October 1, 1988

It was an awfully rainy day in the small town of Derry, Maine. That was to be expected from the floods that hit the town every few years. All of the residents stayed inside their comfy homes, waiting for the storm to recede. But the storm today was not as severe as it had been the previous days, so it was safe for anyone to go out. Though unbeknownst to everyone, it was the day that marked the reawakening of something horrifying...


A young boy in a yellow raincoat had just gotten outside his house to play in the rain. In one of his small hands held a waxed paper boat which his older brother had made for him. He had his walkie-talkie inside his raincoat pocket just to be safe. When he ran out far enough so that he was visible to the second-floor window, he stopped and waved jovially to the person staring out that window.

His sick older brother was there, looking out the window with his walkie-talkie in his hand.

"Be careful." He registered through his walkie-talkie.

The younger brother proceeded to carefully put the paper boat on the rainwater streaming on the road. As he hoped, the boat set sail with no problems at all due to the paraffin wax.

His green galoshes splashed against the puddles as he happily chased his boat. He laughed as he watched it sail down the street without any interruptions. The boat had floated above the water like he and his brother hoped. It was like a dream come true. But he felt very sad and disappointed that his brother could not come with him today, they would've had a lot of fun together. Unfortunately, his brother had the flu and had to stay inside at all times. Even their parents would not let his brother go outside unless there was an emergency.

The little boy promised himself to recount his adventures with 'S.S. Georgie' to his brother by the time he got back home. He didn't want his older brother to miss out on what he had experienced with the boat.

He also was getting very wet and cold from the pouring rain, so he would head home straight away after catching 'S.S. Georgie.'

He soon came across a bunch of yellow sawhorses labelled, 'Derry Public Works.' The boat cascaded under them with ease while the boy had to duck while running.

BONK! Unluckily for the boy, he rose too early and ended up hitting his head on the last sawhorse. He fell backwards onto the rainy road as a result.

While the boy sat up in a daze from his injury, the boat rode around the strange turtle-like structure to the other side of the street. The boy quickly got up on his feet in alarm as he watched the boat approach a storm drain.

The boy sprinted as fast as he could while his boat fastly approached the dark gutter at the end of Witcham Street.

The boat was already drawn into the drain as it flipped horizontally against the current.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" The boy screamed as he continued to sprint for his boat.

But it was too late, the boat had washed itself down the gutter before the boy could get within arms-length of it.

Getting on all fours as he frantically searched the drain for his boat, the boy wailed, "Bill's gonna kill me!"

The boy continued to peer into the darkness for his lost boat, hoping for it to pop up on its own. He was already considering on entering the drain himself when something unexpected happened.


"AAH!" The boy jumped back in alarm.

A pair of glowing yellow eyes had just appeared in the gutter.

All thoughts of entering the drain fled as the boy tried to comprehend on what he was seeing.

After a few seconds of silence, the person in the drain spoke.

"Hiya, Georgie!" The voice was high-pitched and whispery.

Georgie carefully moved forward to get a look at who the speaker was. But it was no use, the person stayed hidden in the darkness that only it's silhouette was visible. The person didn't even move from its position either and it's glowing eyes were still focused on the boy.

Speaking of the eyes, Georgie could have sworn that the stranger's eyes were a burning yellow. But they were now a bright blue, the color of his mother's eyes.

While Georgie tried to comprehend how the stranger's eyes changed color, the stranger spoke again.

"What a nice boat!" The stranger cheerfully complimented as Georgie's paper boat was placed onto the rainy road.

Georgie quickly snatched the paper boat before it could fall into the drain again. Georgie took a nervous look at the silhouetted figure in the drain before replying.

"Thank you." Georgie thanked the stranger apprehensively.

He fingered the boat in his grasp, he was very perplexed that it wasn't covered in sewage. The boat was just as clean as it was before it fell into the storm drain. It didn't smell like it fell into the sewers either.

As Georgie tried to find a reason why his boat wasn't as dirty as it should have been, he was startled by something bright and yellow in front of him.

"Do you want a balloon, Georgie?" A small yellow balloon dangled outside the drain.

"I'm not supposed to take stuff from strangers." Georgie replied shakily.

"Aw..." The stranger responded dejectedly and withdrew the balloon.

"What are you doing in a sewer?" Georgie asked curiously.

