Wuftoom by Mary G. Thompson

little bit. “Mom . . . I didn’t have a nightmare,” he said finally. “Don’t ask me how I know, but I do. I’m not going to be here tomorrow night.”
    She looked at him sadly. Evan thought she must be too tired to freak out. Too tired to cry. She sighed.
    â€œI’ll call Dr. Allen tomorrow,” she said.
    â€œNo,” said Evan, shaking his head. “You don’t understand, Mom. I’m not going to die from this. I’m changing into something else.” He paused to see what she would say to that, but she just kept looking at him tiredly. “I know Dr. Allen says it’s impossible, but what does he know?”
    â€œHe knows that you’re going to get better, Evan.” She smiled at him, but only with her mouth. She was trying so hard to make it a real smile. “No one is giving up on you.” She removed her arm from his back and gripped his leg with her hand, over the blankets, looking him right in the eye. “I promise.”
    Evan put one of his membraned hands over hers. He wasn’t going to hide it anymore. “I’m turning into something like a worm. It’s like a giant worm with fangs. I’ve seen one. They live in the sewers. They’re coming to get me tomorrow night, so I can go and live with them.”
    Tears shone in his mother’s eyes. She searched his face. “Why are you saying this?”
    He couldn’t tell her the rest, about Foul and the wood square, and Jordan Bates. “Because it’s true, Mom. It is.”
    She was silent for a long minute. “You’re right,” she said finally. “Dr. Allen doesn’t know what’s wrong. I don’t know if what you’re saying is impossible or not.” She put her other hand on top of his. “You really think it’s true, don’t you?”
    â€œYes,” said Evan. He looked away from her but then looked back. “I don’t know if I can come back or not. If I can’t handle the sun now, or the wind, or even electric light, then what will happen to me when I change? Maybe I won’t be able to come up aboveground at all.” He thought about the one that visited him, but he didn’t want to get her hopes up. He also didn’t want her to see him like that.
    His mother searched his eyes silently. Evan saw her eyes change, saw that she finally believed him. Tears began rolling down her face. “You’ll try, won’t you?” she said. She put her arm around his shoulder and pulled him close.
    Evan wasn’t crying anymore. He loved his mother, but he wished she’d let him go. He wished she’d go back to bed. He wished he’d never told her anything, so he didn’t have to face this. He sat there numbly, but his mother didn’t leave. She stayed with him all night, first clutching his body, then holding his membraned hand.
    It was all Evan could do to get her to go to work in the morning instead of staying with him. He told her he was exhausted, that he needed to sleep. That it would happen even sooner if he didn’t sleep. It wasn’t a lie, he knew. He wondered if by staying in his own body, he could put it off for one more day. Wouldn’t the worm scream when it saw how it was cheated! But the image of the bugs stopped him. Bearing down with their fangs drawn, their wings covering the sky.

Ten
    J ORDAN WAS STANDING at his locker with Angela. They were talking in low voices, their faces nearly touching. Jordan had to bend down to reach her. His hair was disheveled. Angela’s face had a scared look. Jordan’s face was pale, and he had dark circles under his eyes.
    Evan was sorry. He was so sorry that he thought he could feel his own heart, beating inside Jordan’s as he jumped into Jordan’s body.
But I don’t have time to be sorry,
he thought.
    He turned Jordan’s body around and ran. Angela screamed after him, but he didn’t stop. He