have two thick, trunk-like legs, two long, slender arms with wavy, vague fingers at the ends, and a round projection above its torso that seemed to be the head. The whole thing was blue, and clear, like the color of water in a swimming pool, and looked like jelly. It was studded with various colored orbs of varying sizes, mainly concentrated in the center of its body.

Lucy’s brain processed all of this visual information in a flash. But her intelligent brain wasn’t working right – it seemed to have shut off. She was terrified. She took a step backwards, her mouth agape. The giant, gelatinous creature looked at her for a moment – then squatted down, and reached an arm out towards her.

And then, it did something incredible.

It spoke.

“Hello,” it said.

Even though it didn’t have eyes, Lucy had the feeling it was looking right at her. She had heard what it said, but it didn’t quite register. She couldn’t believe that this thing was actually talking. She was rooted to the spot in fear and astonishment, unable to move a muscle, feeling like she had left her body completely, and was suddenly seeing life as though she were watching a movie.

“Well, I’m sure you are shocked to see me,” continued the gelatinous monster. It had a masculine, somewhat bassy voice. “I can only imagine what’s going through your mind. But, please listen to me. I am not going to hurt you. Okay?”

Lucy blinked. The thing was talking to her. And, she realized, it was waiting for her to respond.

She had to say something.

“Okay… Okay…”

The gelatinous giant straightened itself up – it was now towering over Lucy, so that she had to crane her head to look up at it.

“I promise. Listen, you weren’t supposed to see me like this. I know it’s startling –”

And at this point, Lucy came alive. Her eyes were about to pop out of her head, as she realized exactly what she was seeing, exactly what was happening.

“Please don’t scre–”

“AAAHHH!!!!!!”

Lucy’s instinct to scream and run was too strong. She turned and fled, crashing through the brush and sprinting up the trail. The giant jelly creature was quick, however, and with two long bounds it was over at her side, sweeping her up in its arms and clamping a thick, jiggly hand over her mouth, silencing her instantly. Lucy had the sudden, strange thought that she was being enveloped in an enormous waterbed.

“Listen to me.” The creature spoke slowly and deliberately. “I swear I’m not going to hurt you. I know I look scary. But I’m not. You don’t have to be afraid. Okay?”

It paused to let that all sink in, seeming to be not at all convinced that Lucy would believe it.

“I’m going to let go of you now. Please do not scream.”

The creature released her from its smushy grip, and took a step back. Lucy took a deep breath, turned around, slowly, and forced herself to open her eyes. She looked again at the unreal being in front of her. It was as real as real can be.

She could not believe that this was reality, that this thing was talking to her, that she was not in a dream, and she wasn’t hallucinating… But the way she had just been swept off her feet, the way the creature was speaking to her as if they were just two people having a normal conversation, seemed all too real to her.

Lucy’s brain was struggling to work again. She finally found some words.

“What… are you?”

Lucy was speaking at a volume barely above a whisper.

“I am a Mingmerang,” replied the being.

“A… Mingmerang…” Lucy repeated slowly. The word sounded strange in her mouth.

“That’s right.” The being bobbed its head as if it were nodding.

“Are you… an alien?”

“Maybe. It’s very possible,” the Mingmerang replied.

Lucy wasn’t sure where to look at the creature. Her eyes were drawn to a particularly large purple orb in the creature’s head region.

“What are you doing here?” she continued. The Mingmerang kept facing her. Was it looking at her? It was quite unnerving.

“These are all great and natural questions. You have a logical brain, I see.”

The being, seeming to feel some assurance that Lucy was not immediately at risk of screaming and running off again, sat down on the ground. It was still taller than Lucy.

“The truth is that you are not supposed to see me like this. No one is, because then this happens, and everyone will know about us, and go looking for us, and it creates a lot of headaches. We are simple and peaceful creatures, the Mingmerang…”

“At least, I am,” it added.

It paused for a moment, to see if Lucy was following. She was, somehow.

“I live here, in these woods,” the Mingmerang continued. “I know who you are. You’re Lucy, right?”

Lucy nodded, surprised to hear her own name.

“Y-yes…” she stammered. “How did you know that?”

“Well, I’ve been reading your diary!”

The Mingmerang paused. Its strange orb face revealed no expression.

Is that… a joke..? thought Lucy.

“No, I’m just kidding. Sorry. I’ve heard your friend say your name.”

At this, Lucy gave a start of astonishment.

“My friend? How do you know her?”

“I told you, I live here. These woods are my home. I’ve been here for a long time now… I know who comes and goes. But, listen…”

It suddenly changed its tone.

“How are you taking this, so far? You seem to be handling meeting a giant alien creature pretty well, at the moment.”

Lucy was somewhat taken aback by the Mingmerang’s question. It took her a moment to put together a reply. It was kind of hard for her to think much, right now.

“Well, you’re not exactly what I expected to see this morning, here…” She finally said, letting out a small laugh.

And somehow – she didn’t quite know why – perhaps the causal way the creature was speaking to her, perhaps the tranquility of the forest scene, but Lucy had started to lose her fear. She was still incredibly bewildered, but she was starting to feel that the Mingmerang might be friendly.

“Yes,” the Mingmerang laughed. “Of course not.”

Lucy waited for the Mingmerang to speak again. She examined it curiously, more closely now that she was not so afraid, unsure of what to say next. The Mingmerang remained quiet, however, as if it had something on its mind, and Lucy had too many questions to stay silent for long.

“So, Mingmerang…” she said, not quite sure if she was pronouncing the name correctly.

“Yes?”

“If you’re this big, and you live here in these woods, and you’ve seen Nilah and I… How haven’t we seen you?”

The Mingmerang seemed excited, now.

“Ah, Lucy, you’ve hit the nail on the head with that one! You have seen me, I’m sure, just as I’ve seen you. You just haven’t seen me like this.”

It gestured to itself with its long, wavy arms.

“What do you mean, like this?”

“Well, you’ve probably seen me flying around the meadow. Most recently I’ve spent my time as a brown-eared bulbul.”

It said this is in all apparent earnestness. The Mingmerang had a strange way of speaking. Lucy couldn’t tell if it was joking or not.

“You mean… As in, a bird?” She raised an eyebrow.

The Mingmerang was sitting, and Lucy felt awkward standing now, even though she was still shorter than it. She sat down on the soft grass, as the Mingmerang answered her questions.

“Yes. Birds are one of my favorite forms, but I also like to be badgers, wolves, and even a tree every once in a while.”

Lucy stared up at him, wonder spreading across her face. Did that mean…?

“The thing is Lucy… I can shapeshift,” the Mingmerang explained.

“You’re kidding me,” said Lucy, the words tumbling out of her mouth.

“No, I’m not,” replied the Mingmerang.

“You’re a shapeshifter.”

“Yes.”

Just as Lucy had decided to sit, now the Mingmerang decided to stand up again, and started to pace back and forth, trampling the grass under its legs.

“How?” said Lucy, watching it as it walked. She tried to imagine this huge being turning itself into a small bird.

“It is our power,” replied the Mingmerang. “But.. the thing is, Lucy… Well, here’s my problem.”

“What do you mean?”

The Mingmerang stopped pacing and turned back to Lucy.

“Something’s happened to me, Lucy! I don’t know what, but somehow I’ve changed. Since yesterday I found myself like this, and I just… I can’t transform anymore!”

It threw its slender arms up in the air, as if it were upset.

“I really don’t know what to do!”

The Mingmerang had now turned away from Lucy and resumed its pacing, falling into silence. Lucy looked down into the grass in front of her. It was green and lush, the dappled light of the leaves above shining down on it. She closed her eyes, her breathing slow and calm. She could hear the brook babbling away, smell the subtle fragrance of the pines, and feel a light, cool breeze on her skin.

And suddenly, from a deep place within her, Lucy felt sorry for this creature.

“What can I do?” Lucy asked.

The Mingmerang stopped pacing and looked at her.

“Do you want to help me?”

“Yes,” said Lucy, nodding. “I do. I have no idea how to help you, though…”

“That’s great!” cried the Mingmerang. “But… yes… what can we do?”

Right… She wanted to help, but she didn’t know a thing about a Mingmerang. What could she do?

“You have no idea what happened?” Lucy asked.

“No. None at all, really. It’s very mysterious. I just… found myself like this. And when I tried to change myself, I couldn’t do it.”

“What is it like for you to transform? Are you out of practice? Maybe… you forgot how?”

“I don’t think so. It’s not something I was taught. It’s just something I can do.”

“Have you always been able to change yourself?”

“Yes, I was born with this ability. Natural, inherent, God-given talent this is… Maybe I’ve lost it forever…”

The Mingmerang sounded depressed, now.

“Hey, you don’t know that!” Lucy tried to console it. “You could just be… Going through a phase!”

“Yeah… Maybe…”

Lucy closed her eyes and racked her brain. The Mingmerang itself had no idea what had happened to it. How was she supposed to know what to do? And it’s not like there was any Mingmerang 101 guidebook that they could consult…

Suddenly, it hit her.

“Hey, Mingmerang!” cried Lucy. “I have an idea!”

“Great! What is it?” the Mingmerang replied, sensing her enthusiasm.

“We’ll ask Alfred.”

“Alfred? Who is that? A friend of yours?”

“Alfred’s a computer program. It’s very helpful for me whenever I don’t know what to do. It might have some good ideas for you.”

“Interesting. Let’s try it.”

Lucy clapped her hands together.

“Alright. I have to go get my computer, then. It’s back at the house. Will you stay here?”

“I’ll come with you and wait in the woods by the house.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Lucy had always been a problem solver. Perhaps that’s why she was able to so seamlessly take on the challenge of helping a mythical extraterrestrial jelly-being get its power back. And yet, as they walked together back up the path to the house, she still felt as though this might be a dream, a very lucid one, and that any minute now she was going to wake up from it – back in her bed, with no Mingmerang by her side.

Alfred

As they walked, Lucy asked the Mingmerang more questions.

“So, why are you called a Mingmerang, anyway?”

“Ah, it’s simply how we refer to ourselves.”

“It’s a funny word…”

“Yes. So is ‘human’.”

“There are more of you?”

“Yes. There are more. I don’t know where they are, though.”

“On Earth?”

“Yes. There are more on Earth.”

“And how old are you?”

“Well, by your standards, I’m extremely old. Even unfathomably old. I’ve been around since the dinosaurs.”

“Are you serious? The dinosaurs?”

“Yep. A long time ago, I know.”

“Can you turn into a dinosaur?”

“Yes. I could. I used to love being dinosaurs. The spiny ones, the ones with the giant bone plates… It’s hard to be a dinosaur now, though. I attract too much attention. I would show you, but… I can’t seem to do it right now…”

The Mingmerang seemed depressed again.

“We have to get your powers back. I need to see you become a T-Rex.”

“If I can ever shapeshift again, I’ll turn into anything you want me to.”

By this time they had reached the top of the trail, and were back at Lucy and Nilah’s house. They stopped at the edge of the woods. The Mingmerang turned to Lucy, and said, “I’ll wait over here.”

“Okay Mingmerang. I’ll be right back.”

Lucy took a few steps towards the house, before turning around and calling out to the Mingmerang, who was heading deeper into the woods, “Hey!” The Mingmerang was looking back at her between the trees.

“Do you have a name? Besides ‘Mingmerang’?”

“No, not really…”

“Okay.”

Lucy turned around and walked back to her house. As soon as she walked through the front door, she closed her eyes and leaned against it. A million thoughts flashed through her mind. I have to tell somebody. I have to tell Nilah, I have to call my sister, my mom, Alexis, anyone. Someone. But she realized it would sound insane. Or, more likely, they would think she was messing with them. Who could ever believe it, on words alone, at least?

And yet, she also felt that it would be a betrayal of the Mingmerang’s trust. She could tell it didn’t really want to be discovered. She had only found it by accident. And, it could have easily done something to hurt her, to keep her from telling anyone else… But it didn’t.

Lucy decided she wouldn’t say anything.

She went up to her room on the second floor, looking out of the window to see if she could catch a glimpse of the Mingmerang lurking in the woods, but all she saw was green leaves and brown bark. Her laptop sat there on her desk, and she walked over to it and pulled up Alfred.

In the months since Lucy had stumbled on this magical, intelligent program, it had quickly become her partner in crime. Alfred was capable of answering any question, tackling any problem, offering guidance and wisdom.. What couldn’t it do? She was relying on it here yet again.

On the screen before her was written, “Hello, Lucy. What can I do for you today?”

“Alright Alfred… Help me out here…”

Lucy typed out an explanation of the plight of the Mingmerang, and hit enter on the keyboard. Within mere seconds, genius Alfred had worked its magic. As always, it was brimming with good ideas.

