Mr. and Mrs. Peter Stephenson had been married for about a year when the mysterious package arrived. It was about the size of a blender and they suspected that was just what it would contain, perhaps a late wedding gift from some extended family member. When opened, the simple cardboard box gave way to a smaller one made of wood. They pried open the lid to find a glass cylinder inside, padded with hay. Odd, they thought. They removed the glass cylinder and placed it on the dining table, discovering, to their shock and disgust, that it contained what appeared to be a human heart suspended in some blueish gel substance. Digging back into the hay padding, they retrieved a folded letter of thick yellow paper with a red wax seal bearing an embossed “J”. They simply had to know what this was all about, so Mary fetched the letter opener from their home office. She pried the seal open and unfolded the page, revealing a lovely script, handwritten with a black fountain pen. Mary began to read:
Dearest Peter and Mary,
One never knows quite what to get a beautiful pair of newlyweds, especially when one is firmly committed to shopping “off-registry”. I hope that the shock of my gift will wear off quickly, for it is a special object that I pray will bring you much joy in the years to come. This object has a unique property by which it will interact with you as you go about your lives. However, perhaps to your initial dismay, for it to work properly, the object will require much care and attention. I trust that you will discern its operation as time goes on. Think of it like an adventure in which you’ll learn to maintain the object properly as you go along. I think for now I won’t say much more as to the objects purpose and use. I wish only the best for you as you embark on this new life you have chosen together.
With my deepest abiding love,
Josh
“Who is Josh, Mare?”
“I don’t know. I was just thinking maybe a cousin of yours,” Mary replied.
Peter didn’t know anyone named Josh, at least that he could easily recall.
“I can’t think of any ‘Josh’.”
“It’s a pretty weird gift, Peter. I don’t think I like it very much.”
“I’m with you there, honey. I hate to throw it out, though. You know how big my family is and I don’t want to end up at some reunion with all my folks and have to disappoint long-lost cousin Josh if he asks how we’re enjoying his wedding gift.”
They laughed an uneasy laugh together and parked the gel-suspended heart in the corner of their home office desk behind a stack of unsorted mail.
“I suppose we can leave it lying around for a while and see what it does. I just don’t want to look at it,” Mary said.
“Fine by me,” Peter replied.
***
A month had passed since the package showed up at their door. Peter had been working long hours and, more often than not, came home tired and easily irritated. Mary was home most of the day, Peter’s income being sufficient for her to spend most her time working on painting. She loved to paint and Peter was generally supportive, though he didn’t think she was very good. Whatever makes you happy, he had told her. Plus, they were planning to have a family and homeschool the kids, so Peter was just fine with having her at home as a prelude to this future.
On Wednesday he arrived back from the office, tie undone a touch, hair disheveled, looking a real mess. Glancing to the kitchen sink, he saw that Mary hadn’t touched the pile of dishes from breakfast and from her recent hobby of trying out new pie recipes.
“Couldn’t be bothered to clean up, I see”, Peter said.
“Hello to you too, my love,” Mary replied.
“Cool, sarcasm. Good stuff, Mare.”
“I got busy with this landscape while the rhubarb experiment was cooling and just forgot about it. What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is I work a nine-hour day, plus the crap drive, and you’re lying around painting and baking and doing whatever the fuck and now I imagine you’re going to ask me to do the dishes on top of it. I don’t see any dinner going.”
“We do takeout half the Wednesdays anyway. I figured we’d just get Chinese.”
“I have to pay for that, you know,” Peter sighed.
“That’s really hurtful, Peter. It’s our money. We’re supposed to be a team.”
“A team where I make all the money and you spend it on Dragon Wok and paint.”
“You’re such an asshole sometimes.”
“Me? Are you serious?”
“Yeah, you. You didn’t even give me a kiss when you got home. Just right into bitching about dishes and dinner.”
“Whatever, Mare. I’m gonna take a walk before I say some shit I’ll regret.”
“Might as well say it now that I know you’re thinking something mean.”
“I’ll be back in a little while. Going around the block a few times.”
Peter turned and headed back for the front door. He dropped his briefcase on the way out, but hadn’t changed out of his suit. A walk in Oxfords it is.
Mary felt like she might cry. It helped her to stay busy when she was upset, so she headed for the home office desk. Neither of them got to the mail backlog on any regular basis, so she figured she’s start sorting through it, shredding anything with personal information on it. The weird heart lava lamp thingy was there. They had largely forgotten about it. The arteries coming out of the top of the aorta were drooping now, wilting like a dying flower. Whereas it had been bright red a month ago, it was a sickly grayish color in places, like spoiling beef. Gross, she thought. She decided to talk to Peter about getting rid of the creepy gift.
***
The next morning, Peter got up early to make some eggs and coffee for himself and Mary. I was a real jerk last night, he thought. I’ll bring her the coffee in bed and apologize. He made a carafe of French press with the fancy stuff Mary’s mom had sent them and whipped up some over-medium eggs and toast. He brought everything into their bedroom on a little breakfast-in-bed tray.
