Willakaville Read online

  Boy #2: “I heard that he takes you to some kind of dungeon under the school. He keeps you locked up in a cage and makes you eat bugs. The bugs lay their eggs inside your body and when they hatch, the babies eat you alive!”

  Boy #1: “It makes sense. There are hardly any bugs in this school. If there is a bug in Freddie’s sight, he captures it. Normal people would just squish the bug. But no, he acts like he lets it go outside. He really puts it in his pocket…to feed to his victims!

  Richard’s heart was pounding like a freight train. He closed his eyes tight and tried to think of something good. All he could do was think about bugs climbing out of his stomach.

  That night, Richard could barely eat or sleep. His mother asked him if everything was ok. Richard was too afraid to say anything, so he just said, “Yes, I’m ok.”

  The next few days, he saw Freaky Freddie everywhere. He was in the hallway after every class. He was in the lunchroom. Richard was starting to suspect that Freddie was stalking him. Richard made every attempt to avoid him. Nevertheless, it seemed that the more he tried to hide from Freddie, the more Freddie was there.

  Then Freddie started walking toward Richard when he saw him. Freddie had never done that before. He usually stayed against the wall, waiting for all the kids to pass by. Richard was sure Freddie had chosen him for his next victim.

  Richard became more suspicious when Freddie came to his science class. He could see Freddie talking to his teacher and both of them looking at Richard and smiling to each other. Now, Mr. Ray, his science teacher was in on it. He must be Freddie’s accomplice. “Of course,” Richard thought. “Mr. Ray has all those bugs he feeds the snake and lizard. He is helping Freddie. They get kids and do weird science experiments on them.”

  Richard had even worse nightmares that night. He dreamt that he was a cockroach scurrying along the cold tile floors at his school. He frantically dodged foot after foot in the school hallway. He finally made it into a dark closet. Just when he felt safe, the door opened and a giant Freaky Freddie reached down and grabbed him. Richard wiggled and squirmed, trying to get away.

  Freddie raised him up over his open mouth. Richard dangled over the gaping cavern and fell…

  Just as he felt himself land onto Freddie’s tongue, Richard woke up. He curled up into a ball, uncontrollably shaking. He could still feel the bumps of Freddie’s tongue on his back. His body still felt hard like the shell of a cockroach.

  Eventually, Richard calmed down and realized it was all a bad dream. He just lay there, hiding under the covers, too afraid to come out.

  Richard's mother finally came into his room and saw him hiding under the covers. “What's wrong?” she said. Richard slowly peeled back the covers stuck his head out. “I'm not feeling too well today,” he moaned. His mother touched his fore head and said, “You don't feel very hot.”

  “Yeah. I don't know. I just don't feel good,” said Richard. His mom wrinkled up her nose turned her head sideways and said, “Well, I guess if you're not feeling good you better stay home. Anything you want to eat for breakfast?”

  Richard answered, “No, not really. My stomach feels kind of yucky. I think I'll stay in bed mom.”

  “Okay,” she said. “Let me know if you need anything.” Then she left the room. Richard crawled back under the covers. He didn't dare go back to sleep because he didn't want to get more bad nightmares. All he could do was think about Freaky Freddie. He just laid there under the covers thinking about how he could get out of going to school.

  He thought of all kinds of excuses. He knew he could only tell his mom he was sick. Before long, she would start making him go to the doctor. Richard thought, “I could run away from home.” Still, he didn't want really want to do that either. Another thought was, “Maybe I'll just tell my parents that the school is no good and I need a better school. Maybe I'll tell them I'm allergic to the school and every time I go there I feel like throwing up. But I'm okay at home.” He kept thinking.

  He spent the rest of the day looking at National Geographic magazine sand sifting through a large collection of Pokémon cards. The day seemed to take forever. He was so bored.

  Finally, it came time for dinner. His mom called from downstairs, “Richard. Dinner’s ready!” Richard slowly got out of bed still dressed in his pajamas. He walked down to the kitchen and sat at the dinner table. He was hungry since he had not eaten all day. Being so scared made his stomach upset.

