Willakaville Read online

  Willakaville

  Astonishing Adventures of Astronomical Awesomeness

  By Mathew Heinecke

  Text Copyright © 2015 Mathew Heinecke

  All Rights Reserved

  Dedicated to those I love.

  Celine, Anaïs & Malone

  Contents

  Help Me

  Digital Dilemma

  Tomatozilla

  Transformation

  Secret Passage

  A Wish from a Fish

  Freaky Freddie

  The Mushroom Virus

  Toilet Paper Caper

  Native Dreams

  A Cat Is…

  Magic Pencil

  Behaving Badly

  Amayonaising

  You Can't Say That

  Spaced Out

  Help Me

  Willakaville looked like a normal town. Everyone lived in regular houses. There were people going to work, and normal kids playing outside. It was everything you would expect in a small town. However, there always seemed to be something strange going on. You will see what I mean after I tell you this first story.

  Billy was an average twelve-year-old boy. He was average looking, average height, average weight, average intelligence, average at sports, and average at everything. He never did more or less, than he was supposed to do.

  On the way to school, Billy always walked with his friend Charley. They would take the same path down the hill and across the bridge to school. It was not that far, less than a mile. It only took them about five minutes to get there.

  Charley was less than average in some ways and more than average in others. He was short, clumsy and nerdy looking. However, he was smart, funny and very fast.

  Their day always started with Billy knocking on Charley’s door. Charley came out and they began their walk to school. Being clumsy, Charley tripped on the sidewalk and fell down. Everything from his backpack fell out. Pencils, pens, books, papers, an old sock and two sticks of gum splattered across the ground.

  Billy sighed as he helped Charley pick up all of his gear. Billy then groaned, “Charley, why don’t you ever remember to zip up your backpack. Once a week we go through this.”

  Charley replied in his tiny voice, “I know, I know. I just get in a hurry and forget.”

  Billy replied, “Why don’t you prepare your backpack at night, like I do?”

  Charley answered with his head hung low, “You’re right. Guess I will never learn.”

  “Don’t worry,” Billy answered. “Keep your head up.”

  Even though Charley frustrated Billy sometimes, he knew Charley was a great friend. Charley helped Billy with school and Billy helped Charley with his self-esteem.

  They continued their walk. As they went down the hill, they heard a strange noise. It sounded like a little mouse. The noise got louder and louder until they reached the bottom of the hill.

  Then they heard a tiny, “Help Me! Help Me!” Both Billy and Charley looked around. However, neither of them could see anyone. “Down here!” the little voice cried. They both looked down. Inside a small crack in the sidewalk, was a black ant waving his legs back and forth.

  “I am stuck,” the ant said. “Can you please help?”

  Billy and Charley could not believe their eyes. How was it possible that an ant could be talking to them? Charley decided to talk first. “Hello Mr. Ant. How can we help you?”

  The ant stopped waving his legs and said, “I got stuck on this piece of old chewing gum. Can you help me out?”

  Charley replied, “Ok, let me look.” He got down on the ground and looked closely. Sure enough, the ant’s back legs were stuck to some chewing gum. “Hmm.” he said as he pondered how to get the any unstuck. “I will try, but no promises.” He then proceeded to take out a pencil and used it to pry the gum and the ant from the crack.

  “Be careful, don’t hurt me please.” The ant pleaded.

  Charley loved all animals, including insects. He had to find a way to help the ant. Especially a talking ant. Then he remembered what he learned in science class about solids, liquids and temperature. If he could make the gum cold, it would make it less sticky and the ant would be free.

  “Hold on,” said Charley. “I got an idea.” This whole time, Billy just stood there frozen with his mouth open. Even when a bug flew in his mouth, he did not budge. Charley did not even notice. He was too busy trying to help the ant. He reached in his backpack and rustled around. Finally, he pulled out an ice pack from his lunch. He always put one in there to keep his yogurt cool. He hated warm yogurt. He then placed the gum on the ice pack. After a few minutes, the gum became hard and the ant wiggled his way free.