“Rise and shine, gorgeous,” he chimed, trying to be over-the-top chipper.
Mary squinted at him, let out a slight “harrumph”, and turned to the side.
“Look, Mare, I’m sorry. I’ve been under a lot of pressure and sometimes I just get overwhelmed and it’s hard for me to be kind. I shouldn’t have come down on you like that.”
She sat up slowly. He thought she looked cute with her mussed up hair and her little frowny face that was gently morphing into a coy side-smile.
“Okay, fine, ya big lug. I forgive you. Come here.”
He set the tray over her lap and laid a kiss on her forehead. They chatted a bit about nothing in particular, chuckling every now and then as they went. It felt like when they first started dating and they were happy.
“I have to get to work, honey. You know I love you, right?”
“Yeah, Peter, I know you do. Sometimes you could show it a little better.”
That comment stung, but only because he knew she was right. He decided to eat crow and not give some smart-ass response.
“You’re right. If you can find time to clean up the breakfast dishes, though, I’d appreciate it.”
“I will. Have a good day, baby.”
She hadn’t called him “baby” in a while. That’s what she did when they were first going out. It felt nice.
After Peter left, Mary decided to finish up with the mail. She also liked to stay busy when she wasn’t upset. Mary liked being productive, even if she often wasn’t. She sat down at the desk chair and realized that she’d forgotten to talk to Peter about the creepy heart thing. There it was. Yet, now it looked as it did when it first showed up at their door. Bright red and healthy. She even thought it was strangely pretty, as much as a disembodied human organ could be. Maybe they would keep it. Was it growing on her? No, it was still weird. Either way she needed to talk to Peter about it.
***
That night when Peter got home he was in a great mood. Work had gone well, the home commute traffic was smooth, and his playlist hit the spot. Best of all, he walked in to a clean kitchen and the oven on for dinner. Life is good, he thought. I ought to be nicer to her if this is the result.
Mary on the other hand had a terrible day struggling with learning a new brush technique. She had a tough time not being good at things quickly, impatient for excellence. She was also preoccupied with making sure the dishes were done and so had a terrible time focusing.
“The house looks great, honey. Thank you!” Peter offered.
“It ought to. I spent all day thinking about it.”
Too-long silence.
“Are you mad?” Peter asked.
“I don’t know. I just couldn’t pay attention to anything all day because I was so worried about making sure your precious dishes and dinner were done.”
“So that’s my fault?”
“I don’t know, Peter. Just a shitty day.”
“Great.”
“Great. Dinner is cooking, I’m just gonna lie down.”
Peter sighed.
Mary gave a half-disgusted groan and sulked off to the bedroom.
Fucking fantastic, thought Peter. He pulled the shepherd’s pie out of the oven. He plated it with an aggressive plop and sat down to eat at hurried pace that he was sure wouldn’t be kind to his stomach. Who cares anyway?
After eating he went to the office room to grab some work papers. He’d forgotten about the odd heart thing that presumably came from some distant cousin. It had been a month or so since it arrived and now it looked all weary and grey. Like it was rotting. Pretty vile, he thought. He figured he would mention getting rid of it to Mary in the morning when she cooled off.
***
Mary woke up before Peter the next morning but just lay there, drained from the argument the night before. Peter opened his eyes after a while and nodded at her. Things were calmer now, if not pleasant.
“Morning,” he managed.
“Good morning,” Mary replied. “Sorry I was crabby yesterday.”
“Thanks,” Peter accepted. “You know that heart doodad, Mare? I noticed it last night after you went to bed. I think maybe we should toss it.”
“I don’t know. I’ve been getting used to it. I meant to mention it ‘cause it got gross-looking the other day, but then yesterday it was bright red again and I thought it had a certain charm. I don’t know.”
“Last night it was all grey looking.”
“Really?”
Confused and curious, they both got up together and went to the office to have a look. Some color had come back into it since Peter saw it the night before, but it was still kind of pathetic looking.
“Huh,” Peter grunted.
“What?”
“Well, it looks nicer than yesterday. I mean for a weird floating heart.”
“Yeah, it’s definitely worse than when I saw it.”
“Now that I’m looking, Mare, I have this weird feeling that I want to keep it.”
“Me too.”
They wandered into the kitchen, still confused, to figure out something for breakfast.
***
The weekend came and with it some mail. Always more damn mail to sort. With the usual stack of bills and credit card offers and luncheon invitations to some retirement planning scheme there was a heavy-stock envelope with that red wax “J” seal.
“Something from ‘Josh’?” Mary asked.
“I guess so,” Peter answered.
Peter opened the envelope to find four strips of thin, gilded-edge paper, obviously torn from a Bible. On them were four verses that Josh had obviously intended for them, being the only legible bits from the tears. Peter read them aloud.
