The continuation of Mr. Snaggle’s Oddities. In this part, Peter feels the walls closing in on his as he runs out of people to trust. He must come to grip and learn more about his new abilities.

Audio version narrated by David Carroll:

As always, I hope you enjoy the story.

Things just didn’t go very well for Peter over the next few days. His master plan of curing his parents backfired, earning him a long lecture about privacy and wastefulness. On top of that, it hadn’t even worked. They found the tea bags in his room before he even woke up.

Every day that passed his parents asked him to spend more and more time with Mr. Snaggle as well. They became more and more distant, even staying in their rooms more than anything else even when he was home. With his friends gone, it was all very lonely. A small part of him began to wonder if things would be better with Mr. Snaggle after all. At least he was always excited to see him.

The one good thing about all the time by himself was that he was beginning to understand the old book he’d found. There was a lot more to mixing potions than he had guessed at first. In the movies it was just about pouring it the right sorts of ingredients, and getting to recite some cool magic words of course. In reality, it was much simpler, true, but it was much cooler he thought.

Peter did notice after a while that the animals had some understanding of him. He noticed it because he was trying to tell his rat friends that he was going to rescue them. They seemed very relieved by the news, so he began talking to the other animals as well. Some didn’t seem to figure it out, but others also seemed a bit relieved. That only offered mixed emotions though. He was happy to try, but what if he failed? How many of these animals had tried the same thing?

He’d made it a point to act as excited as he could around Mr. Snaggle in the laboratory. It was the key to everything. The old man had complimented him again and again on his wonderful achievements. It seemed Mr. Snaggle wasn’t lying when the man said he made all the suplies for the circus himself. Today Peter was making a new kind of shampoo for the monkey that had helped him realize the importance of the old book. If it worked, it would calm the monkey down a great deal, among other things.

He originally found hints for the changes to Snaggle’s shampoo from the book. Since it wasn’t any changes to the actual ingredients, he didn’t think the man would realize just what it was he was doing. As they’d worked together over the last few days, both quickly found there was a difference in the things they could do. Mr. Snaggle found that very fascinating, which made Peter pay closer attention to it.

Peter had taken a few supplies home with him when Snaggle hadn’t been looking so he could explore exactly what those changes might mean. What he did today was one of the things he’d figured out. Shampoo is an ordinary thing most of the time, but not so for an alchemist, which is what Snaggle liked to call himself.

Their shampoo could affect someone both physically and emotionally to a rather powerful degree. It was a terrifying thought in Peter’s mind when they started, but he’d thought hard about it and decided it wasn’t really a bad thing, if you were careful. In this shampoo he was offering bits of courage and dignity. He’d also figured out how to help with the poor creature’s hyperactive behavior, which Peter was quite sure the animal hated.

He wasn’t sure exactly how it was that he could put pieces of himself into what he made, but he found the whole thing fascinating. Mr. Snaggle had taught him that it had to do with someone will power. You had to visualize what you wanted to offer traveling from your head into your concoction. Peter could now even see it happen, like a mist floating from the center of his forehead.

Mr. Snaggle couldn’t see it though, or at least Peter couldn’t see it when the old man did something. Snaggle had said there was so much he was learning from Peter. It seemed so strange because Peter knew so little, but just having someone else around that could do what he could was enough apparently.

When he was finished, Snaggle was clapping with a large smile on his face. The circus had been closed to the public already, so they spent most of their time together in the lab. That was fine for Peter, since he felt guilty being around the animals. The old man couldn’t tell exactly what it was Peter had made, but it would be obvious to him that he was finished. Something that didn’t change between them was the results of an unsuccessful creation. The vial would solidify and turn very black. It was rather hard to miss.

“Very good, my boy, very good!” Despite himself, Peter smiled at the compliment. He was rather proud of it after all, and he certainly wasn’t going to hear any such a thing at home tonight. “I am eager to test your treatment for the hyper beast.” Peter hid his sadness, it was the difference between them. Peter wanted to help the animals, and Mr. Snaggle didn’t care at all about that. “There’s something I’d like to talk to you about before you go wash him though.” Peter wondered what the man wanted now. He already had complete control over him. “I know you found your parents tea bags, Peter. Your actions show plainly enough that you have figured out what it is that I do here, and how I get away with it as well. No, there is no need to deny it. On the contrary, I compliment you on figuring things out. You are a very bright child, my boy.”

Peter’s heart was racing. The man paused in his speech and seemed like he wanted Peter to say something, but nothing came to mind. Or rather, too many things came to mind and he couldn’t figure out which was the right thing to say. Finally, he knew what the man wanted, and he knew what he had to do.

“You really think so? I thought this was just something you did with someone in every town you visited?”

“Oh my, Peter, that is not true! You poor thing, I never meant for you to worry about all of that. I was not lying when I told you how long I have been looking for someone to share this ability with. You can’t possibly imagine how true that statement really is.”

Peter forced a smile. “Well, I’m excited about the prospect of traveling. I, um, wouldn’t mind figuring out exactly how you are turning the kids into animals though. I have to admit it has fascinated me for some time now. I didn’t want to anger you by asking.” The man lit up at his words, exactly what Peter was hoping.

“I’m glad you brought that up, Peter. Before we leave this weekend, I would like to let you try it.”