  “Thank you so much,” said the ant. “You saved my life.”

  Finally, Billy came out of his daze and asked the ant, “How did you learn to talk?”

  “I didn’t," said the ant. Ants cannot talk. We do not have vocal chords.”

  Billy and Charley both stared at each other squinching up their noses with questioning looks.

  The ant laughed and said, “Look up.”

  Billy and Charley both looked up. There was a little man about two feet tall sitting on a branch high in a tree. He was dressed in all white robes with pure white skin. He had no hair on his body with deep blue eyes.

  With a low voice, the man said, “It was I who was speaking to you as if I were the ant. I wanted to see if you two were worthy enough.”

  “Worthy enough for what?” said Charley. Billy and Charley were slowly backing away as they waited for the answer.

  “Worthy enough for the gignoshlopz award. It is an award given to a being that shows exemplary kindness. Here is your prize.” Then the little man made two jars of mayonnaise appear at the feet of the boys.

  The little man continued, “Now before you thank me, I need to sing you a little song.” He continued with a slow melody, “Blortz, Blortz, Gignoshlopz, Porp.” Then, right after the word ‘porp’ he farted, very loudly and disappeared.

  The two boys instantly began laughing uncontrollably. They were both rolling on the ground for at least three minutes.

  “Did you see?” laughed Billy.

  “What in the world?” laughed Charley.

  After they had settled down, they got up, grabbed their jars of mayonnaise and headed for school. They did not care at all how boring school would be. They knew no one would believe them, even with the jars of mayonnaise. Nevertheless, they told the story to everyone anyways.

  That is how it all started. The weirdness in Willakaville just got weirder and weirder from that point on. If you want to hear more about it, read the next chapter.

  Digital Dilemma

  I am going to try something different as an experiment. For this story, I will leave out all the boring details. There will be no alien robots. No talking pizzas. And certainly no magic light bulbs. It will be just an ordinary average story. It will be a nice break from all the craziness and excitement that normally happens in Willakaville.

  Mike is the main character of this story. He is 11 years old, likes to play video games and read books. He spends most of his time at the library doing both. His parents cannot afford a computer, so he uses the one at the library instead.

  One day, Mike decides to explore the library. He goes to a place he has not been to before. It is in a different section than the one he normally goes to. In that section is an older computer. Mike decided to try it out.

  When he did, he found a new game. The game was about a little robot that had to make it past all kinds of traps and puzzles. Mike really liked playing the game. He liked it so much that he started playing it every day.

  He played it too much and did not play any other games like soccer or basketball. He stopped playing with his friends or do
ing things with his family. He even stopped doing his homework and eating healthy.

  Luckily, the Librarian found out what was going on and turned off the computer. Mike started feeling better and behaving normal again.

  So, did you like the story? Not really? Well, it was a little short and did not have many details. Maybe I did leave out some of the more interesting stuff. You want to hear them? Really? But I thought you would be bored and it would take too long.

  Ok, here are a few things that you might like to know.

  When I told you that Mike went to a different place in the library. It was actually a secret place that no one knows about. In between the second and third floors on the stairs, there is a small door. The door is normally left locked, but the normal security guard was sick and the new guy forgot to lock it.

  The reason Mike took the stairs was because the elevator was broken for some reason. Mike wanted to look for a book about creating computer games and it was on the third floor. Mike thought that since he liked computer games, he would try to learn how to make them.

  When Mike saw the little door, he noticed it was slightly open and took a peek inside. In there, he saw a long white hallway with a tiny blue light blinking in the distance. He knew that he probably shouldn’t go in, but it was as if something was calling him in there. The strange blue light was so hypnotizing that Mike had to see what it was.

  As he approached the light, he could see that was an old computer. However, it was not just an old computer. This computer had hundreds of wires coming out of it. And it knew his name somehow. The computer asked Mike what kind of games he liked and Mike told it that he liked games with lots of puzzles and traps.