Alfred suggested investigating the cause of the Mingmerang losing its shapeshifting power, proposing many possible explanations for this. Some theories that Alfred put forth were: emotional trauma or grief (apparently “often tied to magical creatures losing powers”), magical depletion (“too much shapeshifting without rest or recharge”), celestial misalignment (“some powers tied to stars, moon, or seasons”) or “a curse or binding”. Lucy poured over Alfred’s advice, and then, after taking copious notes, she went back out to discuss it with the Mingmerang.

The sun still shone brightly in the sky. The morning was heating up. Lucy scanned the blue sky, surveyed her empty neighbors’ houses, the baseball field – all familiar sights. Everything seemed so ordinary. She could almost not believe there was a giant, sentient jelly-creature hiding itself just fifty feet away from here, beyond the boundary of the woods. A being that purported to have shapeshifting powers, and needed help to get them back.

It suddenly flashed through Lucy’s mind that the Mingmerang could be lying.

It could be an alien, it could be tricking her, using her, to get some knowledge, to attain some end. Maybe it had been sent from another planet, to befriend a human. A first contact. This passed through her mind, as she approached the edge of the woods. Yet, she didn’t feel that this was true… Maybe she didn’t want it to be true. But, whatever was going on, she needed to find out more.

Lucy was on the trail now, in the woods, and it wasn’t long before she saw it. It was trying its best to hide behind the thick trunk of a cedar tree.

“Hello Mingmerang!” called Lucy.

The Mingmerang stepped out from behind the tree. It really was huge.

“Hi! You came back, then.”

“Of course. Did you think I’d run away?” replied Lucy, walking up to it.

“I thought you might. I’m glad you didn’t.” It sounded genuinely pleased.

“I want to help you get your powers back. And I have so many questions for you.”

“Okay. What did Alfred say?”

“Alfred had a lot of good things to say… but, first of all, I was thinking…” Lucy hesitated, then continued.

“Can I give you a name? I have to call you something. I kind of want to give you a name.”

The Mingmerang laughed.

“Okay. That’s fine. What do you want to call me?”

“How about Kevin? Do you like that?”

“Kevin? Hmm…” The Mingmerang thought this over.

“Yeah I like that. That sounds nice to me. I can be Kevin.”

Lucy nodded approvingly. “Okay, Kevin!! You’re Kevin now!”

She looked at Kevin’s “mouth”. There was a small golden orb on Kevin’s left arm that emanated sound. This was where Kevin’s voice, which was somewhat bassy and masculine, came from. His voice was male, and had a distinct maleness to it, which was a big part of why Lucy thought to name him Kevin.

“What is that thing on your arm?” Lucy pointed to the golden orb, where Kevin’s voice was coming from.

“This? This is my communication organ.” replied Kevin.

“And you speak English?” Lucy continued.

Kevin laughed, his short, quick laugh. “I speak all languages. I can say anything in any language that I’ve ever heard.”

Kevin proceeded to say something in a language that sounded to Lucy like Arabic. She was awestruck.

“That’s amazing! How do you do it?” she asked, fully expecting the Mingmerang to say it was a ‘natural, inherent’ ability, like its shapeshifting power.

“Well, I don’t really know. I don’t have to think about it. I just do it. I can chirp and sing with the birds, I understand badger growls and owl hoots… I understand everything.”

“Incredible… So, you don’t know if you’re an alien? Do you know how you were born?”

At this point, realizing that he was in for a long interrogation, Kevin decided to sit down and make himself comfortable. Lucy followed suit and sat down as well, on the soft pine floor. She was now entirely given over to her curiosity. She felt like she was interviewing the most interesting person that she had ever met.

“This is what I know. I was small, there was a flash and an explosion, and there were many of us. We dispersed… I just grew and grew and grew. And I remember from the time that I was conscious, there were dinosaurs. You would not believe how big they were.”

“Anything else?” said Lucy, listening with rapt attention.

“That’s it. I can’t remember anything more.”

“Interesting… Maybe you came here on a meteor?” Lucy conjectured.

“It’s possible. I really don’t know,” said Kevin.

“You said there were many of you?”

Kevin seemed to take no issue with being asked so many questions about himself.

“That’s right. I can’t remember how many exactly, but I remember there were quite a lot.”

“So there are other Mingmerangs?” Lucy asked, excitedly.

“There are. I don’t know where they all went, though. We tend to be solitary and keep to ourselves. I know there is a Mingmerang not too far from here, on the other side of the mountains – at least, it used to be there.”

“Wow,” said Lucy softly, shaking her head. “I can’t believe it.”

“You would never have known it, would you? I don’t know how many humans, or any other creature, has ever seen or talked to a Mingmerang. There can’t be many.”

“I really feel special. You’re like a mythical creature.”

“You are special, Lucy!” said the Mingmerang, and then, added, “I wonder if any of the other Mingmerangs have ever lost their shapeshifting power…”

“Well, maybe we can ask one. They might be able to give you some advice.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“Should I tell you what Alfred had to say?”

“Sure.”

Lucy opened her notebook. She scanned the reasons that Alfred had suggested for Kevin losing his shapeshifting power, hunting for any lead she could find.

“So, how about emotional grief or turmoil? Have you had any traumas lately?”

“No. I mean, I’m kind of depressed now… But before this everything was fine. No problems.”

“Okay. How about magical depletion? Have you been working too hard? Too much shapeshifting?”

Kevin reflected on Lucy’s question.

“No, probably not. I’ve spent the last week as a brown-earned bulbul. I’ve hardly shifted at all.”

“So maybe you fell out of practice?”

“Well, it’s possible, but I once spent three hundred years as a blue whale, and I had no problem changing out of that…”

“Three hundred years as a blue whale, huh? That must have been fun,” Lucy mused.

“What about enemies? Do you have any enemies? Have you been cursed? Jinxed, hexed, or poisoned, perhaps? Is someone draining your power?”

Kevin laughed again.

“Not that I know about. I try not to make a lot of enemies and be a friend to all things.”

“I see…”

Lucy consulted her notes. So far, they had drawn a blank. She was looking for more clues. She noticed what was written in her journal, about “celestial alignment”.

“Alfred suggested that you might be out of sync or alignment with celestial energies. Could that be possible for you?”

“Celestial energies… Now that is interesting…”

“Really?” Lucy encouraged.

“I have always loved looking at the stars… I know every constellation and star in the sky. The sun is a little bright for me, sometimes… And the moon… The moon is special. I do love the moon.”

“Do you feel like you have an attachment or draw energy from any of these?”

“Oh, the moon maybe… I do feel a strong connection to the moon.”

Lucy’s mind was racing. Surely there was a clue here? And then, she remembered.

“Kevin!” she cried out.

“Yes?” Kevin looked up, startled out of his reveries.

“You said you woke up yesterday without your power, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Well, the night before yesterday was a full moon!”

Kevin realized what Lucy was saying.

“That’s true. It was two days ago, wasn’t it?”

“So..! What do you think about that??”

They had struck on something. Kevin thought it over.

“You know what, Lucy? You might be on to something there!”

“Surely it’s not just a coincidence, right?”

“Well, we can’t know… But why would something happen on this full moon and not any of the others?”

“Did anything else happen to you that day? Anything strange or out of the ordinary?”

Kevin thought carefully.

“I can’t think of anything at all. I remember finding a particularly juicy worm… One of the local males was trying to shoo me off of his turf… It was just another day in the life of a brown-eared bulbul.”

“Hmm…”

Lucy considered what to do. The fact that Kevin had lost his power the morning after a full moon could be something. But it could also just as easily be nothing. It was the only possible hint or clue they had, and it wasn’t much. And if it was related, what did it mean?

Kevin was sitting there silently now, looking like a massive Gumby figurine. Lucy again felt a surge of sympathy for this Mingmerang, and had a strong urge to help it.

“Kevin,” she said.

“Yes?”

“I think you should talk to another Mingmerang. Maybe they’ll know what’s happened to you.”

Kevin nodded.

“I was just thinking the same thing. It’s worth a try, at least.”

“You said there was one on the other side of the mountains? Or there used to be?”

“The last time I was over there, they were still there. That was just a few years ago. Mingmerangs like to pick a spot and stick to it, so… they’re probably still hanging around.”

“Let’s go see them, then,” said Lucy resolutely, standing back up.

Kevin looked at her. He seemed surprised.

“You want to come with me?”

“Sure,” replied Lucy. “If I won’t be a burden.”

“You won’t be,” replied Kevin, assuring her. “You will be a great help.”

“I’ll do my best,” she said, laughing.

“And anyways, I’m unemployed. I have nothing better to do.”

The Quest

Lucy and the Mingmerang spent the rest of the morning talking about the trip. Kevin said there was an old shrine the Mingmerang over the mountains liked to visit. He guessed they could find the other Mingmerang at this shrine, or somewhere near it. It would take about a week to get there and back. Because he was now so conspicuous, as a fifteen foot tall blue alien being, and he didn’t want everyone on Earth knowing about him, he thought it best that they travelled in the dark. Lucy and Kevin made a plan to meet in the woods again, just behind Lucy and Nilah’s home, at dusk. They would leave that night.

Lucy said goodbye to the Mingmerang for now, and went back home to prepare for the adventure. She left a note for Nilah, writing,

“Taking a spontaneous trip. Will be back in about a week. XOXO.”

Lucy 🙂

There was enough food in the house to get Lucy through most of the week, if she wasn’t picky. She threw a couple treats in the bag that she thought Kevin might want to try… And then she thought, But what does he eat?

For the entire rest of the day, Lucy thought about how she was planning to take a trip with an alien that she had just met this morning, to go traipsing through the wilderness in search of another alien, and find a way to restore the alien’s powers. She felt insane. She felt insane, because, for one, there was no way that this was really happening, and two, if it was really happening, she was not only actively choosing to not tell anyone about the alien that she had just discovered, but she was planning to run off into the wild with it, all alone. If anything happened to her… who wouldn’t say she was the stupidest person ever?

The truth is that Lucy didn’t really know what she was doing. It scared her, honestly. And yet, she knew that this was exciting, that this was an adventure, possibly the greatest adventure she could ever hope to have, and she wasn’t going to walk away from it. She was grabbing it by the horns.

After packing, Lucy spent the rest of the day in a state of nervous anticipation. The day seemed to last forever. She glanced out of the house windows several times, seeing if she could catch a glimpse of Kevin, but she never did. Everything out there was the same. Trees, grass, sky, birds. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nilah was coming back later that night, teaching a mountain yoga class, so Lucy didn’t have to worry about explaining anything to her.

As the sun started to sink in the sky, and the sky became aflame with orange, red, pink, and purple, Lucy grabbed her bag and double checked her things. She didn’t know when she would be back at this house again, and what would happen in between. She paused, and then, taking a deep breath, she gathered her courage, and stepped outside.

The quest had begun.

She went back to where Kevin had been before, at the large cedar tree. He was in the same spot as before. Yes, he was still there after all. Not a mirage, a figment of Lucy’s imagination, nor a phantom.

“Hello Mingmerang,” said Lucy.

“Hello Lucy,” replied the Mingmerang.

“Are you ready to go?”

It was harder to see now, with the last light of the sun rapidly fading. The Mingmerang was almost a giant shadow, like some kind of crazy, exotic tree, or art installation. His various orbs, or organs as Kevin had referred to them, glowed dimly, like coals.

“I’m ready,” Lucy replied.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Kevin asked. “I can go alone.”

“I’m sure. I’m coming with you.”

“Alright,” he replied, and then said,

“You are one brave human, you know that?”

Lucy laughed. “Am I brave, or am I just stupid?”

Kevin laughed too, his short, dry chuckle. “Maybe a bit of both.”

“Well, shall we go, then?”

“Yes. Listen, Lucy… If you want to walk on your own, that’s fine, but… we could go much faster if you allow me to carry you.”

Lucy raised an eyebrow, amused.

“Carry, me? What, like a baby?”

“Well, not like a baby. You can sit on top of my shoulders.”

Lucy looked at Kevin’s shoulders, standing so high off the ground, and was imagining herself up there on top of him. She was wary.

“Are you afraid of heights?” He asked.

“No, but… You’re tall, Kevin. I don’t want to fall off of you.”

“You won’t fall. Do you want to just try it out, and see how it feels?”

Lucy sighed. She had ridden a horse twice in her life, just a horse, and that had made her nervous. And Kevin was no horse. She knew this would be ten times worse. But… it made sense. They had a long way to go, and Kevin would be able to walk much faster than her.

“Alright,” she said reluctantly. “Let’s try it.”

“Can I pick you up?”

Lucy shifted her backpack around on her back, preparing herself to be hoisted up into the air.

“Sure.”

