Sometimes Feathers, chapter 3

Chapter Three
The First Night


    After dinner and short listen to the radio, Bette told Fenton that it was time for bed. Fenton’s first instinct was to ask to stay up just a little bit longer, but quickly realized that he has not yet been to the adjacent room. Fenton got up, scrambled up onto the sofa, stood next to his mother who was seated, stood next to her, and planted a kiss on her cheek. He ran up the flight of steps of the steps as fast as he could (not an easy task for a person who is a little bit shorter than tall). Mrs. Wagonblast was awaiting his arrival at the top of the stairs, with an easy grin. She walked (not as Fenton as he had hoped) towards the room. With a subtle look and a twinkle in her eyes, she bent down and whispered, “I think you are going to like it”. Fenton who now, couldn’t wait to get down the hall,”What’sitlike” he blurted in one word. “It is what every boy your age could imagine. And even a little bit more”. This was said in a slightly with a slightly mysterious tone, that was just enough to pique the boy’s interest that much further.

  Upon reaching the door, Mrs. Wagonblast’s hand met the knob. At the slightest of turns, the knob began to glow. First with a soft amber, to a brilliant yellow, into a sunset red. Fenton wondered if it was hot, she didn’t appear to be in any pain, so he guessed not. When the door was opened further, the room itself began to glow. Softly at first, the brilliant illumination, almost worthy of the sunrise itself! Fenton was overwhelmed at first by the light, it wasn’t unpleasant in the least. He was just in awe of everything seemingly happening by itself.

  “Don’t be afraid dear, there is nothing in here that will hurt you” she beckoned to Fenton to come away from the doorway. A couple of slow steps and he was beside her. “How does that work? I mean the light. It just comes on like that?” Fenton asked with a wide look in his eyes. “Yes, deary, all by itself. Don’t ask me how it works though, that is Dr. Nystrom’s area.” Mrs. Wagonblast continued. “I don’t know how half of the things around here work. Only that they do and then some!”


  This is your bed, she said pointing towards the wall. Fenton didn’t see anything. He had certainly seen Murphy beds before, built into the wall.
Here, there was only a small space on the wall about 6 inches high and four feet wide. He wasn’t sure exactly what she was talking about. Then she pressed a small button on the table that was standing next to the slot in wall. Out shot a bed! Not just a bed, a fully made bed! His jaw nearly hit the floor(with him being low to the ground, you may not think this is such a great achievement, but size being relative, it most certainly was).  He could not believe his eyes. Everything was much more than he could have dreamed.

  It was then when he first caught a glimpse of the metal reflecting the glow to the room. A telescope! Right in the room that he would be living in! That was it he thought, he couldn’t wait for Mrs. Wagonblast to leave the room so he could get his eye on the telescope. He feigned a yawn, Mrs. Wagonblast bought it. “Oh, my lord. Somebody is very tired. You had better get yourself right to sleep”. Fenton couldn’t agree more, sort of. “Goodnight Mrs. Wagonblast. Thank you very much for showing me to bed”. “You are more than welcome dear. Having folks around here is a joy”. She said very sparkly, “you get yourself some rest, tomorrow will be a busy day”. As she said that, Fenton wondered what she meant, he was then quickly distracted by his thoughts of the telescope he was about to get his hands and eye onto. He watched the door close behind her, and he made his way towards the object of his imagination’s desire.

  The telescope was magnificent, unlike any that he had ever seen in magazines and movies. It was all bright metals in different colors, coppers, silvers, golds, and a strange greenish metal that was the shiniest of them all. He placed both hands on the side of the scope, and placed his eye onto what he figured would be the place to put his eye and....Nothing, he couldn’t see a thing, that eye was ensconced in darkness. “What a gyp” he muttered, and set about to see if he did something wrong. He inspected it very carefully, especially cautious about not moving any of the knobs or dials. Everything appeared to be what it should, so finally he decided to twist one of the dials, just a little bit he figured.

  The telescope began to glow and emit a very low hum. It twisted and contorted a bit, then spun to the left and pointed down. The eyepiece now about a foot too high for Fenton to look in. He stretched with all his might to try to catch a glimpse, it was futile for him to try, but he had to. He had to just check, where did the thing go, what was it looking at without him. He scanned the room for any object that could be used to give him the extra height he so desperately needed. Fenton was expert already at using a wide array of objects to momentarily boost his stature. He spied an elaborate set of suitcases in the far corner. He hurried over and began to drag the pair towards the telescope. One of the latches popped open during its drag.

  He almost didn’t notice at first, but upon closer inspection the open suitcase seemed strange. The inside looked too black, the room was very bright, yet the inside of the case was pitch black. It also appeared to have no bottom. Fenton leaned over into the suitcase and waved his arm around, he couldn’t feel a bottom. He was confused, he had just dragged this case halfway across the floor, of course it had to have a bottom.  He picked up a pencil from the desk, and dropped it into the open case. It made no sound, and it was nowhere to be seen. He needed something heavier, he picked a paperweight from the desk. An oversized penny, it was a big giant penny, looked just like one, only about the size of a saucer. With both hands he dropped the giant coin into the suitcase, still not a sound, and not to be found.

