Chapter 3
Tommy & Joe Meet MIGHTOR
This was not the first time that Tommy had lain in his bed, at night, and wondered if he was really as safe as he thought he was. Sometimes he’d imagine that if he let his arm hang over the side of the bed something might grab it and pull him, struggling for freedom, under the bed to meet a fate far worse than death! Of course, now that Tommy was older, he knew that there was no such thing as monsters that lived in the dark, foreboding, dust and shadows that lurked beneath his bed! However, he wasn’t always so certain. Even though Tommy was a fearless and strong young man, he started out as a child just like anyone else.
Tommy could scarcely remember when he first acquired his apprehension at the ominous sound of thunder, and the eerie flashes of lightning. It was the night that his Dad went away. He was very young then. No more than four years old. Even to this day he remains uncertain whether he dreamed it, as his Mother persistently insists, or if it really happened! All he knows is that it was a stormy night, very much like this one.
Lying in the same bed, in the same room, that he occupied that night, ten years ago, Tommy could remember the strange sounds and shouting that had awakened him. He remembered looking out of his window, at the big Oak Tree, and seeing the strange fiery pit at it’s base. As each lightning flash illuminated his room in the brilliant bluish light it was as if he was reliving the entire, horrible, dream!
There was his Mother, his Father, and someone, or something, else. They were standing by the edge of the flaming pit, and Tommy’s Father and Mother seemed to be having an argument with the other hulking figure. Suddenly Tommy’s Dad was standing between the other figure and his Mom. Then there was a hollow thump as his Dad and the menacing figure leapt at each other and began to wrestle about. A fierce battle ensued for what seemed like an interminable time until the two of them tumbled into the flaming pit which then closed over them with a thunderous crash that threw Tommy to the floor, unconscious.
When Tommy awoke, after that eerie experience, it was daylight. He jumped to his feet with the memory of what he’s seen still fresh in his mind. He ran to the window and looked outside to fine the old Oak Tree exactly where it was supposed to be, and not a sign of the flaming pit that he remembered.
When he went downstairs to greet his Mother she seemed perfectly normal, except that her hands seemed to tremble a little when she told Tommy that his Dad had gone away for a while. When Tommy told his Mom about what he’d seen, she never came right out and said that it hadn’t happened but, nevertheless, insisted that what Tommy had described was so outlandish that it must have been a dream! Dream or not, that was the last time Tommy had seen his Dad for the past ten years! Now, with the thunder and lightning crashing all around the house and creating such a wild display of shadows and light on the walls of Tommy’s room, all of those nightmarish memories came flooding back into Tommy’s mind. He was seized by an inexplicable sense of apprehension which was the nearest thing to fear that Tommy had ever experienced!
The rain pounded against the window like gravel and it seemed, for all the world, that the glass would surely burst into a thousand fragments. Tommy had a sudden urge to pull the bedcovers up over his head to shut out the wildly dancing, eerie shadow images that the lightning, shining through the branches of the old Oak, cast upon the bedroom walls. First the lightning would illuminate the room, and then the thunder would cause the room to shudder with it’s reverberations.
Even with the covers over his head, Tommy could still see the light of the lightning flashes. However, everyone knows that the covers on the bed have magical properties that protect us from the demonic creatures that lurk in the shadows, beneath the bed. Their magical powers are only effective when they are pulled clear up over our heads. Then, nothing can penetrate the magic shield that protects us. Tommy had not yet learned this secret.
"Joe!" Tommy whispered. "Joe! Where are you, boy?" Tommy pulled the life-saving covers off so that he could look around and see if he could spot his best friend in the light of the next flash of lightning. Tommy didn’t realize how taught his muscles were until the wind blew one of the window shutters against the wall with a sudden, loud, bang! Tommy nearly leaped from the bed. Now he was beginning to become concerned with where his dog was. This was completely unlike Joe. He was always lying on the carpet, near Tommy’s bed, where he could be instantly aware if Tommy made any effort to get out of bed, or leave.