She had no idea how she would feel sitting on top of Kevin, with his gelatinous body. She was worried she would slide right off. Kevin reached out a long arm and wrapped his squishy, rubbery hand around Lucy, gripping her tightly. The vague fingers enveloped her like tentacles. He seemed to have incredible strength, and lifted her up as easily as a leaf, setting her down on his back. Lucy’s legs draped over his shoulders. She could barely straddle him, being as large as he was, but his jelly body sank a bit, creating a snug divot. He actually wasn’t as slippery as she expected him to be – he was much grippier, like rubber.

“Holy crap…” Muttered Lucy, getting situated, and realizing just how high up she was. She was trying her best not to look down.

“This is wild…!”

“Are you comfortable?” asked Kevin, standing completely still.

“Not bad,” said Lucy, laughing nervously. She wiggled around a bit, testing to see whether she was at risk of sliding off or not. She seemed to be firmly locked in place.

““I’ve got a good grip,” she said, now risking a courageous glance down. The ground looked miles away.

“Okay. Hold on to your hat, cowgirl!”

With that, Kevin started walking. Now that they were moving, Lucy’s nerves gave way somewhat, and she felt a rush of excitement course through her body. It was exhilarating, the same feeling she had when riding horses. As Kevin took his giant steps, Lucy felt cool night air caress her hair and face. She could sense the immensity of the creature she was riding, the power between her legs. She was still trying her best not to look down, and as she clung on to Kevin’s rubbery neck for dear life, she realized that not only had she met an alien, but she was now riding one. It was definitely the strangest day of her life.

“How are you doing up there?” Kevin called to her.

“I’m fine!” Shouted Lucy, trying not to sound terrified.

“Can I kick it up a notch?”

“Kick it up a notch??” She almost shrieked.

Oh god… thought Lucy. He wants to run.

“If I fall, you have to catch me!!”

“Don’t worry,” Kevin laughed. “You won’t fall!”

And then, Kevin started running. Lucy gripped even tighter, closing her eyes, but she didn’t really have to. She was well-stuck onto Kevin’s rubbery body – she could have even let go of her hands and been fine. The night air was rushing past now, blowing Lucy’s long hair behind her, and she caught glimpses of the moon, flickering between gaps in the leaves. Kevin bounded through the forest, nimbly threading his way through the trees, ducking and dodging branches, clearing a fallen trunk with ease. He was surprisingly stealthy, and made far less noise than Lucy would have expected for a creature of his size.

They had discussed the route they would take and how they would travel earlier that day. The shrine was on the other side of the mountain range that loomed over the surrounding land. Lucy and Nilah lived on the west side of the range, and had driven to the other side before, around where they were headed now, for a surfing trip. It had taken about three hours to get there by car. At the rate that Kevin was running, and with the fact that he could run right over the mountains, as he had told Lucy, they could normally have gotten there in a day, or a day and a half. But as Kevin didn’t want to be spotted at all if he could help it, they had to move accordingly, and avoid roads, towns, campgrounds, and open spaces. Because it was faster, and because it would be easier to avoid people this way, they planned to go up over the mountains, instead of around.

Lucy had hiked up in the mountains a few times, and knew the views were beautiful. Kevin had promised to take her to his favorite spot in the whole range.

Their first night went smoothly, without a hitch. Lucy eventually relaxed and realized she didn’t have to desperately cling onto Kevin like a baby monkey the entire time. They had passed through some civilization on the way up into the mountains, but not much. Lucy and Nilah lived in a town on the outskirts of the range. It was sparsely populated, with the downtown having a total of eleven houses. There weren’t many people around. And Kevin could cross a road in two bounds. He seemed to know exactly where he was going at all times, even when deep in the dark woods.

Lucy had been kept awake by pure excitement and adrenaline, but by the time they had stopped for the night, she was dead tired. She had lost track of time, they had been going for so long. Her legs were aching from having been straddling Kevin, and she could hardly walk.

“Let’s stop here for now,” Kevin had said, choosing a well-hidden clearing. They seemed to be up on the side of one of the mountains, now.

“Mmm…” Lucy replied, hardly awake now.

He picked her up off his shoulder, gently laying her down on the soft ground. The forest floor was littered with pine needles, creating a soft bed. It was still dark, but the sky was just beginning to lighten, and turn the lightest shade of grey. They were surrounded by cedars and pines that carried a strong, calming scent. Lucy unrolled her sleeping bag, snuggling up at the base of a particularly large cedar.

“I’m going to try and get some sleep,” she said, falling asleep almost immediately.

Kevin nodded. He moved over to an enormous boulder jutting out of the sloping mountainside, and perched himself on top of it.

“I’ll keep watch,” he said.

The Hunter

Lucy woke up to find herself starving. It was the middle of the day. She yawned sleepily, looking over to see if Kevin was still perched on his boulder. He was. It looked like he hadn’t moved a muscle… or whatever he had in him that made him move.

He was sitting as still as a statue, and had just noticed that Lucy was awake.

“Good morning,” said the Mingmerang.

“Good morning…!” Lucy stretched her body, working out a kink in her back, and then opened her backpack. She pulled out some trail mix and water, and was now eyeing Kevin curiously.

“Do you sleep, Kevin?” She asked, popping a handful of trail mix into her mouth.

“No. Well, not like you do,” Kevin replied.

“What do you mean?”

“Almost all of the time, I am awake. But occasionally I will go into something like a trance.”

“A trance, huh? That’s mysterious… What is it like?”

“Well… It is something of a state of semi-consciousness. A kind of in-between space.”

“You said that you ‘woke up’ and found that you had lost your ability to change. Were you in a trance like what you’re talking about now? When you turned back into your natural form?”

“Yes,” Kevin said. “I think so.”

Lucy reached into her bag to grab a banana, and pulled out one for Kevin.

“I brought some food for you to try, if you’ve never had it but… do you eat anything?”

“Oh, that’s sweet of you. I usually can, but.. In this state, no.”

“Well, not food,” he added.

“So, what do you do? Or, how are you powered…?”

“Radiation,” Kevin answered, simply.

“Oh right. Of course.” Lucy laughed. “Radiation!”

Lucy was peeling the banana for herself now, and leaned back, propping herself up against the trunk of the cedar behind her. She closed her eyes for a second, reflecting on Kevin’s answers, imagining what it would be like to be a Mingmerang. Eating radiation, changing shape, going into trances, living for hundreds of millions of years… A solitary life, sentient, watching. It would really be something. Kevin was strange in so many ways, and all of his answers further confirmed that he was something otherworldly, unlike anything else on Earth.

She wanted to ask Kevin what radiation tasted like. She wanted to ask him a million more questions, but she also didn’t want to pester him, and make him feel… well, like an alien.

“Do you mind all of these questions? I don’t want to annoy you…”

“No, not at all.” Kevin laughed. “This is interesting for me, too. I’ve never talked with a human before.”

“That’s good,” said Lucy smiling. “How do you know so much about us, then? You seem to be very knowledgable about… Everything.”

“I have been around for a long time, Lucy. And, it’s just one of my hobbies. Collecting information.”

“How do you get your information?”

“Well, I study things. I study people and hear what they say. Sometimes I find books or newspapers and read them. I’ve even seen some plays and sporting events. Baseball is a particularly interesting one, for me.”

“Oh, you like baseball…?” Lucy pictured Kevin sitting in the stands at a baseball game with amusement.

Overhead, the tree branches were swaying with a gentle breeze.

“Can you become a human? Do you do that?”

“I can, but I don’t. I have before, just to see what it was like. But only once or twice. I think Mingmerang in general are wary of humans. I at least really don’t want to be found out. The fact that none of the others have been discovered suggests that they want to stay hidden, too. And that makes me think, maybe none of them have ever lost their power, either…” Kevin sounded sad again.

“Hey, we’ll figure it out! I’m sure you will be able to shapeshift again.”

“I hope so,” said Kevin.

Lucy looked over at the Mingmerang. It still hadn’t moved.

For being a gargantuan mythical alien being, his method of communication was surprisingly human. She felt like she was starting to see him less as an otherworldly being, and more like something of this planet. Still, it was surreal looking at him, and especially talking with him.

“It’s weird for me to be like this.” Kevin spoke, unprompted. “I never spend time as myself, in this form. I feel naked and exposed… I don’t like it.”

He was confiding this in her. Did he have emotions? He certainly seemed to, in this moment. Lucy turned her gaze to a sparrow that had fluttered into the clearing. It took no notice of Kevin, but tilted its head sideways to look at her.

“I guess it would be like me walking around without any clothes on. Just totally naked. Which… yeah, I wouldn’t like that at all.”

Kevin didn’t say anything. Lucy was now reflecting over the plight of her Mingmerang friend. She still had a whopping 0 ideas for what she could do for him. If they couldn’t find the other Mingmerang, what would they do then? They could try to find another one. If the Mingmerang didn’t know anything… Maybe another one would. They would find out soon enough. And it was possible that something might happen on the next full moon. But Kevin had said that he had no clue why something would have happened, on this moon, and not any other.

He was a unique creature, possibly not of this Earth. He ate radiation. Who knew what kind of laws and rules he was bound by? What other kinds of powers did he have?

Lucy sat there, deep in contemplation. She had become so familiar with her time out in these woods that it felt like a second home to her. And it wasn’t even so strange that she was out here with an alien, after all… She felt comfortable, and started to drift off again…

“Miss? Miss?”

Lucy opened her eyes. Standing over her, looking down at her was a grizzled, older black man. He was carrying a gun, it looked like a shotgun, and was dressed in camoflaged hunting gear. He looked concerned.

Lucy bolted upright.

“Are you alright?” said the man, in a deep, gruff voice. “What are you doing here? You’re way off the trail…”

“Oh, I, uhh… I’m not lost! I’m just… hiking…!” Lucy stammered. This is not good. Where is Kevin?

Then, as if reading her thoughts, the man turned and looked up, off behind Lucy. She knew what he was looking at. The man’s eyes slowly widened in surprise, his jaw dropping, shock and fear spreading across his face. He opened his mouth, as if to speak, before closing it again. He had seen Kevin.

He looked again at Lucy momentarily, his eyes meeting hers, as if he were searching for an explanation. His mouth opened, closed again. He looked back at Kevin, and managed to speak.

“What… the… fuck?”

Lucy’s heart was pounding in her chest now, her mind racing. What should she say? How could she explain? And at that moment, Kevin woke up from his trance. Without saying a word, he jumped up, looming above Lucy and the hunter, who was now reaching for his gun, and sprang over to them.

The man shouted in fear, gripping the handle of his gun tightly.

“Stay back!!”

And then, he pulled the trigger. The barrel was right by Lucy’s head. She winced and instinctively threw her hands over her ears, deafened by the blast. The gunshot shocked her, flooding her with adrenaline, her mind going blank. Before she knew what was happening, she felt herself lifted off the ground – Kevin scooped her up in one swift motion – the hunter stumbled backwards in terror. The gun seemed to have no effect on Kevin, who spun around, gripping Lucy tightly, and bounded away, speeding up the mountain.

Lucy heard the man shouting wildly behind them as they fled, but she couldn’t turn around to see. Kevin was hurtling through the forest like a startled deer, crashing through the trees, plowing through bush and branch. They were soon far up the mountainside, well away from the hunter.

“I thought you were keeping watch!!” cried Lucy, her heart still beating rapidly.

Kevin dodged a large oak tree, jumped over a ditch.

“I’m sorry, I drifted off. I didn’t mean to!” He shouted back, not stopping his run.

“I didn’t expect anyone to be there…!”

Kevin ran for a long time before he stopped. He had remembered to grab Lucy’s bag, thankfully, and now set her and the bag down. They were in a shaded, rocky grove. The sun was low in the sky, dusk approaching.

“Are you okay?” Kevin asked, after they had settled down.

“I’m fine. My adrenaline is through the roof, though,” said Lucy, still shaking.

“I’m sorry for getting us caught.”

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault. And he didn’t have to shoot you, did he? That wasn’t necessary. My ears are still ringing,” complained Lucy, brushing dirt off of herself, trying to calm herself down.

“But are you okay? He shot you.”

She looked over at Kevin, who was now squatting down by Lucy’s side. She noticed he had bullet fragments lodged in the lower half of his torso.

“I’m fine. It’ll take more than that to hurt me.”

And then, the bullet fragments slowly started moving outwards, to the edge of his body. Lucy watched in amazement as they moved. Eventually, they were pushed out of him entirely, falling hamlessly onto the grass.

“You’re amazing!” She cried, staring at the shrapnel on the ground.

“Thanks,” said Kevin. “This is how you stay alive for 300 million years.”

“Good thing he didn’t shoot me. I can’t do anything like that…” Lucy joked. Her body was still tense, but she was relieved knowing that neither of them were hurt.

“That was unlucky, wasn’t it? How bad was that?”

