Gamin

Introduction

Michael opened the car door and got behind the wheel, glancing over to his wife Lauren gazing out the window. Lauren was watching the families pour out of the little island church hand in hand, the children laughing, playing, and even singing. The most wonderful time of the year… she thought to herself sarcastically.

Michael knew that look. No matter how much wealth and love he provided, he could not give her the one thing in life that she truly wanted: a child of her own. Lauren didn’t think she could stand one more Christmas season. The thoughts of homes filled with toys and children’s laughter was all Lauren had ever wanted. As a physician, Michael Hitchings could provide all the material things in the world anyone would want. And it wasn’t that Lauren didn’t appreciate those things, but not having a child to share them with left her feeling empty inside.

They turned into the driveway of their beachfront home. Meticulously decorated with the finest things, the landscaped yard decorated so tastefully. The big Christmas tree in the great room could easily be seen from the road, and not a single toy under the tree.

"We will continue to try. We will not give up, Lauren. Hopefully we’ll find out something from the adoption agency soon."

Departures and Arrivals

Chapter 1

It was late when Jonathon climbed the final stair to their apartment. Most of the world was gathered less than a mile from them in Times Square right now so the Columbia Campus was empty and quiet. In less than a week the students would begin returning from their holiday vacation and their routines would begin again. Jonathon had been preparing for just this when Abby notified him that she was out of white, American cheese. For the past month she had insisted on eating practically nothing but white American cheese, pickle, potato chip and mustard sandwiches. It was a delicacy that she had never taken to before but now it was suddenly a necessity.

Abby was due at any moment, they had rehearsed the plan a hundred times in their minds and all bags were packed by the front door. Still, as Jonathon opened the door he felt a growing unease. Tonight would not be a good night for the babies to arrive. Most taxis were centered in central Manhattan this evening, and every eye blurredly gazing at a giant crystal ball that was to drop in less than an hour.

Abby was lying in the same spot on the couch where she had been when he left to run down to the corner store. As he sat the bag down in their kitchenette, he heard her trying to catch her breath. Spinning around to look more closely at her face he saw her grimace in pain.

Jonathon! she screamed, I think my water just broke!

He called the doorman and set the bags outside the door. The taxi would hopefully be waiting for them by the time they rode the elevator down the seven flights to the lobby of their building. Still, when the gate of the elevator opened in the lobby he saw that the snowfall had grown stronger since he had come in, just a few minutes earlier. The taxi pulled up right on time amidst the swirling white mist outside.

Abby, can you make it to the cab? Jonathon quizzed her face to see her determined half smile from underneath her red scarf.

The doorman had met with Jonathon a few weeks ago and had been assured that he would receive a bonus to make sure that Jonathon and Abby got into their cab without fail at this moment. Jonathon had handed him a gold coin at Christmas in thanks for his service throughout the year. The doorman had commented on the unique coin with great excitement and Jonathon had explained that he was a collector of gold coins found in ancient shipwrecks. These particular coins were not of that much value; it was only worth around $500 American dollars. The Doorman was thrilled with the gift and they had spent additional time discussing shipwrecks and treasure hunting.

Despite their small size, the doorman found himself truly liking this couple. He quickly scooped Mrs. Winters up in his arms, shocked at how light she was, and placed her gently into the back seat of the waiting yellow cab. As Jonathon scurried in with her, his hand slipped out between the almost closed cab door and another gold coin was put into the doorman’s gloved hand.

The hospital was only a mile away but their dark skinned taxi driver had no intent on leaving the cash flow at Times Square for long tonight. As he took the left onto Riverside Drive, he didn’t see the well lit yellow van taxi barreling towards them in the blinding snow. The driver of the van taxi hit his brakes, yelling with a strong Indian accent, but the icy road gave him no hope. He slammed into the back door of the Jonathon’s cab at nearly 50mph. The cab was pushed into a steel light pole jamming the little couple into one another amidst the crashing glass and bending metal. Jonathon forced his eyes open, and through the blood and shattered glass he saw Abby’s face, still… not breathing. Jonathon’s breath waned at that moment.

