Chapter 2: The Discovery

            I hear my mother come in the front door while I'm in the kitchen making some macaroni and cheese. She sighs contentedly and I can tell that the parlor trip must have been well worth it. She walks to the kitchen and sees me. Her mood immediately changes.

            "Oh." She glares. Man, I am such a problem. It just makes me feel worse.

            "How was your parlor trip?" I ask in what I hope is an agreeable tone.

            "Did you get those applications done like I told you?" She says pointedly. Shit, I forgot. Best to just make something up and hope for the best.

            "I was going to but--" I begin.

            "That's a no of course. You did nothing at all while I was gone did you?" She says disgustedly. "Why do you not want to get out of your mother's house?" She asks. "I can't seem to make you go away." She throws her hands up. I can see she's building up steam. I try to ameliorate it before she explodes at me.

            "Mom I was busy today. I had enough other things to do that I forgot about the job applications it's a simple slip up." I say.

            "Damnit Matt! I don't believe you. You have nothing to do you just stay around here all day!" She shoves me against the wall. I hit my head hard and I just stand there dazed. She's never been this angry before. "What does it take I want you gone!" She screams and comes at me and pins my wrists up against the wall darn near level with my shoulders. I'm about 6 inches taller than her so this is quite something.

            "Mom calm down" I say but then I notice something.

            My wrists.

            It's like they're not even there. I can feel my mom's hand pressing my wrists but I can't see my wrists where they should be. There is just my mom's hands and my hands are on one side and my arm is on the other but there seems to be nothing in between.

            "Huh? Uh?...Umm.." I look at them in shock.

            "You can't even look at me when I'm speaking to you!" She yells. "What are you..." Then she sees what I'm seeing.

            She quickly takes her hands off me and I drop my arms. We both look closer. My wrists are now flat and just an image of what they used to be. I can feel my hands but I can barely move my wrists. The strength left in them is apparently a fraction of what it used to be.

            "I can't lift my hands." I say, still totally shocked.

            "I can see that." She says and indeed they do look rather floppy.

            "H-How is this possible?" I ask.

            "I don't know." She says calmly, then grabs my hands and shoves them back against the wall.

            "Mom!" I yelp. "What are you doing?"

            "Testing."

            "Testing what?" I'm too freaked out to think it through at all.

            Then I see her smile. It's a smile that really creeps me out. It's devious and evil looking and I don't like it one bit. Then I look at my hands.

            The same thing has happened to them. I can feel my mom's hands on mine but can barely move mine at all.

            "Mom! You've made it worse." I say freaked out.

            "Yeah."

            "Yeah?!" I say and my voice cracks a bit. "I need to go to a doctor or something. We need to--"

            "Yeah Matt well the thing is I don't care."

            "You don't...care?" I repeat back.

            "Nope, and if my theory is correct..." She stops talking mid sentence and quickly reaches down  and squeezes my ankle.

            "Jesus Mom!" I start but then I lose balance and quickly fall. My hands are flat and floppy so I can't use them to steady myself and I fall on my back. I land hard and the air rushes out me and I struggle to catch my breath. I lay there and cough for a minute and finally lookup to see my mother looking me up and down, sizing me up and I start to realize how much trouble I might be in.