Rene was not happy today. She had to go to school for starters, which meant that the time she had outside to play was not that much. This normally she would pout over a bit but otherwise accept, but today after school her mother was going shopping and Rene had to come too.
The worst part was that she couldn't get upset over this otherwise mother would ask why and Rene wasn't going to tell. She had said she wouldn't , and Rene always tried her best to keep her word.
There was nothing for it, she couldn't see the monster today.
The teachers at school had asked how her weekend was and Rene answered truthfully. She had gone to visit her Aunts, who smelt funny and gave her candy. The teachers had a laugh at that though Rene couldn't understand why.
First they had show and tell, the other children showing proudly whatever they had to the class. Rene sat in her chair and watched with interest.
The model dinosaur Billy's father had made did look exiting, and she had made fascinated sounds as Kelly proudly showed off her new scab to everyone, but she bet none of them had seen a monster let alone knew where one lived.
She was bursting to tell them all, but it was a secret. A special one. No one but her could know otherwise it wouldn't be a secret anymore. The monster wouldn't like it, he had said as such. He might leave if anyone knew and Rene didn't want him to leave.
The very idea of the monster suddenly vanishing scared her. It sent a cold feeling inside her that made her shiver. It wasn't a pleasant idea and upset her if she thought of it for too long, so Rene didn't think of it. Instead she cheered along with everyone else as Rachel's mother handed out cupcakes to everyone.
The time seemed to go extra slow for Rene that day, she found herself easily distracted and did hardly any of her work. The last lesson of the day was art though, and Rene was struck with an idea that had her carefully drawing away in pencil, concentrating hard. The teachers would marvel at the sudden change in behaviour and tried to see what had exited the little girl so much.
Whenever they came close but Rene would cover the picture with her arms, staring at them in an almost hostile manner. Whatever it was, Rene obviously thought it was important and not meant for anyone else to see. Shrugging to themselves, the teachers let her be.
Rene had just finished the last touches to it when the bell rang. Her mother was waiting outside. Waiving furiously, Rene packed up her things. She carefully folded the paper in half, then half again before slipping it into her bag with the rest of her things.
"Have a good day ?" Her mother asked, taking hold of her hand. Rene nodded.
"Yep" She skipped down the steps, using her mother as an anchor as she jumped down them. Eagerly she hurried to the waiting car, her mother being towed along by the enthusiastic child. The grownup could help but laugh at her childish antics.
"Always rushing into things. Slow down dear, the shops will wait"
Rene did so, but still jumped from foot to foot with impatience while her mother fumbled with the keys. She had barely opened the door before Rene scrambled in, dragging her small bag along with her to sit in her spot. Right next to her mother in the front.
Her mother grinned, ruffling her hair as she got in.
"Muuum" Rene protested, patting her hair flat again.
"Alright, alright" Her mother held up her hands, and winked, wrinkling her nose in a funny expression. Rene laughed, copying her expression with delight.
Smiling her mother started the car. Rene sat back, then got to her knees and looked out the window as they drove away.
It was fun to watch the trees pass by in a blur. If she unfocused her eyes right, everything turned into coloured blobs that ran together. It was fun to try and make pictures out of them, but you had to be fast before it was gone. She only saw the pictures briefly. An impression here, a faint outline of a bear there. It was a constant source of delight for the imaginative girl.
"Here we are" They pulled into the parking lot of a corner store supermarket. The place was nearly empty, and seem to be in disrepair. Being on the outskirts of the rundown section of the city it was kind of given. Her mother knew the couple that ran the store and wouldn't shop anywhere else. It was the best place for bargains, she claimed and would stay for ages talking and laughing with the elderly owners.
Rene didn't mind. The nice old man always had a treat for her, and he knew how to make coins appear out of her ear. No matter how much she tried herself Rene couldn't seem to do it. She hadn't given up though. She'd get it one day.
"Hallo dearies" The old woman greeted, giving first her mother then Rene a large hug. Both returned it, Rene with a little more vigour.
"My your getting tall now"
Rene puffed her chest up proudly.
"Yup, I'm as big as Tony in class"
"Goodness, that must be big"
"Ah-hu" Rene assured her.
"Who's that I hear outside?" A gravely voice called out from within the shop.
"Uncle Jo!" Rene raced past the two women. Both laughed, the elderly lady's knees cracking noisily as she stood back up.
"It's been a while"
"Too long Margery" Rene's mother replied, helping her up.
"Well…come in come in. Lets talk inside. No need to catch our death out here in this cold, how you been love?"
"Oh fine, you know, the usual" she held the door open as the two entered the gloomy little shop. Inside Rene was sitting on an elderly man's knee behind the counter, informing him all about her day so far.
