The Great Heron

A short story...

When he was almost 12, Jack’s mom let him have an overnight with her sister Kate and brother in law Bo who lived on the other side of town in a rambler in desperate need of a new paint job. The two sisters were as close as you could get. They weren’t twins but mostly finished each other’s sentences. Bo started life out just fine, however, the two sisters felt that since around high school, he was moving towards the bottom right of the graph. Kate loved him despite his flaws, recognizing that she had her own and Jack’s mom still loved him too but the both of them hoped he might one day turn back into that kid who was almost like a brother to them.

Kate and Bo were always taking Jack on adventures but for him, the best was when they had him over for pizza and a movie. Jack loved them as surrogate parents and was over the moon because tonight was a bonus sleepover. After they had finished up eating the pizza, Kate announced that she wanted to rewatch one of her favorite movies, the Australian classic, “Priscilla: Queen of the Desert”.

“Ah jeez Kate! We don’t want to screw the kid up!” Bo said while geometrically assembling the remaining slices of pizza on a piece of recycled foil.

“What are you talking about Bo? He’ll love it!” she said looking to Jack. “Right Jack?”

Jack had no idea what they were talking about but answered, “Sure.”

“Then I’m going to bed!” Bo said as he walked away leaving the pizza neatly in their foil on the counter top.

Kate popped a big bowl of some Orville Redenbacher and they nuzzled each other on the couch and started watching “Priscilla”. He was transfixed from the first scene and mesmerized with every aspect of the film although he did comment on the slow bits and how fuzzy it was.

“This is an old film Jack. It’s from another era. Another planet.”

When they made it to the scene where the motley crew blasts Abba’s “Dancing Queen”, the two of them jumped up and began dancing and laughing on the shag carpet.

You can dance!

You can jive!

Having the time of your life!

Jack went to bed and dreamt of sequins, the desert and the Great Heron, a bird he had just learned about in school which, for some reason, really stuck with him. His little witchy friend Isadora told him, “Yeah, the way you’re talking Jack, I think the Great Heron is your animal spirit.”

The next morning, Kate and Bo were up before Jack and began making pancakes.

“Jack loved the movie by the way,” she said mixing the batter.

“Look. I’m just trying to protect him from this world Kate.”

“What the fuck are you talking about Bo?” she asked as she dropped the whisker in the bowl.

“You know very well that he’ll be in a world of hurt if he dances around in sequins the rest of his life,” he snapped back at her.

“Fuck Bo!”

“Kate. He doesn’t have a dad. There’s no man in his life,” he explained looking into her eyes.

“Well he’s got you but at the moment, you seem like just a fuckin’ cardboard cutout!”

He paused.

“I don’t even know what you mean by that Kate. Look, all I’m saying is that the little kid needs some balance in his life. That’s all. I’m mean, he can dance a bit here and there but he also needs to get some of that boy yang energy out like, how about some boxing lessons?”

“Boxing? Boxing Bo? Really?” she said while she beat the pancake batter like she was in the ring herself.

“Well, more like for self defense and, um, you know, fitness…”

“Please. Just let Jack be Jack,” she interrupted.

“Look I’m going to ask your sister if I can get him into my buddy Kieran’s boxing class. I think it’d be a good thing,” he calmly added. Kate just shook her head then noticed Jack walking down the stairs.

“Morning Jack!” they both said completely out of synch.

“How’d you sleep?” she asked. “Did you have some wild dreams of the desert?”

“I did and I also dreamt about the Great Heron,” he pause, “which I guess is my spirit animal.”

Kate caught Bo rolling his eyes.

“That’s sweet Jack!'“ Kate said flinging some batter from the whisker. “Up for some pancakes?”

“Sure,” he said through a yawn while rubbing his eyes.

Jack’s mother showed up after most of the pancakes had been devoured to pick up her little sweetheart. When she walked in, she enthusiastically asked, “How was the big sleepover Jack?” and held her arms out. He slowly walked towards her and gave her a gentle hug. Not too long ago, he would’ve ran straight over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist in a burst of clingy love. But he was changing, mellowing or perhaps just more self conscious. His excitement was now mostly elsewhere. But then he lit up.

“We watched a great movie last night mom!”

“Let me guess…Priscilla?”

“How’d you know?”

