Child’s Play Part II
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009My eyes were shut tight - I wouldn’t have been able to gone through with it had they been open. But the one-syllable exclamation from Professor Bookworm compelled me to open them with lightening speed, only to be confronted with a plume of smoke wheezing out of the machine. The green, coffin-like apparatus with the two tiny windows was filled with a dense fog and wobbled like a bowl of green jelly. Through the smoke flashed bolts of electricity that were so bright, I had to close my eyes again. At this point, it was pretty obvious that Prof. Bookworm had made some sort of error in his calculations.
“What’s happening?!” I screamed out to the supposedly genius professor.
“I am not yet sure.” the professor answered, with a surprisingly calm tone despite the fact that he looked to be pushing any button that caught his fancy.
“I just can’t fathom what’s gone wrong. Yesterday everything worked just fine. Somebody must have changed the settings.”
He looked my way, lowering his head a bit and peering at me from above his glasses, the way teachers do when you get in trouble at school.
“Bookworm, you’ve got to be kidding me. You just about killed my best friend and you’ve got the nerve to blame it on me?!”
Amongst the confusion, a flash of clarity bolted through my head. I had to stop this machine before it caused any more damage. I had to pull the plug from the wall. This was the only way to stop it.
A couple of sparks singed my fur (luckily on the black part) and the room smelt of burnt hair. While Professor Bookworm was brooding over the switchboard, I crawled slowly towards the power outlet, my eyes still barely open from all the smoke. The moment I reached the plug, everything turned suddenly silent. The green beast of a machine has been exhausted. Everything was still and quiet. I looked over my right shoulder to Bookworm. He shrugged: “I didn’t do anything. It appears to have aborted the operation on its own accord. Perhaps it was even some kind of spirit.”
I wasn’t convinced: “Yeah, I’m sure, a ghost.”
I held the power chord in my hand and noticed that it was broken. A handful of multi-colored wires were sticking their severed heads out of the end of the cable. “Bookworm, come look at this. Somebody’s sabotaged your machine.”
Bookworm scurried over in my direction. The moment he was in front of the machine, the door swung open and was inches away from slamming into his head. I secretly thought that he might have deserved a good knock on the head after all the calamity he had caused. Bookworm and I reflexively crawled towards one another. What would be revealed once the smoke had cleared? Could Max have turned into a monster, or some sort of Frankenstein?
Suddenly, a small figure revealed itself, emerging from the fog. Both of us burst into laughter. There he was, little Max, complete with his hat and jacket, crawling on the floor, transformed into a baby. He looked sweet enough to eat. The machine really had worked!
I got myself up, scurried over to Max, and took him into my arms. I don’t think he found it too funny that he was a full three heads shorter than me. Before, he was always the tallest. He opened his mouth and out came a little voice like a mouse: “C’mon Ella, put me down! It’s not like I’m a baby!”
I couldn’t help but laugh harder.
“Actually, you are! Just look at yourself in the mirror!”
I rummaged around in my purse and pulled out a hand mirror. There he was – big strong Max trapped in the body of a baby. I did my best to hold in my laughter.
“Okay, enough is enough. I’m ready to be transformed back!” said Max. He didn’t appear to be having too much fun in his role. Prof. Bookworm crouched down behind the machine and a sheepish gaze crossed his face.
“That won’t be easy. The machine appears to have had technical difficulties. There was a short out, you see. I am convinced that some small rodent chewed through the cords.”
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“I sincerely do hope that I will be able to repare it. This might take a while.” grumbled the professor.
“I have to go to school on Monday!” said Max in a tizzy.
“Hmmm, I was afraid of this.” mumbled Bookworm. “I won’t be able to repair the machine within two days….”
That was the second part of the story. You’ll learn the rest tomorrow. You think Max survived the weekend as a baby? Was he teased at school? Was the professor able to repair the machine or will Max remain a baby forever?
Tune in tomorrow!