3.11 – Of Muintir
*
Teaser:
<Pictures of marajuana fields>
Fi: Drugs...when you think of them, you think of
2 things...
<powder>
Bad drugs...
<a prescription bottle>
And good drugs.
But what really are drugs?
<a pharmacist filling the bottle>
Are they just placebo's that they just SAY make
us feel better? And if that's true, is
sickness really all in our heads? OK, I
know most illnesses are real and serious...
<closing the bottle, putting a label on
it>
But it still makes you think...do we really fake
being sick all the time, subconciously?
If so, what DO drugs really do?
<putting it in a bag and handing it to a
customer>
Fi
sits at her desk in her Hope Springs house, arm leaning on the desk, trying to
stay awake. A cursor is blinking on her
laptop's screen, but she doesn't seem to notice. Jack is in the living room, laying on the couch, listening to
music. He gets a grim expression on his
face, turns the music off, and turns on the TV. After a few moments of that, he sighs, and turns that off
too. In the kitchen, Molly makes a pot
of tea. She breathes out hard, and
looks out the window. She pours a cup
and walks into the living room.
"Hey Jack, do you think that maybe, getting out would help?"
she asks in a more cheerful tone than she was really feeling. "Thanks, mom, but tried that. Went with Carey to the park...I still feel
down," Jack says. Fi walks down
the stairs, and plops down on the couch with the rest of her family. "Hey baby," Molly says. "Hey mom," Fi says, closing her
eyes. "Oh, come on! There has to be something we can do!"
Molly says. "Maybe it's something
in this house...you know, like gas," Jack suggests. "Oh...I never thought of that...you mean
maybe, um, carbon monoxide?" Molly asks, worried. "Yeah, that's it," Jack says. "OK, we're getting out of here...and
not coming back until we can get this house inspected," Molly says, and
they follow her out the door.
"Well,
Ms. Phillips, it looks like everything check out," a man in a blue
jumpsuit says. On it, he has a patch
"HS Appliance Repair and Inspection." "Well, thank you," Molly says, and pays him, as Fi
whispers to Jack, while yawning, "There's gotta be something going on
here, Jack," Fi says.
"Fi..." Jack beings.
"And I think it's something with the house...you know, nothing
paranormal," Fi says. "You
think," Jack asks, jokingly.
"Yeah..." Fi laughs back, but yawns again. "OK...just for safety, we'll spend the
night at the Bell's, OK?" Molly says, "Let's get in there real quick
to get out things...and open all the windows and doors." "OK," they say and hurry in.
"This
is some great squash, Ned," Molly says, in between bites. "Thanks," Ned says, "I always
think we need some Southern influence in our food." "Yeah, whatever honey," Irene
says, and pats him. Fi yawns, as they
sit at the Bell's dinner table.
"So, what was the big problem, Mrs. P?" Carey asks. Molly, with closed eyes, opens them and
mumbles, "Huh?" "Moll,
are you sure you're alright? You look
dead!" Irene says. "Uh...oh,
yeah, I'm fine. Carey, I'm not
really..." Molly beings to say, but her head falls down as she falls
asleep in her food. Everyone just looks
at each other, wondering what to do.
The
next morning, Molly, feeling a little more refreshed, is on the phone with her
mother. "You got it too,
mom?" she says, "So does Sean?
Weird...it seems like it's just our family that's sick. Yeah, I know. OK, I guess I gotta go now.
Yeah, I guess we can go back home.
OK, yeah...bye!" she hangs up the phone. "Who was that mom?" Fi asks, lying down on a
couch. "Your grandmother. She's feeling weird too, so I guess it's not
something in our house," Molly says.
"So we're going home?" Jack asks, slouching on a chair. "Yeah," Molly sighs.
That
afternoon, when they are at their own home, Fi is online in her room. "I don't know what's going on
Candy. It's like we're dying or
something," Fi struggles to type.
She sends it and goes to a search engine. She types "depression" and searches. She click on the first link "Depression
Symptoms." It opens, and Fi reads,
"Depression comes in many different forms. One kinda is...yada, yada, yada..." she looks over the
different kinds, then one strikes her attention, "Depression of the
Family. A chemical disorder in Irish
descendents; still in investigation."
