Wamplus

      Tess suddenly sat up in bed, struggling for her eyes to gain focus as she roused herself from her nightmare that had been her close companion since she could remember. Her pink rose snap-down nightshirt was bathed in sweat and her fragile heart was thumping in her chest as she grabbed her two squirt guns in her left and right pockets, displacing the kleenex. She listened very carefully and yelled, "Are you there?" Receiving no answer, she swung her legs over the side of the bed, getting in a position to run, if need be. After a few minutes, her heart rate slowed and she calmed down a little. "That damned Walking Wamplus got me again", she muttered to herself. She was somewhat shocked, because she did the mental calculations and figured she hadn't seen him in over two years and nearly had put him from her mind. "How could I figure he was gone for good?", she wondered as she kicked herself. Indeed, the Wamplus went as far back in her memory bank as her mother, father and sister- which was nearly the last eighty of her eigty-six years. She grabbed her snake head cane that was propped against the side table and pushed herself upright. She made her way across the sparsely furnished bedroom that she always kept well-lit and stepped into her bathroom. She stared into the mirror and remarked, "I could scare a few people off. At least my eyes haven't changed and I didn't pee myself -which is something." Just then, her black Persian cat, Chairman Meow, walked in and wrapped himself around her legs. He was very vocal, and seemed to inquire about her welfare and give a strong hint that he was hungry. She remarked to him, "You should have seen me in my younger days. Never get old! Give me five minutes and I'll get your breakfast. " Chairman Meow seemed to understand every word and headed toward the kitchen. He sensed the Wamplus had been in the house and stayed away until the coast was clear

                                                  Tess - Seven Years Old 

       Tess and her five-year old sister, Lisa, flew into the house to help themselves to the bright red punch from the smiling glass Kool-aid pitcher in the refrigerator. It was a hot July day and their slightly older male cousins and Aunt Diane had just left. The sisters and the boys had explored the nearby future Mechanicville High School grounds. They played hide-and-seek and tag while their mother and her sister had a visit. These were the days that children's play time was more free-lanced rather than supervised. They were flushed from the exertions and heat of summer, but were already casting about for another activity to stave off boredom. As they gulped down their restorative drinks, there was loud thumping, pounding and swearing from their father wafting up from the dark and dusty old basement. They normally would steer clear of any frightening noise, but decided to go down to check it out. Their father just finished slamming the door shut to the furnace room and jumped when they came up behind him. "Whatcha doing, Dad ?", asked Lisa, with her big brown eyes as big as saucers.  

         Dad said with a strange smile, " I was fighting the Walking Wamplus- the monster that lives in our cellar. He's in the furnace room now." The girls were shocked into unaccustomed silence as the gravity of the situation dawned on them. He launched into a very detailed description of the beast. " He's eight feet tall, with the bottom half of a kangaroo. His top half and huge arms are those of an ogre. He's got a thick neck and gigantic head and ears. There is no hair growing on the top of his head and he has rotten black teeth. He has red eyes that you can't look into or you will be frozen to the spot. He keeps knives and needles in his pouch and he walks like this." Dad demonstrated his gait by first swinging out his left leg way out to the side and then thumping it down hard in front of him. He then repeated the process with the right. The girls gulped. 

       Tess recovered her composure with her green eyes bright with unspilled tears and peppered Dad with questions. She asked, "He's how tall? How old is he? Can he come out of the cellar? You can't look into his eyes or he'll freeze you to the spot? How fast can he walk? What does he eat? Does he go to the bathroom? Can he talk? Will he hurt us?"

         Dad was patient as he was being interrogated. He first demonstrated its height by holding his arm high over his six- foot high frame. He continued, "He's locked up in the furnace room but maybe could escape if he got the urge. He 's been here since the house was built a long time ago. Grass and trees are what he eats but he cleans up after going to the bathroom. I haven't heard him talk, but have heard grunts. He can't sneak up on you and wants to give fair warning that he's coming. He keeps the sharp stuff in his pocket only to scare people. Don't look into his eyes or you'll become hypnotized and can't move. Most importantly, he won't hurt you." He patted Tess's red hair reassuringly. 

       The younger but more thoughtful Lisa asked, "How do we fight him Dad?"

        Dad smiled at this very intelligent question. He picked up a red squirt gun from one of the toy shelves . He said, "You try to get him right in the eyes so he can't freeze you. Don't look at him directly if you can help it. He stinks badly because he doesn't like baths, so you can probably hit him anywhere and he'll turn and walk the other way. " The girls nodded their heads solemnly up and down. Dad knew what he was talking about because he was a police officer. They went upstairs so artist Tess could draw him.

