Plot Medics 

Lucy's Toy (1077 words)

The day after my wedding my wife told me that she decided to marry me even though Captain Clucky told her not to. Of course, I thought she was joking.  As long as I’d known her, Lucy had been carrying that silly-looking toy around with its mad junkie eyes and that beak with the tongue sticking out. In fact, it was how we met.

I’d glimpsed her a few times at the SciPhantastiCon, sitting in a talk on designing steampunk mechanics, and playing the bongos in a filk session, always with the toy beside her. So when I found myself next to her at the bar, I said “Nice dinosaur, er duck chicken thing. What does it drink?”

She tucked her shiny brown hair behind her ear. “Absinthe daiquiri if he gets the chance,” she said, smiling. “But it’s a bad idea to give him anything with alcohol, caffeine or sugar. Captain Clucky, I’d like you to meet....”

“Will.”

She pushed out one of its wings/arms for me to shake.

“And how about you?” I asked.

”Oh, I’m fairly safe with caffeine,”  she said with a naughty glint in her eye.

So I bought her a cup of tea and we talked for hours while I tried not to notice her fantastic tits.

The first time I met her parents was the first time I saw Lucy without it.

“Where’s the Captain?” I said as she climbed into the car.

“God, no. I’m not taking him anywhere near...” She smoothed her demure, grey skirt and  tried to tuck some stray hair back in her plait.

“Hey, I’m the one who’s supposed to be nervous.”

At her parents’ house, Lucy sat bolt upright with her knees together and answered like a robot as her father asked her questions about promotions and her mother handed around tea and biscuits. I assumed it was just some moody girl thing with her dad that she hadn’t got over. He was nice enough to me, asked about my work at the local council and gave it his approval as a sensible choice. I didn’t mention my band, or the urban exploring.

Captain Clucky had his own tuxedo for the wedding, and sat in the front row. Lucy got one of her nieces to pretend she owned him. Lucy glanced at him before she said “I will”. He - no for frak’s sake – it, was sitting on a chair next to Lucy’s sister, Caroline, with some other mad-looking tuxed up toy with long rabbit ears and a sharp-toothed grin. I grinned back.

Lucy got her promotion. She got up at six, dressed in grey, and came home at eight looking as grey as her suit.  Some nights she’d grab the Captain, make herself a huge gin and tonic and sit in a knot in front of the fire, clutching him. Other nights she’d look at him, and say “Damn good idea”. She’d pick him up, and her drumsticks, I’d get my guitar and we’d all go down into the basement and make a loud kind of music. 

“Are you ok, Luce?” I asked on one of the gin nights.

“This job,” she said, slurring. “It’s like I have to shut off one half of my personality. Just like the old days.”

“The old days?”

“Caroline knows.”

After a year, the gin nights happened almost all the time. I found myself watching Kelly in accounts, the sway of her tight little arse and the swing of her long blonde hair, and wondering. One evening I came back from my nine to five to find Lucy already home, dancing around the basement, swigging beer.

“Are you ok, Luce?”

“Oh, yeah. Much better.” She was red in the face, her hair wild. She looked great.

“Did you take the day off?”

“Kind of. The Captain was right, that job was killing me. I quit.”

“What the hell Luce? You should have talked to me first.”

“Look, don’t worry. I’ve got enough savings to pay the mortgage for a few months. I just need a bit of a break. Alright?”

I grabbed her, and she grabbed me back. It was a good night. It was a great month, until Luce told me that she was starting a mechanic’s course at the local college. Captain Clucky had told her to go for it.

“For God’s sake Luce, you’re a grown woman. You don’t need to hide behind a toy to make decisions. If you want to do this course, great.  It’s nice to see you happy again.”

“You don’t understand.”

“You’ve got some problem with your Dad, you’re old enough to sort it out. You don’t need some stupid prop.”

“I’ll be able to get work at the end of the course, fixing things. It won’t be as much money, but I know I’m going to like it. Until then I’ve got a job, at the supermarket,” she said. “It’ll cover most of my half of the bills. It’ll work out.” And she looked at that bloody toy again, for reassurance.

It was like a switch flipped. My head spun, I grabbed Captain Clucky, and I flung him into the fire.

“Just fucking grow up!” I shouted.

Lucy howled, a sound of raw agony. She reached towards the flames. I held her, struggling, in one arm while I tried to fish the toy out with the poker with the other. It was no good, whatever the Captain was made of burned too fast. Lucy got up and brushed herself down.

“Sorry,” she said. “That was really silly.” She went upstairs, into the spare room  and I followed.

“What are you doing?” I asked as she booted up the computer.

”Job hunting.”

Lucy found one. She got up at six, dressed in grey, and came home at eight. When she got in she cooked the dinner, and cleaned the house, and went to bed and got up and did it all over again. That’s all she did. Finally, I realised she wasn’t punishing me.  There was nothing else left.

I phoned Caroline. “Can you come over? I think your sister needs to see you.”

“Of course. Is Lucy ok?”

“I burnt... look, that rabbit toy thing at the wedding. Is that yours?”

“You may address him as Cedric the Wise.” There was an echo of Lucy’s old teasing tone that made my eyes sting.

“Bring him too. Please. And I hope you and Lucy used to share your toys.”