  His mom cooked his favorite foods, macaroni and cheese with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Richard's dad said, “How you doing Richard? I heard that you weren't feeling good today. Richard nodded his head in agreement. His dad continued, “Mom said you seem to be doing a lot better now. At least now you can eat.”

  “Yeah, I'm feeling a little bit better. I don't know. I might need one more day off school,” answered Richard.

  “Well,” said his dad assertively. “I think you are ok to get to school today. It’s not good to miss too many days. You don’t want to get behind on your work, do you?”

  Richard lowered his head in sadness. He did not feel much like finishing his breakfast after that. He just stared at his cereal bowl, stirring the corn flakes around and around until it became a soggy mush. His stomach felt like it had rocks and slime in it. Desperately hoping he would throw up, so his mom would let him stay home, Richard slowly got ready for school.

  The wooziness in his stomach grew with each minute they got closer to school. When they finally arrived, Richard begged his mom to let him stay home. He was in a sheer panic and started hyperventilating. “Mom,” he took a breath. “I,” another breath, “can’t,” breath, “no…I…please…”

  “Richard,” said his mother with a worried look on her face. “What are you so afraid of?”

  Richard was too embarrassed to talk. He knew his mom would not believe him.

  “Richard!” said his mother again sternly. “Answer me!”

  Richard finally decided and angry mother was a worse fate than dealing with the embarrassment of telling her. He finally spoke, “Freaky Freddie.” Once the words left his mouth, it was as if a great weight lifted from his chest. At the same time, he felt the python like grip of fear tightening in his belly.

  “Who is Freaky Freddie?” questioned his father.

  “He, he, he is going to make me eat bugs,” said Richard in a shaky voice. “He is the janitor at school and he puts kids in a dungeon below school. The bugs lay their eggs inside you! Then he…”

  “Hold on!” said his father waving his hands back and forth above his head. “Who is filling your head with this nonsense? Look. No one is going to make you eat bugs and there is no dungeon below the school.”

  “Oh Richard,” sighed his mother. “Your father is right. No one is going to hurt you at that school. It is just silly stories that kids are telling you.”

  “But mom,” complained Richard. “That’s what happened to Jimmy Madson! You know he disappeared and no one knows where he went!”

  “The Madsons?” said his mother with a smile. “They moved because his company moved them back to California.” Then she took a deep breath and put her arm around Richard’s shoulder. “There is nothing to be afraid of. I promise you will be safe. Ok?”

  Richard shook his head, “No mom! I can’t! I just…”

  “That’s enough!” argued his father. “You are going to school and that is it!”

  Richard was afraid he would say that. Once his father said those words, he knew there was nothing more to be done. Richard just put his face into his hands and quietly replied, “Yes, sir.”

  His father then got up, gave Richard a couple of encouraging pats on the back, and left for work.

  Richard kept thinking about all the horrible things Freaky Freddie would do to him. He did not even notice when the bus arrived at school. It was as if no time had passed. He decided to stay hidden among the crowds of kids making their way to class.

  Then, as he turned the corner, Freaky Freddie stepped
away from the wall. HE WAS RIGHT IN FRONT OF RICHARD!

  Richard was so afraid, he couldn’t move or speak. He just stood there frozen. Freaky Freddie looked down at him and put his cold hand on the back of Richard’s neck. Freddie said with an evil smile, “Come with me.”

  Richard was too afraid to do anything as he was ushered into an unfamiliar hallway. The walls were grey, without paint and dimly lit. Richard nearly fainted as he heard the echo of the steel door as it slammed behind him. He thought, “This is it. That’s what my parents get for not believing me. So many things I wanted to do in my life. Now I will never get to do them.”

