“Well, we can’t find anything wrong with him.”
“What to you mean there’s nothing wrong? Do you think he’s just making it up?”
“I never said that there wasn’t anything wrong. All I said is that we can’t figure out what it is.”
#
“Hi. I don’t think we’ve ever met. My name’s Kristi.”
Ryan didn’t need Kristi to tell him her name. He was well aware of her name, where she was from, and that she liked horses. Most teachers didn’t do any of the “get to know you” games in college, but Ryan was grateful that Dr. Harvey did. If it hadn’t been for that first day of class, Ryan would know absolutely nothing about the girl of his dreams. Every day for the first third of the semester Ryan had promised himself that he would talk to her, but the opportunity never seemed right—meaning he never saw a giant blinking arrow pointing down at her, saying “She wants to talk to you, stupid.”
“Uh...what’s your name?”
Ryan snapped out of the trance caused by Kristi’s pearly white smile and sky blue eyes. “Oh, sorry, I...uh...didn’t hear you.” As if she was going to believe that. He had been staring right at her. “My name’s Ryan.”
Some movement below his field of vision caught Ryan’s eye. He looked down to see Kristi’s hand reaching across the aisle between their desks toward him. His eyes widened. His dreams were coming true. He was going to get to first base right then and there before writing class. His visions of himself and Kristi holding hands across the aisle as they smiled and stared lovingly into each other’s eyes were on the verge of becoming reality.
He was just about to reach out and take her hand when horror struck him. He saw that she was reaching across her body to hold her right hand out to him. Not the normal protocol for holding hands, but the established procedure for shaking hands. He deftly angled his hand up and met hers for a firm handshake. She had the softest, most delicate hands he had ever felt.
“Nice to meet you,” said Kristi with a smile that could kill.
“You too,” said Ryan, trying not to faint. At least his mind was clear enough to realize when the normal time limit of a handshake had been passed. He forced himself to let her hand slip away. His palm wanted to feel hers again like a little boy who will never be satisfied with just one cookie after dinner. It wasn’t first base, but it was a start.
Ryan suddenly realized that he probably looked like a bobble head doll since he hadn’t stopped nodding since he had replied to her, “Nice to meet you.” He wanted to stop, but knew that if he did, words would have to come out of his mouth. With his head going up and down he was still in the initial greeting phase. He wasn’t ready to move to the talking phase. He should have planned this better. But he hadn’t planed this. Well, he had thought about what he would say to her every day for the past month, be she had caught him off guard when she sat down next to him.
Just stay cool, man, Ryan told himself as he tried to think of what to say. He wanted to ask her for her phone number. And why shouldn’t he? She had come over to him, had started talking. Why would she do that if she didn’t want to talk to him? But what if the desk next to him had been the last one in the classroom and she sat there because there was nowhere else to sit? Ryan hadn’t noticed the desk situation when she came in. But why would she talk to him? Maybe she was just nice. Maybe she had a boyfriend. Maybe he wasn’t nice. Maybe he was the size of a grizzly bear. Maybe she just felt pity on Ryan because he never talked to anyone. Maybe she was just killing time before class started.
Who cares? thought Ryan. Now’s your chance. Say something. Anything. Make conversation. “I like horses,” was the only thing that came out of his mouth.
“What?” asked Kristi with what Ryan took as a look of sympathy.
Ryan could see it now. He asks her for her phone number. She screams that she would never give her number to a creep like him. Everyone points and laughs. Ryan had never seen it happen to anyone else before, but he always had the uneasy feeling that everyone was just waiting to do it to him.
“You said...uh...” How was he going to get himself out of this one? “Was that what you that said...uh...maybe it was somebody else...I don’t really remember, but...uh...I thought you mentioned once that...um...you like horses.”
Well, that was smooth.
“Yeah,” said Kristi. “My parents raise them. Do you have any?”
“Well...not exactly.”
“What does ‘not exactly’ mean?” asked Kristi with a smile.
There you go again. “It means...well, no. I don’t have any horses.”
“Oh, you just like them?”
“Yeah, I think they’re great.”
“Do you ride them a lot?”
Ryan almost asked what the definition of “a lot” was, but knew that riding a horse once when he was six years old during a family trip to Grandma and Grandpa’s in Wyoming was nowhere close to “a lot.”
“Not really, but my Grandpa always says that any movie with a horse in it has to be good.”
Kristi laughed at that. It was like the singing of angels. “Your grandpa and my dad would probably get along pretty well.”
Ryan hoped that one day they would get a chance to.
“All right, class, let’s go ahead and get started.”
All of the students’ attention was
instantly refocused onto Dr. Harvey. It
couldn’t have come at a worse time, but Ryan felt like he could continue that
conversation after class. Confidence,
that’s the key.
The only problem was that fifty minutes is a long time. In fact, to Ryan it felt like fifty hours. And during those fifty hours, his confidence fell to hopefulness, his hopefulness fell to wishful thinking, his wishful thinking fell to dejection. Okay, he reasoned within himself, I’ll be sure to not leave before her, and if she wants to talk, she’ll wait, if not, I don’t look like an idiot.
The bell rang. Class ended. Ryan took his sweet time putting his notebooks away. He glanced over at Kristi as she zipped her backpack. She climbed to her feet, put it on and disappeared out the door.
If she doesn’t want to talk to me, then I don’t want to talk to her! Ryan mused as he zipped his pack and went to the door.
#
By the time Ryan reached his college apartment, which was actually the basement of a house near campus, he was telling himself how much of an idiot he was for blowing such a perfect opportunity. What are you waiting for her to talk to you first for? Are you a guy or aren’t you? Do you wear pants? It’s your job to talk to her, you moron.
He kicked the small door at the bottom of the back stairs that was perpetually open as he went by. It was a creepy little door that looked like it belonged in one of those Leprechaun movies. It slammed shut when Ryan kicked it, but swung open again. If Ryan hadn’t been slamming the normal sized door to his apartment, he might have heard a strange rustling noise coming from wherever the little door led. But, as he was in no mood to investigate strange noises, he dropped his backpack in his room and threw himself onto his bed.
She’s never going to want to
talk to me again, Ryan thought as he stewed. She went to all that trouble to talk to me
first, and I let her just walk away without so much as a “See you later.” I just blew the best chance I’ve had in my
entire life. I’ll be miserable forever.
The situation may not have been as bleak as Ryan thought it was, but for him, lying there on his bed, it looked pretty bleak.
#
“Your father and I aren’t paying for your schooling for you to get D’s in all of your classes.”
“I know, Mom,” said Ryan as he paced across the lawn behind his house. He had gone outside to take this call because his roommate was studying and he didn’t want to sound all whiny in front of him. “It’s not like I’m tying to get D’s.”
“But it doesn’t seem like your trying to get anything higher than a D either,” said his mother.
“I’m trying, Mom. It’s not that easy.”
