My Imaginary Friend

Mr. Slimebrain

By Jind Kaur

“Ring Ring!” My alarm clock goes off after snoozing it twice already. I feel like snoozing it again. It’s just a usual Saturday morning, and my parents aren’t up yet. Neither are my siblings. I wanted to wake up early because I wanted to surprise my parents. Saturday is their free day, so I thought I could make them breakfast. If I keep snoozing my alarm, I won’t have time to make them breakfast. So, I went into the kitchen and took the cereal out of the cabinet. Then I poured the milk. After that, I brought my grains to the breakfast table and started eating. You might be wondering why I was eating it. Well, first I have to make my breakfast, then I can make their breakfast. The cereal is tasty.

I look around normally. Then my eyes freeze as I stare at the laundry basket. Just then, someone taps my back. My heart starts pounding. I turn around shivering with fear. I know it’s not my parents or siblings. I jump in relief, and my cereal bounces out of my hand, as I spot Mr. Slimebrain, my imaginary friend. I try to grasp my bowl, but then it flips in the air and lands on the floor. As for the spoon, well that went flying in the air and eventually hit a wall. It bounced off the wall and fell straight into the sink.

“Touchdown!” Mr. Slimebrain exclaims.

I grin. Then I frown and say, “Only for the spoon.” I looked down at the spilled cereal. I picked the bowl up, and placed it in the sink. Then I grabbed a napkin and cleaned up the mess. Oh! I forgot to tell you about how Mr. Slimebrain usually acts like. He is purple, silly, and made out of slime. That makes him very flexible.

“So, Jind! Do you want to do the laundry? Your parents are still asleep. It will be a big surprise for them!” He asks.

“Sure!” I say. “But after I make my parents breakfast. Not before that!” Mr. Slimebrain disappears. I take out a long blue tray, and place it on the table. Then I think, hmmmmm… what do my parents eat every day for breakfast? Then it hit me. For a second, I forget about my parents breakfast, and I spot a yellow decorative flower hanging above the cabinets. That was all I could focus on, and I reached the flower and carefully put it on the tray. Then I put a fancy cloth and lay it out on the tray, just in case they spill anything. Then I remember what my parents usually eat. I take out bowls and make a salad for mom, and PBJB toast for dad. PBJB is Peanut Butter Jelly Butter. Just in case, I put a banana on the side of their meals. I also place 2 forks and 2 spoons. I placed 2 knives, too. Then, I found an empty hallmark card. “Enjoy Breakfast made by your own daughter, Jind. Love You!” I wrote with a sparkling, teal, glitter pen. I bring the tray over to their bedroom and place it on their bedside table. I stomp over to the other room, to try to wake them up. “Ready!” I say. I see Mr. Slimebrain carrying the overflowing laundry basket to the laundry room. I follow him, while picking up all the clothes that he drops in his path. In the laundry room, there are two machines. One is the washer, and one is the dryer. Both of them were already full of clothes. Not only were they full of clothes, but they also already had soap in them. They had already started washing, too. On the washer it said it would be done washing in 23 minutes. On the dryer, it said 56 minutes. Then, before I could tell Mr. Slimebrain that the machines are full, he opened the washer door. I rushed over and tried preventing the clothes from falling out, but it did not work very well. I closed the door, but there were still a pile of clothes on the floor. I walk over to the dryer, and then I wobble a bit. I stepped on a bunch of slippery soap. Uh, oh. I wobbled and wobbled some more. I held on to the washer. I probably didn’t close the door very tightly. The washer exploded with clothes, and more soap started spilling. I kept wobbling, trying to maintain my balance. Just then, I slipped over one of the socks, and I fell. Luckily, I didn’t get hurt. I fell on a pile of soft wet, clothes. By then, Mr. Slimebrain had started pouring in the detergent.

“You need to put 2 ounces.” I said, calmly. But when I peeked at Mr. Slimebrain, he put in 5! “Don’t press the start button!” I declared. He removes his finger from the button. I hope my parents don’t wake up. Just then, Mr. Slimebrain rushes outside.

When he came back, he said, “I put the headphones on your parents, so you don’t have to worry about that!” He winks. I smile a small smile. Then I frown.

“Mr. Slimebrain, please pick up the clothes on the ground while I properly fix the detergent problem.” I say, hoping he wouldn’t cause more trouble. He nods and started picking up the clothes. I notice a small bread crumb on his upper lip, and he looked a bit guilty. “You better not have.” I said. I grabbed one of the empty cups from the shelves and dipped it in the slot. I swooped up detergent, and dumped it back in the detergent bottle, until I only had 2 ounces of detergent left.

“Ummmmm, well, I was a bit hungry, and I noticed an amazing breakfast on the tray, so I peeled the banana and then took a bite, but it tasted bad, so I ate the toast, but the toast didn’t have blueberry jam, so I cut up the banana instead, but that tasted bad, so then I left the sandwich and ate the salad, which needed ranch on top, so I brought it to the kitchen and then I poured some ranch on it, and then I still didn’t like it, so I left it, and I left the card. And the flower.” He said.