"Oh! It's my home." The stranger answered truthfully. "It has always been my home ever since I've arrived here."

"Doesn't it get lonely down there?" Georgie asked, feeling bad for the poor stranger.

"It does sometimes, but that's where I belong." The stranger replied.

"Why?" Georgie asked.

"Well..." The stranger lamented. "I don't quite fit in with them."

Georgie went silent, he knew that his big brother was an outcast too. Everyone at Bill's school would make fun of his stutter and use that as an excuse to bully him. Bill already knew what it was like to be different from everyone else and Georgie empathized with him.

"Don't you have family?" Georgie asked the stranger innocently.

"I do." The stranger replied sadly. "But sadly, they're too far away and busy at the moment."

"Oh..." Georgie felt really bad for the poor stranger.

The stranger then quickly changed the subject. "But you should get home, Georgie! Bill's gonna kill you if you don't get back home safe!"

"Huh? Oh! You're right!" Georgie got back on his feet and ran home.

"See you later! Bye!" Georgie said to the stranger in the sewer as he ran back home, boat in hand.

He couldn't wait to tell his older brother about his meeting with the mysterious sewer-dweller once he got home.


The stranger quietly watched from the drain as the boy disappeared from IT's view. IT had just woken up from its 27-year sleep and was already starving. IT was too busy scrounging its home for food until he heard the voice of a young boy echoing outside.

A paper boat suddenly tumbled down the nearest drain and the stranger quickly picked it up before it could wash away.

While the boy was frantically looking for his boat, IT appeared in front of him in the form of a clown hiding in the darkness. When it opened IT"s eyes after transforming into said form, IT unintentionally frightened the boy.

Sifting through the boy's mind, IT found out that the boy mistakened him for a wild animal stuck in the drain because of IT's glowing yellow eyes. IT sifted more into the boy's mind to find the appropriate eye color to ease the boy's worries.

IT changed IT's eyes into a calming blue, the eyes of the boy's mother. IT carefully stayed in place where IT originally was when the boy first saw IT.

The stranger then magically cleaned the boat in its hands of any filth before holding it up for the boy to grab.

IT was careful not to reveal IT's hands to the boy as IT held up the boat. IT did not want to frighten the boy into thinking that IT would grab him as soon as his hand reached for the boat.

While the boy sat there staring at his boat, the stranger tried to be nice by offering him a free balloon.

But unfortunately, the boy refused to take the free gift so IT withdrew the balloon.

The boy unexpectedly asked what IT was doing in the sewer and IT couldn't help but answer honestly.

It was true, IT had lived underground ever since IT arrived on Earth billions of years ago. IT spent much of IT's time exploring the area IT landed in while awaiting for the arrival of other living beings. It took a long time, but soon many organisms were born.

However, IT was very disappointed to find that IT was an anomaly among their kind. IT's true form was incomprehensible to all of the species on Earth. Any of them who looked at IT's true form either went insane or even worse, died from shock. IT found that IT could build a physical body around IT's true form to avoid itself from destroying their sanity. But it didn't change the fact that IT was too different from their kind. IT possessed abilities no one from Earth possessed, which added to IT's alienation.

When the boy asked IT about IT's family, IT lamented that IT's relatives were far away and busy working. That was also true since IT's creator and brother was far too busy in the Macroverse to visit IT often.

To keep the boy from asking more questions about IT, IT advised him to get home safe. Fortunately, the boy complied and ran home immediately with the boat safely in his hand.

After the boy disappeared from IT's view, IT resumed scrounging for food in the sewer to fill IT's still-empty stomach.


Georgie burst through the front door before taking off his rain gear and rushing upstairs. He went to his room and thought about the stranger he met in the storm drain. He was concerned that the stranger was so poor that he/she had to live in the sewer. He wondered that the stranger had a face so ugly that no one wanted to look at him/her. He also wondered if his/her family was purposely avoiding the stranger for the same exact reasons.

Georgie couldn't help but feel bad for the poor stranger. He/she had no friends, no family, or anyone else. If only Georgie agreed to take the balloon, plus the stranger was thoughtful enough to offer a balloon of his favorite color:yellow.

As Georgie continued to think about the stranger hiding in the sewer, he peeked in Bill's room to see how his brother was doing.

Bill was snoring softly in bed, unperturbed by the rain outside. Georgie then went to the bathroom to bathe. He turned the faucet on and filled the bathtub with warm water before putting in a yellow, lemon-scented bath bomb.