“You just need to put in the effort, honey.” Ryan could her voice change, which was the signal that she had stopped scolding him and was now going to try to encourage him to do better. “We know you can do better than what you’re showing. We just want you to be successful.”
“Thanks, Mom.” That might have been more convincing if he hadn’t been thinking, If you’d let me take the classes I want, then maybe I would do better. But they had been through that conversation one too many times already. No, more like a dozen too many times. If he wanted to study music, he was going to have to pay for it himself.
“When’s your next test?”
His mother was a talented negotiator. She could make putting him on academic probation sound as innocent as the loving concern of a mother.
“On Friday.”
“In what class?”
“Calculus.”
“Have you studied for it yet?”
“Mom, it’s only Wednesday!”
“Ryan, you know how it goes. You put studying off till the last minute and then something comes up and then you fail the test because you didn’t study at all.”
“I’ll study, Mom.”
“Tonight.” This wasn’t a question.
“Okay, I’ll study tonight.”
“Good. You have to realize that you’re not in high school anymore, honey. You can’t just breeze by everything. You’re going to have to work if you want to make it.”
“I know, Mom.” In theory he knew what she was talking about. She had told it to him enough times. But it still hadn’t sunk in yet.
“Then, I’ll let you get to your studying.” Ryan was glad no one else could hear the motherly care in her voice. It was almost as if she were reaching through the phone to wipe some dirt off his cheek and send him up to his room to do his homework. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
She hung up and Ryan slipped his phone—which his parents were also paying for—into his pocket. He knew he should be expecting a call on Friday to see how the test went. College wouldn’t be so bad if he didn’t have his parents calling all the time to nag him about his grades. Of course, his mother was doing him a favor by making sure he got a good grade on this next test. His father was about to pull the plug on his funding. No one wanted that to happen.
“Jeeze!” yelled Ryan as he kicked the little strange door again. He turned to pace the other way before he could see the pale green glow appear behind it. “I would do anything to get a good grade on this test.” Except that “anything” did not include studying.
“Excuse me!” said a high, raspy voice from behind.
Ryan turned around but didn’t see anyone.
“Excuse me!” called out the voice again.
Ryan craned his neck to see around the corner of the house but there was no one there. “Hello?” he called.
“Down here!” said the voice again.
“Down where?” asked Ryan as he lowered his eyes. He was starting to wonder if he was hearing voices when he caught sight of the pale light behind the little door. He had never noticed any light down there before, and the pale green color didn’t look natural. “Hello?” Ryan took a few tentative steps toward the door.
“Yes, yes. Come,” said the raspy voice. “I can help you; yes I can.”
Ryan was only a few feet away from the open door now. He couldn’t see in, but the pale green light was illuminating his feet. He started to bend down and reach for the door but thought better of it. Instead, he extended his shoe, leaning as far away from the little door as he could, and nudged it open. After swinging out a few inches, it fell back to connect with his foot. He pushed it out and held it with his foot as he said, “Is someone down there?”
Suddenly, two huge eyes appeared in the little doorway, accompanied by a tiny little nose and a wide, toothy grin.
“Aaa!” Ryan screamed as he lost his balance and fell backward onto the cement walkway. He landed hard, and when he looked up, the door was swinging open again, but the green light was nearly gone. In a matter of seconds it came back and those same eyes, nose, and grinning mouth reappeared, peaking around the door. It almost looked like the head of some deranged monkey, but now that Ryan got a good look he could see that it was translucent. He could see the doorway through it. It also seemed to be the source of the strange green light, being the same color itself.
“You must be careful; yes you must,” said the see-through creature. “If you want my help.”
“Help?” Ryan squeaked. “Who—I mean, what are you?”
“I am your friend; yes I am,” said the creature as it stepped out from behind the door. The rest of its body was much like a monkey as well, except it was very skinny—almost too skinny to be alive. But then, since it was translucent, there was a chance that it wasn’t even alive at all. “I can help you; yes I can.”
The creature reached his clawed, hairy hand toward Ryan’s foot. Ryan jerked his foot back and the creature recoiled as well. “I don’t want your help,” Ryan said, only half believing that he was actually seeing what he was seeing. The creature took another step forward and Ryan scooted away.
The grin on the creature’s face was replaced with a hurt look. He looked like a kid who was just told he couldn’t have his dessert. “You have no reason to fear me; no you don’t,” said the creature. “You listen to me and you will get a good grade on your test; yes you will.”
Ryan’s interest was peaked. Listening to a translucent monkey-creature that lived underneath his house had to be somewhere on the list of “anything” he would do to get a good grade on that test. “You—you can help me get a good grade on my test?”
“Yes; yes I can.”
“So...you know Calculus pretty well?”
“Oh, yes,” said the creature, suddenly jumping with excitement. “I know everything; yes I do.”
“I don’t know if I believe that,” said Ryan.
The creature stopped jumping. His shoulders slumped and his bottom lip started to quiver. He looked on the verge of tears. “You hurt my feelings. You called me a liar; yes you did.” The creature turned slowly back toward the little door and started sulking away.
“Hey, don’t go,” said Ryan, suddenly realizing how strange it was for him to be trying to console the translucent monkey-creature that lived under his house. But he did it anyway. Like he said, he’d do anything to get a good grade on that test. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it. It’s—it’s just that I have a lot riding on this test.”
“I don’t know if you’re really sorry; no I don’t,” said the creature, still sulking away.
“I’m really sorry,” said Ryan. “I mean it.”
The creature stopped and turned his head as he said, “If you were really sorry you’d let me help you; yes you would.”
“Okay, I’ll let you help me,” said Ryan.
The creature was instantly facing Ryan with a smile from ear to ear. His huge eyes were beaming. In a flash, he rushed at Ryan and climbed up his leg, over his torso and onto his head. He bent over to look Ryan in the eyes upside down. Ryan didn’t even have time to flinch, the creature moved so fast.
“You will be very happy about this,” said the creature, “yes you will.”
Ryan didn’t know how he felt with it on his head, but it was so light, he hardly felt anything at all. “Uh...okay,” he said, not sure what the next step was in such a relationship. “Well, if you want to help me, I’m going to need to know who you are.”
“I am your friend; yes I am.”
“Yeah, but do you have a name?”
“Oh...” said the creature, as if considering something strange and foreign. “My name is Timtom; yes it is.”
“That’s kind of a weird—”
Ryan stopped as he heard footsteps coming up the stairs to his basement apartment. He wondered how he was going to explain the little creature sitting on top of his head. He sat there nervously until his roommate came into view through the door, gave him a nod, and disappeared around the corner. Ryan sat there, bewildered, for a moment. Maybe having a strange, translucent, monkey-creature on your head was common occurrence where his roommate came from.
“H—How come he didn’t see you?” he asked.
“Only my friends can see me,” said Timtom. “Yes they can.”
