Mr. Oddley's Toy Shop

by S.J. Armato

  Mom wrinkled her brow and said matter-of-factly, “So why did you just shout out her name? And oh, Molly called about a half hour ago. Tim, too. Didn’t you see them at work today?”

  “Yes, no... oh, I don’t know, Mom. Why all these questions? Why can’t you ever leave me alone?” Then a flustered Maggie ran upstairs to her room and slammed the door.

  Mom thought for a moment and decided to let it go. Maybe her daughter had had a rough day. So, to make peace, she called up to Maggie, “Sorry honey, didn’t mean to Mom you to death. Veggie burgers for dinner. Come down when you’re ready.”

  Maggie called back to her Mom, saying, “I’ll be right there.” Then she opened her jewelry case and took out a sparkling glass necklace. She held it before her desk lamp and watched as a constellation of lights were set free to dance about the room; while thinking, thinking, all the while thinking.

  “If anyone would know where Mr. Oddley is, it would be Rob,” she whispered to herself. “And, being the loud mouth he is, he probably would have told Daphne. It should be a cinch to get that information out of her.”

  Chapter 21

  The next morning Maggie vacuumed down her breakfast and, a few minutes earlier than usual, headed off for school. But she took a slight detour, and took a side trip to the toy shop instead.

  After making sure she wasn’t being watched, she let herself in, went down to the basement, and opened an uninteresting wooden box resting inconspicuously in a shadowy corner of the room. It was an invisible item located in plain sight.

  And from that box she carefully removed a tiny plastic container, which held a sand-sized particle of Incredimite. Even that tiniest little bit of crystal radiated with a faint purple fire.

  Staring determinedly, if not hypnotically, into the glow, she moved to the work table, placed the container down, and took her glass necklace from her bookbag.

  Using tweezers, she then took the Incredimite particle from its container and adhered it to the jewel, using a special glue that Mr. Oddley had developed. This glue all but hid the Incredimite as it firmly fused the crystal into place. She admired her efforts.

  “Don’t know if this will work,” she said to herself apprehensively, then shrugged, “But it’s worth a try.”

  She placed the necklace in her bag, locked up, and headed for school, and to a rarely used stairwell where she knew Daphne usually hid during homeroom class.

  ***

  Daphne’s jet black hair was a nice contrast to the enormous pink bubble that was slowly expanding from her mouth. It popped, she gathered it together, and started chewing again, as she and Maggie stared uncertainly at each other, as if they were two separate species trying to communicate. And I suppose in a sense they were, but they were still close enough on the evolutionary ladder that some exchange of words and ideas should be possible. Hopefully, anyway.

  “Rob’s not here,” said Daphne for the third time.

  “That’s fine, I wanted to talk to you,” answered Maggie for the third time.

  Their dialogue, such as it was, was going nowhere, except maybe in circles, and they were rapidly approaching a stalemate, with neither player able to advance. A new approach was needed.

  “Rob’s not...,” began Daphne for round four.

  “Say, have you seen this?” interrupted Maggie, as she pulled out a pack of Chew On This, Bubble Gum. “It’s new!” She had come prepared.

  “Oh, let me see, let me see,” bubbled Daphne as she reached for the pack like a young child. “I just love bubble gum.”

  “No... really? I had no idea,” fired Maggie blandly, but her sarcasm went unnoticed.

  Maggie held the pack as Daphne read with great concentration, her lips slowly forming each word. “Wow,” she said, “this is made with real Chicle. It’s a sap or kind of rubber from the sapodilla tree which grows in Central America. Gum used to be made of it years ago, but now companies use an artificial version. Flavors are mixed in along with sugar to make chewing gum. When you chew it, the ‘rubber’ releases the flavors into your mouth. Cool, huh?”

  “Actually, it is,” agreed a very impressed Maggie, her mind now racing. Oh my goodness, this kid is a chewing gum genius. Who knew?

  “This is wonderful Maggie. Can I have a piece?” begged Daphne.

  “Sure, take the whole pack.”

  “Wow, are you s-sure?”

  “Yeah, I’m sure, my gift to you,” said Maggie as she placed the gum into Daphne’s trembling hands.

  With great ceremony, Daphne unwrapped a piece, popped it into her mouth, made a dreamy face, and said, “Rob’s not here, you know?”

  Shocked into speechlessness, her mouth opened and closed, but no words took shape. Maggie could do nothing other than stare at Daphne in amazement... then she remembered the necklace.

