Gus layed on his bed, his whole body throbbing in pain from being made up of cancer. As he sat there, dying, he pondered life as only Augustus Waters could do. He thought about his parents, he thought about his friends, mostly, he thought about Hazel. He wondered what she'd do after he died, how much longer she would live, and what she would be like after his death.
Just then, his door opened. "Hazel Grace?" he said, "No, it's just me", right away gus recognized who it was. "Ahh my favorite, and only blind friend." Isaac struggled to get in at first but found his way past all the medical equipment and sat down. Before a word was mentioned about Max Mayhem, Isaac cut in, "gus, you understand what it's like to have hardships and have the very ones who say they're going to be there for you, leave. So I've come to you, because I need advice. Monica won't return my calls, she wouldnt even come to visit me in the hospital after I had my surgery. What's my problem man, why did she do this to me?"
Gus was angry. Angry that Monica was a bitch, angry that his friend had to go through this, and especially angry cause he felt like there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. However, hiding his anger, he tried to answer Isaac the best he could. But secretly, he was trying to plot revenge. Later on Isaac left, and Gus kept thinking. He suddenly had a flashback and remembered something. Slowly, pressing through the almost unbearable pain, he made it up off his bed and over to his closet where he found a box. The box was given to him by a “mystery doctor” of sorts a few years back when he was in the hospital for the first time. The night before he was scheduled to leave the hospital, a doctor whom he had never seen before paid him a visit. The doctor came in and gave Gus this box. He said, “you’ll know the right time to open this box.” Gus being tired from all the tests they had run on him that day didn’t question the doctor. He took the box and hid it under his bed, picking it up before leaving the next day.
As he remembered that night, he thought a lot about what that doctor could’ve meant. Finally he decided it was the right time, and he opened the box. Inside, there was some strange looking device, and a note attached to the top. He pulled the note off and read it. “Augustus Waters, inside this box is a device capable of wonderful and horrible consequences, all of which are reversible. However, please use it wisely.” Strangely, the note wasn’t signed, dated, and the handwriting looked very generic. Still unsure but now more intrigued than ever, Gus knew he had to figure just what in the hell this thing was. The device itself was very basic, a plastic body housed a basic red switch on top, and what looked to be an infrared laser lined the top. Flipping the switch, a strange cracking noise struck his ears, but something far more incredible crossed his eyes. The lamp that was standing on his dresser, at which the device was pointed at, simply disappeared. Gus couldn’t believe it, and walked over to examine the scene. Upon further inspection, he realized that the lamp hadn’t disappeared, rather it had shrunk by about 50 times. He pointed the device at the lamp again, however, this time he flipped the switch in the opposite direction. There was that cracking noise again, and right before his eyes, the lamp reappeared in the same condition, only this time in the right size.
Completely amazed at what he had found, Gus did what Gus would do and began playing around with this device, shrinking things down and then making them appear again. He did this for a couple hours until a sickening thought hit him harder than any cancer pain ever did. For the first time he began to realize the true wonder, and danger this device was capable of. But something still didn’t seem right. He kept reading that note and going back to that night, trying to think of a reasonable explanation as to why he would be given such a strange device. He remembered what the doctor said, “you’ll know the right time to open this box.” Then without batting an eyelid, some more insidious thoughts began to cross his mind. Putting the device back in its box, and the box back in his closet, he thought aloud, “I think it’s time to pay Monica an unexpected visit.”
Chapter 2:
Later on that night, Gus pulled the device out of the box and snuck downstairs. He was very careful not to make the slightest sound, as no one could know what he was up to. He made his way outside and to his car. He had read about a trick in this book called cardboard towns, where the main character backed his minivan out of the driveway and pushed it past the house before starting it up, as to keep the noise down. He labored his car past his house, very slowly, as his fake leg kept him from moving at a faster speed. Finally he got in, and started it up, “time for a little intervention”, he said.
As Gus got closer to Monica’s house, he realized that he didn’t have a plan. He thought about sneaking in through her window, but he wasn’t sure if he’d have the strength to pull himself up. Pulling up next to her driveway, he slammed the brakes, coming to a complete stop. Sneaking over to her already opened window, he pulled himself up and into her room. Without saying a word, he pulled out the device and shrunk Monica down. Surprisingly the bang from the device didn’t wake up her parents. He picked her up, put her in a breathable glass jar, and carefully took her back to his car, driving away into the night.
As he drove down the road he started to get concerned about whether or not he left any fingerprints, he covered himself head to toe in black clothing as to not leave any marks behind, but he was still nervous. He got home, put the jar in his closet, and went to bed.
Monica woke up in what she thought was a dream. Everything was blurry, and the surface she was on, slippery. She looked around, curious at first, then became frightened when she saw the massive face of Augustus Waters staring down at her. She looked around again and immediately realized what had happened. She yelled at Gus, “put me the hell back right now!” Gus didn’t even realize that she said anything, and stuck her in his pocket.
He took a look at his phone and realized that he was late to go see Hazel. They were going to go on a picnic, and he had to hurry or else he was going to be late. He quickly got his shoes on and drove over to her house. He put a cigarette in his mouth and stood at her door, waiting for someone to open up. Finally, the door opened. “Hazel Grace”, he said, she smiled and took his hand. They walked upstairs to her room so she could get her shoes. Hazel leaned into Gus against her dresser and he started to passionately make out with him. Monica realized her chance of escape and jumped into a drawer, only for it to be shut. Monica became furious and started screaming louder than she ever had before. She had no idea where she was, and no idea how to escape.