Alex seized the moment to change the subject: a movie that he had watched over the weekend. Normally he would have watched it with his friends, but this one was the ASN Saturday Late Night Movie which started at midnight and didn’t end until 2:00; he had fallen asleep before it ended. It was called The Thing. His dad had watched it when he was a kid—only that was a different movie. This one was a re-make, and it seemed to only loosely fit the description his dad had given him. The special effects were amazing—watching people shift into horrible, twisted monsters—but they actually had scared him. Not that he would admit he was scared to his friends. Ironically, another fear soon became obvious.
“Oh hey, Alec!”
Jared Flemming had started picking on Alex when he moved to his new elementary in third grade. Tripping him, stealing his change, calling him names. It stopped when Jared entered junior high, leaving Alex behind. When Alex moved up, he feared that the relationship would start over anew, but aside from a few sideways glances, Jared had left him alone. Alex let himself hope that he had changed.
Then came Alex’s breakdown in front of the school. Most people ignored it. A few people—Alex’s friends and teachers—helped. Jared just took it all in. And laughed. He actually got sent home on a three-day suspension for it. When Alex was finally ready to come back to school, Jared was more than ready to welcome him back. The difference was that now, instead of tripping Alex or stealing his change, he attacked him mentally.
“Where’s Daddy at today, Alec?” or “Why don’t you run home to Mommy, Alec—oh, never mind!” became his usual greetings.
Jared always called him Alec, pushing the hard ‘c,’ as if something so trivial would bother Alex.
It bothered him immensely.
But that was when Jared was still in the same school. This year he was in high school at the Academy, and Alex had almost two blissful, Jared-free months of Grade 9 so far. Apparently, it was too good to last.
Alex wanted to say something, but he couldn’t. He was just that little third grader again. Fortunately, Mark understood the situation. “Come on,” he said standing up. “I wanna ask you guys about my science fair project.”
Jeremy followed along, keeping his eyes on Jared and his cronies. He, too, had been bullied by the older boys, but now they just ignored him.
Alex stayed glued to his spot on the steps, his breathing audible.
“Alex?” Mark finally got his attention. “You coming?”
“Huh?” Alex said, making Jared and his friends laugh. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m coming.” He stood, even though his legs had suddenly turned to rubber.
Jared continued staring at the boys, smiling. “Science fair, huh?” His friends chuckled quietly to themselves as they waited for the punchline. “You kids really know how to party.”
As the older boys walked away, Jared called over his shoulder: “You know what, boys? I like this route. I think we’ll take it every day from now on.” He turned and looked straight into Alex’s eyes. “See you tomorrow, Alec! Say hi to your mommy for me!”
They took all his friends. They took everyone on his street. They took everyone he knew. They all became mud monsters who just wanted to eat. They looked more real now.
For the most part, the creatures were faceless when they turned. Just horrific masses with gaping maws full of jagged teeth. Three faces stayed, though. He recognized three of the mudmen. They had teamed up against him and they would find him because they knew him far too well.
One was Jared.
As they got closer, details of their muddy faces became more and more clear.
One was his father.
The sounds of their sloppy breath filled his ears. He wanted to scream but he couldn’t. There was no air in his chest.
One was his mother.
He woke up with a scream.
A quick glance at his alarm clock told him it was 3:45AM. “Crap,” he said, hearing his dad’s footsteps approaching.
His bedroom door slowly opened. “What happened? Everything okay?” his dad asked, a combination of sleepiness and panic in his voice.
“I’m okay,” Alex said, wincing.
“Okay, great,” his dad said. “Turn on your lamp, then.”
His dad sat on the bed, the light casting strange shadows across his face. “What’s up?”
“Nothing,” he said with a shrug, not making eye contact, hoping it would be enough.
“Oh,” his dad replied. “That’s good.”
Alex sighed with relief, but his dad didn’t leave. Instead, he just looked around the room and scratched Shadow between the ears, much to her delight.
“I’m glad you woke me up,” his dad said, his features softening, but still holding onto a trace of seriousness. “I was having a bad dream.”
For a moment, there was silence. This was a strange turn. After a few seconds, Alex asked, “About what?”
His father took a deep breath. For a moment, Alex wondered if he had had the same dream. “Just …” his dad paused, a look of uncertainty on his face. “There’s ... there’s a lot of stuff happening, you know? In the world? Just falling apart. I worry about something happening to you or to Mary. It scares me.”
“Oh,” Alex said, not entirely sure what to say.
“Yeah,” his dad said with a nod. “You know what I mean?”
“Yeah,” Alex said, cluing in; the old it’s-all-right-to-be-scared-sometimes speech. He had to give him credit though, this was an interesting way to bring it up. Putting Alex in the role of the comforter. “But, you know Dad, whatever happens, we’ll be okay. Things aren’t that bad. And, you know ... it’s okay to be scared. Sometimes.”
“Yeah,” his dad said, trying to hide his grin. “You’re right. Thanks, Alex. You’re a smart kid, you know.”
“Yeah, I know,” Alex said, not bothering to hide his own grin.
His dad leaned over and kissed the top of his son’s head and stood up to go. Before he got to the door, Alex stopped him.
“Dad, about your nightmare,” he started,
