Chapter 16

After leaving Sheryl, I headed for the café. I gave Annie a handful of Alfalfa cubes. Carrie had put them in a bag. I got the hint because Annie kept looking back with her nostrils flared. I guess they were driving her nuts. Poor girl. I didn’t mean to be cruel.

I went inside, and Carrie was at a small table off to the left. I went up to her.

Carrie said, “Have a seat, little brother.”

“I’ll, little brother, you. You need to pay more attention. I have filled out quite a bit.”

“Oh, I noticed. I was aggravating you. It’s what sisters do.”

I sparked her tits, a good jolt.

She said, “UHHH! Donny, quit that, please. Not here, especially.”

“You should respect me as much as I respect you, dear sister. I’m not a wimpy little brother now. Do you realize I am going to end up large? I mean, really large?”

She said, “You are?”

“My guess would be quite a bit bigger than father.”

She said, “The new you haven’t actually met him. Are you remembering things now?”

“No, but I do talk to other people.”

A woman approached and asked, “Do you want to order something?”

I quickly looked at the handwritten menu card on the table.

I said, “Um, I would like a black coffee and a large piece of the apple-cherry pie, please.”

“Excellent choice, Donny. I’ll be right back.”

Carrie said, “Her name is Windy, Windy Welch. She’s part Indian, I think. Her mother owns the café. The bad news is, she’s sweet on you. Always has been.”

I said, “Crap, please, not again.”

She said, “Haha, your dance card seems full today.”

“Do we have dances here,” I asked?

She said, “Yes, but you have never been to one. The church has dances every month or so. You never went, so I suspect you have little idea how to dance.”

“Hmm, well, that’s something I need to look into. Dancing and music are an important part of society. It allows people to gather and share ideas and grow closer.”

She said, “When did you get so wise?”

Right then, Windy returned with my order.

“I said, “Thank you, Windy. I am looking forward to this.”

Windy said, “It’s a pleasure, Donny. I’ll wait until you taste it.”

I took a sip of coffee. It was strong. Then I took a bite of pie. “Oh, goodness, this is great pie and coffee, Windy.”

Windy plopped down next to Carrie.

Windy said, “Something is different about you. I know about your memory, but you seem to glow or something. You have really changed. There’s...”

I said, “A glow? I had to grow up quick, Windy. I recently married Sally Bright and have been as busy as a bee lately.”

Windy said, “So Carrie has been telling me. She also said you have been out pollinating as often as possible, such a busy little bee. Do you remember that I am on Sally’s approved list?”

“Well, no. I didn’t.”

Windy said, “I thought as much. I just wanted to remind you, if you’re of a mind, for us to get together again.”

I said, “I would love that. Wait. Again? We have been together before?”

Windy said, “Not all the way together, but we have seriously sparked a few times.”

Carrie said, “Donnie, you dog, you. Maybe you’re not as innocent as we all thought.”

I said, Looking at Windy, “Your coffee is excellent. The pie must have a secret recipe behind it.”

Carrie interjected, “Donny, we need to talk. I don’t think you have ever had coffee before.”

Windy said, “Whether he remembers it or not, he’s had coffee here before a few times. He usually likes it with milk and sugar, though.”

Carrie said, “Hmm ... We really need to talk, brother mine.”

I said, “Hey, I belong to Sally now.”

Sally retorted, “And half the territory as well, it would seem.”

Windy got up and said, “I need to move on. Please don’t forget me, Donny. I would love to find out what you have learned.”

We got back to the house and took care of Annie right away. We had watered Annie in town before we left. Carrie had mooched an apple from Windy, which she gave to Annie. Carrie harangued me as we drove home and tried to get me to say more about my changes. I didn’t want to, partly because I was unsure I trusted her with my secrets.

We went inside, and by now, it was early afternoon.

Mum called, “Donny, outside on the porch, your father’s here. He’s a day early; he wasn’t due yet. I did tell him about your illness.

I briefly thought, “Oh Shit!” Then I thought about losing track of the days. So many new things, new girls, women, and sex. Lots of sex, maybe even lots and lots of that. Losing track of the date and day was the least of my problems.

I held my hand out to shake with him, and he looked me in the eye like a man would. I stared right back at him. He looked me up and down. He looked at Mum questioningly as he reached for my hand.

“Hello, son. Let’s take a walk.”

“Yes, sir.” We walked out the front door and headed south.

“So, Donny, what DO you still remember? I have trouble understanding what you’re going through.”

I heard a voice, and the Goddess had arrived without us seeing her. She just was there.

The Goddess started, “Donald doesn’t remember anything, James. Your son had an aneurysm, a blood clot on his brain. It killed him.”

She continued, “I arrived too late to save him. I saved the body and substituted another person inside the body. Your man-boy is crucial to the continuation of humanity.”

“Who...”

“And what am I,” she completed. “I am called many names. Suffice it to say I am the creator. There are other Gods, but this planet now belongs entirely to me. Believe it or not, you are one of my special people. Have you ever noticed how lucky you are with the women? How many children do you have? How many are sons?”

James said, “Whoa, whoa. Too much, too much. I admit women seem to like me. I have no idea how many children I have had.”

She said, “You’ve had three hundred and thirty-two children total, with one boy for every five girls. Life is fragile here; you have lost eleven of those children. I gifted you with this potential, this sex power, if you will.”

She continues, “Donny was to be the last of my attempts at repairing Earth. This is the last iteration of my long experiment to repair the Great Affliction, as it’s called here. We called it Cliteus’s fuck-up.”

Donny asked, “What caused it? You’re a god. Could you have stopped it?

She said, “I could have if I had been here. I had a new young god watching this Earth, Cliteus. When Cliteus saw the meteors, he didn’t understand the long-term impact they would have. So, he did not warn me in time.”

James said, “So what is Donny supposed to do?”

She said, “He understands his duty. He must use his powers to get as many women pregnant as possible. All his offspring will be born male. His grandchildren will be half male and half female. As before, each male that follows those men will father half male and half female. Things will start to return to what used to be a normal society in a century or two. It will become somewhat normal to what existed hundreds of years ago.”

“James said, “So, I’m an experiment, and Donny’s an experiment, and he’s and supposed to singlehandedly save the world?”