The
Flight of Sebastian Bean
by
A.D. McDowell
Stories like this one
always begin in misery.
There
was a time when Sebastian Bean had two parents, a beautiful mother and a handsome
father. They all lived together in a
tall narrow house on a lovely tree lined street in a fashionable area of a
quaint and historic city. Sebastian had
a bedroom of his own and in it he had a wall filled with bookshelves and on the
shelves hundreds of books, so many that his father attached a ladder that
slid on a rail so that Sebastian could reach the books at the top. From the long window above his desk he
could see all the way to the square in the centre of town where a marble
fountain burbled and people fed the pigeons.
And very often in the evenings he would walk with his parents down to
the ice cream shop where he ordered a chocolate peppermint cone that he ate
with great enjoyment. At night his
mother would come in and kiss him goodnight and before he fell asleep Sebastian would
say, ‘I am very lucky’. And he was. He was a very, very lucky boy and then all at
once he wasn’t.
One Sunday morning
Sebastian woke to the sun streaming through his window and the birds singing in
the trees. There was no reason for him
to think that it wouldn’t be another lucky day in his very lucky life. But when he sat up in bed and listened to the
house he was filled with a feeling that he was not used to. Something wasn’t right. He got out of his bed and opened his door and
peered into the hall. What he saw was
his father talking to Doctor Little. The doctor shook his head and put his hand on
the other man's shoulder and patted it twice. Sebastian stepped farther out into the
hall. ‘Father?’ he called and in the
single word were a million questions.
“Go back to your room Sebastian,” said his father. “I will be in shortly”. Sebastian went back to his room and sat on
his bed and the feeling that something was very wrong grew and grew until his
father came in with the news that Sebastian's mother had contracted a terrible
influenza and that he must pack a bag at once and go and stay with his
grandmother, Nanny, so that he didn’t get infected as well. Had Sebastian known how important what he put
into his suitcase was going to be he would have packed more carefully. But he was so worried about his mother he
couldn’t think. His father made him wear
a mask across his nose so that he didn’t breathe in any of the germs that had
made his mother sick and as he passed the door to their bedroom Sebastian
called ‘Goodbye mumma.’ He didn’t know
if she heard him and sadly he would never know for his mother died the next
morning.
Over the next while
Sebastian was sadder than I have words to describe. He missed his mother terribly and to make
matters worse it seemed that his father had forgotten him. Sebastian remained with his grandmother and
only saw his father from time to time and each time his father seemed more of a
stranger to Sebastian. He spoke quietly
and he never remembered to hug Sebastian and always left without taking him
back home. His grandmother told him that his father was sad too and that he
would come around and that time was a great healer. The spring went by and turned to summer and
then to autumn and finally to winter and spring again. And then one day when Sebastian and his
grandmother were working in her flower beds turning over the black dirt and
getting them ready for planting a long black car snaked its way up the drive
and parked in front of the house. Sebastian
stood and dusted his hands off on the back of his pants. The door of the car opened and his father
climbed from the car. “Hello Sebastian!”
he boomed in the voice he used to use.
“I’ve come to take you home!”
Sebastian was so surprised that he could not seem to move. He wanted to run into his father’s arms with
relief, but he couldn’t seem to do anything but stand in one spot with his
mouth hanging open in surprise. Nanny stepped forward and placed her hand on Sebastian’s back. “Well,” she said, “isn’t this
wonderful.” But her voice didn’t sound
excited, it sounded very much like Sebastian was feeling. She was saying the words but still none of
them moved. Sebastian’s father stood
there grinning and Sebastian stood in the same place and his grandmother stood
behind him. They may have stood this way
for a good long time had the other door on the car not opened with a creak
capturing their attention.
“Arthur,” said a dark
velvet voice. “Will you help me
out?” Sebastian’s father hurried to the
other side of the car and extended his hand.
A gloved hand appeared and wrapped itself around his father’s. As Mr. Bean raised his hand a long thin woman
was revealed. She wore a tight fitting
skirt and had an ostrich plume in her hat.
She had a long thin nose to match the rest of her and a wide red
mouth. “Sebastian,” said his father,
“there is someone I’d like you to meet.
This is, well it’s your, I should say... my... wife...your
stepmother.” Suddenly the air in Nanny’s
yard became very still. Even the birds
were shocked into silence. “Hello
Sebastian,” purred the thin woman. “It
is such a pleasure to meet you at last.
Arthur has told me so many things about you I feel as if I know you
already.” Her voice dripped all over
Sebastian and she smiled. He still had
not moved a muscle although his mind had begun to race inside of him. This person, this stepmother person was going
to live with them. Sleep in their house,
in his mother’s bed, use her things, sit in her chair. No it couldn’t be. But as he watched his father’s face and saw
him smiling at the thin woman he realized it was real. Horribly, awfully real. She smiled at Sebastian revealing a row of
well manicured teeth and he was somewhat relieved to see that they weren’t
pointed. “I’m afraid it’s come as a
shock to you,” the thin woman went on, “Arthur, shame on you. I told you he should have been warned.” At last Sebastian found his voice. “It’s nice to meet you,” he managed. Mr. Bean stepped closer to Sebastian and
ruffled his hair. “He’s alright aren’t
you son?” Sebastian was so surprised at
being ruffled by his father that he, for a moment, forgot to be shocked at the
situation that was presenting itself in Nanny’s garden. It had been so long since Arthur Bean had
shown his son any affection at all that Sebastian didn’t quite know how to
respond. Little boys aren’t so different
than puppies really. Even if you haven’t
paid much attention to it a puppy will always forgive his owner at the first
sign of kindness and that is exactly what Sebastian did. In that split second he looked at his father
and smiled and thought ‘maybe it will be alright’. Poor Sebastian, he was so happy for a little
affection he didn’t even hear the other car door open until a very fat and
freckly kind of a voice said, “When is lunch, I’m hungry.”