The ambulance arrived in a miraculous three minutes to the sight of the accident. It was a strange vision they encountered; two little people dead in the backseat of the twisted wreckage. It wasn’t until the snow plow pushed the van cab away from the vehicle that they could retrieve the bodies. Twenty minutes had elapsed, but it was clear that the tiny woman was pregnant. They quickly moved her to the back of the ambulance and forced oxygen into her tiny lungs. There were occasions when infants of such horrors had been saved.

The obstetrician on night duty had been called and was waiting for this morbid scene when the ambulance reached the double glass doors. The stretcher with the tiny bloated form of Abigail Storms Winters was wheeled in to the first trauma unit. Sadness overwhelmed Dr. Hussein as he made the incision into her abdomen pulling out a tiny pink form, handing the little boy to his staff to revive. It was almost by accident that he glanced one last time into Abby’s hollow abdomen. Otherwise, he would not have seen the two other tiny faces peering up at him. As he pulled the sheet over Abigail’s body he heard the babies’ cries from across the room.

Time of birth 12:01, 12:03, 12:05 in the New Year 1990, he exclaimed.

The girls were a surprise to Dr. Hussein as the hospital had not been faxed the records from her regular obstetrician. Both girls weighed exactly two pounds, and according to their scales, the girls would be considered premature. Yet their bodies were completely formed, hearts and especially their lungs worked perfectly. The nurses discovered their above normal lung function quickly when they attempted to put the girls in separate basinets in the nursery. The girls would not stop screaming unless they were put together.

The chunky six pound baby brother next to them seemed content no matter what went on around him. Each infant was quite unique; the nurses noted that even though the twin girls looked identical there was a strange scent that emanated from each infant. One of the tiny girls smelled like baked apples, the other girl was scented like gingerbread, and their brother had a strong pumpkin pie essence. The nurses bathed the infants three times before giving up on removing this odd trait.

Finnar’s Prophecy

Chapter 2

Frey had been summoned from his sleep at the last possible moment. Counsel Finnar had sent for him expressly. As Frey rushed to drag on his New York City Police Department uniform, he wondered about the urgency of this mission. Frey could pass as human, and was used on many of the Counsel’s more delicate missions.

Counsel Finnar had awoken from a deep sleep in which a vision had appeared. It was during this vision that he saw the accident causing the deaths of Jonathon and Abby Winters. Frey had been on countless visits to Abby and Jonathon’s home in New York City, it was his specific mission to bring reports from them back to the Otherworld. Frey considered them dear friends; Finnar would send him now, in the middle of the night, to check on them.

Jonathon and Abby Winters had been commissioned to travel to the Human world to study the properties of the Shield and solve the ancient riddle of how to unite the Abilities. Not that the Otherworld was anywhere remotely close to being able to reunite the Abilities but having that knowledge for future generations may one day prove valuable.

If Finnar’s Prophecy was true, the Otherworld had not only lost its two finest research minds, but possibly the answer to the ancient riddle. Hopefully the Shield would be recovered shortly. If it fell into Darkling hands, its powerful properties would be at their control.

Other Worlds

Chapter 3

It seems to escape human scientists and writers of human history that for thousands upon thousands of years there have been Gamins. They are our original ancestors, most of them standing no more than 3 feet tall to this date. When a little person is born into human society, there are countless DNA tests run, hours of counseling to the families, and a great deal of sadness for the children and family alike. To Gamin’s this is not only unbearably cruel, but a downright ignorant trait of human society. Little People as humans call them now are discouraged to procreate. When they do, it is so apparently so interesting to other humans that they stage television shows regarding the families.

The Gamin’s have often wondered with medical science and technology at such an outstanding level in human society, why all humans aren’t tested for that same DNA gene that creates the Little People? If they were tested, humans would discover that each of them carries that same exact gene. They carry it because it is a part of the entire world’s genetic makeup. Every human is descended from Gamin’s. It is the same with various species, all dogs, even the smallest Chihuahua’s genetic make-up is almost identical to their ancestors the wolves. Humans are simply too vain to think that they too evolved from another species.

Over the past thousands of years the Gamin gene has become more and more silent