by Manny Xavier
could drag in an awful lot of dirt.
He reached up to the boot shelf and grabbed his winter boots. They had fur in them which kept his feet nice and warm. Important stuff when you are dealing with the cold and even more important when you are dealing with the Thabberwucky. He pulled on his coat, hat and scarf – followed lastly by his gloves. He was all set for a day in the cold and of course for dealing with the Thabberwucky.
Max opened the door into the garage cuatiouslty. He studied the dark corners with great care. These were some of the Thabberwucky’s favorite hiding spots. Max wanted to make sure that the Thabberwucky did not catch him by surprise before he could get outside.
The Thabberwucky loved the shadows. It could blend in there like a quiet unassuming darkness becoming one with the dark gray areas of lowlight. It could stalk its prey from shadow to shadow, waiting with great patience for the victim to come just ever too close to the shadows, and be “gobbled up” before it could escape. Max knew all about the Thabberwucky’s deceptive tricks. He knew how to avoid them as well.
The shadows would not prove useful to the Thabberwucky today. Max clicked the lightswitch and bounded down the steps leading into the garage. He reached up and pressed the garage door opener twice. Once to open the door and quickly again to close it behind him.
Normally, the Thabberwucky would have an advantage here. Max’s father would often park his car in the garage. Even with the lights on this would create a shadow under the car. Max would have to walk close to the car and the Thabberwucky would have an excellent vantage point to try to sweep Max off his feet. Max had a plan for dealing with this problem too. He would hop on top of the car and press the garage door to get it open. Then from the rear of the car he would leap into the driveway striking the garage door opener on the way down – avoiding the Thabberwucky’s grasp and closing the garage door all at the same time.
“Closed garage door!” Max remembered his father saying. Max’s father had no time for talk of the Thabberwucky. The garage door was to be closed at all times. So, Max complied with the rule – and laid defeat at the Thabberwucky’s feet at the same time. Max had lost count of how many times he had beaten the Thabberwucky this way. All except for one.
One day Max made his leap and the garage door did not open. There he was standing next to the car with the Thabberwucky close at hand. His large furry-clawed hands were extended out and his eyes glowed yellow from underneath the vehicle. The Thabberwucky made a swipe at him. Max leapt up and barely escaped the creatures' grasp. The controller was not working! The batteries needed replaced!
Max jumped back onto the car but the Thabberwucky was still close at hand. Max had to act fast. “Mom! It’s the thabberw….” Max’s voice trailed off. He could not tell them what was really after him. That was the rule. No one else believed in the Thabberwucky. No one else could see him.
“I need to get the garage open. The thingy won’t work!,” Max yelled.
“I’ll be right there,” responded his mother. “Just a minute.”
The Thabberwucky was not waiting. He stretched his clawed hands out as far as they would go and grabbed for Max. He missed but his claws raked down the side of the car leaving scratches on the rear fender. Max made for the roof of the car. Surely he could not reach him there, he had thought back then.
His mother finally came out and hit the button next to the door in the laundry room. It was wired to the house and never failed to work – unless the power was out. She saw Max on the car roof as she did so shouted with alarm. “Max, what are you doing up there?”
She stepped into the garage and helped him down. As she did she saw the scratches on the car. “OH, MAX! Look at what you’ve done! Why did you climb on the car? Your father is going to be furious over this!”
“I’m sorry, Mom” Max responded. He could not tell her where they really came from.
Phew! Max thought-that was a close one –thinking back. He had been grounded for a week. And all the while no one understood who the real culprit was at the time. No one would even listen to him if he tried to explain that it was the Thabberwucky all along. Least of all his father, who had determined that the metal clasps on his boots had been the source of the scratches. And is would makes sense of course, except that Max had been wearing galoshes. Galoshes made of nothing more than soft rubber.
Max made his way out into the driveway and onto the sidewalk. The sun was shinning bright and Max could relax. No Thabberwucky out here he thought to himself. No, Nothing out here but good old fashioned sunshine.
