Chapter 2.

The Road Ahead

After the sorrow and the anguish had subsided, Jethro and Ellie May began to start a new life. They moved into a little house on the outskirts of town. They didn’t have the special cards any more. They felt like they were outcasts. They were little people now.
One Day while cleaning the garage, Hondo discovered a little speck of Goo way over in the corner. He didn’t know what it was, but he wondered what it would look like under a microscope. He took the microscope from his chemistry set he got for Christmas a couple of years ago and looked at it real close. To his surprise, it looked kind of like it was moving. He thought maybe it was some sort of ameba or teeny tiny itsy bitsy germ or something. He took it into his room and put it in a little jar. He decided that he would take it to school and show it to his teacher for extra credit on his science homework. He wanted to make sure that it was still alive the following week, so he put a little bit of mustard and jelly and sugar in it just in case it needed something to eat.
The following week, when Hondo went to take the little slimey speck of Goo to school, he noticed that it was a little bit bigger then it was the week before. He didn’t need a microscope to see it any more. He could actually see it just using a magnifying glass.
This was very curious to Hondo and he told his parents, Jethro and Ellie May about it. They thought it was kind of cute and hoped he got the extra credit he deserved.
His teacher was very impressed about Hondo’s curiosity and she gave him a very good extra credit score on his science project.
As the weeks went by the little speck of goo sat inside of the jar on Hondo’s desk in his room. However, Hondo monitored it daily just because he thought it was interesting how it seemed to grow. It was no longer a little speck of goo. It seemed like it was the size of an ant. Then after a month or so, Hondo saw that it began to take shape and form. He couldn’t quite make it out just yet, but it looked almost like a little teeny tiny gummy bear.
One day, Ellie May came into Hondo’s room and saw the little creature. It started growing hair all over its little body and she could make out the eyes. At first she was a little scared, but as she stared at it she decided that it was kind of cute.
Each and every day Zooba and her brother Hondo would gather in the bedroom and look at the little creature. They decided to keep feeding it, and it continued to grow and grow and grow.
After about a year, it had grown to size of a little puppy dog. They had moved it to a cardboard box and were feeding it their leftovers from dinner each night. All this time they had kept it a secret from their parents. One day during Family Home Evening, they decided to bring it into the living room and show their parents, Jethro and Ellie May. “Oh my stars, what is it”, they Gasped. Hondo and Zooba didn’t think their parents would be so alarmed. Just then, the little creature jumped out of the cardboard box, ran across the room and jumped into the lap of Ellie May. She let out a chilling scream. But the little creature snuggled up in her lap and looked at her with his cute little lovable beady eyes. It just melted her heart and she fell instantly in love with it.
Daddy whistled to the little creature and it came running over to him wagging his little tail back and forth because he was so excited to have a daddy. It jumped up on daddy and began licking his face and hugging and kissing him all over.
The family instantly fell in love with the creature and he became part of the family. Although no one really knew what the creature really was, the only thing that they could imagine was that it was a little ……. Monster.
They didn’t like Monsters much after the last experience they had with Monsters. But this monster was different, very different. He was kind of ugly on the outside, but he was beautiful on the inside. And as you got to know him better, he became beautiful on the outside too.
They didn’t know what to call the monster so the just called him “The Monster’.
He became so much a part of the family that he had a regular place at the dinner table. He ate like a monster, he grunted and snorted and made monster noises when he ate but every time he ate it seemed that he continued to grow and to grow and to grow. Even thought he didn’t really eat very much, as long as he got fed a little something every day, he was always happy and continued to grow bigger and bigger and bigger.
The monster loved his new family and they loved him. When mother would come into to Zooba’s bedroom to wake her up for school in the morning, the monster would be cuddled up next to her in bed. Even though he couldn’t speak human talk, they communicated just fine.
The monster would always walk with the kids to the bus stop in the morning and see them off to school. When the bus driver dropped them off in the afternoon, the monster would be there waiting for them. Always looking after them and taking care of them.
One day, the bully down the street picked a fight with Hondo and was beating him up. The monster came running over from the house, picked up the bully with one hand and started eating him. He started from the feet first and was eating him up towards the head. The bully was crying and streaming and saying “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” but the monster didn’t speak English so he couldn’t understands him.
Then he gave Hondo a great big hug and a big juicy wet kiss and gave him a piggy back ride all the way back home. Hondo was never afraid of anyone after that. And no one ever picked on him again.
Mommy and daddy could see what a great benefit having a monster like this could be. He was so helpful in so many ways. Pretty soon daddy decided to quit his job because he found out that the monster could get him anything he wanted. For example, one day, mommy and daddy went down to the car lot to look at a car. They took the monster with them and when the people at the car lot saw the monster getting out of the car, they screamed and yelled, and said, “Please sir, don’t let him hurt us”. We’ll give you a new car for free if you just take him away. So they got a new car.
Then when they saw what this monster could do, they were able to do and have everything that they could ever dream of. But the monster had to grow even bigger and bigger and bigger to really do great things. So each and every day, daddy would ask everyone in the family, “did you feed the monster today?’.
On some days we had forgotten to feed the monster. He would then say, “Well get over there and feed the monster right away, we need him to grow bigger and bigger and bigger so that we can have everything we need and want.
In the mean time the monster kept growing bigger and bigger and bigger.
Believe it or not, pretty soon he started to get too big for the house. Mommy and daddy were wondering what to do with the monster when he would get too big for the house.
Then daddy remembered his old friend that they met years ago. Marty, the Monster expert. So he called Marty back and asked him to come over to the house and tell us what we could expect from our new monster. Marty was very hesitant and scared because of the last time he came over to the old house. But daddy assured him that this monster was totally different then the other one, very different indeed.
The next day when Marty the Monster expert arrived, he was welcomed into the house. Immediately, he was taken back to the monsters room. They had to give him his own bedroom because he was getting so big. Jethro opened the door to the monsters room and as it swung open, Marty looked into the room. He was on his knees saying his prayers. But he was always on his knees now just to fit into the room and he was all hunched over so his head wouldn’t hit the ceiling. It was obvious that the monster was getting uncomfortable having to be cramped into a little box like that when he was so big. But he never complained because he loved the family so much and always wanted to be next to them and protect them.
A great big grin came over the Marty’s face. Then it turned into a smile. Then it turned into laughter. Jethro closed the door and he and Marty and Ellie May and Zooba and Hondo went into the living room and sat on the couch. Marty said, “Jethro, I’ve seen that monster several times before. What you have there is a very rare monster. It is so rare that it is very expensive. It’s worth billions!
A big smile came across Jethro’s face as well. “Oh, but we could never sell him”. You see, we love him and he has become part of the family”. “Oh no no no”, replied Marty. “I wasn’t suggesting that you sell him. I was just pointing out what he is worth. You see the interesting thing about this monster is that as long as you feed him, he will continue to grow and grow and grow. In fact, it’s too late to stop the growth. Even if you didn’t feed him he will still grow, just not as fast. The older he gets, the faster he grows. His growth is exponential. As he continues to get older, the faster the growth rate becomes, until he is growing so fast that that there is no way to keep him a secret. You had better get him another place to stay real fast or he will be bulging out of the house.
Does this monster have a name?” asked Jethro. “Yes, replied Marty” he does. It is a very complex scientific name. He is called

