Memory

Chapter 5
Spinning Gears

Chapter Description: Once a plan is put into action, it cannot be stopped. It either works or fails.

“Class, don’t forget that tonight is the big party! So make sure that you and your parents are on time!” Ms. Mer said to her students as the packed up for the day. As John was about to leave the room, Ms. Mer sat down at her desk.

“Why so glum? You haven’t been like this since I agreed to E-Mail you”

“Its about the party tomorrow.”

“Nervous? Don’t be. Your parents are the ones that are going to be talking, no you.”

“Its not that, I have bad feeling about this.” Ms. Mer motioned for Johnny to come closer.

“You’re not worried about moving to a different classroom?” John turned his face away.

“Are you?” John nodded his head up and down.

“Aw, it will be alright, I’ll still be your friend, even if we don’t see each other.” Ms. Mer put both hands on each of John’s shoulders.

“Promise?”

“I promise you. Is that all?”

“No. I think my Mom and Dad are going to do something really bad.”

“Why?” John told Ms. Mer about how his parents had acted in the Principal’s office a few days before.

“And I’ve been having weird dreams about people doing bad things to me.” Johnny was ready to move on to his next argument when Ms. Mer stopped him.

“Dreams? What kind of dreams?” John described his dreams, but the ones with the girl interested her the most.

“Can I have your picture?” Ms. Mer’s question struck John like a bolt from the blue. He nodded yes. Ms. Mer pulled out a digital camera and snapped a few pictures of Johnny with different facial expressions and poses.

“Alright, let me take you to the late bus.” Ms. Mer said with curiosity in her voice.

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“Johnny! Are you ready for the party?” Nick asked as he inspected his suit in the mirror. He wore a clip-on tie ti save time.

“We’re coming!” Marian replied. She wore a tight-fitting black dress. It outlined her impressive curves that normally were hidden under layers of mom clothes. She was tying a bow tie around John’s neck, while smiling. John wasn’t sure whether it was from the sight of her little boy cleaned up or from his suspected plan.

“Alright, we’re coming Nick!” Marian said as she grabbed John’s hand an ushered him downstairs and out of the house. The car ride wasn’t longer then five minutes, but it seemed to take ages to John. John wasn’t sure whether he was going to a Happy Party or a hanging. The homes outside passed with their lights shinning into the car. John felt like he was being taken to prison.

“Smile, John, this is a happy occasion!: Nick said as he looked at Johnny through the rear-view mirror. The pulled into the school’s parking lot at 8:00.

Inside of the school’s Multipurpose room was where the party was. It was where the School Plays and graduation ceremonies were held, and the room was decorated with ’congraduation’ ribbons. The note that John brought home to his mother said that this was also the annual Graduation Ball, which was always held on the last day of school. The young girls ran around, showing off their doltish dresses while the boys overindulged at the buffet table, doing typical young boy things, including attempted food fights. John didn’t evenly the waiter who was assigned to stop these ’games’. John scoped around the crowd for Ms. Mer. But she was nowhere to be found. Soon the guests and their children were seated at beautiful tables that were set up around the room. John’s family was up in front and the teacher’s table, a long table at which every teacher sat overlooking their pupils, was by the exit into the school.

John’s hear skipped a beat! Ms. Mer was sitting there, and she waved at him. She looked like she had something urgent to tell him.

“Ladies and gentleman!” The principal spoke into the microphone. “To begin our Ball, first let me introduce Mister and Misses Memoriaman, whose son, Johnathan, has recently scored phenomenally on the State IQ exams, being found to have the IQ equivalent of a 12th grader. The children weren’t sure how old a 12th grader was, but their parents knew and some wore looks of scorn at the thought of a child being smarter then their own.

“Please everyone! We’d like to propose a toast to the children!” Nick spoke into the microphone as he reached the top of the stage. He and Marian were each holding a black suitcase.

“Alright, first, to our graduating 5th grade class! Who hopefully will lead fulfilling and fruitful lives in their new school.” The adults with graduates raised their glasses, touched that Nick would toast to their children before his own.

“We’d also like to toast to all the other children, in hopes that they will be able to adept to changes in their environment, both in school and out of school.” Almost every adult had their glasses raised at the conclusion of Marian’s statement.