  At the end of the hallway was a large room filled with all kinds of tools, wires, pipes and cleaning products. Richard thought this must be where Freddie prepared his victims. He must use the wires to tie them down. The pipes must be for the bugs. Freddie motioned to the only chair in the room and asked Richard to sit down.

  Freddie then spoke, “You must be wondering why I brought you here.”

  Richard replied with tears streaming down his cheeks, “I know. Just get it over with.” Then he started sobbing.

  Freddie took a step back and laughed. Then he said, “Richard. I am not going to hurt you. I know there have been many stories about me going around school. Freaky Freddie they call me. I am a murderer, I eat bugs, and I kidnap children. Once they even said I was a genetic experiment gone wrong.” Then he breathed a big sigh as Richard slightly lifted his head.

  Richard could see that Freddie was actually sad. Yet, he thought it was all a trick. Just one more way Freddie could mess with your mind to torture you.

  Freddie could see that Richard was still scared. He began talking again, “Richard, I have never hurt another being in my life. I can’t even kill a bug. I catch them and let them go outside.”

  Richard’s fear got the best of him and he burst out, “Liar! You keep the bugs to feed to the children you kidnap!”

  Freddie stared at the ground. Then he stood up tall. Richard could see the true anger in Freddie’s eyes. The true Freddie was about to come out. Then Freddie did something completely shocking to Richard. He cried.

  As rivers of tears flowed from Freddie’s eyes, he spoke with a shaky voice, “I am so tired of it! I burned my face while saving a stupid cat! You would think that people would think of me as a hero! But no, everyone is afraid of me because of my scarred face!”

  Then Freddie sat down on the floor and continued crying. Then Richard did something crazy. He got up, walked over to Freddie and gave him a hug. Richard knew what it was like when others ignored and made fun of him. He realized that all the stories about Freddie were just that, stories.

  Freddie gave Richard a big smile as he hugged him back. Freddie said, “You are the first person to overcome their fear of me. You know, maybe you and I could become friends?”

  Richard smiled back and said, “I am sure we could.” Then he put out his hand for Freddie and they shook on it.

  All the kids in the hallway stopped and stared at Richard and Freddie as they exited the janitor’s hallway. They could not believe that Richard was actually talking to Freddie and smiling. Richard tried to convince the other kids that Freddie was actually nice. Some believed him and some did not.

  Those that did not, were afraid of Richard. They assumed that he was now Freddie’s evil partner. Richard did not mind, because it was those kids who teased him before. Now they left him alone. The other kids saw him as a hero for being so brave.

  Freddie and Richard stayed friends after that. Being friends with Freddie had its advantages. Freddie knew all the secret passages that could get Richard to class faster. He also taught Richard how to fix things and told him many exciting firefighter stories. Richard learned the true meaning of how not to judge a book by its cover and found out that friends come from the most surprising situations.

  The Mushroom Virus

  Mr. Snarr’s science class was the best. Every day he had a new experiment for the kids to perform. With his long white lab coat and messy hair, he would stand in front of class and demonstrate the experiment. He used a lot of comedy and usually ended up making a big mess. His favorite expression was, “If you are not making a mess, you are not making science.”

  Today, they were growing mold in a petri dish. Mr. Snarr showed them how to boil the solution. He spilled some on his hand and pretended to turn into a monster. The kids all laughed (though some were scared at first).

  Marty Gifford laughed the hardest. He loved science. He was always doing experiments at his house. His mother would find all kinds of strange things in his room. Once, he built a pulley system so that he could open all the drawers in his dresser. His mother got all tangled up in the ropes and was stuck there for half the afternoon. After that, Marty had to take his experiments to the shed.

  Being curious and adventurous, Marty decided to add a little extra to his mixture. He had a chewable vitamin that his mother put in his lunch for him to eat each day. Marty hated the vitamins, because they tasted horrible. He thought, “Why can’t my mom get me the gummy vitamins like all the other kids.” His mom had insisted on this particular vitamin since it was organic and all natural.

