When the teacher called his name, Ryan didn’t respond. It took a minute to remember he was using a different name now. He jumped out of his chair and walked eagerly to the front of the classroom. It was the first show and tell of the school year. Everyone was told there would be a different theme each time; something old, something you made yourself, a souvenir from a trip, etc. This week it was something from Summer Vacation.
Ryan faced the class, a little nervous. It was a new school for him, so he hoped to be entertaining for everyone. If they all thought he was cool, then he’d make lots of friends. “My name is Ben Lougheed, and on my summer vacation I got a new pet. I went down to the beach to go swimming – Mom said I can go by myself since it’s not far and we live in a safe neighbourhood. It was lots of fun and the waves were so huge that day!
“When it started to get dark I went home on my bike, and this jellyfish was following me. Dad says it’s not a jellyfish but he doesn’t know what it is, so I’m calling it a jellyfish. I named him Wowie cause that was my first thought when I saw him. It’s about the size of our dog, Max, and it’s entirely see-through! Well almost – there are these thin black stringy things inside. Dad says they look like veins, whatever those are. I can put my whole arm through Wowie and it doesn’t hurt him! It kinda tingles a little, but it’s so cool! It flops along like a tumbleweed when it walks. It has long tentacle arms like an octopus, only not as many; about four or five, and some aren’t as long.
“I brought him inside to show my mom. I couldn’t pick him up because my hands go right through him. It’s like he’s not there, but he is…I don’t know, but it’s really cool. Anyway Mom just screamed, “What is that thing! Get it out of the house!” I tried to tell her Wowie wasn’t dangerous but she wouldn’t listen to me. So I took him outside to play. But Mom came out to get me. She made me have a bath right away. I was worried something might happen to Wowie when he was outside all alone. What if he was hungry, or scared?
“When Dad got home later he we all talked about Wowie. Mom said it was dangerous, but Dad thought it was just something that washed up on the beach. He said Wowie was fake. I tried to tell them how awesome Wowie was, and that he totally wasn’t fake but they didn’t listen to me. After dinner Dad went outside with a box to try to catch Wowie. I could’ve gone out with him since Wowie wouldn’t run away from me, but they wouldn’t let me. Dad didn’t catch him, but he did see him. Dad said Wowie was real and he didn’t know what he was, but was weird and alien and stuff. He said he’d try to catch him again tomorrow. I tried to tell him: Wowie trusts me cause he’s my pet.
“I woke up early the next morning and snuck outside. I called for Wowie a few times, and he finally came, rolling over from across the street. I tried to give him a hug, but it’s hard. Wowie isn’t like other pets; he’s not furry. He’s like a fish, I guess. Yeah, a jellyfish is a kind of fish, right? So Wowie is a fish, and you can’t hug a fish – they’re too slippery.
“I don’t know what Wowie was doing all night, but he had little pieces of white and pink in him, like the gross kind of Jell-O. I reached in and pulled out a white piece, and it looked like a tooth.
“Then my dog Max came out and Wowie started playing with him. They rolled all over the yard, and in the end Max was inside Wowie. Max was wearing Wowie like doggy coat! It was so cool! Max didn’t like it, but Max never likes it when you put clothes on him. But soon he was fine, and he wore Wowie like a suit of armour – although it probably wouldn’t be very good, cause I could reach right into it and pet Max.
“So I waited until after Dad went to work and I snuck Wowie inside. I figured he would be hungry since he was out all night and had nothing to eat. Mom was still sleeping; she usually sleeps late on Saturday – so she wouldn’t know and freak out again. I didn’t know what Wowie wanted to eat, and he was really picky. I tried Cheerios and Captain Crunch and Frosted Flakes and even Dad’s stuff, Raisin Bran…” Ryan made a face, “…but he didn’t want any of it. Then I thought maybe he liked hot breakfast. So I started making him toast. I like to make peanut-butter and jam sandwiches with toast. I invented it myself; I call at toastwich.
“So I made one for Wowie but he didn’t want that either. So I ate it instead while I watched Spongebob. Then I played Xbox for a bit. Then I heard the shower running and I knew Mom was up, so I had to get Wowie out of the house before she saw him. Mom didn’t like him, and once Mom makes up her mind about something there’s nothing that can change it.