As Tommy lay there, in the periodic blackness and brilliant flashes of light, he heard a scuffling sound from under his bed. Of course, Joe must’ve crawled under the bed! The next flash of lightning revealed an empty room except for a wardrobe, a chest of drawers, the bed, and many weird shadows dancing demonically on the walls and floor. It must be Joe, under the bed, making those noises. He’s probably just hiding under the bed because he’s scared of the storm, Tommy thought to himself, but he would lean over the side of the bed and have a look just to be certain. He leaned over the side of the bed to look for his friend in the next flash of lightning.
Suddenly something grabbed him around the neck and pulled him onto the floor with a thump! He found himself in a might grip and, try as he would, he couldn’t wriggle free! His struggles were in vain, and in a few moments he had vanished into the inky darkness beneath his bed!
Tommy felt as though he were melting and being sucked down a drain into the blackest darkness he had ever experienced, and all the while whatever had him in it’s grip had not even slightly diminished it’s grip! It seemed to last interminably, but was actually probably only a few moments until he found himself in a world of darkness, dim shadows, and no sun or moon!
Tommy felt that there was something nearby, but in the gloominess that surrounded him his eyes could see nothing but vague outlines of darker against the dark
"Owowowoooooor!" It was the unmistakable sound of Joe’s howl coming from somewhere behind Tommy. He felt the warmth of reassurance swelling in his chest at the knowledge that his lifelong friend was somewhere near, and safe. At least for the time being!
"Joe! Joe! Where are you boy?" Tommy urgently interrogated. In a moment he felt the warm wetness of Joe’s tongue licking his hand in greeting! The two friends had never been so glad to have each other nearby in all their lives!
"Fudgewackers, Joe! What happened? Where are we? I’ve got a feeling that we’re not in my bedroom anymore! Tommy’s voice was trembling, but feeling Joe’s warm body nearby made him feel less alarmed. "I can’t see hardly anything! The last thing I remember I was trying to see if you were under the bed! That was when something grabbed me and pulled me onto the floor! Wait! My eyes must be adjusting to the light. I think I can make out where we are!
Even though Tommy was having trouble seeing in the darkness, Joe’s uncanny sense of smell painted a picture that was nearly as vivid as if he could see. The most overwhelming feature of this strange place was the disgusting smell of an outhouse, and the disturbingly frequent sounds of something scuffling about all around them! There was also a dank, musty smell, like dead leaves rotting in the Autumn moisture. The surface upon which they stood felt like wet clay, but smelled like mushrooms. Just above the ground were countless gleaming little points of light that danced and darted here and there, in pairs, accompanied by the scuffling sounds.
The scuffling sounds abruptly stopped when a deep, resonant voice muttered. "So Mightor caught someone else, huh?" Tommy and Joe were startled to discover that they, obviously, were not alone in this Godforsaken dimness!
By now Tommy’s eyes had adjusted enough that he could see where the voice was coming from. It seemed to be a man, and since there were no menacing sounds coming from Joe, Tommy stood his ground and waited to see what came next.
"Do you know where you are or what happened?"
"All I know is I want to go back home, and that’s just where me and Joe aim to go just as soon as we can make out our way!" Tommy said with confidence.
"Oh! Looks like we got us a feisty little twirp! No matter, for Mightor will make short work of you! He’s the one that brought you here and he’s the one that will keep you here!" These words, spoken by this unknown character, could strike terror into the heart of any young man. Tommy, though, was a different matter, for he had no understanding of fear. Nor did Joe. Besides, there was something oddly familiar about this character’s voice.
Tommy tried to reassure Joe, as he had begun to growl softly, when his body against Tommy’s leg, had sensed Tommy begin to tense. "There isn’t anybody, or anything that’s going to stop us when we’re ready to go," said Tommy, with defiance, "and now that I can see better I reckon we’ll be doing just that, directly!"
The man burst into laughter. "Only my son, Tommy, would have nerve enough to be that defiant with Mightor!"
"Your son? Your son’s name is Tommy?" Tommy said with obvious excitement. "Who are you, anyway?"
"The name’s Bob Sharp. So who’s asking?"
