AN: Mr and Mrs Polanski are the next door neighbours. They're going to be seen alot throughout this story.
Egon took a sip of water as he looked at the elderly couple sitting across from him at the dinner table. Mr and Mrs Polanski were good friends with Egons' parents. Mostly with his mother anyway.
Mr Polanski was a retired carpenter with a scruffy looking appearance. He had a short grey beard to go with his grey hair; showing only a few wrinkles on his face. He had a pair of big round glasses held up by a big round nose. He was wearing a dark red sweater vast over a beige dress shirt, dark brown slacks and brown loafers.
Mrs Polanski was a rather short woman; only just below Egons' height by one inch. Her hair was a faded blonde colour that went with the wrinkles on her ageing but welcoming face. She was wearing a pink dress with a woolly white cardigan over her shoulders. Mrs Polanski was quite healthy for her age, but for the last few months she had been using crutches because of an incident that put her left leg in a cast. The pair seemed like the perfect old couple; even though they got into arguments that mostly involved rather comedic bickering.
"We're glad you and Harold quite join us for dinner tonight, Abigail." Mrs Spengler welcomed them as she set the roast chicken on the table. "Sorry my husband couldn't join us tonight. He's working late again it seems."
"Oh, that's alright, Katherine. Harold and I had nothing planned anyway so why not come around to see friends." Mrs Polanski kindly waved off the apology with a light southern accent.
"I was going to clean out the closet in the kids' old room, but hey; I can just do it tomorrow." Mr Polanski spoke with a rather odd accent and a slightly sarcastic tone.
Mrs Polanski responded by jabbing her husband in the side with her elbow; making him change his tone.
"Uh; so anyway, how are things with this fine young man here?" The old man asked the boy sitting across from him.
Egon put his glass down as he tried to think of an answer.
"Well, school has been shut down for the next few weeks because of rodents." The boy recalled the news. "So in a way, I'm on a vacation."
"Well it's a good thing they're taking care of it. The last thing anyone would want is kids getting sick from diseased rats." Mrs Polanski spoke with slight worry.
"That's nothing." Mr Polanski crossed his arms in disagreement. "When I was a boy in the old country, I still had to go to school when rats were coming in and out. But I turned out fine and healthy as ten men."
"Well that was before they found out that rats carried the Black Plague, Harold." Mrs Polanski began to argue with her husband.
Mrs Spengler raised a brow as the elderly couple began to discuss diseases at the dinner table. She cleared her throat to get their attention.
"Maybe we should eat something before we lose our appetite." Mrs Spengler proposed as she began to cut the meat.
Egon was ready to add his thought to any discussion the grownups had as his mother picked out a leg and some meat to put on his plate. He picked out his own vegetables as the elderly couple talked about a lighter hearted subject.
"I've been trying to grow some flowers in my backyard for a few days, but Buster keeps pulling them out and playing with them." Mrs Polanski talked about their dog. "Gardening is quite hard to do with a dog. But he's really a good boy."
"You've been doing some gardening? Egon's been doing something similar." Mrs Spengler said with a smile as she put vegetables on her plate.
Egon froze halfway through chewing a piece of broccoli when his mother told the neighbours about his fungus hobby.
"What kind of gardening do you get up to, boy?" Mr Polanski asked rather curiously.
Egon swallowed the food in his mouth before he hesitantly answered the question.
"I've been collecting molds, spores and fungus." He answered rather simply yet bluntly.
Mr Polanski gave Egon a bewildered look, but Mrs Polanski seemed rather interested.
"Well I've been thinking of growing mushrooms in my garden to use for cooking. Perhaps you could recommend what kind."
"Well, one type of edible fungus would be the Agaricus arvensis; more common known as horse mushroom." Egon began what would be a long explanation.
Mrs Spengler watched and listened as her son gladly talked about one of his passions with someone who would gladly listen. Egon did not really have a lot of people to talk who were his own age. Most kids were interested in toys and football; not science, experimentation or books. It did make her worry about his future; but it always made her glad when he was happy.
"And Orange Jelly fungus can be used in cooking, but it's mostly bland and flavourless." Egon finished his explanation.
"Perhaps I should have brought a note book to write all that down." Mrs Polanski said before digging into the food on her plate.
"I'll remember all that, Abigail. I'm like an elephant; I never forget." Mr Polanski boasted of himself.
"Says the man who couldn't find his socks. When they were in the same dresser all along." Mrs Polanski teased.
Mr Polanski just gave his wife a rather annoyed look before taking a bite from his portion of chicken.
"So how's Mr Spengler, Katherine?" Mrs Polanski asked to make conversation. "He must be working very hard if he can't come home for dinner."
"His job has become quite demanding as of late." Mrs Spengler explained. "Hopefully he'll get his project done and has some much needed time off. Maybe even spend some time with Egon."
Egon just ignored the conversation and took another sip of water after swallowing some chicken.
"Well if you ask me, a man should be allowed to spend time with his family. It's just a shame that nowadays Society demands so." Mr Polanski gave out his two cents. "It's not as bad as it was during the war, but still."
Egon could not help but go in deep thought as the adults just talked amongst themselves. The boy began thinking about some things. Nothing deep or saddening. Just a math equation or two. But then he had an odd feeling in his stomach; taking a moment to realise what it was.
"Please pardon me for a minute." Egon politely said as he stood up and walked out of the dining room.
The adults watched him as he left the room; going into the hallway.
"I wonder if it's something I said." Mrs Polanski worried a bit.
"Oh don't worry Abigail." Mr Polanski shrugged it off. "The broccoli probably didn't agree with him."