  This necklace had been part of a Do-it-Yourself Hypnosis Kit she had gotten as a gift a couple of years back. She and Molly had tried to hypnotize Bernie but had succeeded only in putting him to sleep. And considering Bernie slept about 20 hours a day, that was no great accomplishment. So, the kit hadn’t worked and she’d thrown it out, but she’d kept the cool necklace. So now, with the added touch of Incredimite... might it work? She pulled the glittering glass gem from her pocket.

  “Daphne, how do you like this necklace?” Asked Maggie in a calm steady voice, as she waved it slowly before Daphne’s eyes. “Take a good look at the sparkling lights. Isn’t it relaxing? Peaceful? It almost makes you sleepy, doesn’t it? But that’s OK. Just look and relax. Look and relax. Look and relax...”

  Success!!! Maggie had succeeded in hypnotizing Daphne…but, uh, apparently herself as well, because the next thing Maggie knew, she and Daphne were sitting side-by-side supported by the stairwell’s cold, dirty, grey walls. But while Maggie was now fully awake, Daphne was just sitting there, eyes wide, but with a vacant expression on her face... and a tiny strand of bubble gum stuck to her chin. Hey, she was hypnotized! Maggie stood, slowly and silently, and said, “Daphne, can you hear me?”

  “Yes,” whispered a barely audible Daphne.

  “Good, good, why are you whispering?” asked Maggie.

  “So no one will hear me,” whispered Daphne again.

  “But why?” asked Maggie.

  “People always laugh because I seem to have a knack for saying the wrong thing. They think I’m dumb, so it’s easier to just act dumb.”

  Maggie was thinking this situation might be bigger than her 12-year-old brain’s ability to deal with; and she was wishing she was someplace, anyplace other than here. All she could think to say was, “But you’re not dumb.”

  “Maybe not, but my Mom says I’m dumb, and Rob says I’m dumb,” sobbed Daphne, her eyes turning liquidly sad.

  Maggie found herself furious at the injustice of it all, but she had an idea. She placed her hands firmly on Daphne’s shoulders and said, “No, Daphne, listen to me, you are not dumb. You are smart. You know lots of things. Like about gum... and... and... uh, I’m sure lots more stuff.”

  “I’m... I’m really good at mountain climbing and bowling,” Daphne said mechanically.

  “Mountain climbing and bowling. Really? Huh! Well OK, see, now all you need to do is believe in yourself. All you need to do is learn to respect yourself. Daphne, when I count to three, you will wake up happy and refreshed, and with only good thoughts. One... two... three.”

  Daphne yawned, looked around and finally stood. Then she said something that really surprised Maggie. “I remember everything that just happened here. I kind of felt like I was asleep but awake at the same time. Sorry I was so sappy. You were very kind to me. You tried to help and your words meant a lot. I’ll try to remember them. Deep down I know I’m not dumb. Socially clueless, yeah, but not dumb. I act that way because it makes things easier for me.” Then she gave Maggie a hug. “Now, I know you didn’t come and see me to catch up on old times. What do you need to know?” she asked.

  Maggie left a few minutes later, happy because while D
aphne didn’t know where Mr. Oddley was, she knew Rob definitely did, and happy because she’d learned something about someone she had always written off as being... well, not worth knowing. And she had been wrong. Daphne had some problems, who doesn’t, but she was a smart, sweet, and sensitive kid. She made a promise to herself not to make that mistake again. Made a promise to get to know Daphne better. And made a promise to find Rob and get him to lead her to Mr. Oddley. But that would have to wait until the afternoon. She was already terribly late for class.

  ***

  It was almost 4 pm when Maggie finally found him, sitting with his friends on crates behind the Continue-Um Diner. “I know that you know, so don’t make believe you don’t know where he is,” she snapped. “So tell me.”

  Rob smiled, and with exaggerated movements looked to his left and his right. Then he threw up his hands in mock frustration and said, “What could that annoying buzzing sound be?” His band of followers laughed hysterically.

  Still not acknowledging Maggie’s presence, Rob made a series of foul comments and indecent gestures in every direction, and began to walk away. Maggie put herself directly in his path. He pushed her down to the ground and she landed hard on her backside. Rob stood there grinning as his gang, now bored, filed off to wherever it is gangs file off to. “Why are you stalking me Margaret? I already have a girlfriend. I suggest you leave now, while only your butt is sore.” For emphasis, he punched a fist into his palm.

