I took the elevator down to Ford's lab. I walked in by myself and looked for my dad.
I ended up finding Ford, on the floor again. My dad just stood over him and watched. He chanted something quietly under his breath.
“...Dad?” I asked hesitantly. He quickly turned around and looked at me. His eyes were normal. “Oh, hey kiddo.”
“What happened to Grunkle Ford?”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s on the floor…and he’s not moving.”
My dad smiled. “That’s because he’s coming.”
“What?” He clearly didn’t mean Ford. I subconsciously reached for my blaster.
My dad laughed a little. “You don’t see it? The future is coming. Just like Dr. Sean Swivel said. It’s coming fast. He’s a part of it. You’re a part of it. All of us are a part of it.”
“What are you-”
“We’ll all burn in hellish fire. In the eternal flame that is the wrath of the one-eyed god himself. The flame that vanishes any human being capable of detecting weakness in the highest power of the universe.”
“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!?” My scream echoed. It echoed so loudly, that suddenly I found myself awakening. I don’t even remember falling asleep.
Stan was at the wheel. He glared a bit at the road as Soos and Theo obnoxiously sang songs and ate their ice cream.
I looked down at my lap. My small cup of mint chocolate chip was basically just a soup now.
“Well, good morning,” Stan said to me, quickly interrupting Soos and Theo’s interpretation of ‘Shake it Off.’
“How long was I asleep?” I asked.
“You conked out as soon as you got in the car.” Stan said. “I tried waking you up but you were out cold.”
“...” I slowly nodded and sipped the milkshake out of my ice cream cup. “Are we almost at the Mystery Shack?”
“I was gonna stop by the store and pick up some food,” Stan said. “Because apparently all Soos knows how to make are sandwiches and cereal.”
“That’s all a man needs!” Soos protested.
Stan sighed.
I frowned. I needed to make sure this dream wasn’t even close to real. For all I knew, my uncle and dad could be in danger.
Stan pulled up to the supermarket and got out. He had put his coat back on, this time zipped up. He got out of the car and started to walk inside.
“Wait for me!” Theo quickly said, pulling the peg by the window to unlock his door. He quickly swung the car door open and ran after Grunkle Stan.
Soos watched. “I’m glad the little guy’s getting used to everyone.”
I nodded. “Soos? Can you do me a favor?”
“Sure..? Maybe. Depends on what it is.”
“We’re not too far from the Mystery Shack. Do you think you can drive me back real quick and then loop around to get Stan and my brother?”
Soos nodded slowly. “Why do you want to go back so badly?”
“I had a nightmare about my dad and Ford. I need to make sure they’re okay.”
He nodded, apparently understanding that it was totally plausible that my dream wasn’t just a dream at all. He climbed into the driver’s seat and started to drive me home to the shack.
A car made a huffing sound and jumped. I tensed. “Did the car just hiccup?”
The hood of the car popped open with a bunch of smoke. Soos quickly pulled the truck over before it could die on us. The hood of the car lit aflame.
I vaguely could see two little creatures jump out of the hood. They looked like little mushroom men. One had a wrench, and the other held a small can. They made quick eye contact with me with their beady little eyes before hopping down from the car, tucking into little balls like armadillos, and rolling down the side of the curb and into the woods.
I pushed open the door. Soos looked at me. “Dude, where are you going!?”
“I’ll be right back!” I said. “Focus on fixing the car- if you need help then I can help.”
“Nah, it’s okay! I used to be a repairman, dude!”
“Okay. Then repair the truck. I gotta catch some little rascals.” I quickly grabbed my satchel and hopped over the curb, darting into the woods and running after the tiny footsteps in the mud.
I heard squeaking sounds. Assuming they were the little mushroom men, I ran faster and followed the sounds.
I spotted the little fungi digging a hole underneath a tree. I grabbed them both by their tiny feet, pulling them up and holding them upside down. “Gotcha.”
They squeaked and tried to wriggle away. I shook them. “Why’d you blow up Soos’ truck, huh?”
The mushroom with the red head looked at the one with the white one. The red one shrugged.
I shook them again. “Did someone put you up to this? I should warn you, I keep matches on me at all times. And a plasma blaster. I would confess if I were you.” I didn’t even know if they could understand me. They seemingly spoke a whole other language.
The red mushroom pointed to a circle of stones that protruded out of the lush green grass on a shallow hilltop. I followed its implied directions and walked over to them.
The white mushroom hopped down and swiped my satchel.
I quickly kicked it away. “HEY!”
It quickly waved its hands in a ‘no’ gesture. It pointed to one of my dad’s journals. I pulled it out and opened it for the creature. It flipped to its own page, where it showed both of the little mushroom guys. ‘Mush and Shroom. Dynamic duo: can steal, break into, or absolutely demolish anything if paid right. Accept unicorn dung as payment and sometimes fairy wings. Weaknesses: If they do not uphold their deal, the unicorns will punish them in Fantasy Court of Law.’
The white mushroom, Shroom, quickly backed up to his brother. I frowned at the page. “You work for unicorn poop?”
Shroom nodded. Assuming the dung was just as magical as the hair, or even more so, I assumed it was a key source of subsistence for the magical creatures.
So someone did put them up to the task. “Who’s paying you?” I asked.
Mush made a triangle shape with his two fingered hands over his eyes.
“Oh, right. Bill. Obviously. I guess he’s giving you a surplus to mess with my family, huh?”
Mush nodded.
“And if you don’t do it, the unicorns will put you in jail? Or something similar?”
Mush nodded. He made a ‘gun’ gesture with his hands and jabbed his brother in the chest. Shroom pretended to hold the fake wound and collapse.
“You’ll be punished,” I translated. “Or even killed.”
Mush nodded again.
I sighed. “I’m sorry. But if you have no choice but to mess with me and my family then I’m afraid I can’t let you go.” I put my journal away and pulled out my blaster.
The creatures squealed in fear and quickly darted away before I could seize my opportunity to execute them.
I sighed and just started to walk back to Soos.
Soos had finished repairing the truck. “So, did you find the creatures you were looking for?” He asked, closing the hood.
I nodded. “Bill recruited them. But they got away before I could shoot them.”
“What do they look like?”
“They’re these little mushroom men..one red one white. They’re brothers named Mush and Shroom according to my dad’s journal.”
“Strange. I’ll tell Stan to keep an eye out.”
I nodded. “Let’s go pick him up and head back to the shack. He’s probably waiting for us.”
We pulled the car up. Stan sat there with the shopping cart and glared. “What took you knuckleheads so long? You were supposed to wait in the parking lot!”
“Sorry Mr. Pines,” Soos said. “We got into a little trouble with the mushrooms.”
“The what?”
“I’ll explain on the way,” I told Stan. “Please, just get in the car so we can go home. I need to make sure dad and Ford are okay.”
“What? Did something happen to them?” He pulled Theo out of the cart and set him in his seat, then he started to load the groceries into the back of the truck.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “All I know is that I don’t trust my nightmares anymore. Anything could be real. And if it is real, then both Ford and my dad are in big trouble.”
Stan quickly hurried up and got in the car. Soos started driving us back to the shack.
Stan growled. “SCOOT OVER, SOOS!” Stan took the wheel and stepped on the gas. Theo quickly grabbed onto the seat. I smiled a bit, thrilled.
Theo grabbed onto my arm. “Too fast! I think this is over the speed limit, Grunkle Stan!”
“What speed limit?” Stan said. “I can’t see anything!”
I laughed. Theo looked at me like I was insane. And perhaps I was.
