Tuesday Night Storytime 3, Part 3
The continuation of Mr. Snaggle’s Oddities. In this part, Peter gets the chance to become Mr. Snaggle’s assistant. He couldn’t be more excited if he tried. Help contribute to the direction of the story by commenting below.
Audio version narrated by David Carroll:
As always, thanks for reading.
Peter was bored. He put on a video game, but he just didn’t feel like playing it and turned it off. He looked over the books on the small bookshelf in his room, but he’d read them all, some more than once.
He sighed and lay back down on his bed. Above the bed was a poster of his favorite comic book hero. He wanted adventures like the ones Spider Man got to go on. An ordinary kid that woke up to realize he was special. Every morning Peter hoped that he would put on his glasses only to find that he didn’t need them either. So far it hadn’t happened.
He stood and jumped on his bed pretending he was shooting webs from his wrists. A loud thud caught his attention and made him stop. He plopped down on all fours and crawled over to look off the edge.
Sitting on the floor, apparently knocked off by his bouncing, was an old leather book. That was weird, it surely hadn’t been there before. Peter didn’t recognize the book at all.
Intrigued, he jumped backward to sit on the bed with the book in his hands. He was about to open it when he heard laughter from downstairs. Wondering who it might be, Peter left the book hanging over the edge of the bed and ran downstairs.
“I didn’t know we were having company today.” Peter said as he entered the kitchen. Then he noticed Mr. Snaggle sitting with a coffee cup in hand. What was he doing here?
“Ah, speak of the little devil and he shall appear. Pete, come over here, Mr. Snaggle has something to ask you.” Peter’s father said.
Last night had been weird, but this was downright strange! What was happening to his parents? It’s like everything they thought was changing. It made him very nervous. But, seeing as how he no other option, he approached them.
“What is it?” He asked.
“My boy,” Mr. Snaggle began with his usual grandiose speech, “have I got the opportunity of a lifetime for you! How would you like to become my own personal assistant at the circus? You can help me with the animals, show around visitors, things like that? Would you like that, Peter?”
Peter’s suspicions disappeared in an instant. “Would I!? Is it really okay Mom?”
“It’s okay with us.” She smiled down at him. “Of course, you’ll have to finish your reading assignments before school starts back up.”
“I finished those weeks ago, you know that, I told you.” Peter said, and his mom looked confused for a second.
“I see, well I guess I must have forgotten about that. Then I see no reason why you shouldn’t. It sounds like a great opportunity.”
Peter smiled. “I’ll go get my shoes on, can you show me around today, Mr. Snaggle?” He asked.
“Of course, my boy. I’ll go on ahead, you just come whenever you are ready, alright?”
“Alright, I’ll be there soon, I promise.”
With that he ran back upstairs to get ready. He grabbed his shoes and jumped on his bed to put them on. When he was done he hopped up again and headed for the door.
As he stood, he heard another thud and looked back to the old book that had fallen off the bed again. He’d forgotten all about it. Oh well, it would be there he got back home, whatever it was.
Peter rode his bike as fast as he could to Mr. Snaggle’s tents. A job at a circus, how cool was that? He couldn’t wait to tell his friend all about it. After he got the behind-the-scenes tour of course. Jackson had seen everything he’d seen so far, it would be more fun to get to tell him something new.
He found Mr. Snaggle waiting for him outside the tent. He could tell from the cars lining the circle that many people were already visiting. Peter wondered how Mr. Snaggle had watched over the place while coming to visit him. Maybe he had just opened it up for the day.
“Peter, my boy, come on inside with me.” Mr. Snaggle led him into the tent. Peter smiled again at the sight. Rows of exhibits formed makeshift aisles for people to walk down. There were a lot of people inside the tent, pointing and gawking at the many strange things.
He’d listened to all the stories the other day with great interest, so Peter had some idea of where these creatures came from originally. Mr. Snaggle had traveled all over the world collecting his odd freaks of nature.
The old man stopped in front of the biggest toad he’d ever seen before. “This is a gluttonous animal to be sure. Do you know the word?” Peter nodded and the man smiled at him. “Of course you do, well he must be fed a great deal. Look, he’s gotten so dependent on being fed that he hardly moves around at all.” Peter thought there was something sad about that, but Mr. Snaggle was already moving on.
“This over here,” he gestured to a monkey hanging from its tail, no, it was hanging from two tails! “This little guy is far too hyperactive. Some seem to think the extra energy is connected to his two tails.” Mr. Snaggle laughed at that.
“What do you think it has to do with?” Peter asked. Mr. Snaggle looked down at him with a smile.
“You are a good observer, Peter, I like that. I suppose I think that just happens in nature. Some are born calm, others just cannot seem to keep their hands to themselves.” As he said it he moved further down the aisle. That wasn’t really an answer by Peter’s estimation, but he let it go and followed the old man anyway.
Mr. Snaggle led them through the exhibits, telling him the eating habits of different animals. Peter assumed it was because those would be the animals that were his responsibility. Some he skipped all together. Like the King Cobra that had two heads and the alligator with a second head instead of a tail! Peter was relieved that those would not be his responsibility.
When they got to the end of the aisles the people that had been there when he arrived were gone. In their place were other people. Most of them he didn’t recognize. Peter wondered just how far people traveled to come see this circus.
“Come, Peter, through here.” Mr. Snaggle led them out of one tent into the one next to it. It looked like a science laboratory. There were long tables with instruments that he didn’t recognize, and lots of beakers, some empty and others with colorful, bubbling liquids.
“What’s in this one?” Peter asked. There was something drawing him to one beaker full of a dark green liquid. It had smoke pouring out of it, creating a little cloud on the counter.
Mr. Snaggle smiled and warned him not to get too close to that one. “It’s a special shampoo for some of the animals. I make all my own supplies. Everything from shampoo to food. Only the best for my exhibits.”
“How neat, can I help you with this stuff too?” He asked.
“Why, of course you can my boy, of course you can. For now though, I fear you must get back home. As they say, time flies when you are having fun. Your parents made me promise to send you home for meals.”
Peter was feeling rather hungry now that he mentioned it. “When can I come back?”
“Any time you like, of course.”
Peter smiled. He had the feeling he was going to like being Mr. Snaggle’s apprentice. He moved to leave the tent and head home.
“Oh Peter, one more thing before you go.” He turned back to face Mr. Snaggle, who now wore a very serious expression. “You are welcome back here any time, but I do not ever want to catch you in this tent without my express permission, alright?”
It seemed like an odd request, unless he thought Peter would break something, either way he saw no problem with it. He shrugged and nodded in agreement. “See you later, Mr. Snaggle. Thanks again for letting me help you out!” The old man nodded with a smile and Peter left for home.
Tags: Fantasy, Mr. Snaggle's Oddities, podcast, Tuesday Night Stories, Writings