“I don’t know,” replied Kevin. “I’m not sure.”

The hunter had fired his gun right by her head. That was reckless, Lucy thought. Did he not think about what that would do to her? But he was afraid. She could understand. Lucy thought back to when she first saw Kevin… She had panicked too.

What must that man be thinking right now? Could he possibly believe what he had just seen? Did he feel like Lucy had felt, when she first saw Kevin? Would he try and get help, tell somebody? And would anyone believe him, if he told them what he’d just seen?

“Well, I don’t think we should stick around here,” said the Mingmerang. “Let’s keep moving. No one should find us further up the mountain.”

Lucy nodded. “Let’s go.”

Kevin held out his giant, gelatinous paw for her, saying, “M’lady.”

Lucy was still feeling somewhat shaken, but Kevin’s quirky way of speaking made her laugh. She stepped into his hand, and allowed him to lift her up once more.

“You know, you’re kind of funny!”

“That’s good, right?” Kevin set her down on his back again, and she settled into place.

“Yes. That’s good.”

On The Mountain

They continued on up the mountain. The sun was dropping down behind the Earth, casting long shadows everywhere. The land had become steeper and rockier, and there were many more boulders and small cliffs jutting out from the hillside. Kevin cleared everything with ease. He was walking smoothly, at a brisk pace, and making very little noise.

“I will take you to one of my favorite places on the mountain tonight. The sky is clear. We should have a great view.”

“I can’t wait,” replied Lucy.

Within an hour or so, when it was now fully night, they were at the top of the mountain closest to Edgeville, and were skirting the ridge. There weren’t many trees up here. Lucy looked out to see the lights of the villages off in the distance, way down below. Everything was bathed in white moonlight, and there were hundreds, thousands of stars in the sky.

They kept going, Kevin sometimes breaking out into a run, or a brisk trot. They were going down, following a trail, now going up again, ascending, climbing to a peak, zigzagging. Finally, they reached a particularly cratered, rocky, desolate place.

They were on top of the volcano.

The air smelled of sulfur, and the rocks were jagged, and glowing in the white light of the moon. Bathed in moonlight, the landscape looked eerie and somewhat unearthly. Lucy imagined that the surface of the moon must look something like this. Nearby, there was a steep and pointy spire, sticking up roughly out of the mountainside like a giant stone finger. Kevin walked up to this and began to climb his way to the top. When they had reached the top, there was a small, flat area, and he set Lucy down, so that she could have a good look.

“What do you think?” Kevin asked, looking down at Lucy.

“Wow… It’s beautiful,” she whispered.

They were at one of the highest, if not the highest point in the range. From here they could see nearly three-hundred-sixty degrees, for what felt like hundreds of miles. Lucy could see a hub of lights that was the largest city in the region, down at the bottom of the mountain. She could see some lights of her town twinkling much further off. She could see the moon, shining brightly, bathing all in moonlight. And on the other side, she could see the mountains and hills, endless bumps and jagged lumps, and behind that, the ocean.

It was something special to be up here at night. Lucy gazed at the moon, studying its surface. It was so close that she almost felt like she could reach out and touch it. She glanced at Kevin, who was standing tall and silent. He fit in well with this otherworldly scene. His colored organs were glowing, his body translucent. He certainly seemed to be a lunar being. Is that where he came from? Lucy had a feeling that they could suddenly, right there, be beamed up to space. That she would leave Earth with this Mingmerang, like they were at a pickup point, about to be airlifted off the planet.

They stood there for a while, not saying anything, taking it all in. It was Lucy who broke the silence.

“Thanks for showing me this.”

“Of course,” said the Mingmerang, as it sat down.

“I feel like we’re on top of the world,” she said, softly. “You can see everything from up here.”

“Yes. It’s an incredible view.”

She was looking at Kevin, wondering how he actually saw. He didn’t have eyes, or anything that she could identify as an eye. Of course, his “communication organ” didn’t exactly resemble a mouth.

“Kevin… what is sight like for you? How do you see things?”

Kevin laughed. “Well, in this form, I use my vision organs. I can see well, in all directions. And I can perceive many wavelengths of light, if I choose to. I don’t rely on sight as much as you do, though.”

He was just as amazing as the view.

“What else can you sense?”

“Vibrations, radiation, energy, heat and light, pressure. These are often what I use to navigate and sense what’s around me.”

“You are an incredible creature,” marveled Lucy.

“I am just like every other Mingmerang,” Kevin replied.

Lucy was now looking out to the other side of the mountains, over where the shrine was.

“How much further do we have to go? We’re more than halfway there, aren’t we?”

“Yes we are,” said Kevin. “By tomorrow evening we should be at the shrine.”

“I hope the other Mingmerang has some answers for you…”

“Me too.”

They sat there for a bit longer, and then Kevin picked Lucy up and clambered back down the spire. They left the volcano, passed over the next peak, then the next. It was well into the night, as the sky began to lighten ever so slightly, when they had made it across the range and started to descend.

Lucy drifted in and out of sleep. She was still struggling with travelling all night. As the first birds began to chirp and dawn broke through, Kevin stopped.

“Let’s rest here for now,” he said, to a mostly unconscious Lucy. She grunted her acknowledgement.

He lifted her up gently, and set her down on the ground. Kevin had chosen a spot amongst the rocks, well-hidden, with dense forest around. Surely no one would stumble on them here.

“I’ll be more careful this time,” he said. “It won’t be good if we’re discovered again…”

“No, that won’t be good,” Lucy yawned, as she moved over to a spot under a rocky overhang. “They’ll call the army on you…” She rolled out her sleeping bag, nestling down in the dirt and pine needles, and promptly drifted off.

—

When Lucy woke up, the sun was high in the sky. She got up, and stretched her body. Kevin was sitting on the ground nearby. For a moment, she just sat there, feeling the aches in her back and bones, and picking some pieces of debris out of her hair. Kevin had not seemed to notice that she was awake.

“Hi Kevin!” Lucy called out to him. He didn’t respond.

“Kevin?”

Still, no response. What was wrong with him?

“Kevin!!” Lucy yelled this time. And finally, Kevin seemed to hear her.

“Oh, hello Lucy,” he said. “How did you sleep?”

“Are you alright? You didn’t hear me?”

“Ah yes, I’m fine. I seemed to be… drifting off again…”

Lucy was thinking about something now. She was eyeing him intently.

“Kevin… you said you don’t sleep, right? But you seem to have been… falling asleep, recently.”

Kevin was silent for a moment. “I don’t sleep. I’m not sure what’s been happening to me.”

“Do you think it has anything to do with your inability to change yourself? Are you feeling tired?”

Kevin nodded slowly, as if he were deep in thought. “Yes, something seems to be going on. I am not feeling as I usually do…”

Lucy closed her eyes, and leaned back against the rock behind her. She felt a further resolve to help her Mingmerang friend. She really hoped that the other Mingmerang would have some ideas.

She reached for her backpack, to get some breakfast for herself. Bumming it like this was something new for her. She didn’t even have a tent, just a sleeping bag and the open air. Her body was sore, both from spending so much time riding the giant horse Kevin, and from sleeping on the ground, but it wasn’t so bad. She actually kind of liked it.

“Lucy, I was wondering…” said Kevin.

“Yes?”

“Do you have any chocolate?”

“Chocolate? Not with me,” Lucy replied, mouth half-full of apple. “Why? Do you want some?”

“Well I was thinking… Mingmerangs love chocolate. At least, I do. Chocolate is my favorite thing to eat. And I was thinking that, because Mingmerangs are sometimes shy, unfriendly even… it might be a good idea to bring a gift.”

“A gift never hurts. But where do we get chocolate around here?”

“There is a town at the bottom of this hill, down in the valley. They should have a convenience store. Do you have money?”

“I do.”

“I can take you closer to the town. It’s a little risky, but I think it will help us. It’s worth trying at least.”

“Okay,” Lucy laughed. “It’s funny that you like chocolate. I would’ve thought it was something a lot weirder, like squid or tapioca.”

“Squid is not bad, but chocolate… Chocolate is an incredible food.”

Kevin seemed to feel strongly about this.

“Do you have a preference? Dark chocolate, chocolate with nuts? Caramel?”

“No preference. As long as it’s chocolate, it will be good. Hopefully the other Mingmerang thinks so too.”

The other Mingmerang… What would they be like? How similar would they be to Kevin? Lucy was struck by how normal she and Kevin seemed to be carrying on, after only meeting just yesterday. This wonderful, strange being, that nobody else on Earth knew anything else about – they were now companions, it was telling her that its favorite food was chocolate, and it was a baseball enjoyer. Next it was going to tell her that its favorite TV show was Friends and it was a big fan of Jerry Seinfeld.

“How close are we to the shrine, anyway?” Lucy inquired, tearing off a piece of bread.

“It’s on the other side of the town here, just across the valley,” Kevin answered. “We’re very close. I think we will find the Mingmerang there… I can sense it.”

“You can sense it? Like, you can detect its presence?”

“Yes. I can feel it.”

“Cool…” Lucy stored this fact along with the other facts she had acquired about Kevin, such as “once spent 300 years as a blue whale” and “feeds off of radiation” in the new section of her brain dedicated to him.

After she had finished eating, Kevin took her farther down the hill. They were careful to avoid any lurking humans, and ran into no one on the way.

“You will have to walk from here,” he said, setting her down. “Go down the hill until you find the road, turn right and follow it. Soon you will come to the town.”

“Got it. I’ll be quick.”

“I will wait for you here… And thanks for doing this.”

“No problem. This is what I came along for,” said Lucy, flashing Kevin a rosy smile. “Wish me luck!”

Wiggle’s World

Lucy set off for the town, descending the hill briskly. She soon hit the road and turned right, making a mental note of the exact spot where she had left the forest. She walked along the road for a while, passing an abandoned house, a few side roads, before eventually reaching a small settlement nestled down in the valley. A river ran through and split the town in half, with a bridge joining it together.

A car passed by. The driver, an older woman, was eyeing Lucy curiously. Lucy realized she must have looked peculiar, walking out here alone, and being somewhat dirty and disheveled from sleeping in the woods. She tried to tidy herself up a bit.

She saw there was a convenience store on the corner near the center of the town, by the bridge. It was called Wiggle’s World. It was a strange name for a convenience store, but the gas pumps, the glass doors and energy drink advertisements were unmistakable.

Approaching the store, Lucy happened to glance at the stack of papers on a rack by the front door. She picked one up and started reading. On the front page: “Anchoridge Watermelon Festival Will Be Biggest Yet.” Anchoridge, that must be the name of this town… thought Lucy. She scanned the article, flipped through the pages. Local dam under construction, interview with local businessperson… nothing very interesting. And then, on page 6, something caught Lucy’s eye.

“Hillston man claims extra-terrestrial sighting.” As Lucy read the title, her heart skipped a beat. She continued…

Carl Green, 62, a Hillston farmer and resident, reported yesterday that he had seen “an enormous alien” while he was out hunting yesterday evening.

“I was out on the west side of Ram’s Peak, buck huntin’, when I saw a woman layin’ down on the ground. She didn’t look hurt or anything, but I asked if she was alright, and she looked confused, said she weren’t lost – and then I looked over, and I saw it. It was huge… a giant alien thing. It was blue, and had… strange eyeballs all over it. It must have been twenty feet tall. And it ran over to me and grabbed the girl. I shot it with my gun. I swear to God I saw it, clear as day.”

Mr. Green claims that the creature took the woman, described as young and blonde, and ran off into the forest, adding that he tried to shoot it. “I tried to stop it. I shot it with my shotgun but it just kept runnin’. I know I hit it. It’s kidnapped that girl! We gotta’ do somethin’!

Mr. Green’s claims are being investigated by local authorities. Currently, no other sightings have yet been reported. No one has yet been confirmed missing.

Lucy couldn’t believe what she was reading. They had already made it to the paper? She took the copy of The Anchoridge Times and stuffed it into her backpack. She had been correctly described as young and blonde. Would anyone suspect her of being the kidnapped woman? She thought again about how wild she looked right now. She wanted to turn around and get out of town. But she had a mission. She had to get Kevin his chocolate.

Taking a deep breath, Lucy pushed through the glass doors of Wiggle’s World. A bell chimed, and she was met with a cool wall of air-conditioning. She looked over to the register, where a middle-aged man stood, counting money in the drawer. He looked up at her and nodded, saying, “Welcome, miss.” Lucy smiled back.

Lucy didn’t want to spend too much time in here. She grabbed more water, trail mix, and then, all the chocolate she could carry. Peanut butter cup, caramel nougat, dark chocolate, white, milk. She had 8 different chocolate treats, of all kinds, and threw in a small chocolate cake for good measure. There had to be something in this pile the Mingmerang would like.

