Binky couldn't believe his eyes...or rather, the small black dots his eyes had
become. Small, that is, relative to the enormous, gray, lumpy, rhinoceros
face that stared back at him from the mirror.
His nose, which had been little more than a lump on his face before, had grown to gargantuan proportions. On the front of it a large horn sat, with a smaller horn hiding behind it. His ears had also grown tremendously, and looked like large gray pancakes.
The initial shock quickly wore off, and Binky was soon reflecting on the astonishing coolness of it all. He was twice his original size (his pajamas were stretched to the ripping point), he had a pointed, deadly weapon on the bridge of his nose, and his arms and legs had swollen to the point that they felt like tree trunks.
"Whoa," he whispered reverentially. "Wait till my folks see this."
His folks, Jack and Melanie Barnes, were in the kitchen getting ready for the day. Mrs. Barnes was wiping some dishes, while Mr. Barnes was placing his cap on his head as part of his prison guard uniform.
"No time for breakfast, honey," he said to Mrs. Barnes. "I'll grab something from the donut shop on the way to..."
He was interrupted by a loud crash from the direction of Binky's bedroom.
Mrs. Barnes almost dropped the plate she was drying. "What on earth..."
"I'll make sure Binky's all right," said Mr. Barnes as he headed off in the direction of the noise.
Seconds later, Mrs. Barnes heard him cry out in terror.
He rushed back into the kitchen, his face white as a sheet. He stopped long enough to glance at his wife, then continued onward into the living room, where he opened a closet door.
Then Mrs. Barnes saw it...
A rhinoceros boy, clad in yellow pajamas, lumbered into the kitchen. The door to Binky's bedroom sat on top of his large nose, his horn sticking through a gaping hole in the middle of it. The creature, though obviously a youth, was nearly as tall as Mrs. Barnes was.
She screamed in horror and dropped her plate, which shattered on the floor.
"Hey, Mom," said Binky the rhino, as he tried to detach the bedroom door from his nose. "Look what happened to me last night! Isn't it awesome?"
Mrs. Barnes stared wordlessly at her changed son, while Mr. Barnes hurried back into the kitchen...armed with a hunting rifle.
"Don't panic, Mel," he said confidently. "I've got him."
With that, he raised the rifle to his shoulder and fired a round directly at the rhino boy.
Binky felt as though a strong fist had punched him in the chest. As he stumbled backwards and struggled to keep his footing, the door slipped off of his nose, and he held it in front of him in hopes of using it as a shield.
Mr. Barnes fired another round as his wife covered her face in terror. The bullet tore through the door and knocked Binky backwards, but he managed to remain on his feet.
"Stop shooting!" Mrs. Barnes suddenly cried out. "It's Binky!"
Mr. Barnes lowered the rifle, astonished. Binky the rhino stood before him, a bit short of breath due to the impact of the shots, but with no apparent wounds.
"Uh...hi, Dad," said Binky, smiling and raising an oversized hand.
His father gaped and blinked unbelievingly. After a few moments of gaping and blinking, he finally spoke.
"What happened to you?"
"I don't know," said Binky excitedly, "but it sure is cool. I mean, you just shot me twice, and I'm still alive. I'm bulletproof!"
"It's that thick rhino hide of yours," remarked Mr. Barnes as he placed the butt of his rifle on the floor beside him.
"Jack, I'm calling the doctor," said Mrs. Barnes as she reached for the phone.
----
Binky protested loudly as his parents, who were now only a few inches taller than him, led him through the hospital entrance. "I feel fine," he insisted. "Nothing's wrong with me. I don't need to see a doctor. I've just changed, that's all. You change as you grow up, right?"
As they passed through the reception area, Binky saw a blond rhino girl, dressed in a red blouse that was several sizes too small, walking in his direction. He stopped to greet her. "So, you too," he said in a friendly manner.
"Yeah," said the rhino girl in a gravelly voice. "I was like this when I woke up this morning. It's great! I'm not the smallest kid in my class anymore."
"Rhinos rule!" shouted Binky as he gave the girl a high-five. His father took him gently by the arm and pulled him toward the doctor's office. As they walked, a news photographer who stood nearby snapped a picture of them.