“Because it was the go-to movie for your auntie and me back in the day,” she explained.

“Mom, I think I want to take dance lessons!” Jack rattled off which created yet another eye rolling moment from Bo.

“That’s a great idea Jack!” she said. “We can get you in a class, maybe at the same studio where we used to take dance lessons as kids.”

“I think that’s a great idea too Jack but…” Bo chimed in, “…but how about taking some lessons in something physical like…”

“Dancing is physical Bo!” Kate forcefully interjected.

“…of course it is Kate but something to really get that boy energy out there, like, like, boxing…”

“Boxing?” Jack’s mom asked.

“Yeah my friend Kieran runs a great boxing studio where it’s more about strength and balance and less about slugging it out you know?” he argued.

Jack’s mom had that look on her face which Kate instantly recognized as the look of flashing through the years thinking about her boy without a man around the house, feeling guilty about raising Jack all yin lopsided. She could witness her thinking to herself, “Maybe punching a bag would be a good thing?”

“Well…what do you think Jack?” his mother asked gently.

Jack had the similar look on his face, the one just like his mother’s. They were cut from the same cloth, still mostly attached at the hip. They were both open to trying new things that would replace their missing man.

“Maybe that could work but, I, I just don’t want to get punched by anyone,” he pleaded.

“Oh you’d just be punching a bag or something, you know and you’d have a lot of gear on so it’s totally safe. Kieran is a really good guy,” Bo said astonished that he was getting anywhere, “and dancing is boxing!”

Kate couldn’t believe that Bo had accomplished his mission so quickly but also knew how Jack and her sister processed things.

So it was. Jack began taking dance lessons and boxing lessons. He absolutely loved the dance lessons while only tolerated the boxing lessons. Kieran was, as it turned out, a good guy and his philosophy was mostly about punching non human things and things like jump roping.

Until that one day.

“Ok boys! Listen up!”, Kieran announced. “Today we’re going to get in the ring. It’s time to get a feel for what it’s like to be a real pugilist but know that you’ll all be fully padded up. Just know that this is more about learning the footwork, kind of like dancing around and not throwing any punches.”

Jack swallowed, attempting to push his stomach back down where it was supposed to live.

“Jack. Why don’t you put on some gloves and some headgear and get in the ring,” Kieran instructed, “and Trevor, you too.”

The two boys got all the gear on and each stepped through the ropes like it was a Vegas fight. Jack’s legs were shaking. Trevor never said much on a good day and always seemed a little mysterious, perhaps unpredictable.

“Ok so just bounce around a bit you two. Go orthodox, peek-a-boo, do the Philly Shell, all the positions we’ve gone over. Be loose! Think like Ali! You’re butterflies!” he commanded to his pupils while shadow boxing himself.

So that’s what Jack and Trevor did. They bounced around like misshapen bearings on a vibrating sheet of metal.

“Looking good boys!” he said while hanging on the ropes. “Remember that this is actually more like dancing.”

As soon as Jack heard those words, “Dancing Queen” began playing in his head at full volume and everything faded.

Locally, he lost all control. Universally, he was God.

And then he became the Great Heron.

He looked Trevor straight in the eye and began a one, two, three, one, two, three hip sashay move that he had just learned in dance class and managed to turn that into a free wheelin’ flamenco dance. Trevor’s eyes turned into saucers.

“I know how I’ll win this fight!” Jack thought to himself looking around for his mom, Kate or even Bo. Turned out that Bo was the only one there in his corner. Turned out that Bo believed in him. Turned out that Bo finally understood him. The internal soundtrack made is arms spread out wide like a pair of da Vinci wings. He looked up towards the ceiling and searched for that same sky from “Priscilla”, the one that he knew was somewhere above those dusty gym rafters.

But then he felt the panicked, uncontrollable uppercut swing of Trevor’s glove make direct contact with his unpadded jaw. All the colors of the rainbow suddenly rushed towards him as he felt his body lift into the air. His technicolor wings began to flap to that iconic disco beat as he rose high above the red Australian desert. He looked down and witnessed Trevor turning into a lost ant walking in the wrong direction. Jack was the ruler of all things. He had become the Great Heron, just as Isadora had predicted, and he was flying free, gracefully, towards a burnt orange sun.

Stay artful…