As he watched the ball dissolve into the warm bathwater, he ruefully wished that Bill was here to bathe him. But he couldn't risk waking Bill up again like he did earlier, Bill needed to rest because of his flu.

Reluctantly, Georgie sank into the now-yellow bathwater and rested his paper boat on top of it. He washed himself as he stared at the paper boat bobbing up and down on the waves.


Bill woke up on his own a few hours after Georgie came back to the smell of supper. When he went downstairs to the kitchen for supper, he was relieved that Georgie was safe.

Bill wouldn't forgive himself if Georgie went missing or even worse, dead. He wished he could have accompanied Georgie outside in the rain earlier, but unluckily he was sick. If he went out in the rain with Georgie, his parents would have given him a harsh berating.

Georgie was relieved to see that Bill was up and went over to hug him.

"Hey, Bill!" Georgie hugged his older brother.

"H-hey, Georgie." Bill hugged back.

Their mom walked over to Bill to feel his forehead. "You feeling any better?"

"Y-y-yes, m-mom." Bill said as their mom kissed his forehead.

As the three of them ate supper, Bill decided to ask Georgie about what happened outside.

"G-G-Georgie, how was your boat?" Bill asked.

Georgie smiled and answered. "She was fast, Bill."

"You d-d-didn't go too far, did ya?" Bill smiled back.

"No, I stayed in the same street." Georgie replied.

"Good." Bill said.

After finishing supper, the brothers went up to Bill's room to have their private time.

Their mom continued playing the piano downstairs while it continued to rain outside.

"Um, Bill?" Georgie asked.

"Yes, Georgie?" Bill asked back.

"I met someone in the sewer." Georgie said.

"The sewer?!" Bill quickly sat up in bed.

"Uh-huh." Georgie replied. "He helped me get my boat back after she fell into the drain."

"Georgie, d-d-don't take stuff from strangers! Remember what Dad said!" Bill told him.

"I know, I know. But he asked me if I wanted a balloon and I said no." Georgie said.

"Good. B-b-b-but don't ta-ta-ta-take back your boat from a st-st-st-stranger next time. Run aw-aw-away and call for he-he-help instead." Bill advised him sternly.

"Okay, Bill. But please don't tell Mom or Dad." Georgie said guiltily.

"Don't worry, Georgie. I pr-pr-promise." Bill said earnestly.

"Thanks, Billy." Georgie hugged Bill again.

"Anytime, Georgie." Bill hugged back.


The stranger decided to get out of the sewer to get some more appealing food to eat. The town had changed quite a bit the last time IT was awake. The trends, the technology, and the fashion were different now so IT had to adapt to the changed surroundings once more.

After reading the minds of almost everyone in Derry, IT settled into IT's human form before exiting the sewers.

IT took the form that it always took when IT disguised itself as a human. IT took the form of a 6-foot tall man with brown hair, green eyes, and fair skin. IT went by the name of "Robert Gray" every time IT passed off as a human.

IT then teleported to the nearest dining place with no one watching.

IT ordered seven whole meals to-go and paid with the money IT magically summoned inside IT's coat pocket. When the food was taking so long to prepare, IT made the time inside the diner go faster until it only took a few seconds for all the food to come through.

IT nabbed all of the seven bagged meals in two arms and teleported to the Neibolt House to eat IT's newly-bought meals.

However when IT got there, there were several homeless people wandering outside IT's window. IT(from inside the house), conjured up tents for them to seek refuge from the storm. IT also provided a sufficient amount of money for them to use until they could find a job.

As IT hungrily chomped on the meals IT had just bought, IT watched the raindrops collect on the window.

IT lead a pretty lonely life. IT had no friends to play with since IT was so different from the others on Earth. After seeing how many feared IT due to IT's uncanny nature, IT reluctantly decided to hide IT's true form from everyone he met on Earth. IT also spent much more time alone than with other individuals to hide IT's true identity from the locals.

IT enjoyed being around children though. IT always took the form of a clown whenever IT wanted to play with children. IT would perform tricks for them, feed them circus food, and even give them balloons of every color of the rainbow.

Whenever IT got bored though, IT would collect all sorts of nooks and crannies IT found around Derry. They served to comfort the creature as IT wallowed in loneliness in IT's home.