Home Not Home

Alice stood on the sidewalk next to a school. She had a backpack on her back and a lunch box in her hands. Children ran and laughed and played all around as they waited. What they were waiting for, Alice didn’t know. Alice didn’t know much. She didn’t know how she got where she was nor what she was doing. A teacher spotted Alice and made her way over to the little girl.

“Hey kid, I don’t think I’ve seen you before, did you just transfer into the school? If so, what’s your name? Who are you waiting on? The parents should be showing up soon enough,” the teacher said as she kneeled next to Alice. She seemed to notice something on Alice’s clothes that puzzled her. She tried to wipe it off with her fingers, but it didn’t move.

“What is that on your shirt? Did you spill ketchup on it at lunch? We wouldn’t want you to go home looking like a crime scene now, would we?” She laughed as she licked her fingers to try to get the smudge off. The teacher noticed that the spill extended beneath Alice’s jacket and she tried to move it to the side. Only, when she moved the jacket did she notice that what she thought was a small spill continued further along the side, and it was still wet. She pulled her fingers away, red liquid clinging to the tips. Her eyes widened and she swore as she fumbled in her own coat for her cell phone.

“9-1-1? Yes, I am a teacher at Terrance Elementary, and I have a bleeding child. I don’t know who she is or what caused the injury. The child seems to be in shock. Kid, what’s your name,” The teacher turned back to Alice, who was no longer there. She frantically turned around, searching for the child that had just been right there but could no longer see her. 

“Ma’am? Ma’am? Are you still there?” the 9-1-1 operator asked.

“The kid! The kid’s gone! Where did she go?” She fell into a panic.

Alice found herself in a neighborhood park. It looked familiar, but the grassy field was flat, when it should have been hilly. And the swing set should have three swings, not four. But other than those small details, this park looked exactly like the one near her house. If Alice turned left, and then right, and then another left, her house should be dead center of the cul-de-sac. Alice made the appropriate turns, but the neighborhood looked stranger and stranger to her. The flowers on the bushes were purple, not yellow, and the trees were a lot skinnier than the ones that she was used to. And the houses, the houses were far bigger than she was used to seeing in her neighborhood. Maybe Alice just took a wrong turn.

Alice felt a tickle in her throat. She was thirsty. She turned to grab her water bottle from her backpack, only to find nothing there. She pulled her bag off to search inside, but also was not able to find it there either. But Alice was so thirsty. She looked around her, and luckily saw a fountain nearby. She walked over to the fountain, not noticing the screeching sounds of slamming metal and squealing tires. The water in the fountain didn’t look super clean, but Alice was just so thirsty. She tried scooping up the water in her hands, but it just fell out. So Alice plunged her face into the cool water and drank.

Alice was forcibly yanked out of the water, her curls pulled from her pony-tail and hanging in her eyes.

“Hey kid, what are you doing?” A man asked her, wiping her hair out of her eyes as he did so.

“Thirsty,” Alice said in a soft whisper.

“Well don’t drink that water, you’ll get sick! Kid, where are your parents?” He asked her as he put an opened bottle in her hands. Alice chugged the water as fast as she could, spilling much of it onto her clothes.

“Dad, who’s that?” another voice came from behind the man.

“I don’t know, just stay in the car for now. Kid, what’s your name, what are you doing out here alone?” The man responded and continued to question her.

“Alice,” she croaked. “Want home.”

“You want to go home?” He asked her. Alice nodded. “Where is home Alice?”

Alice thought. The school was weird, the park was weird, the neighborhood was weird, the fountain was weird. Alice didn’t know where she was. And that meant she didn’t know where home was either. Tears welled up in her eyes and sobs crawled out of her lungs.

“I don’t know!” Alice cried. “I want to go home!”

“Ok, ok, it’s going to be ok Alice. Justin, grab my phone and call 9-1-1, Say that we have found a child that seems to be alone,” the man spoke as he looked over Alice. It was then that he noticed the deep red that did not match her pink shirt.

“Hey kiddo, mind if I have a look over here? Could you take your backpack and jacket off? There you go, doesn’t that feel better?” Alice didn’t know if the extra layers felt better or worse off, she was still sobbing too hard because all she wanted was to go home. 

Sirens raced along the nearby main road.

