Little Jimmy Helmsquash was a boy who loved to explore. He spent little time in the house, and lots of time outside in the yard. This yard was an excellent place to explore, as it was filled with old trees, creeks, and wide expanses of tall grass. Old stories of villagers echoed about Little Jimmy’s yard; the stories talked of strange inhabitants amongst the ancient trees.
It was on one of his exploration treks through the tall uncut grass that Little Jimmy discovered an egg. According to Little Jimmy Helmsquash, the newly discovered egg was a Greater Egg, according to the great taxonomy. That’s right, according to experts, it was an egg of much acclaim, and therefore, an egg worthy of everybody’s time and energy. And for a long time, folks came from far and near, to find out about all of the fuss. To most, this egg seemed quite ordinary, maybe even on the level of “lesser,” so after a while, folks stopped coming. Disappointed Little Jimmy Helmsquash tossed the “Greater Egg” into a steamer trunk and locked it away in a closet, and then promptly forgot about his discovery.
After a couple of years, and after the horrible smell of sulfur left Little Jimmy Helmsquash’s bedroom, mysterious sounds started emanating from deep inside Jimmy’s closet. There were moans, and creaks. There was a popping or two. Then, there were scratches and sighs. There were even the sounds of mad tea parties from Mars. The whole house, his entire family, and sometimes some guests, would think nothing about the strange noises that would eke out into the hall. I mean, it was Little Jimmy, after all.
But one day something changed that took peace and tranquility right out of the place. Instead of the moaning, the screaming began. And the scratches and sighs were replaced with some nail dragging and belching all along one wall. But the thing that really disturbed the place, and caused neighbors to call upon police, was an earth-shattering boom that shook the entire house like the concussion of a bomb. Now, no one said anything, not mom nor dad, but they slowly entered the room. His little sister brought the dog to stand guard, all the while dragging the poor creature, tearing up carpet as they went down the hall. One Aunt Matilda and Uncle Gerard, paying a visit, cut their trip short, packing up all their luggage and throwing them all in their car. It was good that poor Aunt Matilda had been taking yoga classes for three months just before. So there they were, minus poor Aunt Matilda and Uncle Gerard, all in unison, Little Jimmy, his dad and his mom, his little sister and dog, leaning in toward the door to give listen. Then, everything went still.
And then, without warning, there came a nearby sonic boom of a jet, and it shook out the windows and shelves, and the desk and a chair, knocking a few books from the shelves on the walls. It disturbed the whole house right off of its foundation. The entire group of curious gawkers leapt hard off, several feet into the air. And then, like a single, gigantic hand, all in one, the entire group grabbed Little Jimmy Helmsquash, conveniently placed him at the center and front, and then, Little Jimmy he found himself face-to-face with the closet’s door, only the tiny sound of a pack of little arctic lemmings padding off and the sound of one phrase, “find out!”
So, alone in his now extremely small room, Little Jimmy Helmsquash had to find the courage to do what no one else wanted, and open the door. He swallowed hard, grabbed the door knob, and then slowly turned the door. He noticed skeletons hanging in his closet, and nothing more. Curious as to how all that Halloween stuff got into his closet without his knowledge, he stepped inside. Before he could reach out to touch the old bones, there was a creak and then blackness and nothing more. And no one ever heard from Little Jimmy Helmsquash from that point forward, and everyone forgot about that egg. Little Jimmy’s family eventually moved out, and now, after year, a new family has moved into the house. And lately the young boy has been asking, “What is a Greater Egg?”
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