She clicks on it and it takes her to another page. She keeps on reading, "The theory is a
chemical 'queale' is usually evenly distributed with a chemical 'ken' in our
bodies. When the distribution becomes
unbalanced, the chemicals, which supposedly controls our moods and feelings,
either a depression occurs, or a spurt of happiness occurs. The happiness effect seems to be temporary,
and wears off, leaving the person back to normal eventually. The depression effect is much more
dangerous." She pauses. "The depression doesn't wear off, and
the imbalance continues to get worse as time progresses. Even though this is in the theoretical
stage, you should still see a doctor if this sounds like what you have. Remember, this is still in the experimental
stage. Notes: Reported cases have only
been Irish or Irish descent." Fi's
eyes get big, and 'runs' down the stairs, though it was more like a limp. "Mom!" she yells. "Fi, Fi! What is it?" Molly says, struggling up the stairs as Fi
comes down. "Look at this!"
Fi says, and they both go into her room.
Molly reads it, and says, "Fi, that's nonsense. It's not even real...it's someone's
guess! But...that doctor advice sounds
good. I think we'll go."
Walking
out of the doctors office, the Phillips look even more depressed and down. "He gave us nothing. Nothing!" Jack says. "You'd think he'd tell us to try
something! Pills, exercise,
something!" Molly says. "All
he says is to let it take it's own course.
'It should go away!'," Fi says, the quote mockingly. "Well, let's go home and see who's
right, OK guys?" Molly says, putting her arms around them to walking to
the car. As they drive off, Fi watches
the doctor peek his head out the door, watching the Phillips leave. She decides to pay him a little visit by
herself later.
Fi
is again, on her laptop, later that night.
She is propping her head up with her hand, and forcing herself to stay
awake. "The so-called 'ken-queale'
theory generated interested in the field," she reads. Suddenly, a window pops up "You have new
e-mail." Fi opens it and sees it's
from the Harvard Medical School.
"Yes! They replied to my
e-mail," Fi says. She reads it,
"Dear Miss Phillips, Yes, we are the ones studying the 'kwenkle'
theory..." she stops.
"Kwenkle?" she thinks, then laughs a little, "ken-queale,
kwenkle? Heh heh." She reads on, "The theory has reached
the conclusion that the gene that holds the possibility of Irish-only people getting
this disease is true, much the same idea that sickle cell anemia can only occur
in African and related people descendants.
So far, that is all we have. One
more hypothesis being tested is that it occurs only in certain Irish
families." She stops again. "Irish families only..." she
whispers. She closes the e-mail and
searches for "O'Shannon." She
gets results, but nothing she wanted.
Then she remembered something.
She runs to her closet and gets out the book of spells from her
aunt. She flips through the pages until
she reaches the "Strangling spell."
She reads it down in silence, but reads aloud one of the last words,
"O'Sianan." She goes back to
her laptop and types in "O'Sianan."
She gets an O'Sianan family tree, not a modern one like she found in
"Move," but a scanned picture of an ancient one, one that dates back
to the 6th century. "I wonder why
it starts there..." Fi thinks, and starts reading it. On the top, it is titled "Muintir
O'Sianan." "Alfred
O'Sianan. Born 566. Died 597 of Unknown," she reads down,
and sees more than half the deaths were an unknown cause. After each "Unknown," however,
there was a symbol. "I've seen
that symbol some place before..." she thinks. She scrolls down to the end of the page, where the symbol is, and
a caption after it. Fi reads it,
"This unknown disease took more than half of the muintir. The symptoms included a sadness, tiredness,
and restlessness." Suddenly, she
looks at it. She scrolls up and skims
all the listings again. Her eyes get
big as she realizes, "I just read all of this...and it's in Gaelic! And I don't know Gaelic!" After a moment, after she calms down, she
goes to her Favorite Links, and opens a page she had found earlier on
Depression. She scrolls down until she
reaches a part that says, "Symptoms of a depression may include sadness,
tiredness, and restlessness...That's so weird!" Molly walks in then, "Whatcha doing baby?" "Oh, just researching," she says
vaguely. Suddenly, a window pops up,
"You have a post answer." Fi
opens her message board as Molly reads it, "Hey, I think I know what your
problem is. Check out this link:
Depression of the Family. From what I
know, the cure you need is called Kwenkle." "I was already at that site!" Fi whines. "Fi...what are you doing?" Molly
asks. "What?" Fi asks. "Getting medical advice from complete
strangers? No, get off there now,"
Molly says. "But mom," Fi
says. "Now!" Molly
demands. "OK, OK," Fi says,
exiting the window. "Don't go back
there. This'll...work out in the
end. It always does, OK?" Molly
asks. "Yeah, OK, mom," Fi
says, as Molly smiles, walking out.