“To the teachers, in hopes that they’ve given out children the lessons they’ve needed.” Now every adult had their glasses raised.

“And finally, to all of us, in hopes that our lives will be good in wherever they lead us!” A round of applause followed as glasses clinked together. John got up and ran to the exit into the school. Ms. Mer took notice and followed him.

“And now, we have one last thing to say to you.” Nick said. As the talking in the room quieted, Marian and Nick began to open their briefcases. Each removed a small object that resembled a small child’s super soaker.

“Marian and I would like to show you what we’ve been working on.” An air of confusion shrouded the Multipurpose room, with no one knowing what was happening.

“These machines fire a special type of radiation.” Marian explained, “Nick here is a Nuclear physicist with an additional degree in Psychology and I have a doctorate in both Chemistry and Biology. We put our minds together and created this.”

“Super soaker was around when I was a kid, lady!” A man sitting at a table in the middle of the room joked. John guessed he was about thirty and had a wife of the same age, with two boys approximately aged eight and ten.

“Goodie, a wise guy! They make the best guinea pigs. Show them what we mean, Nick!” Nick fired the gun straight at the man. A vivid green burst of light emitted from the gun and hit the man square in the chest. His body shook rapidly and what appeared to be green lightning bolts traveled up and down his body like a hula hoop being lowered over his head. What happened next was frightening. The man looked like he was a snow man in a steel factory, his face, his entire body began to melt and shrink. His strong, muscular frame slowly gave way, brood shoulders gave way and slouched, his arms and legs withdrawed inside of his suit. When the light stopped, a young boy in a giant suit sat in the man’s chair, his legs dangling feet above the ground and his clothes draped over him.

“Wha, what ’appened to me?” the small boy squeaked, then put his hand over his throat. He was clearly younger then either of his children.

“As you can see, present around us at every second is background radiation, and using some human test subjects we determined that this radiation causes our cells to weaken and age, which makes us age. All we had to do was the create a radiation of the exact opposite frequency, power, and element to reverse the process!” The idea set in for a moment, then the room broke out into mass hysteria, with every adult running away from the stage. The younger children didn’t move, nor did the regressed man. The ’real’ children didn’t understand what was going on while the man was completely entangled in his clothes. All he could manage was screaming.

“Change me back! Change me back!”

“Fine! Everyone, next person to move is going back to school next year!” The room froze.

“Good! Now, what’s your name, squirt!”

“My-ch-le.” The boy blushed at his shrunken vocal cords.

“Well, Michael, or should I say Mikey, I’ll now be showing some more of our devices powers!” Nick said.

“What! No!”

“Yes! You see, along with lowering the physical age, our machine can also make you think like a child by pushing your mind into the ego.” The green beam once again fired from the gun, and when it was over, Mikey was sucking his thumb and looking around the room, oblivious to what was happening. He looked over to his sons and smiled.

“Play!” Mikey reached out and tried to grab onto his eldest son.

“Puh, papa?” The boy wailed.

“Very handy device! We plan on using it to first become rich, then conqueroring a world of infants and children!” Marian yelled.

“We’ll give you a 10 minute head start.” Nick calmly said.

“Think of it as a game of ’Hide-And-Seek’! Everyone in the room will play, and any adults will find themselves playing the game a lot more if they lose!” A clock appeared on the wall, and instantly began ticking down. The adults and older children ran towards the door that lead outside. They struggled, but none of the doors that lead outside would open.

“We’ve already locked the doors and first-floor windows.” Nick said as he held up a tiny remote control.

“You’re wasting time.” Marian sang.

“We need to run!” Ms. Mer said to John.

“But where?”

“We have a head start, I need to fill you in on some things.” Ms. Mer and John ran down a hallway, The children and most of the adults had also fled into the school, but some adults still struggled futilely at the door. Finally, the timer went off, and Nick instantly fired a blast towards those left by the door. When they were done melting, children assorted ages from 18 months to four were sitting around by the door, draped in adult clothing and looking bewildered by the huge people. After a few minutes, they began entertaining themselves by playing with their toes or with each other.

“Too easy.” Marian said as they walked out of the room, and Nick tousled Mikey’s hair as they left the room.