"and then we got cupcakes and then…in sport we played tag and George was it and he tried to catch me but I was too fast for him!"
"I bet you were" the old man laughed. "Guess what Rene, i have a surprise for you"
"Really?" The little girl waited eagerly.
"Did you was behind your ears properly?"
"Ah-hu, I make sure I do every…." she trailed off as, lo and behold, the man pulled out a small coin from behind her ear.
"How do you do that?" the little girl demanded, face an expression of amazement and delight.
The two women laughed at this.
"She never gets old of that trick does she?"
The two watched in amusement as Rene tried the same back, taking her hand away from the man's ear and looking disappointed as she saw an empty hand.
"Awww. How do you do that?"
"Now now, a magician never reveals his secrets" he answered, tapping his overly large nose knowingly.
The next day Rene waisted no time in getting to the deserted building after school. Peeking in she saw that the monster was sitting at the desk, writing down stuff on paper as he puffed on a cigar. His arms seemed motionless, void of anything to do as they hovered in the air listlessly. They hadn't stopped, Rene hadn't ever seen them stop before, instead they were moving in a very slow manner that reminded her of the rise and fall of someone sleeping.
She grinned to herself. It would be easy to sneak up on him now. No way would they notice her if she was careful.
Quietly she slipped inside, darting to hide behind a crate. He hadn't noticed. Again she ran to hide behind another one, the arms didn't even turn her way. Surprise was hers!
Slowly, carefully she made her way around until she was behind him, a mere three meters away. He looked up, Rene froze.
All he did was flick the ashes of his cigar to the ground and returned to his work. Rene breathed a sigh of relief.
Crouching, she got ready to spring out and tackle him from behind. She had always made her mother laugh when she did it to her. It was a game the two had, see how many times Rene could surprise her. In the kitchen, in the garage, once even in the closet. She had hidden there and sprung out as soon as her mother opened the doors, sending both of them giggling to the floor.
Ready….one….two….THREE!
She leaped at him.
"Surpriiie!"
One of the arms instantly came to life, catching her in the air with its clawed head and lifting her up into the air to hang suspended some six feet from the ground. Rene kicked about in protest but the arm held firm. The man himself finished what he was writing, taking a puff from the cigar as he turned in the chair to face Rene.
"Its not polite to sneak up on people"
"Ahehe…" Rene cold only shrug sheepishly in reply, quite a feat when your hanging in the air by a mechanical claw.
"Don't do it again" his tone was that of a scolding parent but didn't sound angry. Rene nodded.
"Kay then"
"Good" His arm placed her on the floor, waiting until she had her balance before letting go.
"What's that your drawing?" Rene asked, gesturing to diagrams and sketches that covered the desk.
"My secret"
"oh" she nodded, accepting this. Of course she understood, she had secrets too. Some of the diagram she recognised.
"Is it what your making?" She asked, half looking at the hexagonal platform then pointing to the same on the picture.
"Yes it is"
"So that's what it will look like when finished"
"Smart girl" Rene beamed at his words.
"So what are you doing now?"
The man sighed, obviously he had been at it a while.
"I am trying to figure out what is needed to make it work and where I could find a big enough power source for it. Most suppliers don't stock for something like this"
"Why don't you go to the mall? Mother says you can get anything there" Rene suggested.
"I doubt they would have what I'm searching for…" he trailed off, thinking hard. Rene continued on regardless.
"I remember, one time me and mother were there during a storm. The entire power went out but the lights stayed on and…"
"Of course" a slow smile spread on the mans features, an idea forming. Rene wanted to know what the man was thinking but she felt asking might be considered rude. She had learned that generally if you just wait and listen long enough people tell you what you want to know anyway. It took longer though and Rene, no matter how considerate, was not patient.
"Did you think of something?"
"I believe I've found the answer"
"Oh good…what's that?"
He merely laughed a bit at that before getting to his feet and started pacing, deep in thought. He muttered to himself, half snatches of conversation that Rene barely heard as she tried to keep up with him. He seemed to be debating with himself, discussing what to do and how to do it. Thinking aloud one idea before disregarding it for another. His arms seemed to move with him, agitated and exited. They hissed and clicked, almost as if adding to the conversation.
Rene found the sight a strange one, but not bad. The monster seemed to have hit a stop before, unsure of what to do and didn't like it. Now though he had a purpose, which made him in a better mood, which made Rene happy because she had helped in that somehow. Granted she wasn't sure how but she felt that it was a good thing.