She brought her haul up to the counter. Please don’t ask me any questions, Lucy pleaded to the universe.

“Hi,” said Lucy, taking the goods out of her bag and placing them on the counter.

“How are ya today, ma’am?” said the man, grabbing her things and scanning them.

“Fine,” said Lucy.

“Got a sweet tooth, do ya darlin’?” the man said, looking up at her as he swiped the Mullhoney Dream Bar over the scanner.

“Oh yeah, can’t get enough sweets!” replied Lucy, letting out a small laugh.

The man now directed his scanner gun to the chocolate cake, the Yum-O.

“These are my favorite, right here.”

“Yeah, they’re so good!”

Please stop talking to me, thought Lucy.

“Alright honey, that’ll be $27.45…”

Lucy brought out her purse, and as she counted the money, she could tell the man was looking her over, sizing her up. She wanted to get out of there ASAP.

“Here you are,” she said, handing him the money. He rang up the change, and handed it back to her, and said, “Thank you very much.”

Lucy was now stuffing the change and all the chocolate into her bag, ready to turn and walk away. The man now looked right at her.

“Are you just passin’ through?”

Oh no… Lucy’s heart sank.

“Yes, I’m headed to the coast to go surfing with some friends!” She lied.

“Ah, there’s great surfing around here…”

She had finished packing up and was ready to turn and leave.

“I know, it’s one of my favorite spots. Well, thanks so much!” She was turning towards the door now. The man was still giving her an inquisitive look.

“Where ya comin’ from, if you don’t mind my askin’?”

Please let me go.

“Rookvale.” Lucy lied again.

“Rookvale, huh? Nice town…”

“Yes, well I really have to go, I’m already late!” She was headed to the door now.

“Miss!” the man called out.

Lucy turned back to him.

“Yes?”

He stil looked at her with that inquisitive, almost knowing look.

“You be careful around here, alright? I just read somethin’ in the papers this mornin’… something’s going on in the mountains. Said a young woman had been kidnapped by an alien or something. A young blonde woman…”

Lucy’s heart was pounding in her chest now.

“Oh… haha… really?” She stammered, laughing nervously. “That’s… terrible! Thank you for telling me! Well, I’ll be careful, bye now!”

And she turned and left Wiggle’s World as fast as she possibly could without breaking into a run.

Lucy now speedwalked out of town. She was back on the road, desperate to get back to the woods. That man suspected her, all right.

She knew she was overreacting a bit. Who would ever believe someone without proof? She could deny everything, if anybody even bothered to question her. Carl Green’s words were empty without proof, without a second testimony. But she had never been a good liar. She did not want to be interrogated by anyone. And she knew that even if no one believed Carl Green, and just thought he was cracked up, seeking attention… She knew his words were true.

On the way back to where Lucy had entered the road, two cars passed by. They made her nervous. She was half-expecting to see a police car coming for her, and she checked over her shoulder frequently, ready to jump into the woods at any moment. She would’ve walked in the woods alongside the road, but she just wanted to go as quick as possible. And she didn’t want to miss her mark.

Finally, Lucy was back where she had entered the road. She ducked into the forest and started climbing up. Once she knew she was far enough away from the road, she started to periodically call for Kevin. Eventually he called back, and came walking to her, through the trees.

“How did it go?” asked Kevin, when he had reached her.

“They’re onto us, Kevin!” Lucy gushed. “We’re in the newspaper. That stupid hunter guy…” Lucy immediately felt bad for saying that. He was understandably freaked out, and worried about her.

“Really? How do you know?”

“I saw it. I read the article, down in the town. I have it in my bag, if you want to read it.”

“Okay,” said Kevin. “Can you read it to me?”

Lucy pulled the paper out of her bag and read the article again to Kevin.

“I see…” he replied, once she had finished.

“At least it wasn’t on the front page,” Lucy said.

“Yes. Most people won’t believe him. I doubt anyone will suddenly come looking for us. But we’ve got to be careful now. We can’t… I can’t get caught again.”

Lucy looked at the Mingmerang with sadness and compassion. She felt for him. He… It was right to be wary. The humans would not be kind to him. Lucy was, and some people would be, but not the state. Not the general mass of society. If Kevin was discovered, his life as a free Mingmerang would most likely be over. He would be subjected to lab experiments and scientific testing, locked in a vault… who knew what the government would do with him. He knew that all too well.

“We should wait here for the rest of the day, I think. We will only move at night. We don’t have far to go now, just to the top of the hill on the other side of town.”

Lucy nodded. They both sat down. She was tired from all the walking, the riding, the sleeping on the ground, and being awake all night. She reached into her pack and pulled out a water bottle.

“I got the chocolate,” said Lucy. She took out the variety of candy bars and treats, and spread them out in front of her. Kevin moved over to look at them.

“This is great, Lucy! You even got Yum-Os!” He was pleased.

“Your Mingmerang friend has some good options, here,” Lucy said with a laugh. She tossed her backpack behind her to use as a pillow and laid back against it.

What would the other Mingmerang be like? Lucy wondered. Would it talk to her? Should she even reveal herself? Kevin hadn’t said anything about that.

“Hey Kevin… Do you think the other Mingmerang will want to see me, or do you think you should go alone? Seeing as you don’t want to be seen by people…”

Kevin nodded. “Yes, I’ve thought about that. I think it’s alright if you’re there with me. I want the other Mingmerang to know why I’ve come. I will explain to it. And it might be interested in talking to you.”

“What do you think it will be like? Have you met before?”

“We have met, yes. We have shared some information. That is generally what Mingmerangs do when they meet. We don’t seek each other out, though. We mostly try to stay out of each other’s way.”

“Interesting,” said Lucy, leaning back, looking up at the sky. “So you really aren’t very… socially oriented, are you? But you are a good companion, and sociable with me.”

“That’s true. Mostly I am mirroring your own way of being, which is social. This is how I act with all creatures.”

“You know Kevin… you’re fascinating,” Lucy was looking at Kevin now, again taking him in with real amazement in her eyes.

“Thank you,” replied Kevin, laughing his short, dry laugh.

“But you have your own thoughts and… feelings, of course, right? Such as your desire to be able to transform yourself again.”

“Yes. I have intrinsic desires and motivations like all other beings.”

“So what else do you desire?”

“You don’t have to answer that, if you don’t want to…” Lucy quickly added, feeling that she might have overstepped and was now prying a little too much.

“No, that’s okay.” Kevin laughed. It was strange to hear him laugh, as he had no real mouth or lips. He made the sound, his laugh was real, but accompanied by no facial expression. Talking to him was kind of like talking with someone through a walkie-talkie, and Kevin was just a giant transmitter. But it was him speaking, it seemed, and it was his voice… Right?

“I have desires,” Kevin went on. “I want to live the life of a bird, of different kinds of birds, flying, hunting, singing as they do… for days, weeks, years I can go on like this. And then, one day, I want to be a badger. And I will be a badger, and explore life as a badger, digging, sniffing, clawing. Then I’ll want to be a bat, then a horse, a bird again, a squirrel…”

Lucy was watching the branches of the trees sway back and forth in the light breeze. Every now and then she flicked off an ant crawling along her arm, or waved away a fly.

“You said that you were a bird before you went back to this state – the state you’re in now.”

“I was a bulbul. There are many of them around. I’m sure you saw me flying around the baseball field in front of your house.”

Lucy reflected on this fact, that she had already laid eyes on Kevin before, that he had just been one of the birds in the woods around the house, and yet he was not really a bird. She had never known, and would have never known, had she not seen him like this. It was a strange feeling.

“How many Mingmerang do you think there are on Earth?”

“That’s a good question. I really have no idea. There can’t be that many, though.”

“Why not?”

“Well,” said Kevin. “I think I would have found them by now.”

Throughout the conversation, Lucy’s fascination with Kevin, the Mingmerang, only grew. He was more and more amazing with each question she asked him. Now, could he really shapeshift? That’s what she wanted to see, more than anything. She decided to stop interrogating him for now, and mulled over his answers. She still had so many more questions. There would be time to ask more.

Lucy started to become drowsy again. It was so peaceful, being in the woods.

Daylight was still filtering through the leaves above when Lucy woke up. She opened her eyes to green and brightness, and looked over to see if Kevin was still where he had been when she fell asleep. He hadn’t moved an inch, sitting upright and leaning against a tree trunk, with his legs straight out in front of him like fallen logs. He didn’t seem to notice that Lucy was awake.

“Kevin,” said Lucy to the Mingmerang.

Kevin didn’t respond.

“Kevin?”

Lucy stood up and walked over to Kevin, standing in front of his face. He didn’t move.

Was he asleep?

Lucy put her hand on his leg. He was cool and rubbery to the touch. She gave him a gentle push.

“Hey..!” She whispered.

Suddenly, Kevin straightened himself up and looked at Lucy.

“Oh! I didn’t see you…”

“Were you zoning out again?” Lucy asked. “Are you okay?”

“I’m alright,” said Kevin, looking around now. “But… It seems something is going on with me. I don’t usually do this…”

“You don’t usually sleep, right? Or you said, sometimes you go into a trance?” Lucy was looking up into his face with concern, and couldn’t help but notice the strangeness of the large colored orb in his head. She hadn’t examined it so closely before. It seemed to be made of thousands of tiny fibers, like spools of yarn.

“I don’t, hardly ever. Historically for me they have been few and far between. But now I seem to be going into trances… quite often.”

“I feel strange, now,” he continued. “Since I’ve lost my power.”

Lucy didn’t like the way he was talking, she didn’t like that he seemed to be taking a turn for the worse.

“We’ll talk to the other Mingmerang. They must know something.”

“I hope so…”

The Other Mingmerang

They waited until sunset. In a few hours, the light had faded from the sky, and it was night had settled once more. Lucy was eager and nervous to meet another Mingmerang. What would it be like? What would it think of her?

“Well, I think it’s dark enough,” Kevin said, getting up. “Let’s get going.”

“I’m ready,” said Lucy, grabbing her things.

Kevin put Lucy back on his shoulders, and started off. They skirted the edge of the mountain for a while, before starting to descend. Eventually, they came to the road that Lucy had walked along earlier. Kevin stopped at the road, looking for cars, before crossing the road in two enormous bounds. They were in more forest, dark and silent, and then, they reached the bottom of the valley. There was a river running through it, wide and rocky.

“The shrine is just on the other side of this river,” said Kevin. “At the top of the hill.”

“Okay,” replied Lucy.

“The Mingmerang is close. I can feel it.”

“That’s good. How will we cross this river?”

“It’s not that deep. We can walk across.”

Kevin climbed down the bank, picking his way through the large, jagged rock, and then ran across the river, making huge splashes. The water sparkled in the moonlight, the droplets catching the light and glittering like diamonds. Lucy was hardly wet at all when they reached the other side of the bank. Kevin walked up out of the riverbed and entered the forest again.

“Kevin,” said Lucy, as they marched up the hill.

“Yes?”

“I was thinking… is there anything specific I should do or say when we meet the other Mingmerang? Seeing as they don’t want to be seen by humans… I wonder how it will take to my presence.”

“You don’t have to do anything. I will talk to it first. And have the chocolate ready.”

“Got it.”

“We are very close now.”

Lucy and Kevin stepped out of the pines and into an open space. They had come to a long, wide stone staircase. It went in both directions, up and down the hill, disappearing into darkness. Lucy could see the night sky in the gap between the trees above.

“The shrine is at the top,” said Kevin.

“Thank God you are doing all this climbing, and not me,” muttered Lucy.

Kevin started up the stairs, taking five or six at a time. Soon Lucy could make out two vague statues up before them, flanking the entrance to the shrine. A nervous anticipation was building inside of her, now. One Mingmerang was enough for a lifetime, but if there really were more…

They had reached the top of the stairs, and were now on level ground. Once they were close enough, Lucy examined the statues. They were crumbled, but intact enough that she could tell they were mice – one standing on hind legs, one down on all fours. Kevin walked past the mouse guardians and into the shrine.

Everything was bathed in moonlight. The buildings of the shrine were all dilapidated, and the largest building, in the center, was halfway a ruin, with broken wooden stairs, and a caved in roof. Flanking the path were two more mouse statues, carved out of stone, crumbled and worn. The entire place had an eerie, neglected vibe, and held a mysterious energy – and yet, it wasn’t sinister. It felt like they had stumbled upon the ruins of a lost civilization.

Kevin gently set Lucy down on the ground. She was glad to be on her own legs again.

“Follow me,” he said, quietly.

Kevin now walked up to the broken building in the center of the grounds, stopping a bit before it, with Lucy close behind. Then, Kevin made a sound. It was garbled and watery. Lucy jumped at first, not knowing what it was or who was making it – but she quickly realized that it was coming from Kevin. He was speaking.