“So only I can see you, huh? Well, that doesn’t make me feel crazy,” said Ryan as he rolled his eyes. “But let’s get back to how you can help me pass my test.”
#
“Wow,” said Ryan as he looked at the sheet of paper in his hands. Timtom had used the paper to work out a few calculus problems from Ryan’s homework—homework that he had no intention of doing. The answers were perfect—at least, according to the answer key in the back of the book. Between the problem and the answer were equations and scribbles written in Timtom’s scratchy hand that Ryan thought he should be able to decipher after a month in the class, but couldn’t.
Ryan glanced at the little creature, who was standing on the desk and looking up with big eyes. “So, you really want to help me on my test?”
“Yes, I want to help,” said Timtom, taking a step forward. “Yes I do.”
“Okay, then,” said Ryan. “The test is on Friday.”
“Good,” said Timtom, his eyes narrowing a bit. “Now we must speak of the payment for my help; yes we must.”
Ryan was taken aback for a moment. “Wait a minute,” he said with a scowl. “You said you wanted to help. You never said anything about any payment.”
“I just did; yes I did.”
“I don’t know...” Ryan suddenly felt the urge to back away from the little creature, who was still standing innocently on the desk. “What kind of payment.” He couldn’t imagine that a transparent monkey-creature would have any use for money.
“All I want,” said Timtom with wide eyes, “is your soul!”
Ryan fell back onto his roommate’s bed. “My soul?” He eyed Timtom. The little monkey-creature had a sinister grin on his face as he stared at Ryan.
Ryan considered the payment for a moment. How often did he actually use his soul anyway? He could probably stand to part with it. But he thought he should try to get more out of this Timtom before he agreed to giving up his soul. After all, he only had one—probably.
“I don’t know...” Then, the thought came to him. He had seen TV shows and movies about people giving up their souls for something they wanted. He couldn’t remember for sure, but it seemed like the moral to the story was always that giving up your soul was a bad thing to do. He couldn’t remember any specifics, but he remembered that after someone gave up their soul, things didn’t go the way they planned. “I don’t think I want to give my soul away.”
“Oh, no,” said Timtom with a chuckle, “I don’t want to have your soul; no I don’t. I want to borrow your soul.”
“Borrow?” said Ryan. That didn’t sound too bad. He had never seen any movies about lending out your soul. “You mean, like, you’ll give it back?”
Timtom nodded his head “yes.”
“How long do you want it for?”
“You don’t use your soul at night; no you don’t,” said Timtom. “To help you with your test I will borrow it for just one night; yes I will.”
Ryan thought this over. It seemed like the little monkey-creature was right. He couldn’t remember ever using his soul at night. After all, he was usually just sleeping. Does anyone really need a soul to sleep? He probably wouldn’t even miss it. “Okay, that doesn’t sound too bad.”
“Good, good,” said Timtom. He stepped to the edge of the desk and extended his hand. He was stretched out as far as his little limbs could reach and he was looking at Ryan with a desperate expression. “Then we must shake on the deal; yes we must.”
That strange look in Timtom’s eyes almost made Ryan doublethink his decision to loan out his soul. The little guy just seemed too eager. But then, the thought of passing his test and getting his parents off his back made him reach out and take the little clawed hand.
“Excellent,” Timtom said. As Ryan looked away, he thought he saw the creature lick his lips.
#
“I never said that there wasn’t anything wrong. All I said is that we can’t figure out what it is.”
“You can’t figure out what it is? What are we paying all this money for, then? Why don’t we take him to a good hospital where they can find out what’s wrong and fix it?”
#
Ryan awoke on Friday morning to the static of his radio alarm clock. Somewhere in the mess was some popular song, but Ryan couldn’t pick it out. He reached over, turned the alarm off, and rolled out of bed. His eyes fought to stay closed and his head bobbed from side to side as he made his way to his bedroom door.
Suddenly, he heard a crash and was jarred awake. Looking down, he saw his chair on its side. He rubbed his eyes and reached down to set it upright. As he slid it under his desk, a thought occurred to him. Why didn’t that hurt? Every morning that semester Ryan had woke up, stumbled out of bed, and subbed his left big toe on his chair. It was a painful way to start the day, but Ryan could never seem to remember to avoid that dang chair. But this time he hadn’t felt anything. He looked down at his bare feet. He wiggled his toes, but noticed that his left big toe didn’t move. He tried to move it again, but it didn’t budge.
That’s weird, Ryan thought as he walked out of his room toward the bathroom. Maybe I hit a nerve and numbed it.
As he was using the bathroom, Ryan went over the things he needed to do that day. Let’s see...today’s Friday, so I’ll need to call Joe and Tom about playing some Halo tonight... He went over a few more important things he wanted to get done, like find out what movies were playing at the dollar theater and going to the Burger Hut for dinner, before he remembered the one thing that had caused him so much grief just a few short days before.
Oh, crap! My calculus test is today!
The moment of panic was brief, though, because then he remembered his secret weapon. His little pet translucent monkey-creature, Timtom. Last night had been the agreed upon soul lending night, and it turns out that Ryan really hadn’t missed his soul at all. He couldn’t’ even remember when Timtom had taken it, or when he had brought it back. Ryan wondered why everyone made such a big deal about having a soul. It didn’t seem to be all that useful to him.
Ryan finished getting ready for the day and went to the little door under his house. It was still partially open and it looked totally dark on the inside, but Ryan knocked anyway. A faint green light started to appear and Timtom poked his head out. “Hello, friend,” said the little creature with a smile.
“Hi,” said Ryan, looking around to be sure that no one was watching him. “You remember the plan right?”
“Yes I do,” said Timtom. “I will meet you outside the
“Good. Okay. I have to go to class, but I’ll see you then.”
“Yes, I’ll see you then,” said Timtom. “Yes I will.”
Ryan walked up the steps and off to school. He adjusted his backpack straps and thought that he was getting the best deal of his life. Whoever said that there is no such thing as a free lunch had never found a transparent monkey-creature to lend his soul to.
#
When Ryan walked into Dr. Harvey’s class Kristi was already seated and doing some last minute review of the reading. There was an empty desk next to her. Should I sit there? Ryan asked himself. She had talked to him in the last class. Should he try to talk to her again? Who knows? Maybe they could really hit it off. She was just being polite, you dork. Saying “hi” doesn’t mean she wants to be your girlfriend. But what if she was interested? Totally ignoring her after she went out of her way to talk to you would be a total rejection. How could he—
“Ooof,” said Ryan as someone bumped him from behind. He quickly realized that he had been standing in front of the door for who knows how long. He muttered an apology as the guy brushed past him and quickly took the nearest seat he could find. He could feel his face getting red. He hoped that no one had seen him staring at Kristi.
