Toby shot out of his seat suddenly, his whole body rigid, wrenched Eric out of his chair and shuffled him back towards the front door, babbling, “Sorry, I

Eric slammed his fist into the door several times. It didn’t open. Finally Eric gave up and turned back to the road. A few steps down the street Eric felt a

“I smelled something familiar a little while ago.”
“Wha--oh. Pyree. I forgot you were in there. How come you’re only coming out now?”
“I fell asleep. But I just woke up a little while ago--when I smelled this really familiar scent.”
“Huh; that’s weird.”
“I’m going back to sleep.” Again, Eric heard the sound of a pocket zipper.
Eric walked for a few minutes more, pondering what had happened in Toby’s house. He was still so confused.
<Why did I ask that question? And why did he freak out like that? That was so totally random, too.> Eric thought. <There’s something very suspicious about

Before Eric could continue his thoughts, he was interrupted by a familiar voice calling out behind him from a distance. The voice got closer every second.

Eric turned to see who was calling for him, and was surprised to see Toby racing to catch up to him as fast as his legs could pump down on the pedals of his

After a few deep breaths, Toby finally spoke. “Ca . . .” Toby gasped one more time, “Can you make it to the park? I need to talk to you but it has to be

Eric was about to say “no way, not after slamming the door in my face,” but then stopped. He really wanted to know what was going on. <Why’s Toby in

“Right now!” Toby shouted with urgency. “This needs to happen now.”
Eric was a bit taken aback by the urgency in his voice. But it was now his decision. Would he go and learn what all this strange behavior was about, or turn

“Good, I’m going there right now. I’ll meet you there,” Toby said hurriedly, mounting his bike once again.

Each knock seemed like the blast of a gong announcing the need to schedule another funeral. Wincing from the magnified sound, Eric then waited. Each

“Hello? Who is . . .” Toby started to ask, but his voice trailed off as soon as recognition hit his face. Toby’s smile faded instantly. “Eric? What are you doing

Throwing himself at the entrance, Eric gripped the edge of the door and yanked it back open. Toby let go in surprise. “No, you’ve got it all wrong,” Eric

“Talk? About what?” Toby asked, suspicion evident in his arching eyebrows.
“About what you said. And about how you said it.”
Toby paused, as if trying to decide if letting Eric in was a good idea, then spoke. “Alright, let’s talk in the dining room,” he said, pivoting away from the

Eric found his way to the dining room and settled in the chair that Toby had gestured towards before disappearing. He returned a moment later with two

Toby settled into his own chair. Eric took the Coke, holding it between his hands and just stared at it. Toby observed Eric for a few seconds. Eric could feel

“You don’t like Coke? That’s all we had, sorry.”

“No,” Eric blurted. “I mean I--uh--It’s okay. Vanilla is my favorite though.”
“Heh, mine too." Toby smiled for just an instant. “But I’m the only one in this house who actually likes it. So I gotta deal with what we get.”
“I only get to drink it when I eat out,” Eric continued. “My mom doesn’t accept unhealthy food or drinks. It drives me crazy.”
“Ha ha ha. I think it would drive me crazy too.”
This time both boys’ smiles lasted a full minute. It was followed by another bout of silence, however.
Finally, Eric summoned up the courage to speak. However, what came out was not at all the question he had rehearsed over and over during the walk

The color drained from Toby’s face faster than Eric’s grandfather when he had learned of what had happened that grey morning two years ago. And Eric

“Eric, where do you think you are going?” his mother asked again, running out of patience. She looked like she wasn’t going to let Eric out of her sight. <How could it have come to this?> Eric asked himself for the hundredth time in so many months. <There used to be no end to the depth of her trust. Now

“Mom, I’ve been home!” he yelled. “I was on time. Just like you wanted me when you set my watch’s alarm! Where were you?!” He glared at his mother

“I have to go somewhere now. I’ll be back later. By dinner.” He pushed past his mother, still standing in the doorway.
“What? Eric get back in the house.” She spoke with an air of finality, but Eric was already making his way up the front lawn. “Did you hear me? I said you’re

When Eric’s shoes hit the pavement at the top of the incline his lawn covered, he glanced back towards the front door. “Eric!” His mother yelled, her voice

Even from the distance he was from her, he could see the tired bags under her eyes quite clearly. He knew what they were from. He couldn’t sleep at night

However, if Eric stayed there, frozen in the moment, that would never happen. He knew this. So he slowly turned back around, breaking the supernatural

Toby’s house was like any other suburban dwelling. He lived near the end of a lane in the same neighborhood as Eric. There was a short, level lawn and a

In the few seconds of silence before the creature spoke, Eric made a mental note of the creature’s absurd shape. It looked like something out of a cartoon.

“Hello,” Eric didn’t immediately comprehend that the high-pitched, kid-y voice was coming form the creature. “My name’s Pyree,” it continued, oblivious to

Without understanding why, and still in his bewildered state Eric answered, “Eric.” He held his breath for a second, trying to calm his nerves, then asked,

“I’m a Magimon,” the strange creature answered.
“What’s that?” Eric asked. But at that moment, Eric’s watch started beeping. It snapped him out of his trance. “Oh shoot! I gotta get home.” But as he turned and started

“Stop it, Pyree.” Eric whispered. “My mom would so not approve of having a pet around the house. She doesn’t like having anyone living in this house

Eric had not been happy with Pyree’s determination to follow him home, but for some reason Eric found it impossible to fully refuse the little fireball. Now

While Pyree proceeded to take his room apart, Eric had occupied himself with an address search for Toby’s house. The more Eric thought about the

“There,” Eric sighed, “Found you.”
Eric set the phone book down and grabbed his backpack, slinging it over his shoulders. Not surprised, Eric waited outside his room for his new companion

“Mom” he started to speak but at that word Eric was cut off.
“Where are you going?” the tall, Asian woman asked him. Her lips already thinning as her eyes shrunk to slits. This was not her happy look. Eric didn’t like

Toby stepped closer to Eric. As Toby leaned in on him, Eric unconciously shrunk back. Toby opened his mouth and shouted, “You have been in this school

There were no swear words, no cussing in Toby’s question, but the words were scalding anyway. Biting. They cut into Eric’s very flesh, like a chainsaw

His silent, guilty expression devoured a few more seconds of time until, finally, Kurt spoke, “Come on Toby, let’s go. He obviously has no answer to your

“Yeah, let’s get out of here.” The two boys walked out from the hidden clearing and disappeared, leaving Eric slouching pathetically. Alone. The moment, though permeating a sense of disquiet, left Eric to fall into his memories. When was the last time he had let someone affect him that way, with a

He decided it must have been something in his eyes. The look. The emotion. Like Toby could empathize with him on some deep level of unspeakable

At that moment there was a strange sound, like a firework that just decided to spontaneously explode with all the volume it could muster. At the same time