Don't Forget the Poncho by Scott Hejka

It is a Tuesday morning in Manhattan and Morgan is just waking up. After getting dressed, she runs down the stairs and into the small, well-lit kitchen. Her mother is already awake, making Morgan’s lunch. Morgan, noticeably excited to go to school, says “Good morning, mom! Did you make a sandwich for Poncho, too?”

“Poncho?” Morgan’s mother asked, raising one eyebrow slightly.

“Mom! You know who Poncho is. I told you about him last week. Remember the fish I found in the green, smelly pond on the way to school?” Morgan replies, troubled that her mother would not remember something so important.

Poncho is a small fish that lives in a filthy, contaminated pond near an abandoned chemical plant. Morgan passes by the green, vinegar-smelling pond on the way to school each day and feeds him a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich.

Confused, Morgan’s mother asks, “Why do you need a sandwich for a fish?”

 

 

Morgan answers, “Poncho controls the weather. He says that if I don’t give him a sandwich every day, bad things will happen.”

“Honey, you know fish can’t talk. And nobody can control the weather,” says her mother.

Morgan defiantly says, “But Poncho can, Mom! I swear!”

Morgan’s mother, not in the mood to argue about imaginary friends, says “Fine, honey. Take this tuna sandwich for Pontoon.”

Morgan gasps and makes a face as if someone is stabbing her in the spleen. “His name is Poncho and I can’t feed him tuna! Do you know what tuna is?”

It took all the effort Morgan’s mother could muster to keep from laughing at her cute mispronunciation of such a bizarre word for a girl her age to know. She says, “Honey, settle down. It’ll be fine. Besides, that’s all we have right now.”

Morgan, after much argument with her mother, begrudgingly takes the sandwich and puts it in her lunch bag. She puts her backpack on, says goodbye to her mom, and skips along to school. On the way to school, Morgan stops by a green pond that is bubbling and smells like vinegar. She takes out the tuna sandwich and yells “Poncho, come here,” and immediately a small purple-and-orange fish swims to the surface. Morgan throws the sandwich in the pond and watches it fizz while the fish nibbles at it. Then, all of a sudden, the area around the fish goes up in flames and a cloud of black smoke comes out of its skin, turning it jet black. In a deep, demonic voice that reverberates as if many people are speaking at once, the fish yells, “What is this? How dare you give me fish!”

Right then, bubbles appear all over the fish’s skin. As they pop, tiny white fish with razor-sharp teeth fall out into the water and begin to flop into the nearest sewer drains. While all of this is happening, the sky turns green and fiery tornadoes burst from the ground. The clouds completely block out the sun over Manhattan Island, lit only by the constant lightning bolts and meteorite impacts. All over the city, the tiny white fish are speeding through the sewage system, jumping out of faucets, toilets, and drains and attacking anything they see. Morgan runs home and sees her house, amazingly, still standing, while all of the other houses in the neighborhood are smoldering piles of debris.

Morgan runs into her house, hysterical with fear, and yells, “Mom! Where are you?” The last place she looks is the bathroom. When she looks in, she finds her mother lying on the floor in a puddle of blood and surrounded by the tiny white fish that she saw come out of Poncho’s skin. The fish are bloated with the blood that they just ate, and are arranged in such a way that spells out the words “Don’t forget.”

One week later, after the odd weather has ended, news and rescue crews come to Manhattan to witness the aftermath. What they find shocks them: Almost every structure in sight is a charred pile of debris, and what they find inside the remaining homes is the worst shock of all. Wherever they find sinks, drinking fountains, showers, bathtubs, or toilets, there are bodies lying in pools of blood. Further analysis shows that all of their organs are missing, and the flesh remaining has bite marks all over it. When they look through the sewage system, they find dozens of tiny white fish with razor sharp teeth. Finally, they come to the section of the island that Morgan lives in, where they find a small structure made from charred brick fragments and meteorites. Inside, they find Morgan, trembling, emaciated, and covered in her mother’s blood. The rescue team decides to evacuate the island of Manhattan and, since Morgan is the only survivor, take her away. Six months after the event, Morgan still screams in hysteria whenever she sees fishes or hears the word “Poncho.”