One early evening in Wierdlings, a small remote village known
by few and inhabited by even fewer, a large black plastic bag bounced down the
front steps of the dreary house located on the edge of the deserted Unbelievable Street.
It was a heavy bag that was being slowly dragged and a black cat
meowed in surprise as it thudded down to the pavement next to it. The old man
who was dragging it swallowed a deep breath before continuing on. The garbage
truck was due soon. 7pm, every evening without fail it would arrive and he
couldn’t afford to miss it. It’s not like the bag’s contents could be left out
for anyone to discover. Someone might get the wrong idea if they ever saw what
was inside.
“Half a day wasted cleaning and heaving.” He grumbled with one last
heave and plopped the bag beside the bins as two headlights beamed brightly
from the end of the street.
The old man sighed with relief and watched as the garbage truck
rumbled forwards and as it did, its headlights revealed a figure walking
briskly along the pavement towards him. It was a small boy. Twelve, maybe
thirteen years old, he guessed but could have been much younger for he was so
scrawny and his mop of scraggly brown hair fell over most of his pale face. The
boy walked timidly, trying not to look him in the eye, and clutched his small
shopping bag tightly.
When was the last time he
ate? The old man wondered.
The ghastly boy was painfully thin, a gentle breeze looked like it
might bowl him over, and his clothes were old and worn. The scientist glanced
at the heavy plastic bag that was being tossed into the back of the garbage
truck and couldn’t help but snicker. “Maybe scrawny isn’t such a bad thing.” He
chuckled, he alone understanding his private joke.
Deciding that there was no
time like the present, he called to the boy. “You there,” he said sharply “come
here.”
The boy eyed him warily. The hunched old man wore a large white
coat that was much too big for him which hid his frail body. His face was gaunt
and his skin was stretched and there were only wisps of snowy white hair
remaining on his head. The boy tried to peer into his eyes but his glasses were
so thick that he couldn’t even see behind them. The way he spoke and stood gave
him the creeps but he didn’t look dangerous. Just old and rather eccentric.
“Yes?” The boy approached him.
“What’s your name?” The old man demanded.
“I’m Jimmy. Jimmy Timble. What’s your name sir?” Jimmy tried to be
polite and remember his manners when speaking to the elderly but he couldn’t
help feel unsettled under the penetrating stare of his thick glasses.
The old man dismissively waved his hand impatiently at him. “Never
mind names. We have no such time. Just call me Professor and follow me.”
“Follow you? Follow you where?” A bewildered Jimmy asked, wondering if perhaps the old man needed some help. “My parents are expecting me
back soon.”
The Professor ignored Jimmy’s protests and started walking back to
his house, using the banister to help him us as he encouraged him to follow. “You’re
hired, hired to help me change the world Timmy. This is an opportunity you
can’t pass up.”
“It’s Jimmy, not Timmy sir.” Jimmy corrected as he tried to help the
Professor but he shook him off and scowled at him.
“That’s what I said. Unclog your ears as I don’t have time to repeat
myself.” His bushy white eyebrows narrowed and reminded Jimmy of plods of
cotton wool. “Now, you need to eat. Can’t have you fainting on the job and
taking up more of my time. You’ve wasted enough as it is! I’ll rustle you up
something while we discuss business. When was the last time you ate?”
Very confused by the peculiar man’s behavior, Jimmy had been about
to go but the mention of food made his stomach rumble loudly. It had been a
while. Not since breakfast had he eaten anything and even that had been only
half a slice of stale toast. With only a small portion of cereal to look
forward to for dinner, the prospect of food was very tempting. Jimmy also
couldn’t help but be intrigued by the Professor and his ramblings.
“Maybe I could stay a little while.” He offered. Maybe he just needs someone to talk to.
“Excellent! Now quickly come inside. We’ve been jabbering much too
long.”
Jimmy was hurried inside and the Professor looked suspiciously down
each end of the street before closing his front door. It took a few moments for
Jimmy’s eyes to adjust to the dimly lit house as he followed the shuffling
Professor down the hall. The house was dark and dank and its floorboards
creaked with every step. Jimmy wrinkled up his nose at the old
man smell that eroded from every room.
“Come, this way to the kitchen. We can talk business there.”
An uneasy feeling gnawed at Jimmy as he followed the Professor. He
wondered if he should leave. His parents would be expecting
him soon but even though he reminded himself of that, he knew it wasn’t true.
They barely knew when he was home and like the Professor, struggled to remember
his name.
Instead he couldn't help but let his eyes nosy his surroundings. Every inch of the house was covered with
clutter and dust. So much so that he couldn’t see any of the framed pictures.
He let out a loud sneeze and the Professor tsked and scowled at him and Jimmy refrained from
doing it again but the dust made it hard by ticking at his inner nostrils. As
they passed a room with papers and books stacked high and scattered everywhere,
his eyes fell upon a bookshelf stocked with a collection of jars. They grabbed
his attention and made him stop to squint and stare. Each one contained a
peculiar looking object and with his curiosity piqued, Jimmy stepped inside for
a closer look but his eyes widened and his jaw dropped when he realised that
they were organs; brain, heart, kidney, they were all there. And those that
didn’t contain organs were filled with specimens of insects and reptiles.
“Ah, excellent.” The Professor said. “Eager to get straight to work.
I like that. Much better than the last one.”
The last one? Jimmy thought. “What’s
going on?” He demanded. “Are you going to remove my brain?”
The Professor paused and considered it for a second. “No,” he finally said
“I doubt it could tell me anything useful. No, you’re much more use to me
mobile and fully functional of your limbs.”
“What is all this? Why do you
have all these things?”
The Professor sighed
impatiently. “For research. How else do you expect us to carry out our work? I
thought I explained all this.”
“No! You haven’t explained
anything! Are you a doctor or something?”
“BAH!” The Professor snorted. “Doctor? I tried to share my genius
with them. Several times in fact but they refused to recognise me. Doctors and
their fancy degrees. A doctor! Bah, I’m a scientist! A researcher of the world!”
Jimmy stuttered for words as he tried to make sense when the sound
of creaking floorboards came from the hall and there was the soft plod of
footsteps. A snout poked around the corner of the door and a small sausage dog
entered the room. It whipped its long tail from side to side and its tongue
lopped down the side of its mouth but all Jimmy could see was its eyes. They
shined a bright yellow, so bright that he had to squint to prevent being
blinded as they cast a light throughout the room wherever the dog looked.
“Ah Buster!” The Professor beamed down at the dog as it happily
licked his hand. “What do you think Lenny? Buster can light up any dark room. They
train dogs for the blind but what about us folk stumbling around the dark?
Don’t consider us do they?”
“But, but,” Jimmy was perplexed, too much so to correct the Professor
about his name, and continued to stare at Buster who cast light with every glance. “How?”
A large smile spread across the Professor’s face. “A curious mind.
Excellent. I really have chosen so much better this time. Come.” He reached to
his bookshelf for a book but it wouldn’t extract fully. Instead when he pulled,
the bookshelf slid aside to reveal a large elevator door. “Let me show you the
future.”