  An angry Maggie, movie-action-hero style, swung a foot at Rob, caught his ankle, and sent him crashing to the ground like a house of cards. He gasped, trying to retrieve the wind that had been knocked out of him.

  But as Maggie tried to stand, Rob grabbed both her ankles, pulled hard, and sent her back down again. She landed with a loud thud and lay there stunned.

  Rob, himself now sore and no longer smiling, stood and appeared to grow to gigantic proportions, as he towered menacingly over Maggie. Then both his hands slowly and angrily clenched into fists.

  Suddenly, without warning, four hands gripped Rob’s arms and pulled him down. Those arms held on as he swore and yelled and threatened... but to no avail, the arms had him. Maggie lifted her head, and by that time the arms had sprouted legs, which had wrapped themselves tightly around Rob’s legs. He was pinned to the ground, struggling in vain, unable to free himself. As Maggie stood she saw, with great joy and relief, the familiar faces of Molly and Tim, along with Eeny Meeny and Bernie. They couldn’t have arrived at a better time.

  Continuing her earlier interrogation, first rubbing her sore backside and neck, Maggie folded her arms, looked down and said forcefully, “Now, tell me, Rob, where is he?”

  “I’m not telling you anything, and you two idiots let go of me. When I get my hands on you I’ll...”

  “You’re in no position to make threats, are you?” offered Molly.

  “H-hardly,” grunted Tim.

  “Let me up, now!” bellowed Rob.

  “No,” said Maggie calmly. “I’m giving you one last chance before I bring in...” Her eyes shifted toward Bernie and Eeny Meeny.. “Tell us, where...is...he?”

  “NO NEVER!” shouted Rob. Then his face grew long. “Hey, you’re n-not going to let your dog g-get me, are you?”

  “No... but...” she smiled as she reached down and picked up Eeny Meeny, who was purring quite loudly, by the scruff.

  Maggie positioned Eeny Meeny an inch from Rob’s face, and said, “Rob, I’m giving you one last chance. Where is Mr. Oddley?”

  “Bite me. And get that thing away from me,” yelled Rob. He spit viciously at the cat, but missed and felt it dribble down his neck.

  “OK then, you asked for it” said Maggie as she began to rub the cat’s fur briskly onto Rob’s face, making sure to make firm contact with his nostrils and eyes. Rob struggled to pull away from this furry assault but couldn’t. And soon he was coughing and wheezing and sneezing pathetically, as his eyes became red and puffy, and his face became mottled with raised red blotches. Maggie had remembered that Rob hated, and, more to the point, was allergic to, cats.

  “Tell us Rob! Tell us!”

  “No, never!” he sputtered and wheezed.

  But then, when Maggie stuck Eeny Meeny’s tail up Rob’s left nostril, his eyes bulged out and he finally gave in and blurted out, “Liza and Oddley are at the Universi-Toy lab. They were kidnapped to get the secret on using the crystals. Get that cat off of me!”

  “You’re going to take us there, right now,” ordered Maggie. Rob nodded weakly.

  Molly and Tim released him after Maggie’s firm warning that their cat was still fully loaded and they weren’t afraid to use him again if they needed to.

  But the warning wasn’t necessary, as Rob was too miserable and exhausted to fight after that feline furball attack. At the moment he didn’t care about Liza, Oddley, the crystals, or anything. All he wanted to do was blow his nose, wash his face to get the dander off, and slink on home.

  But first, he had to lead the way to the toy lab.

  Chapter 22

  The Universi-Toy research center was an eyesore, plain and simple. It was located in a no-man’s land that was far from the center of any town in any direction. Except for a thin strip of gravel walkway, even in winter this was where weeds ruled. The huge building itself was sandwiched between a junkyard and the State Highway Department’s sand and salt storage facility. This highfalutin toy company’s lab looked like a gigantic aluminum shed. Maggie, Molly, Tim, and a somewhat recuperated Rob, stood side-by-side outside the gate to the property. Maggie whispered, “Go home Rob.”

  He didn’t need to be told twice. He started walking quickly back toward home. And when he felt he was a safe enough distance away, he yelled back, “This isn’t the end of it. I’ll get all of you for this. I swear I will.”

