Every morning, during the car ride to school, Sam Jr. would stare out the window from the back seat, watching the tall buildings slowly crawl by. He would imagine huge spiders crawling across the buildings, weaving gigantic webs, or a huge razor like alien ship hovering above them, a beam of greenish light descending from its bowels.
He actually saw these images; they were as real to him as anything else in the world, frightening him by their apparent realism. There had been times the stuffed monsters in his room would climb up his bed at night and plop on his stomach or tug on his hair. At others, they would trash his entire room, leaving him crying in the midst of the mess. Eventually his room became barren of any stuffed animals or toys. That did not stop the nightly terrors, however. During stormy nights, branches would snake across the walls and clamp his mouth shut and tie his limbs down; during the day birds would peck constantly on his window; sometimes, the closet door would open in the dead of night, with someone whispering from inside. The frequency, and severity of his condition became a subject of discussion everyday. His parents eventually decided to have him see a doctor. It took several consultations before they were able to find a doctor who was able to consider the problem more than just some childish imagination that would diminish in intensity over time.
The doctor who took on the case, Dr. Branwald, called it HIVS: hyperimaginative visualization syndrome, not to be mistaken with HIV or Hives. His parents had made that mistake, the first time they heard Dr. Branwald mention it. The term is still pending approval by the American Medical Association. They referred to it instead as ‘a child’s wandering mind’.
Today, the buildings had no markings, or broken windows. Just a plain old building.
“It all looks fine to me today, Daddy,” Sam Jr. said while rubbing his nose up against the window.
“That’s great Sammy! Now don’t rub up against the window there. It’s not good for you.”
He pulled away from the window but continued to stare out at the traffic outside.
“Today we’re going to be studying about the solar system. Mrs. Thomson said we’ll be studying alien worlds!”
He looked out the window again, watching the spaceship appear through the low hanging clouds.
“Daddy. Do you think aliens are real?”
“No kiddo. Aliens aren’t real. It’s just make believe stuff.”
“Alan’s dad was saying that there are infinity stars and infinity planets that somewhere out there there could be aliens.”
Sam looked at his son through the rearview mirror. Thank you very much Alan’s dad, he thought. “Now don’t worry about aliens that much. Just learn what they teach you at school.”
“So what is infinity?”
“It’s just a really really really big number.”
“So is infinity bigger than a thousand?”
“Yeah”
“What about a million?”
“Yeah that too”
“And a million million?”
“It’s bigger than everything,” Sam said and turned up the radio to listen more intently.
Sam Jr. looked out at the skyline again. The spaceship was nowhere to be seen.
“Can’t you pick me up after school, daddy? I don’t like coming home with mommy.”
“I’ve got some work to take care of kiddo. And what has your mom done to you that you talk about her like that?”
“It’s just we don’t stop on the way home to get some ice cream,” he complained.
“Now what did I tell you? That is a father-son secret. You cannot go around telling your mommy that, otherwise there will be no ice cream then. Alright?”
“Yeah, I get it,” Sam Jr. smiled at his dad’s reflection. “But I still want to go home with you!”
In the evenings, Sam Jr. would spend an hour at his friend’s place, Cooper, who lived across the street while his parents seemed to be wrestling in the bedroom. Cooper said his parents had stopped wrestling ever since his sister was born 4 years earlier.
At times the kids would bicycle around the neighborhood, on occasion jump on the trampoline in Cooper’s backyard or go exploring the woods when their parents were away from home. One time while trekking through the fallen leaves and shrubbery, they came across a hole in the ground, wide enough to fit a small person. They peered into the darkness, trying to decide whether to explore the unknown depths of the labryinth. Cooper was always the more adventurous of the two and bullied Sam Jr. in climbing down first.
That night, Sam Jr. had dreamed of a recess opening up in the middle of his living room, tugging him into the darkness beneath. It traumatized him so much that he started avoiding going into the living room, even if it meant missing out on watching his favorite cartoons on television. He had not told his parents about the woods, in fear that they would stop him from hanging out with Cooper.
Today they were jumping on the trampoline with a new kid on the block, Jason.
“So what do you lame-os do around here? Can’t seem to do much here, in this dump.”
“I thought the city was a huge dump. Everywhere you look, dump!” Cooper retorted.
“Hah! The city is where it’s at, bitches. It’s crazy out there!”
“Oh yeah? Tell us about it then?”
“Well, for one I wouldn’t be stuck with hanging out with pussies like you jumping on a stupid trampoline! Go sneak a cigarette in a back alley, grab a beer from a homeless guy, see some women in short skirts… oh yeah… that kinda stuff.”
