George awoke abruptly from a blissful sleep. No nightmares this time, he thought. What a relief. He looked down at his digital watch. Oh shoot, I overslept! I'm late for school already!
As his eyes and brain became more focused, he recalled that he was already at school. Geez, how long have I been out? he wondered. Hope I'm not late for wood shop.
A yawn began to overtake him, only to be stifled by the sight of an aardvark girl with a wry smile, clutching a roll of toilet paper in her hand. The other end of the roll, as George discovered by glancing upwards, reached into his antlers, around his antlers, and through his antlers.
"What…?" he exclaimed, startled. "You're…you're putting toilet paper on my head?"
"Heck no," said the girl smugly. "I'm taking it off." A quick look at her hand later, she added, "And carefully rolling it up."
Girls, thought George with disgust. Why do I let them walk all over me? Oh well…someday I'll be married, and the shoe'll be on the other foot.
The strange girl continued to unloop the toilet paper from his antlers as Prunella happened upon the scene. "What do you think you're doing, Laverne?" she snapped, outraged.
"He was like that when I showed up, I swear!" insisted the aardvark girl.
"Don't make fun of George," said Prunella, her arms folded. "George is my friend, and he's cool."
Laverne snickered. "He'd be cooler if he was stuffed and mounted over my fireplace."
"I'll mount you!" shouted Prunella, her fist waving.
With Laverne retreating, George made an effort to untangle his antlers from the papery mess. "Let me help," said Prunella, bending over with helpful fingers. "You're lucky, you know. Last year there was a moose kid who fell asleep on a bench, and some girls took a nail file and shaved his antlers down to sharp points."
"Omigosh, that sounds awful," remarked George.
"Yeah, he couldn't put on a shirt without poking holes in it," Prunella went on. "On the plus side, the bullies didn't dare go near him after that."
When his antlers were finally clear, they smiled at each other. "Muffy tells me you've been having nightmares," said the rat girl. "You know what's good for that?"
"Uh, warm milk?" said George.
"Hypnosis," said Prunella ominously.
The prospect of being hypnotized by Prunella instantly launched George's imagination into a fantasy sequence…
"You are getting very sleepy," said Prunella, her eyes glowing, her hands caressing the moose boy's cheeks. "Very, very sleepy. When I count to three, you will fall into a deep sleep. One…two…"
George regained consciousness to find himself on a rusty chair, in the midst of the ruins that had been Prunella's house and the rest of Elwood City. To his alarm, a bushy white beard spread out from his chin, so dense he was unable to see his own feet. His neck creaked as he looked around, seeing only his friends in a similar state of advanced age, hobbling about on canes and walkers.
Muffy lurched in from the street, her back curved, her face wrinkled, her braids faded and split. "Look what you've done to us, George," she moaned eerily. "We're all oooooold…and it's your fault!"
Hmm, falling asleep for 50 years doesn't sound so bad right now, he thought. "Hypnosis, eh?" he responded to Prunella. "Sure, I'll give it a try."
To be continued
