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Melding Ceremony
I’m so proud of my Granny Jaynie Lynne. She was the first woman. The very first. Now, even girls like me can dream of melding for the Marauders.
I was there in the studio when she won the Marauders’ trivia contest. Watching her with about 50 million other people. I know she heard my cheers and that’s why she won. Even fans need fans.
How super cool when she was the one selected. She took me to an ice cream place and got me a double scoop of berry pleasure, my favorite. What a time that was.
I helped her paint her face on the big day. Crimson and purple, the Marauders’ colors. And I put the streaks in her hair, too. God, did she look good. Like the best Marauders’ fan ever. Which she is, of course. I even helped sew the jersey she wore that day. My first jersey. But it won’t be my last. I’ll sew a lot more for melders now that I know how. And then I’ll sew mine. When I get the chance. Which I know will come. Because I’m such a good Marauders’ fan. Like Granny Jaynie Lynne.
We all went with her to the stadium: me, my mom, dad, and my two little brothers. I wish Grandpa Jim had been there. He would have been so proud. But he got killed at a Maruaders’ game from flying metal. Before he could meld. What a loss.
As soon as we walked into the stadium, Granny was the center of attention.
“Look it’s a melder.”
“God, it’s so great. What you’re doing, I mean.”
“I love you.”
“You’re the best. God bless you. God bless the Marauders.”
“Can you sign this please?”
“Please put your hand on my son’s head for luck.”
“Could I touch your face? Please.”
They bought Granny a beer and a Marauder dog. They said her money was no good.
I love the stadium. There’s so many people. All around you. And everyone saying something to Granny. And the smells: popcorn, hot dogs, beer, soda, the metal, the motor oil, and all those bodies. It's not like anything else in the world. And all that noise and people talking.
“We might lose Jason to the robot league team.”
“I hate these Tundra Barons. The Marauders better beat them.”
“What an honor. Sitting so close to a melder.”
“Of course you do, you bleed crimson and purple.”
“Yeah, that 51% rule might get Jason. What is he? 53% human? One more bad collison and they’ll have to drop him.”
“Yeah, and where will the Marauders be then?”
It was great to see the Marauders come out to warm up. The drivers looked so good in their armored suits, all crimson and purple, crowded in their little wheely cars. I loved watching how they passed the steely balls around with their scoops. I just knew they would score a
lot of goals. Then the Barons came out. Orange and green. What yucky colors! Everyone booed them. As they should. Go Marauders!
The game was wonderful. The Marauders scored three times before the Barons even got anything going. One Baron’s wheely car took a bad hit. They had to carry the driver off in a stretcher. I bet he’ll be a little more machine the next time he plays. If he lives that is. I hope he dies. The dirty Baron.
Then they came to get Granny so she’d be ready for the melding ceremony at half time. They let me go with her. That was so nice.
They showed her where to stand and everything, then the man asked her how much numb numb drink she wanted.
“Just a little,” Granny said. “I want to feel it.”
I’m so proud of her. Brave little Granny. Most melders drink so much they’re in a trance.
I watched from the sidelines with the men who run the ceremony. The music roared through the air. The announcer’s voice boomed all over the stadium.
“And now, for a special melding ceremony, ladies and gentlemen. Jaynie Lynne Cantonal today will become the Marauders’ first female melder.”
And all that clapping and shouting. Some of it was mine. It got so loud I could hardly hear the rest of what they said. Then she went out to the center of the field and stood there. So proud. So brave.
The music started again. Then the countdown. Jason rolled out in his wheely car. Everyone cheered. What an honor that Jason would be the one. The Marauders’ best player. Then it began.
He roared his engine and sped down the field right towards Granny Jaynie Lynne. Then he cut aside at the last second and the blade
came out and cut her head off just like that. It was perfect. Her blood shot up in the air, falling down onto the field, melding
with the Marauders’ earth. A true Marauders’ fan. The best. A melder.
They took her body somewhere and cremated it. Then, after the game, Jason himself spread her ashes over the field. And the whole Marauders team ran over them with their wheely cars, melding her into Marauders earth for the rest of time.
They let me place the brick with her name on it in the Wall of Melders. What an honor. I wonder who’ll put my brick up there for me.
Now Granny Jaynie Lynne will be at the stadium for all the Marauders’ games. Super awesome. I want to be part of her, part of the earth, blood and ashes all melded together. We’ll be there for every game, every sweet victory. Now and forever. Go Marauders!
Ray Adams is a writer living in northern California. He is currently finishing his novel, Selling for the Blind. He is a gold life master in the American Contract Bridge League and wrote a weekly bridge column for his local newspaper for twenty years. He has an M.A in Slavic Languages and Literature from the University of Kansas and worked as a Russian linguist in West Berlin during the cold war. He has been a science fiction fan for decades.
Email: Ray Adams
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