The man lifted up her shirt where he saw a long cut going down her side. With no more restrictions, the wound bled sluggishly, dripping onto the pavement beneath them.

“Oh shit,” the man muttered. “Justin, tell the operator that the girl is injured. She’s bleeding from a cut on her left side.” Panic dripped into the man’s every word as he bundled up Alice’s jacket and held it against her side. Suddenly, Alice was able to feel the pain.

“MAMA! I WANT MY MAMA,” she screamed, her tears flooding down her face. The man pulled her close to him, putting as much pressure on her side as well as trying to comfort the screaming child. He tried to say comforting things to her, but everything seemed to make her even more distraught. Soon enough wailing sirens came closer and closer to the little huddled group until they were blaring right next to them.

“Sir? Sir? Can you tell what is going on?” One of the newcomers asked.

“I don’t know! I had just picked up my son from school and was almost home when she crossed the road right in front of us. She’s, She’s bleeding, on her side. I didn’t know what to do!” The man said as he released Alice, stepping away.

“Sir, calm down, we’re going to take over now,” another voice said, pulling the man away and towards his own son. Alice looked up at two serious men.

“Who are you?” Alice was able to ask before her world went dark.

Hermes and Asclepius look on at the two covered gurneys. In the modern world, Hermes often liked to accompany Asclepius as an EMT, especially in ambulances that were decorated in his own caduceus instead of Asclepius’ rod. He always found it funny how mortals could mix up symbols like they did. But he also found it fitting. Asclepius is the god of medicine and Hermes is the patron of travellers. Who needs their combined help more than those in ambulances? They were usually a flawless duo, but today had been nothing but a tragedy.

Their first call on shift was an accident, a truck t-boned a minivan. The driver, a blonde female that was currently under the first sheeted gurney, had died on impact. A car seat that hadn’t quite been secured well enough had been ejected from the vehicle, but there was no child in sight. The two escorted the woman's body to the hospital before they were called out once more. The call was for an injured, unaccompanied child a few neighborhoods away from the accident. When they got there, the young girl was screaming and a man was trying to stem a heavily bleeding wound. Hermes dragged the man back to his car while Asclepius looked the child over. She lost consciousness not long after and the two raced against time and fate to get her back to the hospital. Despite everything, the child coded in the ambulance, and they were unable to resuscitate. The little girl’s body was draped in white on the second gurney. The personal effects from the woman held a picture of the woman and child, grinning together at the camera.

“Can’t you do anything?” Hermes asked Asclepius, his throat thick, knowing that the question was unfair.

“Uncle, I’m the god of medicine, and there is no medicine in my possession that can fix this,” he responded, tears trailing down his face. “She’s just a little kid,” he sobbed out. Hermes wrapped an arm around his nephew. A niggling thought made its way to the forefront of his mind.

“Wait a minute, wait a fucking minute!” Hermes said as he scrambled to dig through his various pockets. There were too many damn pockets in this uniform. Asclepius side-eyed his uncle in his panic. Finally, Hermes pulled out what looked to be a juice pouch, if juice shimmered like liquid gold.

“Ambrosia!” Asclepius whispered, awed. Hermes held up the poach, which was quite small.

“I brought a little travel sized one, for a pick me up later! Your dad told me it would be a long day and to come prepared. I only have enough for one of them, though,” Hermes rambled.

“The girl, the little girl!” Asclepius shoved his uncle towards the second gurney. Hermes stumbled at first, but soon righted his footing. He reached her side and peeled back the white sheet. He ripped open the pouch and held open the girls mouth, pouring the gold liquid in. Hermes and Asclepius stared at her.

It took several minutes, but soon enough color and heat found their way back into the girl's face, and she swallowed down the rest of the Ambrosia. The two gods cheered. Hermes ripped the rest of the sheets off of her and lifted her into his arms. Asclepius put a hand on Hermes to stop him.

“We can’t just take her,” he said, looking at the now empty bed.

“You're right, she’s been recorded as dead.” With a flick of his wrist, Hermes created a physical allusion that was an exact copy of the child in his arms. It was then that she finally stirred awake.

“Am I going home?” She asked, her voice rough and her eyes closed.

“No sweetie, but I hope you’ll like it all the same,” Hermes responded. Shimmering light encompassed the three of them before they disappeared from the hospital entirely.