       An hour later, the two girls heard more loud noises from downstairs and were waiting upstairs when their father emerged from the basement. Tess showed him the drawing of the kangaroo -ogre and he exclaimed, "You've captured him perfectly. No sketch artist could do any better. You've even spelled his name right. " Tess beamed a smile that lit up her freckled face and ran upstairs to tape the picture on her window. Mom,Tess and Lisa made the long trek down the hill to Amman's Cigar Store to buy a six-pack of water pistols and candy- you name it, they sold it. The rest of the day into evening was spent prowling around the outside foundation of the house, peering in the cellar windows with weapons drawn. They protested loudly when they were called to dinner. Tess later dreamed of the Wamplus hunting for her while she hid in ancient trees. She waited until he got close enough and hit him with a spray of water. She woke up before the dream ended. Looking back years later, that day was her first powerful memory of childhood.

                                                  The Week after Wamplus 

       The days after Wamplus were spent in an enjoyable way. Happy hours were spent prowling outside hunting their quarry, sure that they saw or heard him multiple times. A few nights, they opened the cellar door, shone their flashlights and opened fire with sprays of water. Their dog Sandy was reluctant to join them, to their great disappointment. Tess got into the life-long habit of keeping two water guns under her pillow at night. She dreamed of her and the Wamplus stalking each other in exotic or familiar places- the Alps, Amman's and school. Sometimes he seemed menacing and once she thought he looked happy being hunted. Lisa said she didn't dream of him at all. One week exactly after Wamplus was one of the worst days of their lives. 

         They were spending the day up at their aunt and uncle's house in Stillwater for a small family picnic of assorted family relatives, about twenty in all. Uncle Don owned waterfront property on the Hudson River and also had the luxury of an in-ground pool. There was boating, swimming, water skiing for the brave and feeding fish from the dock.Too bad Dad had to work. Tess and Lisa were throwing torn- up bread for the hungry river fish. Mom yelled to them, "Tess, Lisa - come eat!" Tess tore off like a shot, grabbed a paper plate and loaded up. She was devouring the assorted picnic offerings for several minutes when her mother suddenly yelled, "Where's Lisa?!" Tess looked around and shrugged her shoulders. 

       All hell broke loose and the dozen adults and most of the children stopped eating and launched into action. The cries of ,"Lisa, Lisa !", permeated the air as the search party headed to the pool and river. Uncle Don dove suddenly into the deep end of the pool and brought Lisa to the surface. He pushed her up and over the side to her mother and concerned maternal relatives, armed with towels. Lisa gasped, sputtered and gagged, expelling chlorinated water. The cries of, "She's OK, she's OK,!", went up when she cried," Mommy, I saw the Walking Wamplus ", then burst into tears. Tess hurried over to check on her sister and was rewarded with a slap on her backside from her mother. To complete her humiliation in front of the family was the accompanying barb, "I've had enough of this nonsense, you should have been watching her." Tess and Lisa cried themselves to sleep that night, with snatches of their parents quarrel hanging in the ozone. Lisa slept soundly while Tess carried the weight of guilt and the burden of Wamplus nightmares. Lisa told Tess the next morning that Wamplus chased her from the dock and she hid from him in the pool.

                                                  Monster Removal 

       Early the next morning, Dad announced that Wamplus was moving to a permanent home at the dump. He would be much happier there and would have lots of other people's garbage to round out his diet. Lisa was glad to see him go, but Tess had mixed feelings. Although she had reason to want him gone, she was more adventurous than her younger sister and enjoyed the thrill of the hunt. Dad covered their eyes with handkerchiefs and tied them at the back of their heads. Under no circumstances were they to peek. Terrible thumps and clangs emanated from the back of the truck. They drove several miles with the monster in tow and bid goodbye to him when they reached their destination. Lisa remarked,"He'll love all of this stinky garbage." They weren't allowed to remove their blindfolds until they got home. A few nights later, Tess dreamed she was hunting Wamplus in the deep jungles of Africa. When she told her mother, she realized it was a mistake. Her mother said, "For some idiotic reason, your father made up the stupid Wamplus story and it almost killed your sister. He isn't real. Forget him!" Tess dreamed of him anyway. 

                                                 Tess Age Seven to Eighteen 

       Tess grew into an arresting young woman. She was smart without being nerdy. She was witty without being malicious. She was attractive without being intimidating. She lit up a room and her peers sought her out. These people-pleasing attributes sometimes got her into trouble. The Wamplus showed up in her dreams enough to remind her he was a permanent fixture. She stopped talking about him even with Lisa, as he was a sore subject with their mother. Tess still kept squirt guns under her pillow-her friends brushed it off as an odd obsession. Her mother tried to get her to give up the practice, but decided to let it go. Every hill wasn't worth dying on. On the eve of graduation, Tess dreamed of Wamplus and it was a doozy. She was frozen to the spot and he towered over her, knife in hand. Her head pounded during the ceremony and continued the rest of the day. She felt too sick and tired to make the round of parties with her boyfriend Joe, and their three friends. She later heard the sirens and learned their car was wrapped around a tree, with no survivors. Wamplus struck again. 