“Make another one then!!!!!!!!” I yelled, furiously. I felt like kicking Mr. Slimebrain in the face. “You know my dad doesn’t like bananas! You should have put them in the salad for mom! And mom doesn’t like ranch!” I yell.

“Oops.” He says, then sadly walks to the kitchen. I might’ve been a bit too hard on him. Oh well. When I finally was done with the detergent, I turned around and couldn’t believe my eyes. More clothes were on the floor and soap was spilled all over? It was all gooey and icky. “What is this mess?” I ask.

“Umm, well there was no room for the extra clothes, so I well, opened the dryer, and then…” Mr. Slimebrain said, while mixing salad, by the sound of it. I could hear the toaster toasting bread, too. He was about to finish his sentence. But I interrupted him.

“You opened the dryer and then noticed it was full, and then you just let the clothes fall out and didn’t even put them back in, and then for any reason you put soap on the clothes, which ended up going on the floor. Can you tell me why you spilled the soap?” I ask angrily.

“Well I thought I was causing so much trouble with the laundry machines, so I thought maybe just wash them by hand, so I spilled some soap on the ground

and well, I mean, well, at least I tried.” He mumbled sheepishly.

“Clean all of it up.” I said, picking up the clothes. He finally started helping for once. I need a better imaginary friend. He picked up the clothes, and I held open the laundry door. Then Mr. Slimebrain pressed the start button, and I grabbed a sponge. As we cleaned the floor, I heard someone say my name. Now what will dad say about the mess? I turned around worried, waiting to get yelled at. But instead, dad surprised me.

He smiled, and said, “Thanks for the delicious breakfast! Mom is still finishing her salad. I don't know what it was, but my toast had something incredibly special! I looked inside the sandwich, but I only found peanut butter, jelly, and butter, just like I always eat. Anyways, you’re cleaning the floor, well thanks! I also see some soap! You must be polishing it! I am so proud of you! So very proud! You can go to Noah’s Ark today! Bring as many friends as you want!”

“Yay!” I scream. Never mind about the new imaginary friend, Mr. Slimebrain is Slimazing!

“Just one question, please don’t put headphones on my head, I think that might have been what woke me up.” Dad said, smirking. I look over at Mr. Slimebrain. He winks. I giggle.

“Well then, let’s go!” I exclaim, enthusiastically. I rush to my ipad and text all my friends right away.

“Do you wanna go to Noah’s Ark together? My dad’ll pay for it. Meet there at 1:00!” I text.

“Yes!” one friend says.

“Great! Meet you there!” Another friend says.

“Sure! See ya!” Another texts.

“I’m so excited! Thanks for letting me come! See you there!”A friend texts.

“Thanks! What should we bring?” One texts.

“Wear a swimsuit there, and bring a towel, and an extra pair of clothes. If you want, you can bring a water bottle, snack, or something like that; see you!” I text back. “Guess what! All of them are free!” I tell dad.

“How many?” Dad asks, opening his wallet.

“Let me count.” I say as I mentally add up the numbers. “6, including me.” I say, smiling.

“Well, it is already 11:43 a.m, we should start buying tickets.” Dad says. I rush to my room to get ready. First, I will write a list of things I need to get. When I opened my closet, I immediately spot a floral swimsuit hanging in my closet. Maybe I should get some sunscreen on, I think it will be hot there. I go in the bathroom closet and find a bottle of sunscreen. I carefully apply it. I think I should have a bag to put all the things in too. Hanging on my bag rack, I find a green bag with pink polka dots on it. As I put my sunscreen in my bag, I hear thunder outside. I frown. Does this mean no waterpark? I rush to dad, who is on his computer, buying tickets. “Dad!” I say. Just then, the thunder stops.

“Yes honey?” Dad asks, looking up from his computer.

“Oh, nothing.” I say. Hmm, that was strange. It might have been my imagination. I run back to my room. Ok, so I need to get an extra pair of clothes. As I search my closet, I find a striped purple top, and spotted yellow shorts. I put them in my bag. I look at my list. Just then, the thunder starts again. I wonder if it’s actually raining. I check the window. Suddenly, the thunder stops. I look outside and the sun is shining. I should probably check the weather app on my ipad. I unplug the charger and turn on my ipad. As I enter the passcode, the thunder starts beaming again. I roll my eyes. What could happen now? I swipe the screen and click on the weather app. It has a thunder image as its logo. I see 5 options; Current, Today, Tonight, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow Night. I click on Today, and then I slide down to 1:00 pm. It shows a cloudy with 2% thunderstorms. Well, then I guess I’ll be fine. I probably won’t need sunscreen, but it’s always good to have it just in case. I smile. As I put my ipad away, I hear thunder again. I think I should ignore it now. I look at the list. Here is what I’ve done so far:

• Pack a Swimsuit
• Pack flip flops and towel
• Pack extra pair of clothes
• Pack sunscreen and sunglasses if needed
• Pack snacks and/or water bottle

I have crossed out all the things I have completed. I zip my bag and put on my apple watch. As I turn it on, I notice it’s already 12:03 pm! I hurry to my dad, who is now taking a nap. I slow down and tip toe toward him. Then, I feel someone tap my back. I turn around, and I find myself surprised to see Mr. Slimebrain. I tip-toe-run back to my room. “Is it you who’s been messing around with the thunder?” I ask him, annoyed.