The sunshine felt good on his face. It was cold but with his coat, hat, scarf and gloves Max was warm. And even in the cold the Sun’s warmth could still be felt. It was a good day. And it was an important day. This was the day that Max was going to learn how to defeat the Thabberwucky for good!
Max was on his way to see Billy Littleton. Billy had been Max’s friend since second grade. He had been that was – until his family moved away some years ago. Billy it seemed had some problems that his parents had trouble dealing with. There had been doctors and specialists – lots of trips to see “important medical people” as Max’s mother would refer to it. It was all very confusing for Billy, and for Max. That is until Max learned the truth. The truth about the Thabberwucky.
Billy had been the first to see it.and the first to believe in it. He had told Max about it. Max tried hard to understand, but Billy’s stories were so bizarre. Billy described a monster that lived in the shadows. He said it would not show itself to anyone else. He said was a monster that caused things to happen right here in the real world.
How could anyone believe such a thing? Billy was the one who give it a name. His sister had given him the idea for the name while trying to pronounce the name of the creature in the Alice in Wonderland stories-the Jabberwocky. She was just learning to talk so it came out Thabberwucky. And it just seemed right to Billy. So Thabberwucky it had been ever since. The name may have been funny, but the creature itself was no laughing matter. Max knew this all too well.
Billy had all kinds of “episodes, at least that is what his parents called them. Things got broken without explanation. Billy would often wake his parents in the night screaming that the Thabberwucky was coming for him. They would come to his rescue, but find nothing more than Billy alone in his room.
Billy had a thing for nightlights. He had one on every wall of his room. He insisted on it. His parents allowed it as the doctors said it was important to “play along” with his wishes until he outgrew the “phase.” Max did not know what his mother was talking about. All he knew was that Billy was terrified of being in a dark room. Whenever he slept over at Max's house, Billy would always leave the lights on all night. He could not sleep otherwise. Max thought it silly but tried to understand.
Then one night, Max slept over at Billy’s house. Billy’s parents were trying to make Billy feel “normal”, Max’s mom had said. Max was in the room when Billy had fallen asleep. Seeing that Billy was fast asleep Max turned off the lights. To his surprise as soon as he did a pair of yellow eyes appeared from under Billy’s bed.
Max thought he was having a dream. He rubbed his eyes, but the eyes were still there. Max was unable to speak. As he stared into those eyes they blinked. And moved from under the bed. The thing, the Thabberwucky as Billy called it, was now standing up. And the eyes were nearly as high as the ceiling.
The thing did something else dreams do not do. It breathed. Its hot smelly breath, a combination of bad tuna and gym socks, smothered Max and made it hard to breathe. It was all impossible, but it was happening and the whole scene made Max scream out loud.
This woke Billy up with a start and the creature eyes went dark as it turned its attention to him. Max realized that he was now looking at the back of the creature’s head in the darkness. This thing, this Thabberwucky, was real and it was right in front of him. And the Thabberwuc
ky was attacking Billy. Max screamed again.
Billy screamed as well. “Why did you turn off the lights?! Turn on the lights!”
Max tried to find the switch but could not locate it in the dark. The night lights that Billy prized so much had been removed when his mother agreed to let him leave his bedroom lights on. As Billy screamed and wrestled the Thabberwucky, footsteps hurriedly came to the door. The creature snapped its head toward the door. Its yellow eyes now again visible to Max, the creature leapt back underneath the bed.
Billy’s father was at the door and had turned on the bedroom light. He came in and asked (already knowing) what was the matter. Billy did not say a word. Max now knew why. No one else could believe in the Thabberwucky. Billy’s blankets were torn with jagged rips in them. The Thabberwucky had just missed him with his claws. Billy’s father had accused Billy of tearing the blankets in the midst of a nightmare. Max remembered how Billy seemed so alone.
Max tried to tell Billy’s father about the eyes, but he was assured that that could not have happened. Max was not allowed to come back as it was determined that Billy needed “special care,” Max’s mom has said, and Billy’s family moved away. That was one-year ago. Max had been dealing with
