The Time Stopping Pig: Chapter 1

The beginning of The Time Stopping Pig, a pre teen adventure story involving mystery, adventure, comedy and pigs.

Thomas Rockwell was born a genius.  He was smarter than any ordinary child, cleverer than his parents and even more intelligent than the doctors who delivered him.  His vocabulary was immense, and his first full sentence, which he spoke during his second month of life, was, “I know that I am quite the precocious child but I hope that you feel no acrimony towards me.” 

            At the tender age of two, he was found taking apart his father’s computer, then putting it back together.  At first his father was angry at him but then he discovered that Thomas had done the job so well in fact, that when he turned the computer on it was faster and more proficient than before it had been dismantled.

            His parents did not know what to do with him.  Rather than stick to their original plan which had been to put him in elementary school or even high school, both of which Thomas thought were complete nonsense, they sent him straight into college.  He began taking courses online until he realized that he could just as easily teach the classes than take them.  So after getting several degrees, he began his career as the first ever twelve year old professor in the entire world. 

            However, even though a list of his accomplishments could fill an entire book and his IQ was so far above average that they made him take the test again to see if it was a fluke, Thomas’s parents were worried about him. 

            “He doesn’t have any friends!”  His mother exclaimed one morning after breakfast while she was washing the dishes.

            His father put down a cup of coffee and folded his newspaper.  “He should be out playing football with the other boys, not sitting up in his room doing math problems or whatever it is he does up there!” (It was far beyond math problems but Mr. Rockwell was too exasperated to say so.)

            “I agree entirely!”  Mrs. Rockwell put down the dish she was scrubbing and sighed, full of worry about her son’s social life.  "What are we going to do?"   

            At that moment, the telephone rang.  Mr. Rockwell stamped his foot.  “This better not be a call from one of those confounded telemarketers!”  

            His wife answered the phone.  “Hello?  Yes… yes… WHAT?”

            This last word was so loud that Mr. Rockwell dropped his coffee cup to the floor and it shattered into a hundred tiny pieces.  “What… What’s going on?” 

            That was the first day that the family ever heard of “The Agency,” and from then on, their lives would never be the same.