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
“Okay, Peter. That’s weird.”
“Yeah.”
“Who is this Josh?” Mary asked.
“I still don’t know. At this point I’m assuming somebody on my Mom’s side. Her sister’s husband is super Lutheran I think. Probably this guy’s weird way of trying to be encouraging. Or maybe it’s some hint about the heart lamp thing.”
“I don’t know much about religion really, but it still seems like an odd thing to send to people.”
“Yeah.”
***
On Monday night Peter came home to messy kitchen again. He was sick of this scene but he thought better of calling her out on it. He had resolved to be nicer. But, he was still pissed and it probably showed on his face or in his body language because Mary seemed to know something was up.
“What?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
“Are you mad about the dishes again?”
“No. I’m not mad.”
“You could let your face know.”
“Come on, Mare. I didn’t say anything.”
“You don’t have to.”
“We’re going to do this again? Really?”
“No. I guess not.”
They ate in silence.
After dinner, Peter went to the office to do a little after-hours work. The heart lamp was even more grey than before and now had a black spot on it. It looked disgusting. They had to throw the thing out, that was it.
Out of nowhere, he had an impulse to pray. Peter and Mary weren’t religious in the least but he knew that he was being a jerk to Mary again even though he refrained from giving her shit for the kitchen. The disappointment and anger were still there and it was terribly uncomfortable. Maybe those Bible scraps stirred something in him. God, he thought. I don’t know anything about praying but if you can help me figure out how to be better with Mary that would be good. She’s just being herself. I guess I knew who I was marrying. I really do love her. I need to figure this out. Give me a hand, if you’re there.
The heart in the lamp beat. It startled Peter and he jerked back in the chair. Okay. Very weird, he thought. Really need to throw this thing out.
Mary popped her head in.
“Sorry, baby. Hard day. Shouldn’t have snapped at you.”
“It’s okay, Mare. But look.”
The heart beat again and turned redder. The arteries turned skyward.
“What the heck?” Mary gasped.
“I don’t know. I keep feeling like we should get rid of thing and then it does something really interesting. Do we keep it?”
“I think so. I don’t know why.”
“Me neither.”
***
Peter was at his desk at work on Wednesday. His cell phone buzzed with a text message from Mary.
Hurry home tonight baby. Thinking about you. Love you
She never texted him like that anymore. Not since before they got married. He started thinking of her fondly. He did really love her and was excited to see her. He got that feeling in his stomach he hadn’t had in quite a while. He sent back:
Love you too! Chinese tonight?
The reply came later:
Sure J
Life is good, he thought.
***
That night Peter got home a little late from some bad traffic. The sink was full of dishes again but he wasn’t upset for some reason. He couldn’t quite figure out why it didn’t anger him. He looked up and Mary walked out of the bedroom in something that Victoria typically liked to keep secret. His heart jumped up into his throat and he got short of breath.
“Hey baby, dessert first?” she called.
He dropped his briefcase and ran to her and carried her into the bedroom.
***
Later that night, he went out for a glass of water and noticed the heart lamp thing sitting on the coffee table. It was red and bright and looked nicer than when it had first arrived. It had an otherworldly beauty to it suddenly.
“Mare. Come look.”
She appeared from the bedroom, wearing his button-up shirt as a nightdress.
“Oh wow. It’s oddly pretty, isn’t it?” she asked.
“Yeah it is. How’d it get out here?”
“I moved it earlier. It perked up today again and I thought it looked kind of nice but now it’s even better.”
“Do we just keep it out here?”, Peter asked.
“Yeah, I think so. I mean, guests will think we have funny taste in art, but I kind of like it now.”
“Me too.”
***
About three weeks passed. Peter got the mail on his way in to the house. There was another folded letter with the red wax seal.
“Honey, another letter from Josh,” he called into their bedroom. No answer. He wasn’t sure where Mary was.
He opened it up and read:
My dear ones, Mary and Peter,
I’ve just heard the wonderful news. I am overflowing with joy for you. I send you all my blessing and prayers for your happiness.
With an everlasting love,
J.
Okay, this one is really weird, Peter thought.
Mary appeared in the doorway to the bedroom. She must have been back in the master bathroom. She was crying and holding a little white stick with a purple tip.
“Peter… I’m pregnant.”
Tears formed in Peter’s eyes as well and his hand let go of his briefcase. He ran to embrace Mary and they cried joyfully together.
“My God, Mare. This is amazing. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
The heart lamp had made its home in their living room. It began to glow beside them, brightest red and beautiful.
They walked to the couch and cuddled up together, rapt in the awe of love conceiving new life.
They shut out the lights, but the heart shined enough to light the entire room. They looked over to it.
“You know when we got that thing I thought it was disgusting and ugly,” Mary said. “But now I think it’s one of the beautiful things I’ve ever seen.”
“Me too, Mare. Me too.”
My favorite of yours so far. Very Bradbury.