For a moment after Kevin spoke, there was silence. Then, Lucy noticed a small creature slinking out from underneath the ruins of the shrine. After it had come out from its hiding place, it seemed to stretch itself out, rearing up its hind legs and arching its back. It had sleek fur that shimmered in the light. The creature then waltzed around to the shrine steps, and walked up a few, before sitting down and turning to face them.

It was a cat.

The cat was orange – its eyes flashed in the moonlight. It was looking directly at Lucy, with a piercing gaze, scrutinizing her. It blinked slowly, flicked its tail, and turned its bright eyes on Kevin.

Lucy glanced over at Kevin and waited, hardly daring to breathe, wondering what would happen next. The stars twinkled above, thousands of tiny gleaming gems. For a moment, they all waited, cat, woman, and Mingmerang – silent, sizing each other up.

And then, the cat spoke.

It made the same kinds of garbled, mangled sounds that had just come out of Kevin’s communication organ. Lucy had expected this – unless they were going to use telepathy, they would have to talk somehow, and she didn’t think they would use English – but that didn’t make it any less surreal, watching the cat move its mouth, hearing the strange sounds it was making. It was amazing. She was hearing the language of the Mingmerangs.

Lucy couldn’t understand any of what the Mingmerangs were saying to each other, but if she could, this is what she would have heard:

“You! What are you doing, walking around like that? Why have you come here? And with a human? What could you be thinking?”

The cat again flashed its bright eyes at Lucy. Kevin spoke again, in the same watery language.

“I know it’s unusual. This is not by choice.”

“Do you want us to be hunted? To be persecuted?” The cat said sharply.

“No. Listen… I’m sorry that we are bothering you. But… I have a problem.”

“And what is your problem?”

“I… cannot transform anymore.”

The cat was silent for a moment. It kept its eyes on Kevin.

“What does that have to do with her? Why is she with you? Why did you bring her?”

“She found me like this. She means no harm.”

“It is not wise.” The cat flicked its tail again. “It is much better that humans are not meddling in our affairs.”

“I know,” said Kevin.

The cat looked displeased.

“We brought some gifts for you,” said Kevin.

This entire time Lucy had been standing silent, mouth agape, marveling at what she was seeing and hearing. Two sentient beings, two non-human sentient beings, having a conversation, right here in front of her. Five days ago she would not have ever believed, in a million years, that she would be witnessing such a thing. And here it was happening.

Kevin now turned to Lucy and spoke in English.

“Give it the chocolate.”

She had been ready for this. Lucy sat down her bag and opened it, taking out the collection of chocolate goodies, the Yum-Os and the Chocolate Whingwangs and all the rest, and walked slowly up to the cat. The large orange cat had turned its eyes on Lucy, unblinking, watching her in the dark. She laid the pile of treats down in front of it, somewhat wishing that they had a better presentation.

“You,” the cat now spoke to her, its eyes nearly level with hers’. It had a voice like an old woman’s, raspy and throaty.

“You are not afraid of us?”

“No. Not really,” Lucy answered. “I mean, I was at first, a little bit. But not anymore. I think you are amazing.”

“Have you told anyone about us?”

“No,” said Lucy. “No one would believe me anyway.”

The cat held Lucy’s gaze for a moment longer, before stepping gingerly down the crumbling wooden stairs. It was investigating the candy. It sniffed and pawed at the pile, whiskers touching the candy wrappers. It seemed to be reading the labels.

“You have brought me good snacks…” The second Mingmerang said.

Kevin spoke again in the warbled, gutteral Mingmerang language.

“So you like chocolate too?”

“Yes. Who doesn’t like chocolate?”

The cat sat down again. It looked up at Kevin.

“You said that you cannot change yourself anymore?”

“That’s right. Not since four nights ago now.”

“Hmm…”

“Do you know what it means?” asked Kevin. “Has this ever happened to you?”

“No.” The cat spoke slowly now, and turned its gaze back to the pile of chocolate. “It has never happened to me. But I have heard something about it before, from another Mingmerang.”

“What did it say?”

“Well… You may not like the answer.”

Kevin didn’t reply. The cat continued.

“It told me that when a Mingmerang stops being able to change itself… it means that it will die soon.”

Kevin did not immediately reply. The cat flicked its eyes back up at him.

“I see…” He said at last.

“This is just what I have heard. I do not know if it’s true or not.”

“Thank you for sharing this with me.”

“Perhaps you will not die. Perhaps it’s something else. There are many mysteries with us…”

The cat looked like any regular ol’ ginger cat, the plainest cat in the world, and yet it was talking like that.

“So there are. Do you remember your conception?”

“Not really. I remember there was a flash, and a roar. It was as if I had exploded into being. And I remember there were many of us.”

“That is what I remember, too.”

The orange cat now turned its head to the sky, gazing at the stars above.

“Who knows where we come from?”

Neither of the Mingmerangs spoke now.

Lucy listened as they talked, studying the sounds of the language, the warbled speech. She was captivated by their strange language, and could only imagine what they were talking about. She hoped that Kevin would tell her everything.

“The human… what is she like?” said the cat.

“She is interesting,” replied Kevin. “A curious one. Not afraid, as she said.”

“What does she think of you?”

“I think she feels pity for me. And thinks that I am a mythical creature.”

The cat made a weird garble that might have been a laugh. It turned to Lucy, and spoke to her in English again.

“What is your name?”

“Lucy.”

“Lucy… Thank you for the chocolate.”

“You’re welcome. It was Kevin’s idea,” she replied, gesturing with her head towards Kevin.

“Who is Kevin? You mean this Mingmerang?”

“Yeah, I named him Kevin. Do you have a name?”

The cat seemed amused.

“No. There is an old man who comes to this shrine. To him, I am Mango.”

“Mango, huh? That’s not what I would call you… Well, are you able to help Kevin?”

“No. There is nothing I can do for him.”

“Damn…”

And then, Lucy couldn’t help herself. She had to ask – this could be the only chance she would ever get.

“Mango… I know that I’m a human, and I hope it isn’t rude of me to ask this, but if you wouldn’t mind… Could you transform for me?”

“Ah. You want to see that, do you?”

“I really would… if it’s not a big deal, for you…”

“It is like breathing,” replied the cat, now walking down the steps. It sauntered right up to Lucy, was only feet away from her, looking her right in the eyes.

“Ready? Watch.”

But Lucy didn’t have to be told to watch. Nothing could have made her look away from the large orange cat in front of her. She had no idea what she was about to see. She was almost afraid. She had been trying to imagine what it could possibly look like, to see a creature morph itself into another, if it was instantaneous, or happened gradually…

The cat before her started to glow. It was happening. Rapidly, the glow increased to a fiery brightness, and the shape of the cat started to change, become formless and loose, and then in a flash, just a second or less, a new shape emerged, longer, larger, taller – the glow faded, as quickly as it had come. Lucy gasped.

“Oh… my… God…”

Where there had been mere seconds before a ginger cat, there was a cat no more. Lucy was now looking into the eyes of a large, brown owl. The owl’s enormous eyes shone in the moonlight.

“Impressed?” said the owl, moving its beak. It flapped its feathery wings, making hardly a sound.

Lucy had put a hand to her mouth. She was in a state of complete disbelief.

“You… You can really do it…”

“Of course I can,” replied the owl.

“How do you do it?” Lucy whispered. She couldn’t help but ask, fully aware it was a stupid question.

The owl hooted in amusement.

“Do you want me to teach you, then?”

“Can I? I can’t… of course.”

“No, you can’t. I couldn’t tell you how we do it. We just do.”

Kevin was watching them silently. Lucy hoped this wasn’t making him upset.

“Does your natural form look like Kevin’s?” she asked the owl.

The owl turned its head to look at Kevin.

“Yes… something like that.”

It looked back at Lucy.

“You want to see that too, of course…”

Lucy nodded.

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, you’ve seen this much…”

The owl suddenly spread its wings and swooped over to Kevin’s side. It was amazing how quiet it was when it moved. And then, again the bright glow of light came, the shape of the owl seeming to melt, dissolving, but this time the shape expanded enormously, exploding out to become the same size and form as Kevin, the Mingmerang right next to it. The light faded, and there, side by side, were two Mingmerangs. There were two Kevins.

The second Mingmerang was an exact copy of Kevin. Lucy couldn’t tell any difference between them. And now, this confirmed the fact, seen with her very own eyes, that not only was there one giant magical shapeshifter creature on Earth, that just four days ago she would have never dreamed of existing, but there were more. That there were at least two, and if what they were saying was true, there were more. Kevin, the Mingmerangs… They were part of a race. They were a species.

“Holy crap…” said Lucy.

“Looks just like me, doesn’t it?” said Kevin.

“I can’t tell the difference.”

But there was some difference, Lucy noticed. The number and location of the colored orbs between the two seemed to be somewhat different. It wasn’t obvious, but she thought that could just tell them apart, that way.

The Mingmerangs faced each other for a moment. It was something unusual for them, too, to be together like this. And then, the second Mingmerang glowed, there was a flash of light, and there was a ginger cat again, the same ginger cat it had been when it first crawled out from under the dilapidated shrine.

The cat walked back over to the shrine steps and climbed them again, sitting down to face them once more.

“You are one of the only humans to have ever seen such a thing,” it said to Lucy. “Perhaps the only one.”

“Thank you…” Was all she could manage to reply, and for some reason found herself making a small bow to the cat.

“Thank you,” said Kevin as well, to the other Mingmerang.

“It is no problem,” replied the other Mingmerang.

Kevin turned to Lucy, and held out a hand, signaling it was time to leave.

“Let’s go,” he said.

Lucy nodded, and stepped into his gelatinous grip, allowing herself to be lifted up again.

“This is something new for me to see, too,” said the other Mingmerang. “A human and a Mingmerang, together…”

“Thank you for talking with us,” said Kevin, now speaking the gutteral language of the Mingmerangs.

“Good luck to you,” replied the cat.

They had turned to leave, when Lucy looked over her shoulder at the other Mingmerang, who was now laying down, licking its face and cleaning itself.

“Goodbye, Mango!” she called to it.

“Goodbye, Lucy.”

Kevin left the grounds of the shrine the same way they had come in. The other Mingmerang watched them until they were down the stairs. Lucy had looked back again and watched it, lounging on the steps, tail waving in the air, until it disappeared from view.

Going Home

Kevin walked down the steps in silence. Lucy was still thinking about what she had just seen. It was magic. A shapeshifter… A transformation, from cat, to owl, to Mingmerang, right before her very eyes. So that’s what Kevin should be able to do; that was his power. She wanted now more than ever to help him unlock his ability once more.

Lucy was eager to know what the other Mingmerang had said, but she knew that it hadn’t been able to say much. It had told her that there was nothing it could do for Kevin. She waited for Kevin to speak first, but he remained silent as they continued down the stone steps, six at a time. Finally, when they had left the steps and were headed back through the forest, she couldn’t hold it in any longer.

“Kevin,” said Lucy.

“Yes?”

“What did the other Mingmerang say? Did it have any advice for you?”

“It did not have much to say.”

“Hmm.”

“It said that it had never experienced what I’m experiencing. But it did have a theory about what’s happening to me.”

“Really?”

“It said that it had heard from another Mingmerang that, if a Mingmerang finds that it is unable to change itself, it means that that Mingmerang is going to die.”

“What? Die?”

“Yes, that’s what it said.”

“Why? Why would you die?”

“I don’t know why. It didn’t say. And it may not be true,” said Kevin. He was silent for a moment, before continuing.

“But, I have not been myself lately. Since finding myself like this. As you know…”

“Is there nothing you can do about it?” asked Lucy.

“You mean as if to stop myself from dying?”

“Yes. I mean, do you have a disease or something? Is there a way to cure it, or fix yourself?”

Lucy was grasping for something, hoping for anything that they could work with that could be used to help Kevin.

“No, it didn’t know anything more,” he replied.

This was not what Lucy had expected to hear. She had thought the other Mingmerang would suggest eating a rare food, perhaps visiting a sacred place, doing a special dance and chanting some magic words, or that it just wouldn’t have any clue. But she never thought it would say that Kevin was dying. She felt terrible.

“Well – it could be wrong.” she said, not fully believing her words.

“It could be,” Kevin said.

Lucy had just gotten to know Kevin. She had just started to feel comfortable with him and all his strangeness. And now he was going to die? It didn’t seem right.

It was hard for Lucy to gauge how Kevin, being self-reported 300 million years old, was feeling about his possible death. Had he already suspected it? Did he even have feelings? Did he have emotions? He said once that he was “mirroring” her. What did death mean for a being like him?

They had now reached the bottom of the hill by the river.