The
next day, Fi walks to their doctor's office, where they were the day
before. She walks in, and the
receptionist says, "Hi again. Here
to see the doctor?" "Uh,
yeah, could I speak to him? If he's not
busy or anything, that is..." Fi says.
"No, no problem. Let me go
get him," she says and walks into a back room. After a few moments, he walks out. "Hello, Fiona!" he says, cheerfully, "Feeling any
better?" "Afraid not. That's why I've come to talk to you,"
she says. "OK, come into my
office," he says, and leads her through a door. Once he closes it, they sit down. "Now, what's going on?" he asks. "I don't know. I think...it's a rare form of
depression," she says.
"Depression? What makes it
rare?" he asks. "Well, I've
done some research online..." Fi begins.
"Online? Don't believe
everything you read. There are some
real quacks out there!" he says.
"But..." Fi says.
"Fiona, don't worry about it.
Just do as I say, continue to live your life, OK?" he asks, putting
his hand on her shoulder.
"OK," she says, obviously disappointed. "OK.
Bye now!" he says and Fi leaves.
As she walks out, she mumbles, "Nobody will listen to what I have
to say, nobody!"
"Bye
mom!" Jack yells. "Bye
Jack! Goodbye Fi!" Molly
yells. "We'll be there soon, OK?"
Fi yells. "Yeah, see you!"
Molly yells, and Fi hears the door slam.
She turns to her laptop and searches for "Kwenkle" this time. She clicks the first link and it takes her
to a site on it. "Kwenkle is the
name of a disease, but is also the name of its cure," Fi begins to read,
but Jack cuts her off, "Fi, you ready to go?" "Jack, I have to figure this out! It might save out lives!" Fi says. "Fi!" Jack says. "Jack!" Fi yells back. "Fine, I'll pick you up at the
intermission, OK? You better be ready,"
he says, and Fi hears him slam the door, and goes back to her work.
"Jack,
where's Fi?" Molly asks as Jack walks into the backstage. "She said she wanted to stay home,
figure something out for our lives or something," Jack says, annoyed. "Jack," Molly says, wrapping her
arms aroung his neck, "Maybe...she wasn't feeling to well." "Mom!" Jack says. "Jack!" she says. They both hear, "OK, folks, tonight, we
have for all of you Molly Phillips!" announced on stage. Molly frowns at him, and walks on
stage. "Welcome everybody! Hope you enjoy tonight's show!" she
says, as the crowd claps. Molly turns
around and nods to Chuck on guitar and Judy on the harmonica, and starts to
play.
Eeee! Heee!
Ahh! Hooo, yeah!
Auhh huh!
Eeee! Heee!
Ooo! Hooo, yeah!
<We see Fi reading the webpage>
Eleanor come and wipe my brow
Only you can soothe my fevered brow
Your tender touch is all that comforts me now
Auhh huh!
Eeee! Heee!
Ooo! Hooo, yeah!
<Fi reads "Kwenkle is believed to be in
certain Irish-based families. It is a
disorder that either results in nothing, or death...>
Ooo! Hoo!
Auhh huh!
Ooo! Hooo, yeah!
Eleanor the devil’s near to my door
Soon he will be comin’ through that door
And when he gone I fear I’ll be no more
<...If it goes down the negative path, death
may result. To resolve it, you must
find the drug Kwenkle...>
Auhh huh!
Eeee! Heee!
Ooo! Hooo, yeah!
Ooo! Hoo!