  So the computer created the perfect game for Mike. And it wasn’t just a fun game the Mike really wanted to play. The game actually took control of Mike’s mind. It made him believe he was playing a game. In reality, the game was playing Mike.

  It made him do things like steal more wires and electronic parts. Mike started taking apart televisions and radios and microwaves. He used the parts to make the computer stronger. As the computer got stronger, it controlled Mike even more.

  All of his friends, family and teachers were worried about him. He was acting like a zombie. He would not talk to anyone. He would not smile or laugh. Eventually, he stopped coming home and stopped going to school. Everyone was looking for him, especially the police.

  Some more info: The librarian did not just turn off the computer. She had to fight Mike and the computer. The computer had become so strong that it could send out electrical charges. Luckily, the librarian had on rubber boots and a plastic coat because it was raining. When she and Mike were fighting, Mike hit his head and snapped out of the hypnosis the computer was using to control his mind.

  It took Mike a few minutes to realize what was happening. When he saw the computer trying to attack the librarian, he knew it was his chance to try to unplug the computer. However, the computer saw this and wrapped it’s wires around Mike. It seemed like Mike was doomed, but he remembered that he had some water in his backpack.

  He let the librarian know and she took it out and poured it on the computer. This did not stop the computer, but it did slow it down just enough for the librarian to unplug it.

  After that, Mike did not want anything to do with computers for a long time. He did not miss it at all. He had much more fun playing outside with his friends.

  So, maybe stories are better with all the details. It may take some extra work to add them in. It is worth it as they make all the difference. Oh, another detail I forgot. The librarian’s name was Mrs. Eniac.

  Tomatozilla

  It was a calm, Saturday morning. Most people were still in their beds. Birds were chirping, the grass was still wet with dew and the sky was blue, without a single cloud. Jimmy Stickleworth woke up early, just as he did every Saturday. He really enjoyed this time. It was time alone and just for him. He could relax. No sister to bother him. No mom to tell him what to do. No dad to make him clean up. No homework to do. Just him, watching the robins outside and eating his Lucky Charms cereal.

  He daydreamed about being an astronaut where he travelled to distant worlds with strange creatures. Like the Flizzler. The Flizzler had the wings of an eagle with a long fish like body. It was white with black circles. It flew gracefully overhead. Then, alien ships filled the sky and he had to make a run for his spaceship. The aliens had spotted him and turned their ships around. They were closing in. He was almost to his ship. Then...BOOM!

  Jimmy was so startled that he actually felt the house shake. Then he looked up. The ground in his backyard started to open up. Something big, REALLY BIG, was rising up. He could see the top of it. It was red, shiny, and round. As it rose higher, Jimmy realized what it was. It was a giant tomato?!

  When it climbed out, Jimmy was astounded to see that it had arms and legs, was larger than his house and had a mouth full of fangs. It turned and looked at Jimmy and let out a humungous roar that shook the windows. Jimmy almost peed in his pants he was so scared. He had no idea what to do. He just froze there, like the snowball he saved in the freezer from last winter.

  The giant tomato turned the other way and marched through the trees, pushing them aside and breaking many of them in half as if they were toothpicks. He could hear people screaming, dogs yelping and cars screeching their tires as it stomped through the neighborhood.

  His older sister Mary came rushing down the stairs.

  “What the heck was that?” she said frantically.

  “A…giant…tomato.” replied Jimmy still frozen in front of his cereal. His spoon held out in front of him with his arm stiff. Not one drop of milk or piece of cereal had fallen out.

  “A giant tomato?” questioned Mary. “What are you talking about? Have you lost your mind?”

  “Nope,” replied Jimmy stone faced. Then he calmly walked over to the TV and turned it on. The reporter was excitedly talking about all the destruction the giant tomato was creating throughout the town.

  Mary’s eyes looked like they were going to pop out of her head. “Holy Guacamole!” she exclaimed. “What are we going to do?”

