I grew even more nervous and could not help saying, "Is it going to be the one about the creature that goes upon four legs in the morning, and two legs at noon and three legs in the evening, because if so . . . "
"Certainly not! No, I have it. Ready?"
"Yes, Sphinx dear."
"My first is a person that is praised to the skies,
But I shall not praise him for I hate his lies.
My second means comfort for travellers who weary
Of roads harsh and stony, a journey so dreary.
But now enters Lucy her city to save,
With a smile that is cheerful and a heart that is brave."
I thought for a moment.
"Well," I said. "Someone that is praised to the skies is a hero. And I know how much you hate heroes because they always try to make themselves seem important by exaggerating their exploits. And, by the bye, Sphinx, did I ever tell you, that the French Emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, is considered to be very heroic? And so I think it is a little contradictory of you, dear, to be doing his work for him. As for the second part, well, a place that gives comfort to travellers is an inn." I began to cry—I could not help it. "And so put together they make 'heroine'. And it really is kind of you to say that I am one. And I am really very, very sorry to make you dash yourself into pieces."
The Sphinx smiled. "Clever girl," she said, and then gave my face a lick with a pointed pink tongue—which I suppose must be a Sphinx's kiss.
And then she leapt off the parapet, down, down to Great-Titchfield-Street.
And, oh!, what nonsense that old story of Oedipus is! For the Greek Sphinx has eagle's wings and how could a winged creature fall to her death?
Up, up she rose again with slow beats. London was sombre and dark beneath her, like a city of graves and mysterious spirits—which sounds rather dreadful, I know, but I was glad of it, for it was the very thing to please her. The last I saw of her she was above the silver ribbon of the Thames turning east towards Greece; and all the red-and-gold glory of the sunset was reflected upon her, the Dweller in High Places.
Healing Benjamin
Dennis Danvers
Dennis Danvers has published seven novels, including New York Times notables Circuit of Heaven and The Watch, and near-future mystery The Bright Spot (writing as Robert Sydney). Recent short fiction appears in Strange Horizons, Orson Scot Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, Space and Time and The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
According to the author, "Healing Benjamin" has a dual inspiration: A much-beloved cat named Nyneve, who he had raised from kitten-hood to near nineteen years old. And he wrote this story while facing the inevitable decision of having to put down his aged dog, Alice, who was suffering from serious arthritis at fifteen. Danvers says, "I get deeply attached to animals, and their short life spans can make that painful, but these two animals I count among the most treasured friends in my life. Writing 'Healing Benjamin' helped me put that pain out there and deal with it with both laughter and tears."
There is something in the unselfish and self-sacrificing love of a brute, which goes directly to the heart of him who has had frequent occasion to test the paltry friendship and gossamer fidelity of mere Man.
—Edgar Allan Poe, "The Black Cat"
I got the healing touch when I was 16 years old kneeling over my dying cat Benjamin in my bedroom. He was trying to crawl under the bed to die, but I wouldn't let him, hauling him out and wrapping my body around him, my forehead pressed against his. He was a year older than me. He'd been there my whole life. I couldn't imagine life without him. He stopped breathing, his heart stopped, and I prayed for him, though I rarely prayed then, and I never pray now, squeezing him, imprinting my will on him, picturing him raised from the dead, alive and well. I didn't know what else to do, sobbing, absolutely heartbroken, torturing myself with Joan Baez singing "Old Blue" on the stereo:
. . . Old Blue died and he died so hard
Shook the ground in my backyard
Dug his grave with a silver spade
Lowered him down with links of chain
Every link I did call his name
Here Blue, you good dog you
Here Blue, I'm a-coming there too!
Benjamin stirred under