The evil alienatic gnomes

Tom's mind went blank trying to come up with an explanation for the weird name on the space ship, but it had to be related to the letters from M.S., the Death Sleep, and Silver Head. Why Tomikins?

"And what if a strange me produced this space ship?" He reached out a finger and brushed the body of the smooth gray chasis of the space ship.

The lower part clicked.

Tom gasped and fell backward, even though the space ship had barely moved, an inch at most, before coming to rest again. A slight whrring sound came from it, like the air conditioner of a new car. Whatever the thing was, it had just turned on or powered up.

A mechanized clicking sound sprung up and the four pairs of stick legs that balanced the space ship folded neatly and went back into their compartment on the underside of the ship. Now the ship was hovering in the air inside the closet. A neon green light went on from under it in the middle as it started floating out of the closet toward Tom. His eyes wide and focused on the toy-like thing coming at him, Tom stood up, unsure of what to do. He thought that was the coolest thing he had ever seen. It seemed totally harmless, just a cheap space ship toy you could buy at any discount store.

Tom was still staring at it floating beneath him until he suddenly heard a radio sound like the one the army uses in war. Then, afterwards, came a voice.

<Locked on target. I repeat locked on target…>

Tom went deluded. What was he hearing? Locked on what target?

 <Permission to exterminate the target. Yes or No...>

Tom had to wait on that. He couldn't believe he was waiting to hear an answer from the strange voice with a black American accent. His fantasy was turning into something real. He was in a mix of confusion, doubt, and fear.

<Permission. . . granted>

Tom freaked out and was about to bolt away when he heard a loud click, like the sound of a gun being cocked. He looked shocked at the ominous toy. The upper semicircled-like door rose up as it opened, then little things started flying out.

                                       ~

Light or no light, a son suffering from insomnia or not, Mr. Noland couldn't ignore the call of nature. He finished washing his hands and face in the bathroom, turned off the light, and walked back into his bedroom. He didn't even try to be quiet in case Lorena might wake up; he knew it wasn't possible. If the alarm clock can't wake her up, what else will? Mr. Noland walked through the room into the hallway.

Sure enough, it was Tom's room with a light on, and an odd whrring hum echoed out his door and down the hall. Is that an air conditioner? Did Tom get one?

Mr. Noland had taken one step forward when he heard the boy scream.

                                             ~

Tom shrieked as dozens of winged rockets and strange talking drones flew out of the spaceship—at first, he thought it was drones until he heard something strange.

"Die mother fucker!"

A tiny spark of heat stung him in his face. He looked up just to see what the flying things were and what they seemed to be shooting at him. He was shocked. Gnomes? Real gnomes! Shooting lasers!

Tom must have been lost in admiration of the ship, not minding how much he hated gnomes. The name of the ship didn't bother him much, but the name of the manufacturer.

This annoying dwarfs.

Another stung, a painful one that shot up, almost missing his eye and going beneath it.

  Ouch! What the heck is that?

Tom swatted at them, slapping and hitting his own body, dancing and kicking and yelling for help. This was supposed to be very funny because the flying little gnomes kept on talking and pouring out abusive words at Tom.

"Die mother fucker!"

"We've got you now!"

"This is for ya moma and pops, dick!"

Pinpricks of pain stabbed every inch of his skin, under his clothes, in his hair, and almost all over him. Panic shot through him in a rush of adrenaline, his mind shutting down and offering no suggestions for what he should do.

He heard his bedroom door slam against the wall.

"Thomas!" His dad yelled.

But Tom couldn't look at him. He'd squeezed his eyes closed, scared that the lasers from the gnomes would blind him. They were relentless, attacking him all over and over again. The laser sting found a fresh spot to hurt him with a frightening ease. Overwhelmed by the pain and fear, he fell to the ground. He felt his dad gripping him, dragging him out of the room, down the hallway, and into the bathroom. He heard a rush of water in the bathtub.

As weak as he was at that time, Tom tried to open his eyes and saw his dad. He tried to make an effort to warn him. "Dad, they will pulverize you with a laser gun."

His voice was feeble. He felt striking all over his body, his hand moving through his clothes. He found out that the lasers went through his clothes, burning them just like small holes.

Tom felt his dad's grip again as he plopped him into the bathtub, splashing water all over his pajamas, skin, and hair. Though his whole body felt racked with pain, Tom sensed the gnomes leaving. They didn't stop talking. But he heard something strange.

<Another human detected. Not a target, retreat!>

Tom didn't know if his dad heard it too, because he was busy chasing the gnomes away without having any idea of what it was, and at the same time, Dad was still splashing water at him, completely making sure that the flying gnomes went away.

Tom soon began to hear the whips of towels in the bathroom door and all over the place. The buzzing of abusive words has already decreased. But Tom was left with one thought.

"They came for me and not for anyone else. Just me. Why? Who sent them? Who's really Tomikins?"

"Dad... Dad!" he yelled with a slur, his mouth swollen. And then he passed out.