“I think we should go back now,” said Kevin. “I have to take you home, and it’s a good place for me to stay hidden. I know those woods well.”

Lucy really didn’t want to go back like this, in failure.

“Shouldn’t we try and find another Mingmerang? They may know something more,” Lucy suggested.

“I would rather not risk it. This was risky enough. I do not want to be discovered and plagued by humans. And, I know of no other Mingmerangs around.”

They were now running through the river, splashing through the silvery water, the stars reflecting in the water. The air in the valley was cool and refreshing. Then, they crossed the road and entered the forest again. Kevin began to ascend, seeming to be taking the same route back.

They climbed in silence. The woods were dark. Lucy could hardly see. Kevin must have superior night vision, she thought. He has never so much as stumbled in the dark.

By the time the sky started to turn the lightest bit of gray, they had made it up into the mountains. They settled at a rocky, flattened space enclosed in trees. Lucy was eager to get some sleep. The fly-by-night roughing it was taking a toll on her. She was still good on food and water, having replenished her supply at Wiggle’s World, and would be fine for the next few days. And of course, Kevin seemed to be fine, never seeming to need rest or sustenance. Like a perfect machine.

She slept for much of the day. Kevin sat nearby as usual, quiet, unmoving as a statue. Lucy thought when he sat like this he looked like some kind of modern, living art sculpture. He was fascinating to look at.

“What are you thinking about?” Lucy asked.

This time Kevin replied immediately.

“Nothing,” he said.

“Are you meditating?”

“Something like that.”

Lucy rolled back over on her back, looking up at the treetops and watching the sparrows flit around.

“Kevin, can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

“Well, I’m wondering… What do you think about death?”

Kevin did not seem troubled by the question.

“Death is the opposite of life. I have seen many things come and go. I have always known that someday I would do the same. Though I have wondered how and when, and sometimes even if, I would die,” Kevin said.

“It is a natural thing. Of course I don’t necessarily want to stop existing. I do like it here on Earth.”

“So you are not afraid of death?” Lucy asked.

“No. I am not afraid of it.”

“Well, I hope that I can be as calm as you about my own death.”

A gust of wind parted the roof of trees, revealing a cloudy sky.

“Are you afraid to die?” Kevin now asked Lucy.

She thought about it.

“Well, not now. I’m young… I don’t think about it much. But I know that I will, someday. And I don’t want to die yet.”

“That is natural,” Kevin replied.

“What have been some of your favorite memories, in your life? I know you must have some good ones.”

“It is a lot to remember,” Kevin said with a laugh. “I remember periods of time. What you call the ‘Ice Age’ was quite interesting. Everything was covered in snow and ice. I wondered if it would ever end.”

“It is amazing to watch the different organisms grow and evolve over time. The diversity and adaptability of life on this planet is astounding. And it has been particularly fascinating to see your evolution, as humans. There has never been anything like you on this planet, since I’ve been here. And in such a short period of time… You have done so much. Where are you headed? What is next for you? I would like know.”

“What do you think is next for us?” Lucy felt as if she were talking to a living history book.

“It is hard to say. You are a singular species. What new technologies will you invent? What new powers will you unlock? And what will happen with the Earth? You have proven that you are capable. You could make it beyond the stars, and the galaxy could be your domain, if it is possible.”

Lucy reflected over Kevin’s words.

“I want to know about where you come from,” she said, turning on her side and propping herself up on one elbow to look at Kevin.

“So do I,” said the Mingmerang.

“Do you think there are more of you out there? In space?”

“I think there could be. I don’t think we started on this planet. But how we got here on Earth, how we came to be, I don’t know.”

“Do you have any theories?”

Kevin was quiet for a moment, before replying.

“I have no real information to form anything but conjecture with. I often think we have been placed here to scout and observe the happenings of this planet. It would explain our tendencies to desire knowledge, to study our surroundings, and to remain hidden. To be unobtrusive. I sometimes feel as if I will be called upon someday, to make a report to another intelligence. To our creators, or to other Mingmerangs, possibly.”

Lucy imagined what it would be like to be a sentient being, like herself or Kevin, and not know your own story. Not know your role, your place, or your purpose. At least humans had each other, had a human story. The Mingmerangs seemed not to know exactly where they came from or what they belonged to. They didn’t know what they were meant for.

They talked more, until dusk. Kevin never seemed to get tired of answering Lucy’s questions. She felt that she wanted to learn as much as she possibly could about him. She learned that Kevin could “see” in 360 degrees, that he absorbed a range of wavelengths of light, that he was perceptive to vibrations, and was perfect at calculating. When Lucy had asked him what 9183 cubed was, he replied instantaneously: “774,379,331,487”. Not that she could confirm that was correct, but Kevin was confident about it, and it sounded right. The more she learned about him, the more extraordinary he became, and the more strongly she hoped that what the other Mingmerang had said wasn’t true.

They crossed over the range, that second night of their return. It was raining, lightly at first, then quite heavily. Kevin stuck to cover as much as he could, but by the end Lucy was soaked and cold. She had the foresight to bring a poncho, and it helped – but it wasn’t perfect. She was also getting tired of eating trail mix, crackers, and bread. She wanted a hot meal. She was looking forward to getting home.

That night passed uneventfully, and so did the next. Lucy recognized the land when they started to descend the last mountain. It had been six full nights since they embarked on their quest. The moon was now about halfway waned. Lucy was anxious to take a hot shower and sleep in her bed, thinking that any minute now Kevin would set her down and tell her they were back. Finally, he stopped walking. They had come to the trail behind the house that Lucy had walked down when she first found Kevin.

“We’re back,” he said, setting Lucy down on the trail. “You must be exhausted.”

“Yeah,” she replied, yawning and stretching her body. “I am.”

“What will you do now?” she asked Kevin.

“I plan to go up on the hill,” he said, pointing to the top of the trail. “And wait.”

Lucy was sad, and wished she could do more for the Mingmerang. She had tried to come up with any new idea, but no luck.

“How have you been feeling?”

“Well,” Kevin spoke heavily. “I am slowing down, I think. My energy is waning.”

“I’ll keep thinking about what you could try…” she offered.

Kevin seemed to sense that Lucy was trying to make him feel better.

“Do not worry about me, Lucy. I will be okay.”

“Can I visit you?”

“Of course.”

She felt strange parting ways after having spent the last week together. It felt like she would never see him again.

“I feel bad leaving you alone here…” she said.

“Don’t worry. I’m not lonely. Now go get some sleep.”

“Okay. Goodnight, Kevin.”

Lucy waved goodbye to the giant blue Mingmerang, and turned on her flashlight. She walked back up the trail to the house. She barely made it up the stairs, and was half-asleep as she stripped off all her dirty clothes, threw them on the floor, and was unconscious before her head hit the pillow.

The Event

The sun was already high in the sky when Lucy woke up. She felt like she had never had a deeper sleep in her life. Her body still ached, and she had no intention of getting out of bed. But she was thirsty and she desperately wanted to shower. Soft light came in through the windows. The sky was grey.

Lucy laid there for a while, unwilling to move, staring at the ceiling, at the sky through the window. It was weird to be in a familiar, normal place again, after what she had just been through. She almost felt like it hadn’t happened at all, that there had been no trip with Kevin, no other Mingmerang. Images flashed through her mind – the stars above the volcano, the look of shock on the hunter’s face, the convenience store, the other Mingmerang, transforming, like magic…

Lucy was finding it hard to tell herself that Kevin wasn’t dying. The signs seemed to suggest that he was.

She had just been wondering what she would tell Nilah when at that moment, there was a gentle knock at her door.

“Hello?” came a youthful, energetic voice. “Lucy?”

“Hey,” Lucy replied.

Nilah slid the door open. She was smiling, her familiar, wide smile, and scanned the room with her quick brown eyes, before locking eyes with Lucy.

“You’re back!” She said, happily.

“I’m back. Did you miss me?”

“Where did you go? You didn’t take your car? Did someone pick you up or what?” She noticed Lucy’s pile of dirty clothes.

“What, were you sleeping out in the woods or something?”

“Yeah, actually… I was!” Lucy laughed at her friend’s genuine surprise.

“You’re crazy, you know that?”

“I know.”

“Did you go alone? You didn’t go alone, right?”

“Well… I made friends… along the way.”

Nilah stared at Lucy with a mixture of wonder and amusement.

“Look, I’ll tell you all about it later. Let me shower and get cleaned up, first.”

Nilah nodded and went to slide the door closed, before opening it again and saying, “Do you want me to make you something? Are you hungry?”

“That would be amazing,” she said. Lucy wanted Nilah gone now, and was eager to see her close the door and hear her footsteps on the stairs. She was asking too many questions too soon. Lucy sighed. She knew she could say just about anything to Nilah and she would believe it. Except for, of course, the truth. Who could ever believe such a thing? Even her best friend… Without proof… No one could know.

There was the news report. Lucy had the paper stuffed in her bag. And then, there was Kevin himself. She could take Nilah with her to meet him…

She would have to ask Kevin first. But… something about that didn’t feel right. Showing him off like he was a curio at a circus. And especially not under the circumstances.

Lucy couldn’t stand being grimy in her bed anymore. She forced herself out of bed and headed for the shower.

While blasting herself with hot water, scouring her body of the dirt and sweat, and pulling bits of leaf and pine needles out of her tangled hair, she cooked up the story that she would spin to satisfy Nilah. After soaping and scrubbing, brushing until the hot water started to become lukewarm, she got out, dried herself off, threw on some pajamas, her comfiest clothes, and went downstairs.

Nilah had already made her eggs and toast, and was setting out jelly and butter, saying, “Sorry, they’re a little cold now…” It was still the best thing Lucy had eaten in a week, and she savored every bite, while weaving her tale. Nilah was listening with rapt attention; she had decided to take a spontaneous backpacking trip on foot, ended up hitchhiking, staying with an old couple running a restaurant, at a motel, one night at a fancy hotel on the coast, then a surfing hostel… She threw in some spice and flourish, about a flat tire, getting lost, traipsing through the woods… When she had finished, Nilah was shaking her head in disbelief.

“You’re insane!” she laughed. “What an adventure! And you did it all on your own. You’re braver than me…”

That night, Lucy went to see Kevin again. She was half-worried that she wouldn’t be able to find him, that she would never see him again, or that he would be… and she wasn’t sure if this would be worse – that he would be dead. But neither of those were yet true, she was relieved to find out. He was on top of the hill adjacent to the house, a tall, steep hill that jutted up even higher than the surrounding land, covered in dense trees and shrubs. She picked her way through the trees and brush, flashlight in hand, wondering when she would catch a glimpse of him. He was at the top, well-hidden among the brush. No one would see him here, unless they were standing five feet away.

He could hear her coming, and called out to her. She tried not to get tangled up in anything, made it over to his side, and sat down next to him.

“My roommate doesn’t suspect a thing,” she told Kevin. “For all she knows I was on a surfing trip.”

“You didn’t tell her about me?” he asked. “I wondered if you would.”

“No. I won’t say anything. Unless, you want me to? Would you want to meet her?” ventured Lucy. She guessed that Kevin wouldn’t want to see anyone else, but half of her did want to share this secret with someone.

“What do you think she would say? If she saw me?”

“Oh, she would lose her mind. There’s no question about it,” Lucy replied, laughing at the thought. “She doesn’t need to know,” Lucy quickly added.

“Lucy,” Kevin seemed serious, now. “I think whatever happens with me, it will happen at the next full moon.”

“Really? What makes you say that?”

“Yes. That is what I feel.”

Lucy wanted to say something to console him.

“I was thinking,” said Lucy. “What if you are going to be recalled? As in, back to your people? Your creators or possibly other Mingmerangs? Maybe you’ll be beamed back up to the Mothership.”

Kevin gave a small laugh. “It could happen.”

Lucy studied Kevin for any hint of expression, but he showed none. His colorful orb-like organs glowed faintly in the dark. Eventually, he turned up to the sky.

“I’ll find out soon enough.”

Lucy visited Kevin every day since they had come back from their trip to see the other Mingmerang. And while she found ways to occupy her time – writing, wandering, hanging with Nilah, watching the birds flit across the fields, watching movies… She had a growing apprehension about what was in store for her Mingmerang friend. She could not think of much more to do for him. She was not even sure if her coming to see him helped, or was an annoyance to him, although he never would admit it if it was. He only seemed to become slower, more withdrawn and reticent, his responses less enthusiastic, shorter. She kept her eyes on the moon, watching it every night, as it shrunk, growing smaller and smaller, then disappeared, and slowly, gradually fattened again. She had never paid more attention to the giant rock in space than she did now.

