Elixer 431(Richard Collins) I wasn’t new to the lab. But still no one listened to me. So when it all started to go wrong, no one could blame me.

I started noticing something strange happening after Dr. Freeman took the serum. I had tested it on myself less than a week before and it had worked great. I suppose by the time Dr. Freeman had taken it the serum had gone bad because he had an entirely different reaction.

The serum was designed to boost intelligence. Hypothetically, it worked great. It was a fluid, almost perfectly clear, but with a very tart flavor. There were eight beakers of it sitting on the counter in the middle of the notebook, chemical, and junk cluttered lab.

When I had taken it all the doctors seemed disappointed, they saw no major improvement, but I guess they were just happy I was alive. But Freeman seemed to notice a difference. He seemed strangely skeptical on whether it would work the same on everyone.

That night I was in the lab trying to get to sleep. It wasn’t the nicest place to stay, but I had more room than in the last place I had been living. Everyone else had left and I was just drifting off when I saw the telltale sliver of light and creaking of the door. Someone crept slowly up to the counter. I turned slightly to see who it was without the intruder knowing I was awake. It was Freeman. He grabbed one of the beakers and drank it in one gulp. He refilled the beaker with water and left, slowly closing and locking the door on his way out.

The next day Freeman showed up after everyone else. He looked a mess. The hair on his head made a mop look stylish and his eyes were bloodshot. Dr. Sanders asked him if he had slept well. “Exceptionally.” He said in response.

He seemed to stare at the wall and half listen that day. And that night he snuck in for more serum, again refilling the beaker with water and again not knowing I was awake.

The next day was much worse. Again the same messed up hair and tired eyes, again the same distant stare. But this time he was edgy, irritable, and violent. He and his colleagues were working on cold medicine. It was one of the things that gave them the funding for the more interesting research. Dr. Brady asked where his notebook was.

“I DON’T KNOW!” Freeman shouted, clearing a corner of the counter onto the floor with his arm and stomping out.

“Wonder what his problem is?” Sanders thought aloud.

“He took the serum!” I screamed. But they ignored me as if I were speaking a different language. Freeman came in a few minutes later and apologized. But when he was leaning against the counter apologizing; he was secretly stealing a beaker of serum behind his back. I tried to relay this information to the other scientists, but they completely ignored me again.

The next day was the worst. He burst through the door and headed straight for the beakers. The other scientists tried to stop him as he grabbed one and began to drink it.

“Don’t! What if it’s not safe?” Brady warned. Freeman ignored him and drained the remaining five beakers. He grabbed a nearby notebook and in a fit of rage began ripping the pages out. The other scientists tried to restrain him, each one grabbing an arm. But he broke free and ran out the door. I could tell everyone saw the reptilian tail sticking out of the back of his lab coat. They all looked shocked.

That was two weeks ago. Freeman has been tracked down and is now in an institute for the criminally insane. Everyone at the institution noticed the tail, the sharp teeth, and the abnormal low amount of sleep he now requires. That hasn’t even made the news. But for some reason, I have. I will never understand why he was locked away from the world and I was put out on display. But that’s my life since they discovered the serum had changed me, sitting in a cage and being stared at all day. In fact people come from miles around to see “Milo the Intelligent Monkey.” They now give me paper and watch me write all day. They still don’t listen to a word I say, but I guess it’s better than nothing.

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