After he had composed himself a little, Ryan glanced around the room to be sure no one was pointing and laughing at him. He couldn’t be sure, but he thought he saw Kristi look back down at her book when he looked up. Had she been looking at him? Had she been hoping that he would sit next to her? Or had she been laughing at the doofus who is in everyone’s way? Ryan wished he could read her mind as he slumped down in his seat.
The hour went by very slowly—every minute Ryan was cursing himself for not taking the desk next to Kristi—but the bell did finally ring. Ryan started to gather up his stuff and saw out of his eye that Kristi was already making her way for the door. As he looked back down at his books, he almost thought he saw her glance in his direction. Did she actually look at him? Ryan shot her another peek, but she was already going out the door. He zipped his backpack and went for the door himself.
As he stepped into the hall, Ryan froze. There she was. Kristi. Standing a mere five feet away with her backpack on one of the padded benches that lined the hallway. She was rummaging through it looking for something. Now was the time to act, to make up for not sitting next to her. He could talk to her right now. Maybe even walk her to her next class. Who knows? Maybe they would even hold hands. Don’t get carried away, dude, or you’ll psyche yourself out.
Ryan opened his mouth to say something, but a three hundred pound mass of person stepped in the way.
“Woah, are you okay, man?” asked the mound.
Ryan was waiting for the big guy to get out of the way until he realized that the question had been directed at him. “What?” he asked.
“Your foot. I didn’t break it or anything, did I?”
Ryan screwed up his face and looked down at his foot. He hadn’t felt anything. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Really?” asked the mound. “I stepped right on your toe.”
“I didn’t feel anything.”
The mound let out a sigh of relief. “Oh, good. “I’ve been known to break people’s feet. These feet of mine support a lot of weight. I should be more careful. Well, I gotta go.”
“Okay,” said Ryan. He was still confused about the whole exchange. He hadn’t felt anything, and he was pretty sure that he would notice if a giant like that guy had stepped on his foot.
Then, Ryan looked back at Kristi and saw that she was looking right back at him. His mouth opened, but no words came out. What should he say? Offer to walk her to class? Ask her how she liked Dr. Harvey’s class? Tell her that he had been obsessed with her since the first day of the semester?
Keep it together, man.
When he couldn’t think of a satisfactory answer to any of those questions, Ryan’s eyes shot back down to the blue carpet that lined the hallway and walked away. He didn’t even look back to see if she was watching him go.
#
Ryan glanced around for Timtom as
he tried to look inconspicuous. Of
course, no one else had any idea that he was looking for a translucent
monkey-creature, he could have been looking for a friend—a completely opaque
human friend—but Ryan still felt like he should be inconspicuous. Finally, he spotted Timtom on a bench near
the door. He sauntered over and stood
next to the bench. He smiled as another
student walked by and entered the
“You ready?” asked Ryan, trying to move his mouth as little as possible.
Timtom suddenly jumped up onto Ryan’s shoulder. “I am ready; yes I am,” he whispered into Ryan’s ear.
Ryan nodded slightly and turned to the door.
He couldn’t understand completely why he couldn’t meet the eyes of the girl who gave him his test. As he was giving her his I.D. card, his eyes caught hers once and Ryan felt compelled to look down at his hands on the counter. Something didn’t feel right. She slid him his card back and he put it into his wallet without looking up. Why did he feel like everyone was glaring at him? He knew that no one could see Timtom perched on his shoulder, but he still felt like everyone could sense that something was going on.
Ryan tapped his fingers on the
counter as the girl went to retrieve his test.
He could see Timtom examining the other students out of the corner of
his eye. How long does it take to get
a test? Ryan thought. Maybe she’s
going to tell the monitors to watch me.
Ryan felt beads of sweat start to gather on his forehead. What if he got caught? Would they kick him out of school? What would his parents do? Keep cool, dude, the plan is
foolproof. Like they could ever prove
that I used a translucent monkey-creature to get an “A.”
Finally, the girl came back and slid the test across the counter. “It’s closed book, and you can use a calculator,” said the girl mechanically. Ryan didn’t need to hear it, he’d heard the same spiel a dozen times. “Don’t write on the test, you’ll get an answer sheet at the printer,” she finished.
Ryan got his answer sheet and entered the testing room, a giant room filled with desk after desk of students agonizing over the answers to questions ranging from the year of the Spanish Armada to the integral of x2. Ryan almost laughed as he realized that he wouldn’t need to do any agonizing today.
#
“I’m serious, Mom, I aced it.” Ryan had no idea that it would be so hard to convince his parents that he got an A on a test. Was it really so hard to believe? He used to get A’s all the time in high school. Did his parents think he couldn’t hack it in college?
“So, how did you pull it off?” asked his mother. Even through the telephone Ryan could tell that she had one of her skeptical looks on her face.
“Just like you said, I studied hard and learned the material and got a good grade,” said Ryan.
“And you’re sure you were looking at your score and not somebody else’s?”
“Yes, Mom!” Ryan couldn’t believe that his own mother couldn’t believe that he could get an A in Calculus. “Why can’t you just believe me and be happy for me?”
Ryan heard his mother sigh into the receiver. “I’m sorry, Ryan. I don’t want to be one of those mothers, it’s just that it’s a big turnaround, that’s all.”
“I know,” said Ryan. “But isn’t this what you guys wanted?”
“Of course it is, sweetheart,” said his mother. Ryan could hear that she was repentant, scolding herself for being a bad mother. Ryan felt a little bad himself. After all, they had a right to be suspicious. He probably wouldn’t believe himself if he were his father. “We just wanted to see you progress toward your full potential, and we would have been happy with anything. This is just such a big jump that it was hard to believe at first. I’m sorry for doubting you, honey.”
Oh, no, Ryan thought. Here it comes. Now she’s really going to make me hate
myself.
“Do you forgive me?” she asked.
Ryan knew she shouldn’t be the one asking for forgiveness, but she always did. That was the worst. She and Dad could lecture him till they were blue in the face, ground him for the rest of his life, or take away any of the “privileges” they thought he didn’t need and it wouldn’t make any difference at all. But when his mother asked for forgiveness, especially when she wasn’t in the wrong, Ryan couldn’t help but not want to be the same old dumb kid anymore.
“Do you, sweetheart?”
“Yeah, I forgive you, mom,” said Ryan as he swore to himself that he would never use a translucent monkey-creature to cheat again. Did she know what she was actually doing by asking for forgiveness?
“Thank you, hon,” she said, sounding genuinely grateful. “So, how ‘bout I put some money in your account so you can go celebrate with your friends.”
“Thanks, mom.” Ryan knew he didn’t deserve that.
“And now that your father and I know what you are capable of, we’ll be expecting a lot from now on.”
Oh great, thought Ryan. Now I’ll have to waste all my time from
now on studying. Good-bye social life.
“I’ll do my best.”
“I know you will,” said his mother. “Love you, hon.”
“Love you too, Mom.”
“Bye.”
