Rain Bird

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Rain Bird

"Come along boy!" Rain's father said as he yanked the twelve year old's arm while he stocked out of the airport. Rain tried to keep up, stumbling a bit as he stepped over the curb.

"Hell child!" He's father yelled as he pulled on his arm even harder. "Your mother may let you slack about but I won't!" He pulled his son up over the curb and continued into the parking lot.

Rain was missing his mother already, with her soft voice and general touch. The single month a year he spent with her wasn't enough to make up for the other eleven months with his father.

Still, it was long enough for the bruises to heal.

Rain's father made sure he knew how useless his mother was to him. That when they had divorced his Mother had been a alcoholic, his was never allowed to forget that. Not ever.

His father never drank, it 'fucked with his aim' as he said the one time Rain asked.

Even so, at least his mother, even when she was in her worst drunkenness, never hit him.

Stopping in front of his fathers old beat up car Rain looked at the ground. His father fought with the car door, trying to force the bent metal to open.

Rain didn't say a word, his father didn't like for him to talk unless asked a question. Anything even resembling back talk would result in a slap accost the face. So he keep his eyes fixed to the ground, ignoring his fathers many swears as he continued to work on the door.

For a second he thought he saw something shiny in the fading sunlight, just under his foot. Moving his shoe back he searched for what he saw. It was a flattened bottle cap, silver in the center and gold on the outside.

He took a double take, it wasn't a bottle cap, it was a coin of some sort. Bending down he quickly picked up the heavy coin, holding it tightly in his hand as his father turned around.

"Get in," he ordered, finally having gotten the door open.

"Yes sir," Rain whispered as he climbed into the seat and slid over to the passenger side. His father followed him in, slamming the door closed with a thunk that rang through the whole car.

Rain shifted on the drab seats, his father had gone to the amazing lengths of cleaning out his car before picked his son up. The piles of garbage that usual litter the seat was gone, as was the usual collection of lady's underthings that his father collected from his 'conquests'.

The leather of the seat though was sticky, pulling against Rain's shirt as he fastened his seat belt. His father started the car, slamming his hand against he dash board a couple times to get the gages unstuck. Then, with a deep rumble that sounded more like a mournful wail the car started on it's way home.

Rain curled up in the far corner of his seat once his father turned on his rap music. The car, while about ready to fall apart, had a five-thousand dollar stereo system installed in it. The music rang thought the inside from a dozen speakers and the base was so loud it could be hears from five blocks away.

He just sighed, and tried to block it out, instead looking at the coin he had found. It was the size of a quarter but thicker, and weight almost as much as three quarters.

On the front of the coin, in the silver center, was a shield with vines surrounding it. The gold border had writing on it. The top had something written in a box like script that Rain couldn't read. The rest though was in english.

On the left edge was the date '1415' on the right edge was '1995'. The bottom of the gold border had the words 'State of Bahrain' in english.

Rain idly wondered where Bahrain was, or if it was even a real place. The coin could have been something bought at the airport gift shop for all he knew.

The back side was much simpler, the gold border had a chris-crossing border inside of it, circling the coin. The silver part had a large '100' inside of it, with a small box over the center with a bit more of the boxy language, with a arch between in the middle.

"What you have here?" Rain's father asked, reaching over and plucking the coin from his fingers.

Rain tried to hide deeper in the seat.

His father flipped over the coin, looking it over slowly. "Where did you find this joke?" He asked.

"In the parking lot," Rain answered.

He nodded, biting the coin hard, then spiting as he pulled it out. "It's worthless," He said, and started to throw it out the window.

"Can I keep it then?" Rain asked. His father snapped his head around to glare at him.

"Please sir?" He asked, his voice softening at his fathers look.

He shrugged, and threw the coin back to Rain. "Keep it then. But from now on watch your mouth. I'm not your mother and you will follow my rules."

Rain nodded his head, picking the coin up from the seat and cupping it in his hands. Looking at it like that, inside the fading light of the now set sun, the coin looked almost like it was glowing.

"I wish I could be with mom." He whispered softly, closing his hands around the coin.

He was suddenly throw back into the seat as his fathers hand smashed into the side of his face. "What the hell do you mean, 'with mom'!" He yelled, "Your mom is a drunken slut, not fit to raise my child. How dare you wish to be with her then me!"

Rain pushed farther back into his seat, trying to hide from his father's anger.

The older man was glaring at him, almost rabid in his anger. Pulling his hand back to hit Rain once more the blast of a horn forced it's way thought he overpowering sound of the music in the car. Then everything was black.

Light slowly filtered back into Rain's eyes, as did sound into his ears. Shaking his head he blinked, trying to get his vision back into focus. As the sound around him grew stronger. It was the sound of a lady crying.

Without really knowing why Rain started for the sound of the lady. As he moved he noticed that some how his body seemed to be different, moving with more grace then he ever had before. He never even noticed he was walking on all fours.

Soon he came to the lady who was crying. She was dressed in a black dress and seating on a stone bench that was along a short bath. Rain was amazed at how the lady seemed to tower over him, but some how it felt right.

Jumping into the lady's lap was just as right, and it also seemed proper.

As Rain landed in her lap the lady jump, lifting her head from her hands with a gasp. Rain jerked back as well. The lady was his mother!

She seemed to recover slightly, bending down to run her hand over Rain's back, through his fur. "Hello kitten," she whispered, her voice still choked from her crying. "Where did you come from."

Rain nuzzled her hand softly, starting to realize that he wasn't himself any more. He had been changed into a kitten, but why?

"Do you have a mother?" she asked, tickling him gently on his ears.

He shook his head, licking one of her fingers.

She looked around, but was alone in the graveyard. The few other people who had attended the funerals had left right away, none of them wanting to stay any longer then they had to.

"Would you like to come home with me?" She asked the kitten.

Rain nuzzled her hand again, purring gently.

She laughed, a weak pain filled laugh, but she did laugh. "I think I'll name you after my son, Rain. Maybe with you around I won't miss him so much."

He suddenly understood, the sound of the car horn when is father was going to strike him. They had been in an accident, he had been killed. His wish had come true though, he was with his mother again, and this time to stay.

Some where else in the world, the coin once again lay. Face down in a snow drift, the number on it's back was now '99'. Ninety-nine more wishes, ninety-nine more times to do good for others. Then, and only then, will the former man be free. His wish to be able to do a thousand good deeds granted...

This story is (c) 1998 by Fox Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed.

Your Current Location is Chaos Keep : Stories : Miscellaneous : Rain Bird
Page last updated: 04/05/2008