The Changeling Baby

"Hello?" William said. He edged into the room. Something prickled at the back of his neck. Now he could see the TV and the backs of two kids' heads as they watched, quiet and attentive. William was right next to Nissa's father but the man didn't seem aware of anything around him. His watery blue eyes never blinked.

Nissa's bedroom was right by the front door; how could Mr. Spenser have come home again without William hearing anything? Then William thought hard: Had Mr. Spenser ever said anything to him? Had he ever even seen Mr. Spenser get up out of this chair? He couldn't remember a single occasion. The prickly feeling got worse. Steeling his courage, William dared to tap Mr. Spenser on the arm. The man's skin felt cold and hard, and his entire body rocked back and forth, as if it were a single, solid piece. William jumped. "What the fuck?" he said. The man in the chair did not respond. William touched him again and Mr. Spenser slid out of the chair, rolling onto the floor with a thud.

From the front, Mr. Spenser was a remarkable facsimile of a human being: Even now, lying on the floor, his face continued to move, his eyes blinked, and his arms and hands groped around, following the same preset motions over and over again, animated by whatever force gave the wooden figure a semblance of life. But he was only a façade: There was no back to him. He was hollow on the inside, half a person only, the illusion ruined the moment the puppet was taken out of the chair.

William backed away from the grotesque, twitching thing and bumped right into the kids. One fell over, revealing that it, too, was only a carved simulacrum. The hollow figure rolled on the floor. William started to hyperventilate.

"We call them 'fetches.'"

William jumped. Nissa stood in the doorway.

"Fake people," she said. "I know they aren't very good. I'm not much of a craftsman. But I had to do something to make the place look lived-in. Most people never bother to look close at them anyway."

William backed against the wall, shaking his head. "This isn't happening," he said.

Nissa came toward him but he circled the room, keeping distance between them. "Let me explain," she said. "We just want to help you."

"I don't want help," William said. He stopped. What did she mean "we"? He heard a floorboard creak behind him. He turned around.

"William," said the troll father. "Please listen."

William ran. Nissa was in his way, but she didn't stop him. He ran out the door, leapt the stairs in one go, and was at his apartment in less time than it took to exhale. He fumbled in his pockets for his keys. His fingers felt fat and clumsy all of a sudden, and the lock gave him trouble. Finally he pushed the door in and slammed it behind him, so hard it shook the wall. His mind reeled. He ran for the bathroom, thinking he was about to vomit. What was going on? He felt strange: His muscles ached and his bones throbbed. His vision blurred and he dropped to his knees. Did she do something to me, he thought? Am I poisoned? His clothes grew tight around his body. He was suffocating!

William struggled to the bathroom door, and when he saw his own hand on the knob he finally realized what was happening. "No," he said, voice trembling. "No, no, no!"

He opened the door. He went to the mirror. He looked.

He screamed.

***

It was an hour before his parents came home, and it was sundown before they started to worry about him. He wanted to say something to reassure them, but he didn't. He just watched them pace and cry and argue. He was three feet away, but they never realized he was there. He knew now how the trolls kept hidden: They could only be seen when they called attention to themselves. So long as William stayed very still and made little noise, no one even knew he was here. It seemed better that way.

He watched them talk to the police. Finally they fell asleep on the couch, exhausted, his mother's head in his father's lap. When he was sure they were completely out he approached, quietly, and put a hand on his mother's pregnant belly. The baby stirred. There was noise behind him but he didn't turn around. He felt the troll father put one hand on his shoulder, the troll mother's hand on the other. "How are you feeling?" said the troll father.

"I'm not sure," William said. It was hard to talk: His mouth felt too big, and his teeth stuck out. He'd get used to it eventually, he assumed.

"Would you like to say goodbye to them?" said the troll mother. "We could make you look human again, for a few minutes..."

William shook his head. "It wouldn't matter." The troll father sighed.

"We tried to tell you," he said.

"I know," said William. He paused. Then: "Tell me now."

"We did the exchange years ago," said the troll father. "We took the human baby and left you in its place, the way it's always been done. But you were supposed to come back to us. For some reason, you didn't."

"So many times we wanted to come and tell you the truth," said the troll mother. "But we couldn't find a way to break the charm that made you seem human. It should have worn off on its own, and when it didn't..." She trailed off.

"What finally did the trick?" William said.

"Nissa," said the troll mother. "Her kiss broke the spell. It was the one thing you never had: affection."

"Who is she?"

"One of us," the troll mother said. "Someone who agreed to look after you."

William's hand dashed tears away from his eyes. "Why did you do it?" he said. "Why the switch? Why leave me? What's the point?"

"It's part of the magic," said the troll father. "The fairy child is a charm that makes the human parents forget that they ever had a baby. To make it easier on them."

"And when the spell is done, the fairy child comes back home," the troll mother said.

"Except I didn't," William said. "What about the...the real baby?"

"We raised him as one of us, of course," said the troll father. "He's eager to finally meet his brother."

"And this one?" He gestured to his mother's belly. "Will you take it, too?"

"No," said the troll mother. "No. We'll leave them alone now."

"They did raise you, after all, as best as they knew how," said the troll father.

William swallowed hard. "Okay then," he said. And he turned to look at his real parents. They hugged him tight.

"Are you ready?" said the troll mother. William nodded.

"Then let's go home."