Theo had come over to Nicholas’ house for dinner and a game of cards, but before they could even start the game Nicholas had another sudden idea for another uninvented, and most likely disgusting, food.
Nicholas gasped as he jumped up from his chair and said, “I have an idea! Watch me, Theo, while I make the greatest juice ever.” He rushed over to the door that led outside, and Theo sighed as he watched Nicholas get the floor dirty after hurriedly gathering his ingredients. Nicholas had brought in some wheat, and Theo wondered what possible juice he could make that wasn’t as disgusting as the cranberry juice he made last week. The cabinets were flying as he scrambled to get cups and pots. Theo observed as he poured cups of water into the big pot and then separated the wheat. After a while of mixing ingredients and stirring, a nauseating smell started to permeate the room.
“Did something happen to the juice? I don’t think it’s supposed to smell like that,” Theo said, trying to see the juice from his chair.
“Do not worry; this juice will turn out to be amazing. The smell isn’t that bad…” He then got a whiff of what was inside the pot. “I think it smells great.” He took a spoon and stirred it a bit before pouring it into two cups. Once he turned off the heat, he took the cups to the table. One was placed in front of Theo, and the other was for Nicholas.
“Drink up,” Nicholas said. Theo looked down at the juice in the cup. When Theo brought the cup to his mouth and smelled it, he gagged.
“I can’t drink this.” Theo put the cup down. “It smells disgusting. What is it?’
“It’s wheat juice. I’ll drink yours if you don’t want it. ” Nicholas smiled as he downed both cups of wheat juice. He got up and poured himself two more glasses.
“Stop scaring me, Nicholas. You’ll get sick.” Nicholas froze, facing the pot of juice.
“WHEAT JUICE!” Nicholas spilled the juice as he flicked his head towards Theo.
“Aaagh!” Theo jumped from his chair and almost ran away.
“Haha, I scared you.” Nicholas smirked as he pointed to the shivering Theo.
“Don’t do that again!” Theo threw on his jacket and tried to stop shaking. “I’m going to leave now. It’s getting late.”
“No, don’t leave—” Nicholas gagged. He then puked on the floor.
“Okay, I’ll stay here. Come with me to the bathroom.” Theo took him to the bathroom to wash up. While Nicholas was using the bathroom, Theo cleaned the vomit in the kitchen. He wished that Nicholas would stop doing such impulsive things. Nicholas’ creations at worst had only given him a stomachache for a week, so surely this one can’t cause that much damage. After cleaning up, Theo went to the bathroom to check on Nicholas. He saw the door open and the lights out, so he knocked on his bedroom door.
“Nicholas? Are you alright?” There was no response. He must have been asleep. Just to make sure nothing was wrong, he opened the door just enough for him to see what was inside. Nicholas was resting on his bed.
“Theo? Can you get me the trash can?” Theo took the bucket in the corner of the room and gave it to Nicholas.
“Thanks.”
“I have to go now. You’ll be okay tonight, right?”
“Yes, I hope so,” Nicholas said. Then, Theo left and went to his apartment a couple of blocks away.
“Did you have a nice game of cards?” his wife asked while Theo took off his shoes.
“We didn’t play cards.”
“Why not?”
“Nicholas got sick again…” Theo mumbled.
“Oh no! I hope he’s alright. If he’s not, you can give him some of the solyanka I made last night. It has cured him before, so if he gets even more sick that should make him feel better.”
“I think he will be alright. I’m going to go to bed now. Good night.” He then went to the bedroom. The combination of all the paperwork he had to do that day and the events after work caused him to fall into a deep sleep very quickly. However, a couple of hours later, he heard some shuffling underneath his bed. Rubbing his eyes, he leaned over the bed and looked underneath. He saw a cup of wheat juice. How could it have gotten there? Nicholas must have placed it, but he couldn’t have been inside the room. Theo didn’t hear any strange sounds in the room, and no matter where he looked he didn’t see him. His wife always locked the front door at night. It was most likely impossible for Nicholas to have entered, so why was there a cup of wheat juice under his bed?
Suddenly, the trash can in the corner of the room started to shake. Theo quickly got out of bed. He wasn’t going to let whatever was in the trash can hurt his sleeping wife. Then, something terrifying popped out of the trash can. It was Nicholas, but not the Nicholas he knew. This Nicholas was a monster with bright, sickly yellow eyes and a pungent liquid that smelled a lot like wheat juice pouring out of his mouth and hands. It jumped out of the can and went towards Theo and stepped closer and closer. Theo stepped back, and it growled. He was terrified, but he had to do something. Theo snatched the cup of wheat juice from underneath the bed and threw it at the monster. It hit its head and fell to the ground. The monster started to drink the wheat juice that was left in the cup, and it gave Theo some time to calm himself down. When the monster got up, Theo punched it. It gave an inhuman scream and fell to the ground. Then, Theo’s wife woke up and gasped when she saw the monster that looked like Nicholas convulsing on the floor. Suddenly, it stopped and stood back up again.
“Is that Nicholas?” Theo’s wife asked.
“I’m not sure. If it is, I think the wheat juice he made turned him into a monster.” Theo was unsure of what to do with the monster that was now spurting wheat juice at Theo from its hands.
“I’m not sure what to do, but when he was puking for a week, the solyanka cured his sickness,” his wife said as she trembled. That’s it! If the monster really was Nicholas, the solyanka should make him back to normal! Theo stepped towards the door and motioned the monster to come with him.
“Come over here… we’re going to the kitchen and I’m going to give you a nice bowl of solyanka.” Theo stepped backwards out into the hallway, and luckily the monster followed him. Slowly, Theo continued to walk backwards into the kitchen and the monster followed until Theo bumped into the fridge. He quickly opened it and pulled out the container of leftover solyanka. He removed the wrapping on the bowl and threw it in the microwave while keeping close watch of the monster. After turning on the microwave, the monster inched closer to Theo.
“Stay back!” The monster didn’t listen. So, Theo punched the monster and then the microwave beeped. After ripping open the microwave and grabbing the solyanka, he poured the soup into the monster’s mouth. The wheat juice started to move on its own, and it crawled away from Nicholas’ body. His eyes turned back to normal and he looked like he was all better.
“Theo?” Nicholas asked. “Theo! I feel great now.”
Theo helped him stand up and said, “What happened?”
“I was pretty sick in bed, but then I wanted more wheat juice for some reason. I went to get some more, but after that my body started to move on its own. That’s when I brought a cup to your house, and you know what happened next. It was so weird, but I’m glad I can finally move again.”
“I’m glad you’re alright. You won’t drink any more wheat juice, right?”
Nicholas shook his head, and after that event Nicholas never made wheat juice and Theo never let him drink or eat anything that smelled as bad as that wheat juice ever again.