Ryan flipped his cell phone shut and lay musing on his bed, staring up at the blank ceiling. The plan had worked too well. If he had known this would happen he would have never used Timtom in the first place. Now he had to actually study, but there was no way he would be getting anything close to an A on his own. And he had promised himself that he wouldn’t use the little creature to cheat anymore. What am I going to do now? he thought. Well...maybe I’ll only use him if I have no other choice.
Then, a brilliant idea came into Ryan’s head. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of it before. It was so obvious. If Timtom could help him with his Calculus test, maybe he could help him in other areas as well. After all, the little guy had said that he knew everything. Maybe he could help Ryan in his social life. Maybe he could help him get Kristi.
Ryan glanced around to be sure that no one was around before he bent down and rapped on the little door under the house. The hinges squeaked a little, but for a while, nothing else happened. Ryan waited, but nothing stirred on the other side of the door. Since it was still hanging partly open, he could see inside, but there was only blackness. Maybe I only get one wish, thought Ryan. At least that will make it easier to not use him on my next Calculus test.
But then something stirred inside. That pale green light started to shine from behind the door. It grew steadily brighter until a tiny clawed hand reached around the door and pushed it open. When the door swung out, there stood Timtom, smiling up at Ryan with those pointy teeth of his.
“My friend is back; yes he is,” said Timtom. “Does he need another favor?” He cocked his head to the side, and looked up expectantly at Ryan. The little creature looked ready to do whatever Ryan asked.
“Yeah, but first I want to know something,” began Ryan. “You’re good at math and everything—”
“Yes, I am good at everything; yes I am,” Timtom nodded vigorously.
“Yeah,” Ryan couldn’t look the translucent monkey-creature in the eyes. For some reason he had the feeling that when Timton knew that he was asking for help with a girl, the little creature would just point and laugh. “So, I was wondering if you could help me out, like, socially.”
“Socially?” Timtom cocked his head to the side. “I do not understand; no I don’t.”
“Well...uh...I was wondering if you could help me out with a...girl.” Ryan had no idea why he couldn’t bring himself just come out and say it. Like he cared what this little monkey-creature thought of him.
“Oh,” said Timtom, his eyes widening. “You like a girl; yes you do.”
Ryan could feel his cheeks turning read. He didn’t like bearing his soul like this, but he had to know. “So, can you help me talk to her or not.”
“Oh, yes. Yes! I can help you; yes I can.”
“Okay,” said Ryan. “And I’m guessing that you’ll borrow my soul the night before, right?”
Timtom’s eyes narrowed and he licked his lips. “We will have the same arrangement as before; yes we will.”
Ryan didn’t like the way Timtom was looking at him, but he hadn’t noticed any side effects from the last time he let the little guy borrow his soul, so he saw no harm in it. “That’s fine,” he said, “but if I’m going to let you take my soul for a while again, you’re going to have to guarantee to get me a date with this girl.”
“Do not worry,” said Timtom. “I always help my friends; yes I do.” He extended his hand. “Shake?”
Ryan glanced around one more time to be sure no one was watching, then reached down and shook the translucent clawed hand that was held out for him. Even the second time this still felt weird.
#
Ryan played with his ear as he watched Kristi out of the corner of his eye and waited for class to end. His heart was pounding and he was hoping that this would go well, but fiddling with his ear at least gave him something else to focus his attention on. The ear felt strange, numb. Ryan tried to focus his mind on the ear and not worry himself so much about Kristi. There was nothing to worry about. Timtom had guaranteed a date.
Just relax, dude, he tried
to tell himself. What could have made
my ear feel so weird? I don’t remember
hitting it on anything. How could Timtom
promise me a date? Like he knows what she’s
going to say. She probably already has a
boyfriend. She’ll probably just laugh in
my face. Stop! She just might say yes. She seems nice enough. Yeah, but a big strong boyfriend probably
won’t be so nice to a guy who asks out his girl.
Suddenly, the bell rang and Ryan’s internal debate was cut off. He started to sweat. This is it. You can do this. No you can’t. Yes you can. His breath quickened and his heartbeat was pounding in his ears. Ryan felt like he had just run a marathon. Just calm down. Timtom will take care of everything. He glanced up just in time to see Kristi walk out the door.
Idiot! You’re going to lose her!
Ryan hastily zipped up his backpack and ran for the door, cutting off a few of the other students in the process. Out in the hall, Timtom jumped up onto his shoulder.
“Okay,” muttered Ryan. There was a lot of noise in the hall and no one was paying attention to him, but he still didn’t want to sound like he was talking to himself. “Just help me out when I get stuck.”
“Yes,” whispered Timtom into his ear. “I will help you when you get stuck; yes I will.”
Ryan weaved his way through the throngs of students rushing by on their way to class, always keeping his eye on Kristi. Finally, he got close enough for her to actually hear him. “Hey, Kristi!”
She stopped. She turned. She saw him. Everything else seemed to melt away. “Hey! How’s it going? It’s Ryan, isn’t it?”
Ryan froze. He hadn’t realized that she would have to actually talk to him. He searched his mind for something to say. There was nothing there! What was he doing? Say something you idiot! Anything! His mouth was open, but no words came out. He probably looked like some sort of gaping monkey. My life is completely ruined. He was about to turn and run as far away as he could, drop our of school, become a hermit and eat berries and wild rabbits for the rest of his life when he heard a quiet whisper in his ear.
“Yes! Yes! Say yes!”
“Uh...yeah, Ryan. That’s me,” said Ryan. “And you’re Kristi.” Of course she already knows her own name,
you moron!
“Yeah,” said Kristi as she brushed some of her silky hair out of her face. Ryan wished he could reach out and touch it. Feel each smooth strand slide through his fingers. He imagined that it would be like running his hand though a cloud.
“What’s up?” asked Kristi with raised eyebrows.
“Uh...” Ryan glanced pleadingly at Timtom.
“I was wondering...” started the translucent monkey-creature.
“I was wondering...” started Ryan. He waited for Timtom to finish the sentence, but the little guy was just looking at Ryan as if he knew exactly what to do. Who did Timtom think he was, Casanova? Kristi looked like she was wondering if he was ever going to finish the sentence. Ryan started to sweat.
“...if you would like to do something...” continued Timtom, bobbing his head with every syllable.
“...if you would like to do something...” Ryan was doing his best to appear nonchalant. The act would have been more convincing if his voice weren’t shaking.
“...on Friday.”
“...on Friday.” Ryan shrugged his shoulders to show her that it was no big deal. He couldn’t let on that he would probably kill himself if she said no.
“Uh...sure,” said Kristi. Ryan could have fallen over dead or taken her up in his arms like in one of those chick flicks, but he didn’t do anything except nod his head. She continued, “Yeah, I don’t think I’m doing anything.”
What does she mean by that? Ryan thought. But he said, “Okay, cool.” Then he stood there incessantly nodding his head.