Moments later they arrived in the waiting room...which looked like a tornado had hit it. The tables had been overturned, the potted plants had been knocked over, and several large holes had been punched in the walls. Cheesy pop music emerged from the ceiling speakers, as if everything were normal.
"What happened here?" Mrs. Barnes asked the doctor's secretary.
"Two little rhino boys came in earlier this morning," she explained. "Tommy and Timmy Tibble."
Binky surveyed the damage to the waiting room, and a mischeivous smile spread across his rhino face.
"We've seen five rhino kids already today," the secretary went on. "They just wake up, and poof! It's like an epidemic."
Binky walked up to the secretary's desk, his expression changed to one of annoyance. "Hey, lady," he barked, "turn off that stupid music, will ya?"
The secretary looked a little nervous as she sized up Binky. Without a word, she reached for the volume control on the wall and adjusted it. The ceiling speakers became silent.
----
"I'll tell you the same thing I told the other parents who came in with rhino kids," said Dr. Truman as he lay his stethoscope on the counter. "He's in good health. Nothing's wrong with him, other than the fact that he's a rhinoceros, instead of...instead of whatever he was before."
"Isn't there anything you can do?" asked Mrs. Barnes with concern.
"I can't just wave a wand and change him back," said the doctor. "Maybe the problem will reverse itself in time. I don't know for sure. I've never encountered anything like this, and I don't think anyone else in the medical community ever has either."
"Is it contagious?" asked Mr. Barnes.
"I can't say," said the doctor. "The kids I've seen today come from different parts of the city, which suggests that it's not airborne, or spread by contact. For all I know, it could prove to be something in the water, that only affects people with weakened immune systems."
"Hey!" Rhino Binky retorted. "Are you calling my immune system weak?"
"Uh...no," said the doctor, who actually stood an inch or two shorter than Binky.
"Well, Binky," Mrs. Barnes remarked, "it looks like you've got a new disease. Maybe they'll name it after you."
"The media already has a name for it," Dr. Truman reported. "Rhinocerosis."
(to be continued)
His nose, which had been little more than a lump on his face before, had grown to gargantuan proportions. On the front of it a large horn sat, with a smaller horn hiding behind it. His ears had also grown tremendously, and looked like large gray pancakes.
The initial shock quickly wore off, and Binky was soon reflecting on the astonishing coolness of it all. He was twice his original size (his pajamas were stretched to the ripping point), he had a pointed, deadly weapon on the bridge of his nose, and his arms and legs had swollen to the point that they felt like tree trunks.
"Whoa," he whispered reverentially. "Wait till my folks see this."
His folks, Jack and Melanie Barnes, were in the kitchen getting ready for the day. Mrs. Barnes was wiping some dishes, while Mr. Barnes was placing his cap on his head as part of his prison guard uniform.
"No time for breakfast, honey," he said to Mrs. Barnes. "I'll grab something from the donut shop on the way to..."
He was interrupted by a loud crash from the direction of Binky's bedroom.
Mrs. Barnes almost dropped the plate she was drying. "What on earth..."
"I'll make sure Binky's all right," said Mr. Barnes as he headed off in the direction of the noise.
Seconds later, Mrs. Barnes heard him cry out in terror.
He rushed back into the kitchen, his face white as a sheet. He stopped long enough to glance at his wife, then continued onward into the living room, where he opened a closet door.
Then Mrs. Barnes saw it...
A rhinoceros boy, clad in yellow pajamas, lumbered into the kitchen. The door to Binky's bedroom sat on top of his large nose, his horn sticking through a gaping hole in the middle of it. The creature, though obviously a youth, was nearly as tall as Mrs. Barnes was.
She screamed in horror and dropped her plate, which shattered on the floor.
"Hey, Mom," said Binky the rhino, as he tried to detach the bedroom door from his nose. "Look what happened to me last night! Isn't it awesome?"
Mrs. Barnes stared wordlessly at her changed son, while Mr. Barnes hurried back into the kitchen...armed with a hunting rifle.