Cooper envied Jason and his stories. “I don’t believe you!” he shouted. “You’re full of shit.”
Jason laughed and started bouncing even higher.
“Well we have cool stuff here too!”
“Oh yeah? Like what? Tipped cows?!” Jason stated caustically.
“We have bikes. And…. there is the park…” Sam Jr. struggled to impress Jason.
“There’s a haunted forest. And underground caves!”
“You’re bluffing!” Jason stopped bouncing, pretending to be nonchalant yet giving away his obvious interest.
Cooper pitched in. “He’s telling the truth. There’s a woods nearby where you hear nothing but the crunch of leaves under your feet. And in the middle of it is an opening to a tunnel that has no end.”
Jason hops off, looking over at the two with suspicion. “You’re just saying this to impress me.”
Cooper jumps off as well. “Yeah sure. That’s exactly it. Come on, Sammy. Let’s leave scaredy cat here while we go exploring.”
Sam Jr. follows Cooper, hesistant on going to explore the tunnel.
“I’m no pussy, you pussy. Let’s go!” and he stormed to the front of the house.
Sam Jr. had no choice. He fumbled with a reason to stay back but Cooper gave him a hard look.
They arrived at the edge of the woods as the sun was going down. The silence was overbearing. The darkness beckoned to them. Jason stormed through the thicket, leaving Cooper and Sam Jr. staring into the menacing forest. Cooper nudged Sam Jr. to start moving. He could see the moving darkness, or perhaps his mind was filling in the voids for him. In the distance they heard Jason’s muffled antagonizing words.
“Let’s go!” Cooper said, pushing Sam Jr. in and started walking along the path. Jason stood a few paces away, looking at them in earnest. They walked along the path, the only sounds coming from underneath their feet. Sam Jr. tried to stick close to the two, who were almost racing ahead. He told himself not to look back, even though he was sure there was a fourth pair of feet straggling behind them.
As they neared the clearing where the hole was a shrill noise broke through the air, shattering the silence that had been engulfing them. Jason let out a shout. Sam Jr. jumped, shoving his hand in his pocket. It was his mom calling. She told him it was time for dinner.
A huge sense of relief flowed through him.
“I need to get home, guys. Mom said it’s dinner time.”
“What a pussy! You’re just scared!”
“No I’m not! If mom finds out I’m here we won’t be able to…”
“Pussy!”
“No, he’s right dude. His mom would get us all grounded if she were to find out. You’ve seen the place. We’ll come again tomorrow.”
Jason hesitated but quickly agreed to come back the next day, pacing off just as quickly as he had come. They headed back.
As Sam Jr. neared his front porch, kicking a few fallen leaves in his way, he noticed a black car parked up by the big tree on the side of the road, opposite his house. It was dark now, but he could see the silhouettes of two men: one big and fat, the other lanky, smoking and looking towards his house. As he watched them he noticed his dad walk across the lawn hurriedly, walking over to the parked car, getting into the back of the car. He had never seen them before.
“... the boss won’t be too happy when he hears this,” the big guy boomed.
“I-I-I… like I said… I need a bit more time. I told you I’ll get it to your boss this time next week. It’s been slow times nowadays…”
“Yeah, well the boss don’t like no slipping. He don’t like setting a.. uhh. what’s it called… a… aah.. a precedent,” the lanky one piped in.
“Just one more week,” Sam pleaded.
“What do you think, To- well.. what do we have here? Who’s there?” The lanky guy peered towards the sound of crackling twigs. Sam watched him calmly get out of the car. Moments later he came back into view, holding Sam Jr. by the arm.
“Look who I found snooping around in the bush back here,” he pointed to Tony.
“That’s my son! Leave him alone!” Sam yelled, getting out of the car.
“Don’t you!” Tony yelled back, turning around and pointing his finger at him. “Scotty, leave the kid and send him home.”
“You heard the man. Go on then,” he said while letting go of him roughly.
Sam Jr. looked at his father, who looked ashen. “So where were we?” Scotty’s voiced trailed off as Sam Jr. hurriedly walked back home.
Sam Jr. was frightened by the man who had held him.
“Sorry about that buddy. Those guys are a bit jumpy at times.”
“They aren’t your friends though, right daddy?”
“No.. they aren’t.”
“He was really scary”
“I’m sorry buddy,” and he hugged Sam Jr. real tight.
“Just don’t tell your mom about this alright. She doesn’t need to know.”
“One of those father-son secrets?”
“Exactly! You’re a smart boy!”
To be continued…
