Family

“Whatcha doin’ Dad?”

Frank looked up to see his son standing outside the open garage door.

“I’m working on the lawn mower. I’m not sure if the blade is loose or if it’s dull. Wanna help?”

“Sure.” The boy walked in and stood across from his father, looking at the mower tilted on its side.

“You’re what, 12 now?”

Tod sighed. “13.”

“13? Even better. Time to learn some stuff. See out in the yard how the grass is all uneven? Kind of high on one side, low on the other? That’s no good.” He touched the edge of the mower blade.

“Feel that? Careful. Feels sharp, right?”

“Yeah.”

“So I think the reason must be that the blade is loose, making it wobble when it cuts. Except the bolt that holds it on is nice and tight.”

Tod reached out and tested the bolt with his fingers, then tried wiggling the blade itself. He turned and looked out at the lawn.

Frank smiled. “Quite the mystery isn’t it?”

Tod shook his head. “It isn’t the blade.”

“What?”

Tod pointed. “It’s not the blade. If it was dull some of the grass would be uncut. It’s all cut, it’s just uneven. If it was uneven because the blade was wiggling, it would look more swirly. The grass is wavy, high on the right, then on the left, then on the right again. It’s the wheels.”

He turned and pushed the mower upright. After looking at the mower a moment, he bent down and adjusted the levers on the mower’s right wheels.

“There you go.”

Frank stared at his son. “Next time I’ll ask you first!”

Tod smiled. Frank looked at him then tilted his head.

“So, are you bored, or did you want to talk about something else, because hanging around the garage is not your thing.”

Tod shuffled his feet. “I dunno. It’s just…do you ever wonder what the point is?”

Frank laughed. “Yes I do. So did your mother. We still do sometimes. It’s normal to start thinking those things. Especially around your age. 13, 14, those are big years.” He went to muss Tod’s hair, but finding it too short, patted his son on the shoulder.

“Don’t worry, son, you’ll figure it all out. You won’t be 13 forever.”

“Feels like I will. And how will 14 be any better? I’ll still be in school. Can’t drive a car. Can’t do anything but go to school and sit around here. It’s stupid.”

Frank nodded. “It’s okay. I knows it’s tough to wait to get older, but you will. Then the years will fly by and you’ll be an old guy like me, maybe with a wife and kids. And then you’ll know what the point is.”

The door to the house opened, and a woman’s voice called out. “5 o’clock you two – dinner time!”

Tod turned his head toward the door. “But Mom, we’re talking! We’ll be there in a few minutes!”

A woman’s face, pale, with dark hair, poked out of the open doorway.

“You know the rules – dinner time is family time. Whatever you’re talking about can wait until after dinner.”

Tod looked at Frank. “See? So many stupid rules in life. Pointless. What difference does it make if we go now or in ten minutes?

“The difference is your mother will be mad, that’s what. Let’s go.”

They filed in to the house. As they passed through the kitchen, Frank said, “Wait. Hands.”

Tod uttered a grunt. “Pointless We’re washing our hands to get them dirty in a minute.”

“Different kind of dirty. And we don’t want grease and lawnmower gunk on your mother’s table cloth.”

“Ugh. Fine.”

They washed their hands, then sat down at the dinner table. A girl of about 10, also pale, with dark eyes and dark hair, sitting across from Tod, squinted at him and said nasally, “You have to be here, it’s Family Time!”

“Shut up, butthole!”

“Mom!”

“Dammit Tod, don’t start with your sister!”

“She started it!”

“I don’t care! Don’t call her names!”

“But she is a butthole!”

Frank stood up. “Tod, that’s enough! Leave her alone or so help me God…”

Tod slouched in his chair. “Sorry”

The girl smiled gleefully and stuck her tongue out at Tod. Frank turned and pointed at her. “And you, you’re no better. Put that tongue in your mouth and keep your mouth shut. It’s Family Time.”

“I don’t like Family Time,” the girl whined.

The mother stomped her foot. “Zip it, Mindy! I don’t ask for much around here, but this is one thing I won’t move on! The four of us will be here, together, every day at meal time as a family, and we’re going to be nice to each other until the meal is over. After that, if you two want to go your separate ways and mope, or go to your rooms and kill each other, go right ahead.”

Frank patted her on the hand. “It’s okay, Elsa.”

Tod chuckled quietly.

“Is something funny?” Frank asked.

Tod chuckled again. “No.”

“I’m not hungry,” Mindy whined.

“Yes you are,” Frank said.

“Of course you are,” Elsa said. “Any fool can see it.” She felt her daughter’s forehead. “You’re pale and getting clammy. Soon you’ll be getting shaky.”

“Well I don’t feel hungry. And I like being pale.”

“You’re always pale,” Elsa said, stroking Mindy’s hair. “But when you’re hungry you get sickly pale.”

“See? That’s what I mean. What’s the point?’ Tod said. “We’re dead! We keep on going, but she’s always going to be 10, I’m always going to look 12. I’m never going to shave, or get any taller. The only reason we ‘eat’ is to warm up our bodies and stave off necrosis. The only change we can have in our lives is if we let ourselves run down, rot, and die.”

“Tod, that’s not true,” Frank said. “Your body may be 12, but your mind is 13. And now that there are more like us, legally you’re 13. Just like every other kid, in a few years you can drive. And a few years after that you can vote, drink, get married, buy a house, whatever. Your whole life is ahead of you. You could do great things, both of you. And your mother and I want to be there to see it happen.”

Elsa smiled and took Frank's hand. “Kids, that’s the point. We love you and we love each other. We loved you before, and we love one another now. Now plug in and have your dinners.”

“Okay,” the children said.

And together, the family picked up cables from the table, dunked them in saline, and attached them to their neck bolts, feeding on the electricity that kept them alive.

Or undead.