                                                  Tess Age Eighteen to Thirty

       Tess gave college a try at Russell Sage, commuting back and forth. She was still traumatized by the accident and bothered enough by migraines that often accompanied the Wamplus dreams. She dropped out when a relative managed to finagle her a job as a secretary at the State Department of Labor. She continued to live at home until she saved up for a small apartment in town. There was a vague hope that the physical move from the house would put a nail in the coffin of Wamplus. No such luck. She once asked Lisa, who came home from the weekend from Cornell, if she ever thought about Wamplus. "I haven't thought about him in years ", was the reply. Tess dated on and off during this time and hiked the Adirondacks, shopped and read classical novels. She started seeing and married Russell, an old flame from high school, after their ten- year reunion. He pressured her into the habit of drinking more than she liked. During a drunken stupor, she "fessed-up" about the reason behind the water pistols. Far from being understanding, he teased her incessantly about it- mostly when he was drunk. During a particularly bad dream, she sprayed Russell in the face. His response was to slap her in the face. When she apologized, he slapped her harder. They obtained a divorce by mutual consent and she moved back home to regroup. About ten years later, Russell shot and murdered his second wife. Tess wondered if Wamplus was behind it.

                                                  Tess Age Thirty to Forty 

       Tess got another apartment in town and later married Fred, a coworker from Clifton Park. He was kind and shared her enthusiasm for hiking. Their combined incomes provided the opportunity to build a nice ranch home on an acre of land. She trusted him enough to tell him about Wamplus, and he was all in. He started keeping water pistols under his pillow and they roamed thick forests together, seeking the monster out. These adventures reminded her of the way she and Lisa hunted Wamplus during childhood. Unfortunately, Fred became obsessed with the idea and went overboard. He was on the lookout constantly for Wamplus and told all their coworkers about him. He was often unwilling to go to work out of fear of leaving the house or was unable to focus once he got there. He eventually obtained a full disability. Tess transferred to the Department of Tax due to embarrassment. The marriage ended when Fred fell off the ledge on a high point of Thatcher Park, hunting the Wamplus. Tess knew who was responsible. 

                                                  Tess Age Forty to Present 

       Tess sold the house in Clifton Park and moved back to an apartment in town. She didn't want the memories or the upkeep of the house. About this time, Lisa died in an auto accident. The report was that she swerved sharply to avoid something in the road, judging by the tire tracks. Tess dated from time to time but nothing serious- her relationships hadn't worked out so well. Her adventurous spirit was now much tamed. Television, movies and books occupied more space in her life. She became a favorite aunt, since she was the only one, to Lisa's two children. She retired as soon as she qualified. She got herself in a little trouble when she was tackled at the convenience store. A coworker had given her a realistic water pistol as a gag and an off-duty cop spotted it when she opened her purse. Both parents passed away when Tess was in her sixties. She briefly toyed with, then rejected, the idea of moving back into the house. She didn't want to take the chance of seeing Wamplus again and sold it with full contents after her mother passed. She was fortunate that kind and caring health aide, Dora, moved in next door when Tess was in her late seventies. Dora even promised she would adopt Chairman Meow if need be . 

                                                     The Last Hunt

       Tess inched her way over to the glider on her back porch and plopped down to watch the sun come up. Chairman Meow had finished his breakfast and rubbed against her legs. Something seemed to spook him and he ran back into the apartment. Tess knew Wamplus was there, and this time was not afraid. He towered over her, but he didn't look as sinister as in her dreams or chance sightings. He knew every question she had and answered them. In a soft voice, he explained he was created by her father's description and her drawing. The water pistols had no effect on him. Lisa would have drowned in the river instead of hiding in the pool. Tess would have died in the car with her friends after graduation. Russell would have murdered Tess if she hadn't left. Fred had a lot of issues and had been thinking dark thoughts until Tess consented to date him. He lived several happy years beyond his destiny. Lisa's fate would have been torture and murder at the hands of the serial killer she had just started dating and was on her way to meet. Instead , she swerved off the road to avoid Wamplus. Somehow, Tess knew there had been joy in the hunts as well as fear and darkness. There was goodness and nobility in the Wamplus as he protected her over the decades. She patted Chairman Meow goodbye, left Dora a message and grabbed her drawing of Wamplus. She said,"I'm ready ", and they walked hand in hand to the happy hunting grounds.