“But Wowie was gone. I looked everywhere for him. I was scared Mom was gonna find him first. But she just came out, looked at the kitchen and asked me why there were so many bowls of cereal. I told her I couldn’t make up my mind and she was a little upset that I’d wasted it – especially Dad’s cereal, but she said she wouldn’t tell him. She made me help her clean up, then go get dressed.
“And guess what? I found Wowie in my room. He was hiding under my bed – probably from Mom. He came out when I came in, and Max was still inside him, only now he was smaller. A lot of his fur was gone and he was all red, and his eyes were gone, and his teeth were sticking out. I gotta admit, he looked bad. But he seemed happy – he even wagged his tail – so I guess he was okay.
“I played in my room for a little while, until Mom called me. We had to go to the mall. I didn’t want to leave Wowie all alone, but I thought I could go to the pet store and get him some proper food. So I told him to stay in my room and I closed my door, and we went to the mall.
“But on the way Mom told me about my friend Justin’s birthday – I’d totally forgot! It was that day! I was so busy with Wowie. It was too bad I couldn’t take Wowie to the birthday party; Justin would’ve loved him. So I had to get a present and forgot about going to the pet store. And then I went to Justin’s party and had lots of fun.
“Then it was time to go, and one by one everyone’s Mom and Dad came to get them. But my Mom didn’t. After everyone left, we waited, like, an hour, and I called home, but there was no answer. So Justin’s Mom gave me a ride home.
“And guess what! You’re no gonna believe it! Mom had Wowie on her head! She was wearing him like an astronaut helmet. I don’t know how he got out of my room, and my door was still closed so Mom didn’t open my door. When I came into the kitchen I saw Mom cutting her arm off! She had a rope tied around her arm and was using the big knife to cut it off. There was blood everywhere!
“’What are you doing?’ I asked Mom. She told me she was feeding Wowie and he was hungry. She said everything would be okay, and it was for the best, and to go and play.
“She was acting totally weird. I asked why she liked Wowie now, and why she didn’t come get me after the party, but she just told me to go play. But I didn’t feel like playing. I just watched as she finished cutting her arm off, then look at it for a while. Then she asked me to help her cut off her foot. She said she couldn’t tie the rope with only one hand, and that the rope would help stop the bleeding.
“Now that was mondo strange. First of all, Mom never lets me touch the knives. Second of all, there was already a ton of blood everywhere, so I don’t think the rope was helping very much. So I told her no and she got mad at me. She told me she would cut me if I didn’t. I still said no and she started chasing me around the house, trying to kill me. I took her a minute to get up cause she slipped in the blood a lot, and I had time to run to the bathroom and look myself in. She got there and started kicking the door and hitting it with the knife. I didn’t know what made her go crazy. I was so scared. I didn’t know what to do.
“Finally I said I’d help. I mean, if I didn’t, she’d get me eventually. So she stopped trying to kill me and I got out of the bathroom. She gave me the knife and I went back to the kitchen. I grabbed the phone and ran back to the bathroom and dialled 9-1-1. Mom came at me again trying to break down the door. She knew what I was up to, but she didn’t have the knife this time so it wasn’t as bad, but I was still scared. I told 9-1-1 that Mom was trying to kill me and I gave the lady our address.
“Dad made it home from work before 9-1-1 got there. I knew because Mom stopped hitting the door and I heard shouting and fighting. I came out to see what was going on and saw Mom and Dad fighting – like seriously fighting. Mom had another knife and was trying to stab Dad and he this metal stove thing, blocking her and hitting her. He saw me and told me to run to the neighbour’s house. But I didn’t. I just watched as Mom pushed Dad over the couch and flew on top of him. She stabbed him a couple times. I don’t know how bad, but he managed to get the knife out of her hands and stab her with it. He stabbed Wowie with it.
“Oh yeah, the whole time Wowie was still on her head. But he was ok. I don’t think you can stab a jellyfish. It wouldn’t hurt anyway. So Dad stabbed Mom instead, right through the eye. She didn’t get back up after that. It was bad.”
