Potato and the Aunties

2021-01-20

Becc and Kris went out in the dead of night to give birth at the same time at the lake.

Becc walked out on to the well-lit pier and effortlessly gave birth to a small football-shaped, potato-like child that looked up with black pinprick eyes and a wide smiling mouth.

Kris struggled alone on the muddy shore under the cover of trees, looking out across the lake toward the pier as she strapped herself into a makeshift harness and eventually gave birth to a perfectly normal, unremarkable baby boy.

Becc’s potato adopted a human form within a couple days, and by the end of a week was roughly equivalent to a four year old child: perfectly capable of walking around and forming simple sentences.

Kris watched this development, protectively holding her baby close to her chest. Her love for her child was profound, but only slightly stronger than her hatred of the changeling.

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At the library, I looked at the schedule and saw—surprise!—I was supposed to be running a movie night tonight.

Usually I don’t mind it when that happens because the movie night is usually held in the same program room where I’m already assigned. But tonight it was in a conference room I had never heard of on a floor that I had never been to.

I decided to go check it out to see what kind of setup the area would need. But I had a hard time finding the place.

When I got to the floor, there were a bunch scared looking of kids running around trying to hide from someone. One of them was the potato child, now a twelve year old girl, the same age as the other kids she was hanging out with, blending in perfectly.

They shushed me and warned me that I must be careful not to be caught by the Aunties.

I left them there and climbed up to the projection room and started looking around. It was made up like a doll house, colorful pastel blankets and pillows covering every surface. Very cozy and delightful. The projection window looked out not onto a dark viewing room, but onto a clear blue well-lit sky.

I heard a crash and a rattling down below me. The potato appeared next to me in astral form, floating about shoulder high, looking as she had when she was born, not as she did now. She told the Aunties had found their hiding spot and were coming for them. The Aunties were like her, antediluvian spirits. But twisted with rage and resentment, hateful of the living and how they bound soul to flesh. Their only solace in their miserable non-lives was rending flesh and freeing souls.

I asked how I could help, and she showed me how to pucker my lips, puff my cheeks, and blow my consciousness out of my mouth. There were a few false starts at first as I blew out small confetti looking moons and stars. But then there I was floating next to my body.

The room around me looked vibrant and alive without the limits of human senses. Little flashes and pulses of light and energy everywhere. I flew down to find the children and try to help.

I found them huddled in an alcove off a dark hallway. When I arrived the Aunties, gray wisps of malevolent smoke, lurched forward, hesitated, faltered, and then wheeled away.

The children hugged each other and sighed in relief.

I exhaled in relief and was proud that I had saved them. The Aunties apparently cannot hurt me in this form and in fact are frightened of me for some reason.

Then the potato was there again, speaking urgently. “They’re not scared of you! They know you’ve left your body unprotected! Hurry back to your body!”

I flew up to the projection room but was too late: the Aunties were already knotting around my slumped body. There was no way through them.