"…should be large enough…if we could…at night of course…might suspect if …distraction to hide it…yessss" The expression would have been frightening if Rene had seen, but Rene did not. She was too busy trying to follow behind the man and not get run over every time he turned around. The man didn't notice her but one of the arms picked her up and placed her on a crate out of the way where she was less likely to be trampled.
"I do think it's about time for another outing"
There was a noise of protest from Rene on her perch. The man looked up at Rene, noting her concerned look. Concern for him.
"Don't go!" Rene wasn't sure what to say, only that she was afraid of the monster going out. What if others saw him? What if he didn't come back?
"why not?" the monster faced her fully, his normal arms crossed and a neutral expression on his face.
"You'll get hurt!" This caused an eyebrow to rise in surprise.
"I won't be" he stated.
"how do you know?" Rene persisted. The monster frowned, slightly irritated. He didn't like it when people questioned him. He was a scientist after all, he knew what he was doing.
"I doubt if anyone can" was the reply as his arms reared up like snakes, hissing at the mere thought that anything could harm them. Rene wasn't satisfied with that.
"You promise?" she asked, almost demanding. The monster was more annoyed now and just manage to bite back a reply when he notices something. Rene was scared, but not for herself. She was scared for him. The realisation quenched any irritation he had, instead he was almost touched by her concern. Almost. He decided to humour her.
"Yes, I promise"
"Pinkie swear!" the little girl held out her little finger. The man rolled his eyes, but she wouldn't be satisfied by anything less. With a sigh he offered a three fingered claw out to her. Rene was confused for a second, just unsure of which one could be considered a little finger. She went ahead anyway and shook a random one. To her surprise the claw opened out further and a thin, delicate looking claw came out of the tip, grasping her finger and shook it solemnly.
The monster nearly laughed at her surprise and withdrew his arm quickly, clearing his throat .
"Happy now?"
Rene nodded.
"Good" The man returned to his pacing. After all, there was so much to plan.
You wouldn't believe the type of dilemma I had about trying to figure out which way the story should go. First it was going this, then it was going that, finally I settled on something that would be interesting and fun to write. I was very close to just forgetting this story altogether but I thought that would be a bit unfair for the readers.
Without further ado, here's my thanks to all those who reviewed.
Teenage fairy: Thanks for the review. Here's the update like you asked. Hope you enjoy it.
ShadowDemon: No problem. A bad habit of mine is to rarely review a story, I'm trying to change that, and your story is good. I like it and am looking for the next update soon. Im glad that I've got Dr Ock in character, that being one of the main things I worry about, that and plot. Glad your enjoying the story so much and thanks for the review.
Thursday Next: I have an idea for the ending that may be the slightest twinge of AU, but then again might not be. We'll see how it goes. I hope this meets up to your expectations and you enjoy it. Thankyou for the review.
Ickleronniekins1041: Hehehe…thanks for the review. If it were possible I would be joining you in glomping Otto, that is of course if I could get away with all limbs attached.
DocOcksGirl31: I played a game very similar to that to. Funny to see how common it is. Heres the next chapter, hope to hear from you again and thanks for the review.
dococks girl: I'll try to get this up as fast as possible but my writing process is slow at times. Thanks for the encouragement and I hope you like this chapter.
Repto: Thank you for your review. Hope you like this chapter as well.
Tigerlily130: Here's the next update, but I'm not sure when the next one will be. Within a week hopefully.
Gissycat: Thank you for the review. I'm not sure where the idea came from, I think I might of read a story similar to it a while back so its not all my idea, I have to admit. But It's interesting to see how the same situation can be applied to different people and guess at how they would react.
Empress of Thoughts: Here you go, another chapter up. What happens next I have a fairly good idea, but you'll have to wait and see. ; ) Thanks for the review.
Goldbryn Callow Lyte: I agree, the idea of the cake did strike me as funny when I first thought of it, so much so my parents were giving me some very strange looks. I find it amusing that Otto, being an adult and all doesn't seem to have much interaction with children, and to be placed in a situation where he does meet and talk with one would be amusing since he wouldn't have a clue on how to react. Thanks for the review.
Jack4: that's actually quite an interesting idea. Thanks for it. I'll keep that in mind as I'm writing. In the meantime hope you enjoyed the new chapter.
gundam metatron0084: A lot of people say the same. I'm glad you like it, and I hope you enjoyed the update.
PuckRox: Thank you for the review. I'm actually surprised at how well the stories coming together and I'm looking forward to continuing it. Enjoy the update.
Chibi Hime: Thanks for your review. I'm glad that Rene's an interesting character to read, I try, and she's also fun to write. I hope you like the new chapter. Hope to hear from you again.
Thank you all for your reviews. I JUST TURNED 17!!!! BOOYEA! Happy birthday to me!