Misfit Read Free Page B

blue sky. Jael ran crying out the beige door, down the beige apartment building steps, and through the beige corridor that was her street.
    She didn’t run for long, though. It was late afternoon and the desert heat lay on her heavily, as if she were walking through a brick oven. She slowed down to a walk for the last block to the neighborhood playground. It was her favorite place, probably because it was the only place that wasn’t beige. The massive modern climbing structure was a swirl of primary colors, with a red rock wal , a blue tire swing, and three swirling yel ow slides.
    It was sheltered by a massive black mesh canopy that kept off the hard desert sun. Jael spent a lot of time at the playground, alone.
    On this day when she came to the playground, it was different. A second structure stood off to the side. It didn’t fit in with the rest. The regular play structure was made of brightly colored plastic and painted metal, but this new contraption was made of a weird mix of wood, stone, and pitted iron. It looked old and not very safe, but Jael couldn’t resist something new to explore. She walked toward it.
    Suddenly, a sparrow dropped down from the sky and nearly hit her in the head. She gave a little yelp and swatted at it. It gave her a long, warbling chirp in response. Then it landed at the top of one of the yel ow spiral slides. It cocked its head at her expectantly.
    “What?” she said. Like a lot of lonely kids, she had a habit of talking to animals. Sometimes she even talked to inanimate objects. “I’m just going to check out the new one first.”
    The sparrow gave her another shril chirp, then flew off.
    “Whatever,” she said, trying to make the word sound like it did when the older girls at her school said it.
    She walked purposeful y toward the jumble of wood, stone, and iron.

    As she started to climb up, sparkling brown eyes snapped open near her foot. Jael gave a little shriek and stumbled backwards The structure slowly began to shift and rise until it had reassembled into the shape of a giant bul . Jael started to back away careful y toward the playground exit.
    But then it spoke.
    “Happy birthday,” it said in a slow, measured voice.
    That made Jael stop.
    “Do you know me?” she asked.
    It shook its massive stone head. “I knew your mother.”
    “My mother?” she asked, her eyes going wide. Her father never spoke about her mother, other than to say that she died when Jael was born. Whenever Jael asked about her, he only said they would talk about it when she was older. So Jael didn’t know anything about her, whether she was nice or mean, pretty or ugly, smart or dumb. Without any real facts, it was left to her imagination to conjure up her mother. She had imagined a thousand different mothers by this point, each more beautiful and perfect than the one before.
    A long line of angelic women who would one day swoop down and take her someplace safe where everyone was kind.
    “What do you know about my mother?” she asked the giant ox creature.
    “She was once a queen.”

    “No . . . ,” said Jael. A thril ran through her. Maybe one of her favorite imaginary mothers was the real thing. But she stopped herself. Even if it was magic, this thing was stil a stranger. And sometimes strangers lied. He could be making it al up. “Oh yeah?”
    she said careful y. “Queen of what?”
    The creature laughed so low and loud Jael could feel it in her chest. “Such a spitfire,” he said. “You are a lot like her.”
    “I am?” said Jael, unable to keep the dreamy tone out of her voice. She moved a little closer.
    “Certainly,” he said. “There was a time when we al admired her greatly.”
    “ ‘We’?” asked Jael. “Are there other things like you?”
    He cocked his massive square head to one side.
    “Oh,” he said.
    “You don’t know.”
    “Know what?” she asked. “Who are you?”
    “You can cal me Baal. I was a servant of your uncle for a time.”
    “A servant?”