The Changeling

The water renews but does not shed its layers. No.

It drags buried memories to the present.

Once, below these waters,

giant predators swam. Mythical.

Those predators grew legs and made it to land.

If they could do that, would it be so surprising if once,

upon one of these times, witches had been here too?

Each tale told upon this water informs the next story...

and the next.

Don't know why I had to come out here.

Man agrees to pay you $70,000 for a book,

you best believe you deliver that shit to him personally.

You know what we look like? Two drug dealers out to make a sale.

- Drug dealers don't gift wrap. -

Yeah. I think we should make that...

- Here you go. - Thanks.

Yeah. No problem.

Here you go.

- Hey. - Hey.

You got another meeting tonight?

What?

The Survivors Club at the Chinese Community Center in Flushing.

You been stalking me?

It popped up on the, uh, tribute page when you checked in online.

The tribute what? What are you talking about?

Tribute page.

For Brian.

"Tribute to Brian."

I'm a fan.

Not a... Not a fan, but... ...you know what I mean.

May angels watch over that poor child...

Rest in piss.

Two working parents cannot raise a child.

- Genetically unfit. - Postpartem.

Apollo killed them both...

Dinner plans tonight. A meal inspired by baby Brian.

Boiled vegetables.

"Boiled vegetables." Who the hell are these people, man?

Like, what...

W-Why would this guy make this?

I thought you knew.

- My man, I never... I never w... -

When I went there, I saw that you checked in

with The Survivors. I figured that meant you knew.

No. I checked in... ...so if my parole officer logged on,

that I'd be able to cover my ass,

but I didn't know it was gonna end up on this.

Wow. Here I am tripping on witches,

meanwhile social media's conjuring up something way worse.

What you say?

Nothing, man. I'm not talking to you.

Is that our guy?

Wow. Beige on beige. Tan man. Very fashionable.

Who the fuck still drinks Tab?

Okay, this is a man who has not been with a woman in a very long time.

In years. Decades.

One of these incel fat fucks always posting heinous shit online

about how no one appreciates how special he is

- and how women only want jerks. - All right, all right. Calm down.

This is the guy that's gonna give us a five-figure check, all right?

But keep it up.

I was wrong. This guy's never been with a woman.

You wanna know what else he's probably never done?

He's probably never joined a Baby Brian fan page.

- Hey. - Apollo.

Hey, William.

Don't trip. He seems safe.

Hey. Good to see you. Lemme take you to my office.

- Sorry. It's a bit of a mess. -

It's all right.

- Here. Let me... -

Oh, that's cute.

Oh, yeah. Those are from my daughters.

Aw, see, he's got daughters.

And one wife.

I used to call them my little strawberries.

When they'd get mad, their faces would get so red.

Got that from me.

Nobody said anything about boats.

"Have you ever been in a cockpit before, Joey?"

Yeah, I'm old.

Come on. Ah, just ignore me.

Here she is.

Guys, come on.

Yeah.

You know, I can't swim.

- Guys, come down. - I'll just grab here. Okay.

I got beer.

I'm gonna die. Yep.

It's a nice boat.

Okay, guys. I'm no good at secrets.

- You stole the boat? -

I didn't steal it, but it's not mine.

Oh.

I built this app myself. It's called Rock-A-Bye.

- It's like Airbnb, but for boats. -

We got this thing for two whole hours.

Okay. I... But I need to be in Flushing by five, so I think...

We're not going anywhere. I don't know how to drive a boat.

- You're a coder? - Yeah.

And I built my older daughter's first laptop.

- Put a Core i5 processor in her. - That's pretty impressive.

- Back at my place, I got me a... -

Oh, wow. You guys wrapped it too? That's really nice.

It was always meant to be a gift anyway.

You know, I guess I hoped to see it before I bought it.

- Oh, you wanna... - That's okay.

You know, I trust you guys.

Here. Um, give it to me. Here.

It's, uh... I'll do it for you.

It's a gift?

Yeah, for my wife.

Birthday?

Uh, we're estranged.

She moved back with her parents in Bay Shore.

I've been on my own 11 whole months now.

Oh, wow.

It's beautiful.

It's got the... Yeah.

"...Daddy of our dreams."

First edition.

It's perfect.

You know, Gretta's dad used to read this to her when she was little.

- Hmm. - Gretta Strickland. That's my wife.

From Alabama... ...just like in this.

It's just a story about a good father, right?

I think her dad used to read this to her to show her a model of that, you know?

Then she married me.

I wasn't Atticus Finch.

Yeah, well... ...neither was he.

'Cause of the other book.

I was that man that thought you just worked and worked,

provided, and that made you a great dad.

But you know what happens when you do that?

You look up after 25 years, your wife and your kids,

they don't know you.

All those new dads.

Those guys at the park with their kids, 6:00 in the morning...

Oh. That's the good stuff.

And I know what matters now.

I know I could do better if she came back.

And I love my daughters so much... ...and I never said it.

No, I never said it.

And people need to hear the words, you know?

Yes.

And now it's costing me everything I saved just to try and win her back with this.

I mean, what's your feeling, guys? Could it work?

- I... - Yeah, tell her whatever you told us, man.

- I'm gonna wrap it back up for you. - Tell her that. Okay?

There you go.

I sent the funds electronically.

Yes. Yeah, that'll work.

That's it, then.

You know, if this doesn't get Gretta back, I'm all tapped out.

And this paper, it really is a nice touch.

Patrice!

It's all right.

God!

Emma!

Hey.

Thanks for, um, coming to meet me here.

This place has good memories.

And Emma, she was addicted to those dumplings...

- - ...her whole pregnancy.

I wanna thank you too for, um...

Helping my mom with the funeral arrangements.

Brian was my nephew.

Have they been putting fresh flowers on his grave every week?

We paid extra for that.

I haven't been going. So...

- Oh, but you have to... - Um, I wanted to, uh...

...pay you back for what you've done.

Um, what's it? About $10,000 for a birth?

What are you...

You didn't even need me.

Emma did it herself. You did it together.

Yeah, well, you trained us.

Apollo...

I never even got to hear her, um... ...third wish.

It could've been anything, you know? She could've...

She could've just told...

I think you should know...

...it wasn't supposed to be like this.

This is what it is.