After a few dozen bobs of his head, Kristi asked, “So, do you want my phone number?”
“Your phone number?” Why hadn’t he thought this far ahead? Probably because he was too busy preparing for the worst that he forgot to think about what to do if things actually went well.
“Ye—” Timtom started, but Ryan really didn’t need his promptings on this one. He was just caught a little off guard.
“Yeah.” Ryan rummaged through his pockets for some
sort of paper. He found a crumpled up
receipt and got out a pen and was about to ask her to tell it to him when he
realized that his hands were shaking like one of those little
When she handed it back, Ryan’s hand almost came in contact with hers. He could have fainted.
“Well, I gotta go,” said Kristi, “but I’ll see you on Friday?”
“Yeah,” said Ryan in a swoon. “I’ll see you on Friday.”
“Okay, see ya’.”
“Bye.” Ryan stood there for a moment in the hall feeling like gravity had lost its affect on him. Never in his wildest dreams—okay, maybe in his wildest dreams—had he thought he could get a date with Kristi. But he didn’t actually think those dreams could become a reality.
Someone bumped him as he stood there in the hall, and he realized that he should get to his next class. He clumsily tried to avoid the other rushing students as he relished the moment. It was a miracle. That was the only explanation. This little translucent monkey-creature was a miracle worker.
Suddenly, Ryan stopped in the middle of the hallway. Someone ran into him from behind but he ignored him. He looked down at Timtom, still perched on his shoulder and asked,” What did she mean she’s not doing anything?”
#
“Mr. Turner, I assure you that our equipment is state of the art. We’ve performed every test that we can. To be honest, I’ve never seen anything like this. Everything appears to be fine. There is no damage at all—anywhere. But from everything we can tell, his nervous system has simply stopped working in a few places.”
“I thought it was just his hand. Is it getting worse? Is it fatal?”
#
Ryan put the finishing touches on his hair without the aid of his left pinky finger. It had been numb all day for some strange reason. He looked himself over in the mirror. One strand of hair was out of place. A quick brush of the hand put it in line. Finally satisfied with how he looked, Ryan sprayed a mist of cologne into the air and sauntered through. He was careful not to use too much, though. Too much cologne would tell her straight off that he was trying to impress her. A little said that he was just cool.
Ryan had had butterflies in his stomach all day thinking about his big date with Kristi. Of course he hadn’t let on that he was overly excited when he saw her in class, but with Timtom to help guide him along, he played it off as if it were just another date. If he seemed too eager it would chase her away. Ryan didn’t let himself forget that she could still back out.
That important encounter in class before the date could have easily been a disaster, though. He had told Timtom that he wasn’t going to need his help on the date. In fact, he had told the little monkey-creature that he wasn’t going to need his help at all anymore. He was pretty sure he could handle himself on the date once he was alone with Kristi; it was when there were a bunch of people around to see him get rejected that Ryan got nervous. But when Ryan had told the little guy that he wouldn’t be needing his services anymore, he had nearly freaked out.
“I thought we were friends,” Timtom had said, apparently fighting back tears. “Yes I did.”
Ryan had tried to explain to the little creature that he wanted to be able to get to know Kristi on his own—not to mention the weirdness of having a translucent monkey-creature hanging around you on a date—but hadn’t understood. He had stormed off and slammed the little door under the house. One of the guys that lived on the first floor of the house had even looked outside to see what the noise was. Ryan had felt his face get beet red as he tried to explain that he had just kicked the door.
Ryan gave himself one last look over before heading out. Man, I look good, he thought. He grabbed his keys as he headed out the door.
As he passed the strange little door under the house he caught a faint green glow out of the corner of his eye.
“You’re going to get the girl now?”
Ryan stopped. He turned around to see Timtom peeking out around the door. The little creature was looking up pleadingly.
“Yeah,” said Ryan.
“You’re sure you don’t want my help?”
Ryan sighed. “I already told you—” he suddenly realized that he was talking very loudly. He lowered his voice and continued, “I already told you that I just want to get to know her. I can do that. I’m a big boy.”
“But...but.” Timtom’s eyes were darting from side to side as if he were looking for some reason why Ryan should let him come. “But, you could do so much more than get to know her; yes you could.” The way Timtom was raising his eyebrows told Ryan exactly what the little creature meant.
Ryan could feel his face start to get hot. Of course, he wouldn’t mind doing more than getting to know Kristi. He would be fine if the opportunity arose for...say...a goodnight kiss. He was pretty sure he would like that. Oh, who was he kidding? He had gone over the scenario a hundred times in his head. Not that he actually believed that he would be getting a kiss tonight, but it never hurt to be prepared. Either way, if he did kiss her, he wanted it to be real. He didn’t want to have to wonder if she just kissed him because a little translucent monkey-creature was whispering sweet nothings in her ear.
“Hey, this isn’t just some chick, okay?” said Ryan. “She’s...I just...I’d rather just do this on my own.” He turned and didn’t look back as he made his way to his car. He got in and started the engine.
“Please,” came a voice from the passenger seat.
Ryan jumped, but knew instantly who the voice belonged to. He looked down at Timtom with a scowl.
“You won’t even have to give me your soul in advance” said Timtom with big, pleading eyes. “I’ll take it tonight after the date; yes I will.”
“For the last time, no!” said Ryan. He leaned over and rolled the passenger window down. “Now get out.”
Timtom hung his head and climbed slowly up to the window. He flipped himself over, but held on with his hands. His head poked over the window ledge. “What if I only take your soul for half the night?”
Ryan didn’t answer. He started rolling up the window without even looking at Timtom as he held onto the top edge of the glass, rising along with the window. “What about two hours?” cried Timtom, and his fingers got closer and closer to the door frame. “One hour? Forty-five minutes? Twenty? Ten? Fi—Ahhh!” The little monkey-creature let go as the window connected with the frame and he fell out of sight.
Finally, thought Ryan as he backed the car out and pulled away.
#
Ryan wiped his sweaty palms on his pants before knocking on the door. It swung open mere milliseconds afterward. That must be a good sign, thought Ryan.
“Hey,” said Kristi, beaming a smile at Ryan. She stepped to the side.
“Hey,” said Ryan. His heart was beating so hard that he thought he might be having a heart attack.
“Would...you like to come in?”
“Huh? Oh! Yeah, sure.” Ryan stepped over the threshold and into the apartment. If his heart started beating any faster, it would probably explode. I can’t believe I’m actually standing in Kristi’s apartment.
It was a nice place, too. The couches looked like they hadn’t seen
about fifty years of wear, like the couches in Ryan’s apartment. The TV was actually in an entertainment
center, instead of being propped up on cinderblocks, like the TV in Ryan’s
apartment. And the carpet looked like
actual carpet, instead of being totally worn down to be has hard as concrete
like the carpet in Ryan’s apartment. Man,
she sure does live in style.