“Well, ummmmmmm, yes.” He replies. “Why?” I ask furiously.

“Well, I thought if you guys, you know, had fun at the waterpark, well, I thought I would feel, you know, left out.” He finally says, after delaying the words.

“You can come anyway! Nobody sees you, so you can pass security and the ticket booth. No problem!” I say, mentally picturing Mr. Slimebrain skip all the ticket booths and securities.

“No problemo!” Mr. Slimebrain says, pretending he is a mexican cowboy. He says it a hilarious “mexican” accent. Then he extends his arms, and jumps in the air. “Giddy Up!” He says, and winks at me. He does a slow radio across the room, pretending to ride a horse. I try not to laugh, but then I burst out giggling.

“Well, let's get back to the topic.” I say.

“I will need a swimsuit, and maybe sunglasses.” Mr. Slimebrain says. Then before I could say anything, he disappeared. Oh well. Do I need sunglasses? Well it says that it would be cloudy, so I'm not gonna pack it. I go downstairs to the shoe room. As I search for my flip flops, Mr. Slimebrain appears right in front of me. He is now in a blue, striped swimsuit, and leopard print sunglasses on his forehead. I pick up my favorite blue flip flops, and put them in my bag. I go back to my room and change into my swimsuit. I pack extra socks, a water bottle, and some snacks. Mr. Slimebrain packs a slimebottle (his version of water bottle), Slimeberries (very slimey strawberries), and, well, nothing else. I check the time again, and it’s 12:16 p.m, so I rush to dad. He is still napping, but this time, I have to wake him up. Just then, out of nowhere, Mr. Slimebrain jumps on his bed and bounces and starts calling,

“Wakey Wakey Dad!”

“Yeah!” I say, and dad wakes up.

“What’s the time?” He asks. I hold out my watch in front of him.

“12:19 p.m? We gotta hurry!” He exclaims. I was expecting him to be very slow because I could tell he was tired. But he jumped out of bed and got dressed very quickly. We sped through the highways, and we didn’t even get caught! When we arrived, I was about to get in the giant line. Then dad gave me tickets and he told me to go to the red booth, which had no lines. I dodged through the huge crowds and met the lady at the booth.

“Tickets?” She asks, and I show her the tickets dad handed me. I take a glance at them myself, too. “6?” She asks. “I only see one of you, where are the rest?” I stay quiet.

Then I say, “They’re not here yet.” Just then, dad rushes in with all my friends,

“Oh, now they’re here.” I say. Me and dad exchange glances, and then the lady takes our tickets and gives us all wristbands.

“Show these to the people at every ride, they will approve and then you may skip the line.” She says. I look at my wristband. It says, “Skip The Line!” And then in small text it says, “bhisqnd2(#8342>9)” That must be some code. I walk over to Skip The Line gateway, and then Mr. Slimebrain appears. Then he walks away without saying a word. I don’t understand. I play with my friends and have fun on many rides. Then, I check my watch.

“It’s 11:48 am! I don’t believe it!” I say, and I play for a much longer time. The next day, when I woke up, I saw Mr. Slimebrain walking around in my room. “What are you doing?” I ask, curiously.

“Well, do you remember yesterday! Wasn’t it so fun?” He said, changing the subject.

“Yeah! But time didn’t fly. It went backward! I was sooooo surprised!” I said. “Oh, I did that, I set all the clocks backward so you could play more!” Then he laughed.

“Did you change them back before we left?” I ask.

“No.” He says.

“You mean all the clocks At Noah’s are 2 hours behind?” I ask, staring at Mr. Slimebrain. “Well, technically, no. They are 2 hours and 3 minutes and 56 seconds behind.” He says, and acts like he’s so smart.

“Go fix that!” I say. I dress into leggings and a mint t-shirt. Then Mr. Slimebrain had to go. At 1:38 pm, he appeared in front of me while I was at horseback riding lessons. “Watch out!” I say, steering my horse away from Mr. Slimebrain.

My horseback riding teacher raised an eyebrow, and said, “Who? There is nobody there! Please don’t cut corners!” I was about to explain, but I knew she wouldn’t believe me. I smiled, and then Mr. Slimebrain started telling me what had happened there.

“So, I went there and I went in the control center, and then I waited till one of the operators had to go to the bathroom, and then I pressed the clock button, just like before. I slid the gear back 2 hours, 3 minutes, and 56 seconds. I pressed enter, and then I appeared here.” I don’t respond, because the teacher will get more confused. When I get back home, I eat dinner, and tell my parents all about what had happened with Mr. Slimebrain. My younger siblings giggled, and my older sibling rolled her eyes.

“There is no such thing as an imaginary friend! It’s just imaginary!” She said, digging her spoon in the peas.

“Maybe not to you, but anyone who has an imagination, are more than likely to have imaginary friends. Besides, it makes you more imaginative.” I said. A long smile grew on my face. I can’t imagine how it would be without my imaginary friend!

The End