𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑶𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑹 𝑺𝑷𝒀 - Dustin Henderson

003. Pollywog

    THE SPOT NEXT TO CINDY IN CLASS WAS EMPTY. She was beginning to grow worried for her curly haired friend, he's never late.

"The case of Phineas Gage is one of the great medical curiosities of all time. Phineas was a railroad worker in 1848 who had a nightmarish accident. A large iron rod was driven completely through his head. Phineas miraculously survived. He seemed fine. And physically, yes, he was. But his injury resulted in a complete change to his personality. So much so that friends that knew him started referring to him as "No longer Gage." At the time, this was known as the American Crowbar Case. Although it wasn't a..." Mr Clarke was interrupted by Dustin bumbling through the door in a hurry.

"I am so sorry, Mr. Clarke. Really, I'm so sorry. Please continue with the class. Don't mind me. Really, continue, please. Thanks." Dustin said quickly racing to his seat out of breath.

"Although it wasn't a crowbar, it was a rod, as I said." Mr Clarke continued.

Dustin turned to Cindy after speaking to the boys, "AV club lunch." He whispered to her, she nodded and turned back to Max, mouthing the same thing to her.

"Dustin!" Mr. Clarke announced.

The boy jerked back around swiftly, "yes, my lord?"

"Would you care to join the class now?"

"Please, yes." He pulled out his book from his bag, exposing the proton pack in his backpack.

"The case of Phineas Gage."

"Phineas Gage." He repeated, opening his book.

"Page 104."

"104. 104."

"Focus."

"Focusing. Focusing," he sighed, but turned back to Max mouthing again. Cindy snickered, shaking her head. Dustin never fails to make her laugh.

• • •

The party had grouped up in the AV club, waiting for Dustin to show them what he found.

He opens the proton pack, and reveals a slimy lizard in the box. "His name is d'Artagnan. Cute, right?" He pulls him out of the box to show the rest. Although, Cindy knew exactly what that was, just from the sound alone. She had heard a lot of those in the Upside-down. She shivered, looking away from it.

"D'Artagnan?" Mike confirmed.

"Dart for short," Dustin clarified.

"And he was in your trash?" Max questioned.

"Foraging for food." He answered. "You wanna hold him?"

Max shook her head, "No, no."

Dustin didn't take that for answer and handed it to her anyways. "He doesn't bite."

"I don't want to..." He dropped it into her hands and she immediately grimaced, "oh, God, he's slimy!" Passing it off to Lucas.

"Ugh, he's like a living booger," Lucas groaned, trying to pass it off to Cindy but she flinched, putting her hands up, not allowing that to touch her, so he instead passed it to Will.

"Ugh, oh, God!" Will was also very grossed out and gave him to Mike, who was the only one besides Dustin to not be so disgusted.

"What is he?" Mike asked, inspecting him closely. Cindy turned away, closing her eyes.

"My question exactly." Dustin placed down some books on the table, grabbing Cindy's attention from the slam, "at first, I thought it was some type of pollywog."