"Pa!" Tommy shouted. "It’s me, Tommy!" The emotions of the moment when the father and son were reunited, after ten years, were shattered when Joe began to growl, menacingly.
From out of the misty fog that enshrouded this strange place, a hulking figure, bigger than the largest bear that Tommy had ever heard tell of, came walking. He had a face much like an Owl’s, but the glowing green eyes were set on either side of the head instead of the face, making it possible for the creature to see 360 degrees. His nose was like a dogs, black with flaring nostrils, but flat on his face. His mouth was like that of a serpent, opening and closing on empty air with each breath that he took. It seemed to obscure the rest of his face, when it was open, revealing row after row of razor sharp teeth! His body was like a hairy Pear – narrow near the head, but round and thick near the legs. His arms and legs were like the tentacles of an Octopus, but the arms had human-like hands on the ends, and the legs had human-like feet. Instead of walking upright, he walked using his hands and feet like an Ape.
"Cringe and whimper, little man with the mangy mutt, for you now gaze upon the all-powerful Mightor!" The voice of Mightor sounded like a rumbling, hissing, growl that caused Tommy’s blood to run cold and a shiver to dance up and down his spine! "Welcome to the Dimension of Darkness! You shall be my slave forever more, and never see the lighted world again!"
"Why have you brought us her, Mr. Mightor? What use can we possibly be to you?’ asked Tommy. He felt for the knife that he carried with him on all his explorations through the forest near home, but then realized that he’d been in his night-shirt when he went to sleep. He’d never had a chance to grab his breeches before being dragged into this strange land of darkness! "What kind of creature are you, living in a lightless land like this?"
"I am the mighty Mightor, the nightmare of all mankind! I’m the menarche of monsters, and all the terror ever dreamt of! All those unfortunate enough to fall into my clutches are my prisoners, and nourishment for my insatiable hunger for human flesh! Even I must obey the will of the Great Spirit, however, for He has mandated that I give any I capture the opportunity to solve my riddle to gain freedom for them and their associates!"
"Well, Mr. Mightor, what might your riddle be?" Tommy bravely asked.
"So you wish to attempt the fruitless challenge of the riddle to gain your freedom? Alright then, try your fortune, but remember that there’s no pressure. You and your associates will just be drawn and quartered if you fail!" He laughed sadistically. "If you succeed you will go free!
A riddle, a riddle I’ll rhyme for thee.
The answer is known to no other but me:
The day is a place where we seldom live.
A smile is a gift I never shall give.
There’s many of us, and yet there’s
just one.
At the finish we start. At the start we are
done!
Who am I?"
"Now quickly, little man, my appetite is growing. Who is the riddle about?"
Tommy thought and thought. "The day is a place where we seldom live." Only night things don’t live in the day. There’s nothing in the night that I know of to smile anyway! "There’s many of us and yet there’s just one." It must be stars, Tommy thought. Yet even though there’s many of them, there sure isn’t just one! Well maybe the next line will give me a clue; "At the finish we start. At the start we are done." What finishes at the start? The day finishes when the night starts, and the day starts when the night is done, but that would be day and night, which is two!
"That’s it!" Tommy shouted as he literally jumped with joy. "It’s the SUNSET!"
Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light that lit everything around Tommy and Joe just before it temporarily blinded him! For just an instant he could see people scurrying here and there, trying to avoid the sight of Mightor. That must’ve been the source of the little scuffling sounds that he and Joe had heard earlier. He also noticed many fat, slimy, fur-covered serpent creatures that explained the gleaming little points of light that danced and darted, in pairs, all around him and Joe. The next thing that he knew he, Joe, and his Dad were all back in his room with the storm still raging outside.
"Fudgewackers, Joe, it musta been a dream! By golly though, that was the goldarndest dream I ever had, huh, boy?"
"Nope! You weren’t dreaming, son," came the voice of Tommy’s Dad, "and I’ve never been more proud of you!"
"Owowowooooooor!" Joe howled, softly, as he licked the smell of mushrooms from his five-toed paw.
-end-
...To be continued.
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