  “Don’t swear,” Molly yelled back, “or we’ll wash your mouth out with soap... no, make that cat.” They watched him fade into the distance, feeling strangely sad for this angry, pitiful creature.

  But anyway, back to business. Once they walked through the gate, how were they going to get into the building? And if they did get in, how exactly were they going to get Mr. Oddley and Liza out? Maggie had to admit to herself, she’d pulled a Molly. Jumping in without thinking things through, without a plan, and going solely on gut feelings. But maybe some situations worked best with that approach. Well, they’d see soon enough if this was one such situation, wouldn’t they?

  ***

  Liza had been brought into the room, and was told to sit still and be quiet. She nodded and managed to send a quick sad smile in Mr. Oddley’s direction. The best he could muster in return was a frown.

  He had just examined the toys Merless’ men had worked with. And there was something very wrong. In spite of having a bit of Incredimite crystal embedded in them, they all functioned in a bizarrely defective manner. For example, if someone flung a boomerang, in any direction, it would return to whack that person on the head, time after time. It made no sense.

  Mr. Oddley asked to examine bits of the Incredimite under a microscope, and that’s when he saw it. A vibration along with the slight shift in color, from purple toward red. They appeared saturated with energy, and had thus become unstable. But why?

  “Ah, did your researchers do, ah, something to these crystals?” asked Mr. Oddley.

  “What? No, of course not, stop wasting time, are you going to fix this or not, and it better not be not, or you and Liza will...” Suddenly one of his people meekly stepped forward and whispered in his ear.

  This scared little man was the one who had ordered Liza’s kidnapping. The one who planned on making a big name for himself in the company. Unfortunately, he was also the one who had screwed up the crystals. So now, as far as Merless was concerned, this guy’s name was mud.

  “What the @#!%#,” bellowed and stomped Merless. “Why doesn’t anybody tell me anything around here?” Then he turned to face Mr. Oddley. “This fool has informed me that durin
g testing the crystals were zapped with a high power laser. Shouldn’t matter though, right?”

  Mr. Oddley felt he needed to choose his words very carefully. It was obvious that Merless was already one egg short of a dozen in the control your temper department. And you know how fragile eggs are! “I, uh, think, uh, that, uh... OK, because of the crystal’s capacity to absorb and retain spectral energy, they have somehow become ionized. Ions are atoms that have acquired electrical charges. This change in state has rendered them too volatile to use.”

  “In plain English, Oddley, give it to me in plain English.”

  “You broke them.”

  Merless started pacing the room like a caged tiger. “But, dammit, Oddley, I have plans for this Incredimite of yours. Big plans. And those plans are to sell tennis rackets, baseball bats, and golf clubs to professional athletes who are looking for an... edge. People would be willing to pay anything to win, anything. I can make millions with this crazy crystal of yours, millions. You’ve got to fix this!”

  “But I just dabble in these things,” said a bewildered Mr. Oddley. “I’m not a scientist.”

  “Well, you’d better become one fast.” And with that Merless slammed his right fist down hard, aiming for a clear area of the table but, unfortunately, smashing onto the crystals Mr. Oddley had been examining. Shards of Incredimite became embedded in his hand, and he watched in horror as these radiant splinters melded into his skin. He stumbled backward as his fingers and palm momentarily flashed into an icy cold violet flame, seemed to transform momentarily into crystal, then back to normal again. Almost normal that is, for his skin had now taken on a curiously hard, glassy appearance. “What’s happening to my hand?” he choked, his eyes wide with fear.

  He stared at the thing below his wrist as if it might consume him. Then he rotated it, wiggled its fingers, and finally, smiling, made it into a fist; which he brought down hard, once again, upon the table. The sturdy furniture smashed to the floor in a cascade of splinters, as if made from popsicle sticks; his defective crystals scattering all about the room like trinkets falling from a broken chain. Everyone cleared away rather quickly.

  “Did you all see that?” Merless cackled. “I’m as strong as an ox. As strong as Hercules.” Then he turned to Mr. Oddley. “So, it appears you were wrong and the crystals are not completely broken. Look what’s happened. My hand is like a sledge hammer. Hmm, I wonder what it would be like to have two hammers at my disposal?” And with that thought Merless knelt on one knee, laughed hysterically, and slammed his left fist down hard onto a sharp piece of crystal. The transformation occurred as before, yet not exactly as before. His left hand grew from a size medium to an extra large, and it had taken on the look of a cut diamond.