Ryan paused for a moment, remembering the sombre night. His Dad had cried. He’d never seen his Dad cry before. He just kneeled beside his mother, weeping. He tried to get Wowie off her head but couldn’t.
“Ryan…” his teacher said, unsure if he was done his story, “this isn’t a funny story to tell.” Although her comment suggested that she thought he was making it up, she feared he was telling the truth.
“I know.” Ryan said. “I noticed all the blood on Dad’s shirt and asked him if he was okay. He just looked at me like he forgot I was there, and hugged me real hard and real long. Then he asked me if I was okay. I said, ‘I’m fine. You’re the one who’s all bloody.’
“He looked down at his shirt like he didn’t even know he was bleeding. Then he started laughing. But he was still crying – it was crazy.” Ryan shook his head.
“But then Wowie jumps on Dad’s head and he goes bonkers just like Mom. He tried to take Wowie off but he couldn’t. His hands kept slipping right though and he was grabbing his hair. Then there was a banging at the door. It was 9-1-1. They hollered to open up, and Dad got real still and quiet. He just stared for a moment. The police were banging on the door louder and I went to open it, but Dad stopped me. He grabbed me and dragged me to the garage. We got in the car and Dad tried to back out but the door was still down. I tried to tell him to open it but he just kept going back and forth until it got all mangled and fell down.
“Then we hit the police car. It was parked in the driveway right behind us. And Dad kept doing the same thing: trying to push it out of the way.
“’Dad! Stop’ I said. “’What are you doing?’
“But he didn’t say anything. I think he snapped. It was kinda scary.
The cops tried to get in the car but it was locked. They had their guns out and pointed at us but they didn’t shoot. I’m glad they didn’t shoot – I don’t want to get shot. And they might shoot Dad or Wowie. One guy got in the cop car and pushed us back into the garage so we couldn’t get out.
“Dad got out of the car and ran at the cops, and they shot him. But he didn’t stop. He jumped on one guy and started punching him. Then the other cop jumped on, and they were all fighting and rolling around on the ground. I didn’t know what to do. I screamed for everyone to stop but no one ever listens to me.
“More cops showed up and they stopped my Dad and put handcuffs on him. But he was really still now.” Ryan looked at the floor and took a deep breath. “I think that was when Dad died.”
He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see his teacher looming over him. “Ryan…this didn’t really happen, did it? You’re not making this up?” Ryan shook his head. “Your mother and father are both dead?”
“Yeah.”
She didn’t know what to say to this. She’d been a teacher for a long time and always knew when children were lying. Stretching the truth was a common thing for young boys to do, especially if it made for a good story. But this time she didn’t know what to think. Ryan seemed to be telling the truth, but the story was impossible.
“I don’t remember hearing about this on the news,” she said finally.
“Well…” Ryan started, beginning to fidget, “I’m not really supposed to talk about it. You know how in the end of E.T. when all the guys in white science jackets come and take E.T. away? My house was kinda like that for a few days. And they put me in a witness protection project. So I have a new mom and dad, but they’re not my real ones. And I have to have a new name, but I don’t know why. What’s wrong with my old one? I’m really Ben. They told me not to tell, so don’t say anything.”
“What…” she cleared her throat, “what happened to Wowie?”
Ryan shrugged. “I never saw him again. I think they took him away. I hope he’s okay.”
The class was silent, until a girl in the front row raised her hand. “Mrs. Johnson?” she asked
“Yes Jessica?”
“It’s show and tell. He’s supposed to bring something to show.”
“Oh!” Ryan said, and headed for his desk. “I almost forgot. Before I moved here they let me go to my house and get some things. Under my bed I found these.” He pulled an old jam jar out of his backpack. “I think they’re Wowie’s eggs. I put them in…oh, they hatched!”
He put the can down on his desk as dozens and dozens of tiny little jellyfish-type creatures poured out of it. They jumped and flung themselves all over the room, on the walls, and on the other children. Some thought they were cool; others began freaking out.
Ryan looked around the room with a big smile on his face, thinking of all the friends he was making.
The Chris Effect 