October 6, 1998. Montreal, QC, Canada:

Caillou has passed pre-school and is now enrolled in Kindergarten. In addition to being a year older, Caillou has also undergone some major personal changes. He no longer smiles, laughs, or finds joy in anything. He has lost all of his friends and isolates himself during recess. Caillou often gets picked on by the other kids for his isolationist tendencies and his lack of hair, due to a condition called Alopecia Universalis.

During recess on this chilly autumn day, Caillou sits on a bench on the side of the school building, away from the other kids. There's a gloomy chill in the air. A feeling of death. The intuitive sense that summer has ended and the cold is coming. He looks up from his book and peeks out at the other kids his age playing and laughing. A cold sense of rage flows through Caillou.

I hate them. He says mentally. A bunch of brutish animals. No desire for sophistication. A bunch of dirty animals. I'm better than them all.

When recess ended, Caillou and his class returned to their room. Today will be the day that seals Caillou's reputation as the weirdest and creepiest kid in class.

Caillou's teacher, Miss Borden, a young 20-something woman, spoke to the class. "Alright class, do you have dreams? Wishes? Today, you're going to share those wishes with the class. When I call your name, you will stand up and tell the class what you're biggest dream is."

A couple kids went up first. A young girl named Emma:

"My wish….. My wish is I want to be an astronaut."

Another kid. "I want to be a fireman."

"Caillou, it's your turn."

Caillou stood up straight and proud and said "I want to marry my daddy. One day, My mommy will be gone and me and daddy will live together and be husband and wife. We will sleep in the same bed, we will-"

Before Caillou could finish, a boy shouted out. "Caillou's a fag!"

The rest of the class laughed calling him "bald faggot" or "gayyou"

Caillou was furious. "You all make fun of me? Someday, I will be your master. You are all beasts, and I will be your god. You will all suffer for subjecting me to the darkness."

Caillou stomped into the corner and pouted. His teacher quieted the class, lectured them on using hurtful words, and told the class to apologize to Caillou.

After class was over, Caillou's teacher pulled his mother to a separate office to talk to her about today's incident.

"Mrs. Bordeaux, I don't know how to phrase this lightly, but….. I'm concerned about your son.

"Why?"

"He doesn't get along with the other kids. He's often by himself, and today…. An incident occurred. Caillou told the class his biggest dream was…. To marry his father, which I'm sure is nothing to worry about. He probably has a very close relationship with his father, no?"

"Yeah, my husband's a great father. He's 5. What's wrong with a 5 year old expressing love for a parent?"

"Nothing…. But the class didn't respond well. They called him some derogatory names, and Caillou reacted… bizzarely. He told the class they were beasts and he was their god."

"He was being made fun of. My question is why didn't you put a stop to it?"

"I did stop it and I made the class apologize to him. Look, they're just kids following the herd. Mrs. Bordeaux, this isn't the only issue. Like I said, Caillou's shown some concerning antisocial tendencies and I don't think it would do any harm for him to see a counselor."

A brief moment of silence and tension permeated the air before Caillou's mom responded.

"Alright, I'll schedule an appointment."

In truth, Caillou's mother was concerned for Caillou as well. She knows he's different from the other kids. He's more like an adult trapped in a kid's body. He's also grown very resentful of her, which concerns her as a mother.

On the drive home, Caillou's mother informs Caillou of her decision to get him a counselor.

"Caillou, is everything okay?"

"Fine, mother."

"Your teacher told me there was an incident today."

"Twas nothing, mother."

"Caillou, you seem like you've been sad the past several months. Can you tell me what's going on?"

Caillou thought of telling her that she was the problem. That she was the obstacle between him and daddy.

"Shouldn't you be driving, mother?"

"Caillou… I'm worried. You used to be a happy child. I want you to talk to a doctor."

"If I go to the doctor, you're going too." Caillou said flippantly.

"Haha, alright, I'll go with you." Caillou's mother felt a sense of relief. For the first time in 5 months, Caillou seemed like a child. A child who wants his mom to go with him to the doctor. What she doesn't realize is the sinister thought behind Caillou's words.

Caillou sat in his room and thought.

She keeps me in the darkness. She keeps me from marrying Daddy. She is pure evil. And now, she wants to send me to a doctor? Only crazy, degenerates go to those kind of doctors. If she sends me to a doctor, I'll send her to a doctor. I can push her down the stairs. I can stab her in the heart. I hate her. Hate hate hate her. Stupid mother.

Caillou let out an ear-piercing scream.

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I CAN'T STAND THE DARKNESS!"

Caillou threw a dictionary he had at the door. When his mother didn't come rushing in, he wondered why.

Caillou left his room and searched for his mother. He stepped into his parents bedroom. He looked at his parents bed. That should be my bed.

He then saw that his mother was taking a shower. That's when the plan came to Caillou. He snuck into the bathroom, dug through his mother's closet, and found a can of hairspray. He removed the floor towels and sprayed the floor with the hairspray.

Mother will slip and hit her head and she'll be knocked out. Then, I'll put her in the bathtub. The lifeguard said all it takes is 6 inches of water to drown.

Caillou hid around the corner and waited. He heard the shower turn off, and the door open.

"God damn it, I could have sworn I put towels down." She walked a few steps before she let out a gasp and fell with a loud bang. Caillou peeped around the corner and saw that his plan worked perfectly. She had hit her head on the side of the bathtub and was out cold. It wouldn't be long before she woke up, so Caillou acted quickly. He plugged up the tub, turned on the water, and let it fill up for 4 minutes. He then grabbed his mother and tried to pull her into the tub, but couldn't manage to lift her. He tried for 2 minutes straight to lift her into the tub, but she was too heavy for him. Caillou, defeated, sat and cried.

His mother slowly woke up.

"Oww… Caillou, what happened?" She rubbed her head where she hit the tub. When she lifted herself up, a sense of rage and failure Caillou had never felt boiled up inside him.

Once again, I lose. Once again, I'm trapped in the darkness or my own invalidated filth. Now, begins a new era of darkness for me. I'll be sent away and locked up with the most brutish of the beasts. I'll be beat up and dehumanized, when I'm the one that's right. And Mommy will have won.

When Caillou's mother stood, Caillou screamed out like a banshee. He pushed her into the tub at full force. Because of the slippery floor, they both fell into the tub. Caillou attached himself to his mother's head and pushed it into the water, all the while screaming at the top of his lungs.

Caillou's mother struggled but was still weak from her head injury and, with the shock of all that was happening, passed out again. Caillou held himself on his mom for 20 minutes, crying and screaming. He soon realized that his mother had stopped breathing and let go. He exited the tub and realized his plan had worked. Caillou smiled.

"Goodbye, mother. I'll take good care of Daddy."