“Wonderful Exposer of Affluence, Liberty, Tranquility, and Happiness”

“WOW”, said Jethro. “That’s kind of a long name, how can anyone remember it?”
Well, those of us in the Monster Business just refer to him as the “W.E.A.L.T.H. Monster”. The WEALTH monster is something anyone can have if the really want one, but the problem is since they are too expensive to buy, you have to grow your own like your family has. The reason most people don’t grow their own is because they are so busy feeding the DEBT monster that they don’t have any food left to feed the WEALTH monster. And its too much work to get one started because they don’t see the WEALTH monster growing very fast at first so they get impatient and stop feeding him and he dies before he gets a chance to start growing on his own.
Jethro, Ellie May and the kids thanked him for his time. After seeing him to the door, they called the airport and rented a Jumbo Jet hanger for their WEALTH Monster. It was a sad day, but they knew they had to do it. There was simply no way that they could keep the wealth monster living with them in the same house. As the Family took the monster to the airport to his new home, they gave him a great big hug. Tears started streaming down the monsters face and he started crying. Hondo and Zooba said, “Don’t cry, wealth monster, we are going to visit you every day. We are going to bring you food every single day. We know that you don’t really need food any more, but we want to keep feeding you a little meal every day anyway just because we know that you like it so much.”
The Family lived a happy life. They had everything they could ever want or need, including one of the most wonderful gifts of all– their lovable, adorable, WEALTH Monster. After a few years, the wealth monster got too big for the airplane hanger and the family decided to build him a football stadium to move into. Again, the WEALTH Monster was comfortable for a little while. But the family knew that it was time he would have to be moved again.
They purchased fifty thousand acres of the national wildlife reserve in Canada from the government for their Monster’s future home. And a few years later they moved the monster to his new home. He liked the great outdoors, especially since he was too big to live in anything else.
Today, whenever the family wants to visit their Monster, they get into their private jet, and fly over the wilderness. They can see him sitting on a mountain eating a pine tree. They open a window, wave, and throw him out some food for old time sake.