Mr Polanski was wrong about the broccoli. Egon just needed a bit of time to himself. As Egon washed his hands with the soup in the bathroom sink. He looked at himself in the mirror. He noticed a slightly red patch on his forehead that was partially covered by his fringe. Egon sighed as he hoped his mother would not notice and freak out over it. She was definitely going to notice if it bruised up and turned yellow.
Egon dried his hands and made his way out of the bathroom. But he stopped at the door and looked back to the wall where the mirror and sink was. He did not look at mirror or the sink though. He looked at a rather large sized fist shaped crack in the wall. He cringed as he remembered how it got there just last week. The image of his father punching the wall in frustration with a grunt that almost sounded like a swear flashed in Egons' mind. But he quickly dismissed the thought; straightening out his shirt before going back to the dining room and re-joining his mother and guests.
After Mr and Polanski thanked the Spengler's for the roast, Egon decided to get ready for bed. After taking a much needed bath and putting on a set of warm two-piece light brown pyjamas. Egons' room was a decent sized for a child at his age. There were necessities like a bed with warm sheets and blankets, a wardrobe for clothes, shelves for his large collection of books, a window to let in some light or breeze during summer and a closet in the corner for storage. But there was a surprising abscess of toys. People would often be surprised that Egon did not really have any toys because his parents did not really believe in them. Mostly his father. In fact, the closest things he had to toys were his science kits and half of a slinky that he was currently in the middle of straightening.
Egon took the jars of fungus he collected today from his satchel and placed them on his shelve with a few other jars. He put his hands on his hips as he admired the various specimens; telling himself he would have to plant them in the backyard tomorrow.
But Egon was quickly pulled out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of a car pulling up out front. He gasped as he realised that his father was home, and probably stressed and angry. Egon quickly jumped into bed; turning off the lamp on the nightstand beside him, taking off his glasses and putting them on the nightstand and pulling the sheets and blankets over his little form. The boy heard the sound of the front door opening and closing through the paper thin walls of the house. Then he faintly heard voices.
"Hard day again?" Egon heard his mother ask her husband as he came in.
"Dr Hudson wants me to attend a conference coming up in the week to show off the project and its results." He heard his fathers' tired yet stern voice. "It's almost done, but I just want it to be over."
Egon heard a bit of silence for a moment.
"Where's our son?" Mr Spengler asked through the walls.
"He was getting ready for bed a few minutes ago. He might have fallen asleep by now." Mrs Spengler explained.
Egon curled himself up under the blanket and laid his head still against the pillow as he heard footsteps coming towards his room; hoping his father would just have a look for only a moment and leave him to sleep.
Egon heard the sound of his door creaking open slightly. A man wearing a grey dress shirt and black pants in his late thirties looked through the opening. People would easily know that he was Egons' father; having almost identical but older features to him. He had a pair of wire framed glasses over the coffee coloured eyes inherited by his son. His hair was black with a hint of grey coming through. He had age lines on his face that made him look a bit older then he really was.
Mr Spengler just made a quiet sound of no emotion before leaving and quietly closing the door.
Egon could hear him going back to the living room as he walked on the hard wooden floor of the hallway. He was talking to mother again. But Egon decided to block it out and go to sleep. After a while, Egon finally fell asleep at 11:28.
But little did he know that something was happening at precisely midnight.
Everyone in the Spengler household was asleep by 11:59. Egon was curled up in his sheets with his head resting against the pillow. As Egon slept, a breeze picked up from his slightly opened window. It was not enough to wake him. But as Egon slept, something odd was happening in the corner of room where the closet was. A faint yellow light steeped through the gap underneath as the wind outside seemed to pick up. The handle on the door quietly jiggled and rattled before it began to turn slowly. Before long, the closet door creaked open; making the yellow light slowly spread in Egons room before reaching his bed.
Egon being to stir out of his slumber as the bright light shined on his eyelids. The boy slowly opened them by half and looked towards the source of the light with tired and blurred vision. He blinked when he saw a figure outline in his vision as he heard slow and deep breathing; thinking it might have been his father at first. But it only took a second to realise that the figure did not look normal; even with Egons' limited vision.
REOW!
Egon jumped in his bedsheets when he heard an alarming sound come from his window. He looked at it to see a weird grey shape on the windowsill; making high pitched snarling and growling sounds. Egon looked back at the figure as it made a deep growl in return and backed away. Egon tried to reach for his glasses when he heard an inhuman, deafening shriek. Egon took his hands back to cover his ears and closed his eyes. Before he knew it, the shriek ended and the yellow light faded away from the room; leaving him in the dark. Opening his eyes again, Egon reached for his glasses and the bedside lamp; turning it on as he put on his glasses. With his vision restored, Egon could see where that light and strange figure came from. The closet.
Meow
But Egon quickly turned to the window to see what was growling at the window. A cat.
"Hey! Get out of here!" He sat up and tried to shoo away the stray. "Go on! Go away!"
The cat just made a displeased snarl before jumping out the window; disappearing into the cloudy night. Egon walked over to the window and closed it; hopefully preventing anything else from coming inside. Egon felt his ears ringing as he looked towards his closet; thinking of what just happened a minute ago. Something came out of the boy's closet, but the cat seemed to scare it off. Egon was not really sure though. He was tired and he could not see properly without his glasses. But he wanted to make sure.
Egon walked over to the closet and slowly put his hand on the doorknob; mentally preparing himself for anything behind the door as he turned the knob. He quickly opened the door expecting bright yellow to flash at him. But he blinked in confusion upon what he saw. Nothing.
Egon only saw boxes for storage collecting dust. The boy looked down at the floor in confusion. Maybe he was seeing things because he was sleep deprived. Maybe he just had an odd dream.