  Other items soon followed, a book, a larger book, his shoes. He could not understand where anything was going; he dragged the case a few feet further towards the telescope. He then tried another 2 books, and just like the others, gone without sight or sound. He couldn’t understand what was happening, and it frightened him a little bit. He snapped the lid shut and proceeded to drag the suitcase to the telescope. Once there he realized that would need the other as well. He went to the other suitcase, and very carefully, so as not to open the latch, he grabbed a hold and pulled. It all of a sudden was too heavy for r him to drag. He knew that he had just had that one in one hand, and the other case in the other and was moving them, not without a struggle, but not immovable either. He uneasily bent towards the latch.

  With a not so steady hand, he undid the snap. The top swung up, and inside, floating on top of what looked to be a swirling liquid was everything he had dropped into the first case! Scratching his eyes in disbelief, he wondered, could he have been putting these things in this suitcase all along? “No! I was definitely putting it in that one” he exclaimed to himself. But self-doubt began to creep in as it so often does when things aren’t logical. He picked up a book, and even though it was floating on top of the liquid, it wasn’t wet, not a drop. Fenton picked up everything else from the open case, and placed it back where it belonged in the room. “Now, I have to make sure”, he was now talking to himself. Even as a seven year old, he knew that some things are, and some things just should be. But that this, this was neither a should, it was very much a shouldn’t.

  He took the giant penny again from the desk. He opened the first case, the dark bottomless one. He dropped it in, almost immediately it appeared on the surface of the other case floating on top of the liquid. He was mesmerized, he picked up a book, and did the same. Same result. Fenton didn’t understand how. He inspected under each case in great detail, and they looked no different than any ordinary suitcase. He reached his hand into the bottomless case, turned to the other. His hand was in the other case! Fingers wriggling in the exact same manner that he was instructing immersed in the liquid but he didn’t feel wet. In fact he didn’t feel any different at all. He still isn’t sure why he did what he did next but he did. Fenton stood, held his nose and jumped into the bottomless case; at the same moment the he felt himself fall. He was in the other case on top of the swirling liquid.

  He got out of the case and closed its lid, he quickly did the same to the other. He was afraid of letting any of the magic out. He didn’t know what caused the mystery, but he knew that he could think of something to use it for. He finally got the cases into just the right position for him to glance into the now tame by comparison telescope. Just as he was balancing on the top case, he heard footsteps in the hall. He scrambled quickly towards the bed. “Fenton dear, to turn the light off, just think dark and they will abide”, Mrs. Wagonblast said through the door. “Th-th-thank you, Mrs. Wagonblast”, he was grateful she wasn’t coming in, “I was wondering how to do that”. This was something of a lie, the thought of turning the lights out had never entered his mind, not with so much to see. He figured that she noticed the light coming through the crack at the bottom of the door, so he knew he had to put the lights out. “But how, how do you think dark?” he wondered. He lay there, trying to think dark. Just as he began to imagine how dark it was in his old room. The glow that once filled the room began to fade to dark.

  It was dark in the room, very dark, except for the glow coming from across the room. Very subtle and soft, it was the telescope, beckoning him to come forth. He got out of the bed softly, he still wasn’t in his nightclothes, he had just hopped into bed when Mrs. Wagonblast came to the door. He decided to change now, in case somebody else came to the door. After changing he slowly made his way to the glowing telescope, still pointing down in the direction that it was previously.  He made his across the room, and clunk!! He had smashed his big toe (still a big toe, even with it being so small!) into the bottom suitcase. “OUCH,OUCH,OUCH!!” he yelled inside his head without a sound coming out. If he so much as whimpered lightly, he knew his mother would be up the stairs. He didn’t want anyone to see the suitcases dragged across the floor. So he bit the bullet so to speak.

  As he stepped on top of the first case, a thought drifted through his mind ”What if the cases tumble?” he worried, “I could fall in”. He then relaxed himself by assuring that he would only wind up in the other case. He made his way to the top case, and leaned slightly to the eyehole. He squinted his other eye closed as tight as could and peered into the hole. It was not what he was expecting. But very exciting just the same, to him anyway. When he looked through the scope, it was like he almost next to the bed with which his father was sleeping in. He was seeing right into the boob shaped building! It wasn’t like he was looking through it, it was like was there. He could see his father sleeping, which to Fenton was quite comforting, he knew he was okay. He could also see Uncle Jasper behind him, working with something on a bench along the wall.

  The wall was filled with more of the jars that were on the shelf in the bathroom. All along the top of the bench were wires, and little bits of metal, what looked like small motors, and toys. “Toys” thought Fenton, “what would Uncle Jasper be doing with so many toys?” There were dolls, and robots. Small cars and trains, a few jack-in-the-boxes, yo-yos. More toys in one place than Fenton had ever seen. Very briefly he thought, “Uncle Jasper must be Santa Claus”. This would be a little less than prophetic.

  Comforted by the sight of his resting father. Fenton made his way off of his precarious perch and back to the floor. He then set about dragging the two suitcases back to their original places in the room. He climbed into bed a very tired boy. When the mind is exhilarated the body soon becomes tired. Fenton lie there for a moment trying to digest all that had happened in the time between setting foot in the room and lying in the bed. He soon drifted off to sleep, with thoughts of the magic suitcases, the telescope, and his soon to be speaking father.