"Don't panic, Mel," he said confidently. "I've got him."
With that, he raised the rifle to his shoulder and fired a round directly at the rhino boy.
Binky felt as though a strong fist had punched him in the chest. As he stumbled backwards and struggled to keep his footing, the door slipped off of his nose, and he held it in front of him in hopes of using it as a shield.
Mr. Barnes fired another round as his wife covered her face in terror. The bullet tore through the door and knocked Binky backwards, but he managed to remain on his feet.
"Stop shooting!" Mrs. Barnes suddenly cried out. "It's Binky!"
Mr. Barnes lowered the rifle, astonished. Binky the rhino stood before him, a bit short of breath due to the impact of the shots, but with no apparent wounds.
"Uh...hi, Dad," said Binky, smiling and raising an oversized hand.
His father gaped and blinked unbelievingly. After a few moments of gaping and blinking, he finally spoke.
"What happened to you?"
"I don't know," said Binky excitedly, "but it sure is cool. I mean, you just shot me twice, and I'm still alive. I'm bulletproof!"
"It's that thick rhino hide of yours," remarked Mr. Barnes as he placed the butt of his rifle on the floor beside him.
"Jack, I'm calling the doctor," said Mrs. Barnes as she reached for the phone.
----
Binky protested loudly as his parents, who were now only a few inches taller than him, led him through the hospital entrance. "I feel fine," he insisted. "Nothing's wrong with me. I don't need to see a doctor. I've just changed, that's all. You change as you grow up, right?"
As they passed through the reception area, Binky saw a blond rhino girl, dressed in a red blouse that was several sizes too small, walking in his direction. He stopped to greet her. "So, you too," he said in a friendly manner.
"Yeah," said the rhino girl in a gravelly voice. "I was like this when I woke up this morning. It's great! I'm not the smallest kid in my class anymore."
"Rhinos rule!" shouted Binky as he gave the girl a high-five. His father took him gently by the arm and pulled him toward the doctor's office. As they walked, a news photographer who stood nearby snapped a picture of them.
Moments later they arrived in the waiting room...which looked like a tornado had hit it. The tables had been overturned, the potted plants had been knocked over, and several large holes had been punched in the walls. Cheesy pop music emerged from the ceiling speakers, as if everything were normal.
"What happened here?" Mrs. Barnes asked the doctor's secretary.
"Two little rhino boys came in earlier this morning," she explained. "Tommy and Timmy Tibble."
Binky surveyed the damage to the waiting room, and a mischeivous smile spread across his rhino face.
"We've seen five rhino kids already today," the secretary went on. "They just wake up, and poof! It's like an epidemic."
Binky walked up to the secretary's desk, his expression changed to one of annoyance. "Hey, lady," he barked, "turn off that stupid music, will ya?"
The secretary looked a little nervous as she sized up Binky. Without a word, she reached for the volume control on the wall and adjusted it. The ceiling speakers became silent.
----
"I'll tell you the same thing I told the other parents who came in with rhino kids," said Dr. Truman as he lay his stethoscope on the counter. "He's in good health. Nothing's wrong with him, other than the fact that he's a rhinoceros, instead of...instead of whatever he was before."
"Isn't there anything you can do?" asked Mrs. Barnes with concern.
"I can't just wave a wand and change him back," said the doctor. "Maybe the problem will reverse itself in time. I don't know for sure. I've never encountered anything like this, and I don't think anyone else in the medical community ever has either."
"Is it contagious?" asked Mr. Barnes.
"I can't say," said the doctor. "The kids I've seen today come from different parts of the city, which suggests that it's not airborne, or spread by contact. For all I know, it could prove to be something in the water, that only affects people with weakened immune systems."
"Hey!" Rhino Binky retorted. "Are you calling my immune system weak?"
"Uh...no," said the doctor, who actually stood an inch or two shorter than Binky.
"Well, Binky," Mrs. Barnes remarked, "it looks like you've got a new disease. Maybe they'll name it after you."
"The media already has a name for it," Dr. Truman reported. "Rhinocerosis."
(to be continued)
