⌚ A Little Attention

3. Enchantment

Jacob stumbled, but luckily there was a tree close by. He grabbed at it with both hands, and only just managed to stop falling. That was lucky, he'd almost got his knees muddy, and he might get in trouble for that.

When he found his feet again, he tried to remember which way he had been running. He knew there was something exciting in the forest, there always was. But he couldn't remember what it had been today, and he wasn't sure if he'd been running off between the trees to play, or running back to Daddy. He stumbled forward, trying to see something worth running to or from through all the branches. He could see where the path was, a little way away, and he knew that Daddy would be there if he just went that way. But there were other paths too, all the spaces between the trees. They were smaller and there weren't signs, so he thought they might be where all the smugglers and highway men went, when they wanted to get back to their secret hideouts. They were secret, so they couldn't use the main paths. That much was obvious.

That was too exciting to ignore. Jacob picked a direction that looked like it might have smugglers at the end of it, or even pirates, and started to run forward. But right away the leaves slipped out from under his feet, and he fell down on the ground. His knees hurt, and his jeans were all slimy and gross now from the mud. He tried his best to wipe off the mud with his hands but it was all icky and sticky, and all that happened was he had muddy hands too. That wasn't right at all. He tried to wipe himself clean again, and stand up so he could go adventuring again, but he couldn't even lift himself up without putting his hands on the floor, where it was all gross and there might be worms or anything.

With no other choices, Jacob started to cry.

There were no words in his wail, just the distress of a lost little girl. He tried to stop it so that he could show how brave he was, but nothing was going right and he didn't know what to do. The tears came bubbling out of his eyes in a mad stream, and they made everything blurred as well. But when he tried to wipe the water away, that just put mud all over his face, and he started screaming even louder. He didn't want to need help, but he couldn't even think about that now. The emotions hit him so hard, feelings of shame and helplessness, and he had no idea what else he could do.

* * *

Jacob blinked, confused. He wasn't sure what was happening, or why he was lying on his back in the mud. He'd fallen down in the park before, sure. But there were enough things to grab onto here, and even if he'd faceplanted in the thick mud, he knew well enough how to clean himself off and go on walking. But somehow it hadn't happened. His head had been full of fanciful images, dreams that couldn't possibly be real, and he'd been too distracted by them to look after himself. He would have died of shame if anyone from the team saw him lying in the mud like this, bawling like a little kid.

He pushed himself up and tried to get to his feet again. But as he got up on his elbows, he saw the pacifier lying on the ground beside him. He should never have put that thing in his mouth, it must be cursed or something. Or coated with some kind of drugs. He'd heard that peyote might make you do crazy things and forget who you were, but to kick in so quick he was sure this must be something else. Something pretty risky for a practical joke, there was no way his dad could be in on that. Could he?

He picked up the pacifier anyway, and stuffed it back in his coat pocket. It had landed on a dock leaf, almost miraculously avoiding the mud that his frantic attempts to keep his footing had churned up. But there was no way he was putting that thing in his mouth again.

"Jace!" Dad burst into the clearing while Jacob was still sitting on the ground. "Are you alright? I was worried about you."

"Sorry, I just slipped," Jacob's mind was racing. He couldn't admit to what had just happened. Even under the influence of whatever those drugs were, he had to geny the scream. Had Dad heard it? He must have done, and now he was going to be mad at Jacob for making a fuss. With no other options, he started bluffing frantically: "Did you hear a yell? I turned towards it, must have lost my footing. I mean, it sounded like–"

"It's okay, dear. You don't need to worry anymore, I'm here. Look at you, you're all muddy. Let Daddy get you cleaned up. Leah, can you stay there while I look after your sister? Yes? Stay. Stay there." He was speaking softly but firmly, and Jacob suspected that the words were way too complex for the baby to understand. But when he pointed with one finger, Leah seemed to be following the gesture, and she sat down awkwardly on a stump at the side of the path. Maybe for once she was going to stay put and not make a fuss.

"Dad, what's wrong with you?" he asked, a second later when the rest of the words filtered through his consciousness. "Sister? What the hell? I mean, yeah I didn't find her pacifier, right. But there's no need to take the piss."

"Oh, you didn't find it? That's a shame, but I'm sure we've got another. Have you still got yours? Yes, we can..." his hands darted down to check Jacob's pockets faster than the youth could respond, and a second later Dad was holding the strange pacifier. He had wipes in his hand from somewhere, and a second later he had buffed it a little so that it looked completely new, and the tiny flecks of mud on the back were gone. And he wasn't complaining that it was strange for an almost-adult boy to have a pacifier in his pocket. Nor was he angry with Jacob for failing to find what he'd been sent for, or telling him he was a disappointment to the family. Something was really off kilter here, and Jacob didn't know how he was expected to respond. It was clear that his Dad was in on this practical joke, whatever was supposed to happen. But did he really think that calling him a girl and acting like he was a baby would make him see the error of his ways and stop being popular at school?

"Dad, just stop it. This is the dumbest shit you ever pulled. Even crazier than my–"

"Now," Dad interrupted calmly, without any trace of anger as he pushed the pacifier back into Jacob's mouth.