Friday Flash Fiction: Mad Scientist

(Friday Flash Fiction prompt from The One-Minute Writer on 7 June 2013:
You've always been close to your favorite uncle, the 'mad scientist,' even though no one in the family has head from him in a couple of years now. You're thrilled to get a note in the mail from him one day, even if it is short, and rather cryptic - asking you to come to his remote country home and lend a hand. You arrive, and as you are walking up the long, wooded pathway towards the house, you swear you see large shapes among the trees that don't look like any human or animal you've ever seen before....)

I'd forgotten how little there was in Tipton county other than farms. I hadn't been to Uncle Max's place for a couple of years at least. Finishing school then starting a job had kept me busy, and Max (no "Uncle", he hated that), wasn't one to use the phone. I'm not sure he even had one.

The short note he sent me mid-week didn't give any reminders of how to get to his place. He'd assume I'd find it as always. We had the closest relationship in the family by far. I'm not sure most of my relatives knew about this place, or cared. Mom got a note from him every so often, mainly just a paragraph or two letting her know he was still alive. She had a studied lack of interest in his projects.

I knew I was in the right part of the county, but not quite on auto-pilot. After doubling back once and trying a different road, I saw the mailbox labeled "M. Weiland". I turned into the drive. You couldn't see the house from here. My theory was that every tree in the county was planted on these few acres.

The drive opened up into a small parking area after a hundred feet; I parked my truck there. A path wide enough for an ATV ran through the woods for at least a hundred yards, then you were at the house, a well-preserved Victorian. As I crunched across the gravel toward the path, I looked for Marshall. Normally Max's dog would appear after I slammed the truck door, black and white against the greens and browns of the woods, curly tail wagging. No Marshall today, so I walked up the path alone.

But as I got deeper into the woods, I didn't feel alone. Not exactly threatened, but watched, studied. I walked faster and scanned left and right. Nothing for a while, then to my right I saw a shape moving. Not a bear (in Tipton county?), but larger and stranger. The glimpse I had before it disappeared seemed to show too many limbs and proportions that were all wrong.

I looked ahead and could just see the outline of the house. Glancing left, I saw an eyeball the size of a golf ball, on a stalk, sticking out in the path toward me. I must have jumped a foot in the air. The eye stalk whisked out of sight, and I sprinted for the house. To my right there was crashing in the brush that almost kept pace, but I was focused on the front door.

I saw Marshall through a window, watching me and barking. As I leapt onto onto the front porch and reached for the door knob, the door swung open. I tripped on the threshold and sprawled headlong in the entry way. Marshall charged, growling, then recognized me and started sniffing and licking. I rolled over to find Max looming overhead. He slammed the door shut and locked it.

"Peter! Thanks for coming out to help me."

I was starting to catch my breath. "It's Pete, Max, not Peter. And what the hell is out in the woods?"

"Enough with the Pete stuff, Peter. You're Peter to me, so drop it. Those creatures you saw are why I called. I need your help."

"It would have been nice to know about them beforehand. I would have brought a shotgun or something."

"I know, I know, I was in a hurry and forgot. But they haven't shown any aggression so far. And they do seem to know what weapons are, so better you weren't carrying one."

I was sitting up on the floor now, scratching Marshall behind the ears. "Your note just said you needed me to lend a hand. What's that all about?"

"I have some equipment that's malfunctioning. With your electronics degree, you can probably help me fix it. And you're a pretty good welder, too", Max said.

"Does this have to do with those things outside?"

"Of course. But I'll get to all that. Come on with me into the shop."

I stood up and followed Max and Marshall down the hall into what used to be a sitting room. Now it was full of tables and equipment around the perimeter, cables and power cords snaking this way and that. In the center of the room a cylindrical device sat on the floor. About four feet tall and three feet in diameter, knobs and lights surrounding a door in the center.

"Okay, Max, so where did those creatures come from?"

"Mail order."

"Mail order? What are you talking about?"

"Not mail order from here, silly. Mail order from another planet."

My brain was starting to hurt. "And I suppose it has to do with this gadget here?"

"Yup. It went well at first, once I built this machine and got the link established with Plerxes 11. The little guys were easy to care for. Of course, my friends on Plerxes didn't mention how large they'd get."

"So what's the problem now?"

"Well, I think I fried a circuit board and the link is down now. I built a new board, but still no luck. Plus, there's a support arm inside that broke. I'm hoping you can fix that."

"What happens if you can't get the link back up?", I asked.

"There's a certain food that's their favorite. It only grows on Plerxes 11, of course. If I can't get more, they might get unhappy with me. Or us", Max said.

"What exactly do you mean by 'unhappy'?"

"Let's not talk about that. Better to just get the machine fixed. How about rolling over that oscilloscope cart and we'll do some troubleshooting?"

I walked across the room and started back with the cart. As I did so, one of the windows grew dark in the corner of my eye. I turned and saw three eyes looking at me through the glass.


I rolled the cart faster.