The Strange Case of Mr Wobble and the Jellykid

It all started out as a normal day for Zak: the fluorescent lights burnt his sleepless eyes as he started his shift, a putrid spillage in aisle 4 needed his attention and the entirety of aisle 8 required restocking. He often wondered whether anyone else actually ever did their job. Most of them hated working for such a large supermarket chain, but Zak didn't mind. The monotony of his line of work gave him the freedom to conjure up limitless scenarios, played out in the background of his imagination as his hands followed the pick up put down motion. Besides, it was only a Saturday job to keep his parents happy as he tried to settle back into a decent routine before school started again. Of late though, he’d been unable to find any peace at night, which had been wreaking havoc in his everyday life: he kept seeing tiny white lights floating at the edges of his vision, like ghosts in the snow.

After finishing the soup and canned vegetables, Zak moved on to the cartons of pre-made icing. pick up, put down pick up, put-

THUD

Tub in hand, Zak spun left. Some of the jelly pots had fallen on the floor, seemingly autonomously. As he approached, he noticed a lime and a raspberry pot had split open.

“Just great. Another clean up…” He went to go fetch a mop and bucket, but as he stepped past the pots they wiggled. Zak shook his head, and this time the raspberry pot stood upright, the remainder of the liquid oozing out and taking form.

“What the…” Zak watched as the lime pot did the same. Before him were two odd looking jelly things.

Crouching down, Zak went to prod one of the jellied, amorphous creatures that stood before him. It hissed at him, its flesh wobbling comically, a breeze in a tree.  

“DO NOT TOUCH.” Spoke the lime flavoured one. “WE ARE HERE FOR THE GREAT GODDESS OF TRIFLE.” Zak blinked, dumbstruck. It sounded like it was talking underwater.

Perhaps he’d fainted and this was just what happened after a lack of sleep. “Uhh… ” Zak pinched himself hard. Nope, he was definitely awake. Rubbing his arm, he guessed he must be hallucinating. There was nothing else that could explain it. He decided to play along.

“Ah! The Goddess of Trifle!” Zak nodded in agreement.  The jellies seem appeased.

“I AM MR WOBBLE.” The Green Jelly – Mr Wobble – folded himself in half (Zak assumed that was bowing), and gestured at his companion. “AND THIS IS JELLYKID.” The slightly smaller Pink Jelly jiggled. Maybe that was smiling, or something.

“Hello, Mr Wobble and Jellykid, I am Zak.” He rose to his feet. “If you just wait here, I shall fetch my Superior, who shall summon the Goddess of Trifle.”

Zak strode off with purpose until he was out of sight of Mr Wobble and the Jellykid. He let out a long, hard exhale: hallucinations were a new thing for Zak. He took the stairs to the staff room two at a time, desperate for a mug of coffee. Hopefully that would send the aggressive little apparitions back into the depths of his mind where they belonged. Jackie, his manager, was seated with her usual morning break time bowl of muesli and dainty cup of herbal tea.

“And just what do you think you’re doing, Mr? Are all those shelves stocked? If so that’s record time!” Jackie barely looked up from her trashy magazine as she spoke.

Gulping his coffee, Zak answered hastily. “Uh, well you see, I saw something weird by the jelly section…” he trailed off as Jackie dropped what she was reading into her cereal. She didn’t flinch as the milk splashed her uniform.

“W-what? What did you see?” The tone in her voice perturbed Zak slightly, but he kept his cool. They were just illusions, lack of sleep, nothing more. Right?

“Just some strange creatures, they called themselves Mr Wobble and Jellykid.” Come to think of it, Zak had never heard of visions that could speak.

The colour from Jackie’s face drained. “Son of a- they’re earlier than expected.” She mumbled, knocking her stool over as she stood up. “Who else has seen this?” Her brusque tone made Zak jump.

“No-one but me, I think. Why? What’s all the-” Zak didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence as the ground came up to meet him. He could feel warmth spreading from his neck, fluttering internally towards his heart. Jackie nudged him with her foot.

“Control? This is Jackbox. The Jellies have arrived. Single sighting, threat contained. Move the Trifle to the secure location.”

The heat was in his chest: someone covered Zak with a warm blanket and, for the first time in a week, he slept.