“You can sit down,” said Kristi as she went to the hallway. “I’ll be ready in just a second.”
“Okay,” muttered Ryan. He walked slowly over to the couch. He felt like he was walking on sacred ground. Kristi walked here on this carpet every day. He stopped in front of the couch. This was Kristi’s couch. It almost seemed like a sacrilege to sit on it, but she would probably think he was some sort of psycho if she came out and he was just standing there looking down in awe at her couch. He turned and slowly lowered himself onto the cushions. It was so soft and comfortable. Ryan thought he could sit there forever. Then, he noticed something else about the apartment. Absent was the pungent odor that seemed to assault the nostrils in his place. Instead, it actually smelled...nice. Of course, how could it not smell nice with Kristi living here?
Ryan was right in the middle of a deep, long sniff when he heard, “Okay, you ready?”
His eyes shot open and he turned to see Kristi emerging form the hallway. At least she hadn’t seen him sitting there in his trance of ecstasy. “Uh...yeah, whenever you are.”
“All right,” said Kristi with a heart melting smile, “let’s go then.”
Ryan got up and caught a whiff of her perfume as she walked by. His head starting spinning. She’s wearing that for me, he thought. Things were starting to look good for the outcome of this date. I don’t need a stupid little monkey to help me have a good date.
Ryan cursed himself, though, when he almost forgot to open her door at the car. He had just taken one step toward the driver’s side when he saw Kristi stop and wait for him. He hoped she hadn’t seen him hesitate, but he did end up opening her door, and as he walked around to his side he said, You always open her door! You always open her door! to himself over and over again. When he reached his door, he found that Kristi had leaned over and unlocked it for him.
#
This is the best date of my life, thought Ryan as he looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. Everything was going great. He was talking to her, and she was talking to him. She was laughing at all of his stupid jokes and she really seemed to be having a good time. The meal was going great, too. They had even let each other try what they had ordered. If Ryan didn’t know any better, he would swear that she was flirting with him. This was exactly like what Ryan had dreamed about the night before.
He smiled as he put his hands under the running water and squirted some soap into his palm. He was busy lathering his hands when he heard a peep to his right. He looked over to see a little translucent monkey-creature standing on the far side of the counter. Ryan’s face uncontrollably contorted into a scowl despite Timtom’s timid smile.
“What do you want?” said Ryan.
“Me?” asked Timtom, coyly. “I just want to know how my friend’s date is going; yes I do.”
“It’s going fine thanks.” Ryan reached over Timtom and pulled a paper towel from the disposer.
“But, but,” the little monkey-creature seemed frantic. “Do you need any help?”
“No, I already told you to go away.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come out with you.”
“No, you can’t come out with me!” Ryan exclaimed.
Just then one of the toilets flushed and Ryan felt like an idiot as an older man stepped out of the stall and went to wash his hands. Ryan avoided the man’s eyes and continued to pretend to dry his hands until the man finally left. Before continuing, Ryan glanced to see if any more of the stalls were occupied. “For the last time, I won’t be needing your help any more. I feel bad enough for using you to cheat once.”
“Please.” Timtom reached out for Ryan’s hand as he threw his paper towel away, but the little guy wasn’t fast enough. “I’ll do anything; yes I will. Just let me borrow your soul one more time. Please!”
Ryan felt a shiver go up his spine when he saw the wild desire in Timtom’s eyes. “No. And if I see you again tonight I’ll...” Ryan wondered what kind of threat he could make to a translucent monkey-creature. Could I even hurt this guy if I tried? “I’ll be really ticked off.”
With that said, Ryan swung the door open and left the restroom.
He had to avoid a few waiters carrying trays full of food, but finally he made his way back to his table. His heart skipped a beat as he saw how Kristi was sitting there waiting for him. She was waiting for him. This whole night had been like a dream come true.
When Kristi saw him coming she smiled and said, “Hey.”
“Hey,” Ryan replied as he sat down. “Are you done?” Ryan noticed she hadn’t eaten anything since he left.
“Yeah,” Kristi said, leaning back and rubbing her stomach, “I don’t think I’m going to be able to finish it.”
“You mind if I eat it?” You idiot, maybe she wants to take it home. “I mean, do you want to get a box for it?”
Kristi smiled and said, “No, you can eat it, it’s fine.”
“Are you sure?” asked Ryan. Great, he thought, now what do I do? If he insisted that she take it home and she didn’t want to eat it anymore she might be annoyed. But then, if she did want it and he ate it she would think he was a pig.
“Really, I don’t want it.”
“Because if you want to take it home, that’s fine.”
“I probably would forget about it anyway.”
“But if you’re not going to eat it, I’d hate to see it go to waste.”
“Here,” Kristi took her plate and placed it in front of Ryan. “Eat it.”
“Because, I mean, there are
starving children in
“I’m serious. Eat it.”
Ryan looked down at the food, then smiled at Kristi. She smiled back. Then he picked up his fork and started eating.
Before he even got two bites in his mouth, Ryan felt something rub against his foot. He glanced up to see Kristi smiling at him and he felt his face start to burn. She is totally coming on to you, dude, he told himself. Ryan stared down at his plate of food, not entirely sure how to handle the situation. He had never had a gorgeous girl play footsies with him on the first date. In fact, he’d never had a gorgeous girl play footsies with him ever. Don’t blow it, stupid. Make sure she knows that it’s welcome.
Ryan tentatively moved his foot forward. He was no expert at footsies. Then, his foot struck something with limbs. That doesn’t seem normal. And then he heard something scurry from underneath the table toward Kristi’s chair. I’m sure that’s not normal.
Ryan tried to think of a way to look under the table without being conspicuous, but nothing came very readily to mind. But he didn’t want to freak her out by saying that there was probably some sort of rodent under their table.
“Is there something wrong?” asked Kristi.
“No, I...uh...” But what if she did get bitten by some giant rat and got rabies. He would probably feel guilty about that if he could have warned her. Best to be sure. “I just have to...tie my shoelace.”
He ducked his head under the table and glanced around. There was nothing there except a few crumbs, the table legs, and Kristi’s feet. Ryan let out a sigh of relief as he pulled himself from under the table. He didn’t get enough clearing, though, because the back of his head slammed the bottom of it. The plates, cups and silverware clanked on the tabletop from the force of the blow.
“OW!” Ryan exclaimed as he sat back, rubbing the back of his head. His eyes were closed tightly in pain. His whole world was the dull pain in the back of his skull.
“Are you okay?” Kristi asked with concern in her voice.
“Yeah, I think—”
Ryan stopped when he looked across the table at Kristi. But it wasn’t her that made him stop. It was what was perched on the back of her chair. Timtom was crouched there, ready to pounce with a mad look on his little face. His eyes glistened with a wild frenzy and his mouth was contorted into a wicked grin that revealed his many pointy teeth.