  Mary was sixteen and a super drama queen. Everything was the end of the world with her. For example, just yesterday she totally freaked out because she could not find her pink socks. Jimmy could not understand what the big deal was. Why couldn’t she just wear white socks?

  However, today, Jimmy would give her a break. This was definitely a freak out type of event. Their parents were on vacation for the weekend and it was the first time Jimmy and his sister had been left totally alone for 2 days. It was great. They ate whatever they wanted, stayed up late and watched scary movies.

  Jimmy told his sister to stay at the house. He had plans of his own. He wanted to see the giant tomato again. Grabbing his backpack, he filled it with supplies. He brought his Swiss army knife, some rope, some firecrackers, matches, a bottle of water, and cereal bars for energy. He also took his smartphone for taking pictures and video.

  He went into the garage, jumped on his bicycle, opened the garage door and began pedaling like a hamster on a wheel. He sped down the driveway and into the street. His back tire slipped out sideways and Jimmy almost wiped out. Quickly adjusting his balance, he managed to save himself and bring the bike back upright. Cruising past house after house, he focused on the trail of destruction left by the giant tomato. Trees were broken in half, cars were smashed flat, and the entire walls of homes were torn off exposing the interiors. As he passed Mr. Potter’s house, he could view Mr. Potter sitting on the toilet with half the bathroom wall gone. It was not something he wanted to see.

  Jimmy kept pushing on. People were everywhere. They were out on the street, in their front yards. Many of them were still in their pajamas with messy hair. He even saw one guy in his underwear. Soon he could hear the sirens of police cars.

  He finally approached the scene. It was all happening at the local farmer’s market. The monster tomato was th
ere; surround by about 20 police cars. There was a trail of smashed cars. They looked like crumpled up soda pop cans. Hundreds of people were running around, screaming like crazy. Several news reporters were already on the scene making commentary. Jimmy listened to one reporter.

  The reporter chimed in with slight smile on his face, “This is just an incredible scene! It appears this giant tomato monster is very angry. Perhaps he was not served on time at the local restaurant. He certainly is not waiting for everyone to catch up. Well, no matter how you slice it, this is one saucy mess.”

  Jimmy had heard enough of the dumb jokes from the reporter and tried to move in closer. A police officer abruptly stopped him and shouted, “You need to get out of here! This is not safe!Go home and stay indoors!” Jimmy moved out of the way and stood behind some crushed cars. The police officer was so engaged in the situation that he did not look back at Jimmy. The police fired shot after shot at the gigantic red beast, but their bullets bounced off like ping pong balls.

  As Jimmy sat crouched and out of sight, he watched more craziness unfold. The red giant had grabbed a farmer and was waving him around like a baby with a rattle. The crowd gasped as the farmer screamed for help. The police had no idea what to do. One police officer decided to be brave and drove his police car into the foot of Tomatozilla. Tomatozilla just kicked the car out of the way as if it were a child's toy.

  Jimmy knew he had to do something quick before the farmer, and possibly more people, got hurt. Now was his chance, while the police were occupied. He got the firecrackers out and put them in his pocket with the matches. He also got his pocketknife ready. Next, he quickly jumped on his bike and started pedaling as fast as he ever did in his entire eleven year life. It felt like the wheels would fly right off his bike. Two police officers noticed and tried to catch him. However, Jimmy was moving way too fast for them.

  He skidded sideways to a stop, just next to the tomato's foot. He got out his firecrackers and quickly lit them. After waiting for the fuse to burn a little bit, he threw them at the tomato. At the same time, he stabbed the tomato in the left toe as hard as he could. Just as the tomato looked down at his foot, the firecrackers went off. Pow! Papapapapow! It was perfect timing. As the tomato was lifting his foot from the pain, the firecrackers startled him. Tomatozilla lost his balance and fell backward, crushing several of the market stands as he came crashing down. It had to let go of the farmer in order to push itself upright again.