  He took out the vitamin, crushed it up and proceeded to sprinkle the green powder on top of his petri dish solution. He hoped the vitamins would make the mold grow faster and he would amaze the teacher with his new findings.

  The next day, Marty was excited to see how his mold was growing. However, he was disappointed when his mother told him school was cancelled. She said the school was contaminated by some kind of fungus. Marty wondered if it had something to do with their petri dish experiments.

  Later that day, Marty’s friend Oscar came over to play. As they were playing cards, Marty asked, “Hey Oscar. Your dad is a policeman right?”

  Oscar answered, “Yes, he usually works at night, but was called over to the school because of what happened this morning. He told us that some strange mushrooms were growing all over the school. Weird, right?”

  “Yeah. Weird.” said Marty. “We should go check it out.”

  They got their bicycles and rode down to the school. Police cars were everywhere. They saw some men wearing protective white paper suits that covered them from head to toe. Their heads had those gigantic helmets on with the big clear plastic facemasks. Some were carrying out wheelbarrows full of bright yellow and orange mushrooms.

  People from all over town were standing around watching. One of the mushrooms fell out of a wheelbarrow and instantly more mushrooms began to grow. They spread like a wild fire, each time one would pop up, five more would pop up around it. Soon, they covered most of the school grounds.

  Everyone started backing up and some started to run. Marty and Oscar got on their bikes and pedaled back to their homes. When Marty got there, his dad was packing up the minivan.

  “Hey Marty,” hey yelled. “Grab some clothes and your toothbrush. Don’t forget some clean underwear and socks. We are getting out of here in fifteen minutes.”

  Marty knew this was serious. He rushed to his room and got out his luggage. He filled it with some clothes, his toothbrush and his video games. He couldn’t survive without those. His older brother and sister were running around like crazy trying to figure out what to bring. Their dad only allowed them one suitcase each.

  They quickly all piled into the minivan and started driving. When they got to the edge of the town, they were barricaded by the police. Marty’s dad decided to try another route, but that was blocked too.

  He parked the car down a deserted road and told everyone to get out and grab his or her bags.

  “What are we going to do now?” asked Marty’s older brother Todd.

  His dad answered, “We need to get out of here. We are going to have to walk.”

  After some arguing, they each got their suitcase and started walking. They made it through some trees where they were stopped again. This time it was the military. They had set up a big chain link fence. It lo
oked like it went all the way around Willakaville. Army tanks rolled past followed by men with machine guns patrolling it. Big steam shovels were digging a huge trench and filling it with some type of green chemical.

  “Well,” said Marty’s dad. “I guess we are under quarantine. Let’s go get some groceries and head back to the house.”

  When they got to the grocery store, it had been ransacked. Most everything was gone. Only a few things like deodorant and toenail clippers were left. Still, Marty’s family searched the store. They managed to find some lima beans, asparagus soup and rye crackers.

  As they drove home, they could see a large area of Willakaville covered with orange and yellow mushrooms.

  *****

  Several days had passed since the mushrooms first appeared. Everything closed down. People were too afraid to leave their houses. They did not know what the mushrooms would do to them.

  The town was scarce on food. It had to be delivered each week by truck. All they got to eat was pasta, cereal, spam, bananas and milk. Marty was so sick of eating the same thing everyday. In fact, everyone was.

  Marty looked out his front window, wishing he could go out and play. He missed his friend Oscar. Marty’s brother Todd saw Marty and came next to him. He gave Marty a pat on the back and then opened the door.

  “No!” screamed Marty. “Dad said we can’t go outside.”

  Todd did not listen. He just kept on walking. Marty watched in horror as his brother crouched down, picked up a mushroom and ate it. Marty started crying, thinking that his brother would soon fall over dead. Luckily, he did not. He just sat there eating mushroom after mushroom. After eating about six or seven, Todd looked at Marty and gave him the thumbs up sign with a big smile on his face.

  Marty opened the door and shouted, “You are crazy!”

  Todd replied, “Come on out, these taste really good.”