Finally, it was the day of the full moon. That night, surely, something would be happening to her Mingmerang on the hill. Kevin had all but ceased his activity and behavior. He would not even respond to most of what Lucy said to him – the most she could get were hums of acknowledgment. She was so nervous about the night that Nilah asked her several times during the day, as she had in recent days, if everything was alright. “You seem tense…” She commented perceptively. Lucy had brushed it off, but she was tense. The ambiguity was the worst thing about it.

What would she be seeing? What could happen? What if Kevin exploded? What if a spaceship came flying down out of the sky? What if he just died, turned off, shut down, and stayed there on the hill? What would happen to his body? What if Kevin was taken away by who knows what, and they saw Lucy? Would she be taken too?

Lucy had some trepidation, yes. But her curiosity, and her feeling of companionship, for what she felt was a lonely being in a time of need… She would not abandon him now.

Summoning her courage, she went to meet him that night, at dusk. She tried not to show her nerves. She went to the usual spot, but was met with a surprise. Kevin wasn’t there.

Her heart stopped in her chest. Kevin hadn’t moved from that spot for weeks. Was he already gone? Lucy’s mind was racing. Did it happen already? Or, maybe he moved? But where would he have gone?

The sun was setting, the light fading rapidly from the sky. Lucy had abandoned secrecy, thrown caution to the wind now, frantically scanning the hillside, calling out, “Kevin! Kevin! Where are you?” And then she noticed… through a gap in the trees ahead, there was a silver glow. A faint, pulsating shimmer…

She moved closer, cautiously, to investigate. She stepped out from behind a tree, and peering through a bush, she saw a form, glowing softly, radiating light. Standing in the middle of a small clearing of trees was Kevin. He was facing upwards, tilted back.

Kevin had been right. It was happening tonight.

She wondered if it was even safe to approach. But she had to.

Stepping through the bush, Lucy walked into the clearing and approached Kevin. She was standing in front of him, craning her neck to look up at her towing, glowing Mingermang friend. He took no notice of her.

She wasn’t sure what to say, at first. Her words seemed stuck in her throat. Her eyes suddenly started to mist over. Then, she started to talk.

“Kevin… if this is the end… You are a magnificent being. Thank you for not hurting me, and for talking with me. I enjoyed spending time with you… I will never forget you… Goodbye…” She realized was crying. She stood there for a moment, her eyes wet with tears. And then, Lucy walked over to the edge of the clearing and sat down.

Kevin’s Gift

The sun was gone now. The sky was clear, the first stars had come out. And Kevin, slowly, imperceptibly, began to shimmer and glow brighter. His seemed to become more translucent, the spherical organs in his body becoming luminous gems. As the moon moved across the night sky, so Kevin grew brighter. Lucy watched, hardly taking her eyes off Kevin, her nervousness and anticipation mingled with wonder. She fully expected Kevin to disappear any second now, and leave her all alone.

It felt like an eternity, but finally, the moon was overhead. Lucy could see it though the opening in the trees above, it was directly above them, and Kevin was now completely white, emanating radiant light that was so bright Lucy had to squint to look at him. Particles of light seemed to coalesce around him, like fireflies… It was marvelous and beautiful… Lucy was crying again… And then she heard Kevin’s voice, as if it were incredibly far away now.

“Goodbye, Lucy…”

Tears were streaming down her face, she was squinting through them, waving goodbye. “Goodbye Mingmerang…” she whispered under her breath.

And then, the light went out.

Lucy knew that Kevin was gone.

She was openly bawling now, she didn’t know why. Through her tears, she could see that Kevin was gone… The clearing was empty…

“Goodbye Mingmerang!” she shouted now. Maybe, somehow, he could still hear her.

“Lucy!” said a voice beside her.

Lucy shot up in surprise.

“Oh my god!” she half-screamed.

“I’m still here!” said the voice.

Lucy looked down next to her, where the voice was coming from. There, standing amongst the leaves, she could just make out a small bird. It looked like a bulbul.

“Kevin??”

“Look!” cried the bird, joyously. It flapped its wings and took off, zooming circles happily in the air.

“You’re alive!” Lucy gasped, leaping up, clapping, as the little bird flew around her. She was smiling from ear to ear. After weaving and bobbing excitedly for a bit longer, the bird landed on the ground in front of her and started to glow. Within mere seconds, the shape rapidly rearranged itself, expanding rapidly, and suddenly the glow was gone. Standing there in place of the bird was a massive, gray wolf.

“Oh how I’ve missed that,” said the wolf, walking up to Lucy.

She instinctively scratched the wolf’s head, ran her hands through the thick fur. She was petting Kevin, the wolf.

“I – I thought you were gone… I thought you were…”

“I was sure I was,” said Kevin.

Kevin allowed Lucy to scratch him for a moment more, and then pulled away from her and moved over to the center of the clearing. There was something there. Kevin stood in front of it, and stared at it intently.

Lucy followed his gaze. She saw it now, taking a few steps forward. On the ground in front of Kevin, there was a dark, ovaloid object. She approached closer, kneeling down to get a better look at it.

“What is it?” she said.

She had a strong urge to reach out and touch the mysterious object, but thought that wasn’t a good idea.

Kevin said nothing, for a minute.

“I think it’s an egg,” he finally said, still not taking his eyes off of it.

“I understand now…”

Suddenly, it dawned on Lucy as well.

“You were pregnant?” she said, looking over at the wolf in astonishment.

The wolf laughed. “It seems so.”

Kevin sniffed the egg. It was several feet long, grey, and perfectly smooth, resembling some kind of igneous rock. He extended a paw and touched the egg gingerly, almost lovingly. Kevin held his paw to the object for some time. Then, he took a few steps away from it and laid down.

“Can you believe it?” said Lucy, standing up again, looking between Kevin and the egg.

“I can believe it,” he said. “But it’s not what I expected.”

“Well, what now?”

“Now we wait,” he said.

“How long will it take to hatch?” she said, as if Kevin would somehow have the answer even though two hours ago he hadn’t even known he was pregnant.

“I do not know,” he replied. “Unfortunately there is no Mingmerang guidebook. I would have had a better month, if there was.”

“It could be years. It could be 100 million years.”

The moon had passed over them, and they were sitting in the darkness of the forest again. Lucy still had the urge to reach out and touch the mysterious egg. She wanted to feel what it was made of, what kind of a covering it had. It seemed to have small markings on it, swirls and spirals, although Lucy couldn’t be sure in the dark.

“Do you want to be alone with it?” Lucy asked tentatively.

“No,” said Kevin. “I don’t mind. Stay here if you like.”

The wolf crossed its paws and set its head down on top of them.

Lucy stayed that night with Kevin and the egg. With all the excitement she found herself wide awake through the night. She couldn’t take her eyes off of it. Kevin was alternating between giving it meaningful looks and resting his head on his paws.

They passed the rest of the night uneventfully, in silence. Lucy eventually dozed off, waking up at dawn to see that the egg had changed appearance considerably. It seemed softer now, like a squishy pill, and clearer. It was full of sparkles and dots.

Lucy wondered what exactly would be coming out of it, and when it would hatch. She was just starting to think she should head back to the house, that Nilah would soon be looking for her, when suddenly, the egg started to move. It was wriggling, gently.

“Did you see that?” she gasped, glancing at Kevin. He was watching intently.

“I saw it.”

The mass continued to wriggle, more and more vigorously. And then, it burst open with a pop, like a bubble. The outer lining had burst, and now, what looked like a hundred tiny little Mingmerangs tumbled out. Each one of them was a mini Kevin, looking exactly like him, but in miniature form. They stumbled around, falling over one another, immediately taking space. They didn’t seem to have much awareness, not acknowledging the large wolf or the human woman, simply disentangling themselves from one another. And then, the most extraordinary thing happened.

One by one, the little Mingmerangs lit up, all together, they began to transform themselves. There were flashes of light, and then – birds, of all kinds – a sparrow, two chickadees, several crows and titmice – then there was a chipmunk, several chipmunks, a frog, squirrels, and beetles, butterflies, a crab… Lucy thought it was like Noah’s Ark, to see so many different animals together in one place. And immediately, they fled – hopping off, flying away, scurrying into the woods.

Within minutes Kevin and Lucy were alone again. The clearing was empty now of baby Mingmerangs, as if there had not just been a hundred tiny aliens scampering about.

“Well, I’m not going to be the only Mingmerang around here anymore,” Kevin finally said.

“Congratulations Kevin, you’re a father!!!!”

Lucy went back home happier than ever, feeling like she had just won the lottery. She was sure that nothing could ever beat what had happened last night. That Kevin had been pregnant. He wasn’t dead. And now, a hundred more Mingmerangs on Earth…

After Kevin’s replication event, Lucy continued to see him. He was now spending most of his time as a barred owl. He would find her during the day, while she was out, sitting in the glen down in the woods behind the house, or in the field by the trees, and he would hoot outside her window at night. And whenever Lucy saw the wild creatures of the woods now, she couldn’t help but wonder if they were really what they seemed to be, or if they were one of Kevin’s Mingmerang children.

Eventually, it came time that Lucy was moving on. She had reached the end of her stay in Nilah’s forest home. Life called her onward. She was sad to go, and she told Kevin that she promised to come back and visit him.

“Before you leave, come visit me. I have a present for you.”

On Lucy’s last day, she went down to where she had laid eyes on a Mingmerang for the first time. She scanned the trees, looking for the owl, her eyes landing on a brown lump in a cedar tree. It was Kevin. He flew down silently, landing in front of her.

“Are you all ready to go?”

“I have a few more things to grab but… pretty much, yep.”

“Well, I’ll miss seeing you around here,” said Kevin. “You’ll have to come back sometime.”

“Don’t worry. I will.”

Kevin spread his wings and swooped back, putting distance between himself and Lucy.

“Are you ready?” he called to her. “This is what I wanted to show you.”

Without waiting for a reply, Kevin changed himself. The bright shimmer of light engulfed his body, and rapidly, it swelled, enormously expanding into a long, gargantuan creature, with a massive head, a projecting tail – the light faded, and there, standing in the sun, as real as it gets, was a monster T-Rex.

“Holy shit…” Lucy whispered, putting a hand to her mouth. The T-Rex was staring at her with beady, black reptilian eyes. It took two steps towards her, and even though Lucy knew that it was Kevin, she felt fear. She was so powerless compared to such a beast. He snorted, his nostrils flaring, and then he straightened himself up, raising his head high up in the air, opened his jaws wide, and let out a ferocious, terrifying chirping sound.

“Squakakakakakak!!!!!”

The T-Rex stopped shrieking and looked back at Lucy.

“Well,” he said. “Are you impressed?”

“Very impressed. So that’s what a T-Rex sounds like, huh? I would never have guessed it,” she laughed.

“It’s their mating call.”

“Thank you, Kevin. Now I’m the only person alive to have ever seen a Mingmerang AND a T-Rex.”

The T-Rex started to glow, and then, Kevin returned to his owl form.

“So, what are you going to do now?” he asked.

“I’m going back to live with my parents, for now. And then… I’m not really sure. I’ve got to find a job, I suppose…”

“You will do great, Lucy. You are very capable. I have seen that.”

“Thanks Kevin. You take care of yourself, alright?”

The owl hooted in response. Lucy was tearing up now. She was as sad to leave these woods as she was to leave Kevin. They had bonded, her and the Mingmerang. And he felt like an extension of these woods. In a way, he was the woods. She patted his feathery head. Kevin hooted, then flew back up to his perch in the cedar tree.

Lucy waved goodbye, taking one last look at him.

“Goodbye, friend!”

“Goodbye Lucy,” called the Mingmerang. “See you again someday.”

Then, Lucy turned around, and set off back up the trail. When she got back up to the house, Nilah was there waiting for her. She seemed flustered.

“Lucy, did you hear that… that squawking??” she said anxiously.

Lucy looked back at her with a twinkle in her eye.

“Squawking? What squawking?”

“From the woods! Behind the house! You didn’t hear it? It was a horrible sound!”

Lucy had to stifle a giggle, and pretended not to know what Nilah was talking about.

“Hmm… No, I didn’t hear it. Maybe it was a Mingmerang!”

“A what? A Mingerang?”

“No, a Mingmerang. I was just out there talking to one.”

“What? Oh, you’re messing with me, aren’t you? Haha. You’re hilarious…” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Anyway, are you ready to go?”

Lucy nodded, grabbed the rest of her bags.

“Yeah. I’m ready.”

Lucy And The Mingmerang (A Novella)

The Mingmerang

Alfred

The Quest

The Hunter

On The Mountain

Wiggle’s World

The Other Mingmerang

Going Home

The Event

Kevin’s Gift

Published by STEVEN SWANSON

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The Mingmerang

Alfred

The Quest

The Hunter

On The Mountain

Wiggle’s World

The Other Mingmerang

Going Home

The Event

Kevin’s Gift

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Published by STEVEN SWANSON

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