Auhh huh!
Ooo! Hooo, yeah!
<...it is found in two known places in the
world, in Wales, Ireland, and Colorado, USA...>
Eleanor that devil tried to steal you away
He tried in vain to take your heart away
But his gold and silver could not make you
betray
<"Colorado and Ireland? That is WAY too weird..." Fi says>
Auhh huh!
Eeee! Heee!
Ooo! Hooo, yeah!
<You must take the root of the plant, smash
it in a bowl, as you would a pill that needs crushed(the root resembles a pill,
shape-wise), and suck it down with water>
Ooo! Hoo!
Auhh huh!
Ooo! Hooo, yeah!
Eleanor remember what I said
Don’t forget these last words that I said
He can’t have you so he aim to have my soul
instead
<Fi clicks "Print" and it begins to
print, along with a picture of the plany>
Auhh huh!
Eeee! Heee!
Ooo! Hooo, yeah!
Ooo! Hoo!
Auhh huh!
Ooo! Hooo, yeah!
<She grabs her coat, and 'runs' the whole way
to the club, which is only in downtown Hope Springs>
I will not strike back in anger
I will turn the other cheek
And if I die before I wake
Let the earth inherit the meek
<on the way, she stops to look at a plant
growing on the side of the road>
Yes let the earth inherit the meek
Auhh huh!
Eeee! Heee!
Ooo! Hooo, yeah!
<She pulls it out, and runs to the club>
Ooo! Hoo!
Auhh huh!
Ooo! Hooo, yeah!
<she runs through the backstage doors of the
club>
If this be the last leg of my race
If this night I finish out my race
Eleanor let me spend it lookin’ in your...
Suddenly, Molly collapses on stage. Fi crushes the root of the plant in her
hand. She quickly pours a glass of
water from a table backstage. "Fi,
what are you doing??" Jack asks.
Fi ignores him, and runs on stage.
She pushes through the band and Irene, trying to help her. Fi whispers, "Please, work," and
opens her mother's mouth. She pours the
powder of the root down, and puts the water to her lips, letting a little drip
down. Molly sits up, gagging, and grabs
the glass from Fi, drinking more, trying to get rid of the cough. "Moll, you OK? You alright?" everyone is asking, as
the audience watches, stunned and amazed.
"Fi...what...what happened?" Molly asks, not totally
together. Suddenly, Fi feels
lightheaded, and licks more of the powder from her hand, and drinks the rest of
the water. "Fi, what...?"
Jack begins, but too feels light headed all of the sudden. Fi reaches in her pocket and pulls out the
rest of the root, crushing the little she has, and putting it in Jack's
hand. "What? Wha...d...yo...o...wi..." Jack starts
mumbling, but Fi brings his hand to his mouth, eats the powder, and she makes
him drink the water. Instantly, he
comes back, as Molly and Fi did.
"Huh?" he asks, and Fi just smiles. Molly stands up, and yells, "OK, sorry folks, but let's keep
moving on!" The crowd again goes
wild, and the band starts playing again.
Auhh huh!
Eeee! Heee!
Ooo! Hooo, yeah!
Ooo! Hoo!
Auhh huh!
Ooo! Hooo, yeah!
Oh Eleanor tell them what’s mine is mine
Don’t let that devil take what’s rightly mine
And I will wait for you at the end of time
"Fi,
it was all in our heads, just like the doctor said," Jack explains to her,
later at home. "Jack, all three of
us got better AFTER we ate the root!" Fi argues. "Uh, Fi, Jack? Let's
not fight, OK?" Molly says.
"Yeah, it's just nice to be back to normal. Be thankful for that," Jack says. "OK, OK," Fi smiles.
Fi
types in her journal before going to bed that night.
November 20
I don't know.
WAS it just in our heads? No, it
had to more
than that, more than a coincidence. Maybe it was given
to us on purpose, to realize we should not take
for
granted what we have, you know, a good way. Or was it
a bad way, trying to hurt us? I don't know...and I don't
really care to know, now that I've thought about
that.
Fi bites her lip, and saves the entry. She hopes that it was just a coincidence,
but somehow, deep inside, she knows it wasn't.
*