Ryan’s eyes widened in horror. Something bad was about to happen.
“What?” asked Kristi, seeing the look on Ryan’s face.
Timtom sprung from the chair.
He flew at Ryan with his claws outstretched and his mouth wide.
Ryan saw him coming in slow motion. The little creature’s eyes widened with every inch he traversed in the air. There was joy on that face. Excitement. Elation. Timtom looked like a kid on Christmas morning, just before he ripped the wrapping paper from his presents.
Ryan ducked down as fast as he could, but it wasn’t fast enough. Timtom’s sharp claws dug into his face as the little creature flew past his chair. Ryan’s cheek felt like it had been seared with a hot iron. He pressed his hand against it, expecting to feel warm blood flowing out of it. Instead, he felt smoothly shaved skin. No blood. No cuts. Nothing. But the pain was still intense. So intense that Ryan could hardly think straight.
Ryan looked up just in time to see Timtom lunge at him again. Ryan tried to get out of his chair to dodge out of the way, but he wasn’t fast enough. Timtom landed on his thigh, dug his claws in and bit a chunk out of Ryan’s leg. Ryan screamed in pain and fell back onto the table. The whole table shifted back and silverware and cups flew to the floor.
Kristi let out a scream as she backed away from the table. Other customers were rising from their chairs to see what was going on. The waiters all stopped cold.
Ryan pushed down on his thigh. There was no bleeding to stop, but it felt like the right thing to do. It felt like half of his thigh had been ripped out, but there wasn’t even a hole in his pants.
Kristi tentatively stepped forward. “Ryan, are you okay?”
“I don’t know,” said Ryan in a weak voice. He didn’t turn to look at Kristi because his eyes were glued on the translucent monkey-creature perched on a nearby table. Timtom sat there with a grin on his face, chewing rapidly. Chewing a piece of Ryan. But what piece? He hadn’t done any visible damage. But the pain was still there, and Timtom was definitely chewing something.
As Ryan’s thigh started to go numb,
he suddenly realized what was happening.
He also realized why he had no feeling in his toe or his ear or his
pinky. Timtom wasn’t eating anything
tangible because he wasn’t a tangible creature.
He was eating Ryan’s soul. At
least the part of his soul that had been the thigh. That little monster has been nibbling on
my soul!
“What’s wrong?” asked Kristi, obviously not sure how to handle the situation. She had never been on a first date like this before.
“That thing’s trying to eat my soul,” said Ryan, wincing in pain. “That’s what’s wrong.”
There was brief silence from Kristi. “Wh—what thing?”
Ryan looked over at her in shock. She couldn’t see it? “That thing right there.” He pointed emphatically at the table where Timtom was still busily chewing. It was plain that she had no idea what he was talking about. “You can’t see him, but he’s there.”
A puzzled look was her only reply.
Timtom had finished chewing. He inched toward the edge of the table. A grin spread across his face and a sinister look glinted in his eye.
Ryan only had the chance to mutter an “Oh, crap,” before Timtom was on him again. He fell back onto the table. Kristi screamed and backed away. The remaining dishes on the table crashed to the floor. Timtom was squirming like a rabid squirrel, but Ryan finally got his hands around him. The creature thrashed and Ryan could feel gashes from those sharp claws, even though no blood showed. Despite the excruciating pain, Ryan held on for dear life to keep those teeth away from him. Getting scratches on his soul was better than losing a part of it.
Then, Timtom sunk his teeth into Ryan’s wrist. He cried out in pain. By this time, some of the employees were coming forward to help Ryan, or restrain him, but they backed away as he cried out. Ryan loosened his grip on the translucent monkey-creature but Timtom didn’t fall to the ground. He bit down harder. Ryan jumped up and tried to shake him from his wrist, but the little bugger wouldn’t fall.
Finally, Ryan shook Timtom off, but a translucent hand dropped to the floor with him. “My hand!” Ryan’s physical hand went totally limp. He had no control over it anymore.
Timtom let out a cruel laugh and ran between Kristi’s legs.
“Don’t let him get away!” cried Ryan as he tried to get past Kristi. She fell back into someone’s food, and Ryan, maimed from the chunk Timtom took out of his leg, stumbled to the floor. Having his right hand to break his fall would have been nice, but it was useless, so he slammed down hard. He looked up only to see Timtom scamper out of the restaurant with the hand. Ryan moaned in agony, closed his eyes, and passed out.
#
“Well, we can’t find anything wrong with him.”
“What to you mean there’s nothing wrong? Do you think he’s just making it up?”
“I never said that there wasn’t anything wrong. All I said is that we can’t figure out what it is.”
“You can’t figure out what it is? What are we paying all this money for, then? Why don’t we take him to a good hospital where they can find out what’s wrong and fix it?”
“Mr. Turner, I assure you that our equipment is state of the art. We’ve performed every test that we can. To be honest, I’ve never seen anything like this. Everything appears to be fine. There is no damage at all—anywhere. But from everything we can tell, his nervous system has simply stopped working in a few places.”
“I thought it was just his hand. Is it getting worse? Is it fatal?”
“No, Mrs. Turner, it is not getting worse. There is no need to panic. While we were testing him we found the same symptoms in one of his toes and his ear, and a large area on his thigh. We’ve been observing him very carefully since he’s been here and we haven’t seen any signs that the affected areas are spreading in any way.”
“Can anything be done about it?”
Ryan saw the doctor glance his way. He knew what the answer would be. Unless they pioneered some new treatment to grow back a soul, there would be nothing they could do for him.
The doctor looked at Ryan’s parents with a solemn expression and replied, “We are going to do everything we can to find out what is causing your son’s condition and how we can cure it.”
That’s a nice way of saying, “I
haven’t the foggiest idea.”
Ryan watched with disinterest as the doctor lead his parents back to the waiting room. He looked down at his hand that was as good as dead. He lifted his arm and the thing hung there, limp. He lifted the soulless hand with the other and the mess of flesh and bone on the end of his wrist didn’t even feel like part of him anymore. He had no hope of ever using that hand again.
Ryan sat there and stewed in his hospital bed. He wished that Timtom were there so that he could wring his little translucent monkey-creature neck. Why couldn’t Ryan have just told that little bugger to go away? Better yet, why couldn’t he have just told him to jump off a cliff? Why couldn’t he have just studied for his own stupid test? Was it really that hard? All this crap for just one dang test...and a girl.
Thinking of Kristi made all the memories flood back. He remembered watching her out of the corner of his eye during class. He remembered how she had reacted when he had asked her out. He remembered how she had dressed up for their date, for him. Was it possible that she had liked him? Could she have been watching him out of the corner of her eye during class?
Ryan looked down at his limp hand and wondered if he would he ever be able to find out now?
I wonder, a thought crept across Ryan’s mind, if Kristi would ever go for a guy with a damaged soul.