“This is the closest any Who alive has gotten to the Grinch’s door, Bingley.”

“Don’t be a baby, go knock. The Grinch is just a myth anyways. Something dad made up to keep us from this cave. It’s like an old abandoned mine shaft. Kids his age used to come up here all the time. They say it caved in years ago, but the door is still there!”

Slowly, Jobber took another step, and then another. His legs shaking more and more with each step. He’d heard the stories. He’d heard the rumors. The Grinch was not something to mess with. He was cold, nasty, and pure evil. Who children didn’t share ghost stories around campfires, they shared Grinch stories. But nobody knew fact from fiction anymore. Surely the Grinch didn’t actually eat Who children?

“A bet is a bet, Jobber, you got to knock. You lost that game of Blabber Ball fair and square!” Bingley teased and mocked his brother knowing good and well he did not win the bet “fair” or “square.”

“I don’t know about this, Bingley.”

Jobber took one final step up to the door. He was only a couple of feet away now. The door made him shiver to look at now that he was up close. There were large claw marks on the front. He couldn’t tell if it was from scratches of those trying not to be dragged in, or marks of some kind of foul beast. But the scratches weren’t even the most concerning part. It was the large stains of dried blood splattered on the door and entryway. His stomach started to knot up, all the color in his furry face vanished, and all of a sudden his hearing turned into a low hum, tuning out everything else, even his brother’s jabs.

Bingley stood below watching his brother freeze, “what a baby! Come one! The Grinch isn’t even real!”

And as if summoned, the door slammed open! The entryway was cold and black. Bingley jumped for a second, but Jobber was still frozen. “It was just the wind, Jobber! Go on! You have to at least touch the door.”

Jobber at least had enough energy to turn to his brother with one last look. Was it fear? Was it betrayal?

Then came the loud snarl, followed by a high pitched screech that filled the entire mountain range. It was so sharp and loud that both Jobber and Bingley fell to the ground. Bingley covered his ears and looked up to see his brother collapsed to the ground as still as a board.

Bingley started running up the trail towards his brother, heart pounding out of his chest! “Jobber, we gotta get out of here, get up!”

But before he could reach his brother, out of the cave appeared a beast beyond recognition. It was at least 13 feet tall with arms and legs the size of tree trunks. Its head protruded up with 2 large horns, laser red eyes, and drool pooling from a smiling face. His smile was made up of two large fangs longer than swords stained red with blood. The monster was covered head to toe in an ominous green fur that would haunt Bingley’s dreams for years to come.

Before Bingley could get a word out, the giant beast reached up with its hand extending 5 massive claws that hooked down almost longer than his fangs. In one final swoop, all 5 claws impaled Jobber, the life in his eyes floated away as the beast lifted his body off the ground.

“NOOOO! Jobber!!” Bingley screamed out, tears already pouring down his face.

He was still running up the path, but the Grinch had already turned back into his cave leaving only the trail of blood from Jobber’s brother in his path.

Bingley didn’t know what to do. A strange sensation came over him to follow the beast into the cave. It wasn’t bravery, it was something else. But fear overcame him and he ran away, ran away leaving his brother behind, betraying him one last time.

.........................................................................................................................................................

It has now been 6 years since the Grinch’s attack on Jobber. In fact, that was the last Grinch sighting in those 6 years too. Although there were many missing Who cases over the years, nobody could prove it was the Grinch.

In fact, it had been so long now that most little Who children started sharing Grinch stories again. It didn’t take long for fact to turn to legend and myth. It didn’t take long for people to start talking, rumors to start spreading. Jobber was always smarter than Bingley. He always beat him in sports, unless Bingley cheated (which he was known for doing from time to time). It made sense. Bingley was jealous, led his brother up the mountain to the old abandoned mine shaft, pushed him in, and left him for dead.

“Murderer!”

“Betrayer!”

“Cheater!”

Those were the names tossed around.

It was enough to drive anyone mad. And on top of the grotesque scene of Jobber’s lifeless body being carried away for dinner or worse flashing inside his head, Bingley did go mad.

His mom and dad didn’t know what to do. They didn’t know who to believe. The police told them the investigation was a dead end. They couldn’t prove it, but everyone knew the truth. Bingley had murdered his brother.

His parents didn’t want to believe it, but they still had their youngest daughter, Mibbie to look after. So they did what no parent ever wants to do and had Bingley put in prison. In Whoville if a minor commits a crime, no matter how grotesque, it is ultimately the parent’s choice whether they go to prison or not. A law that in the rest of the world would deem quite dangerous, but one that worked quite well here in Whoville.

His mom and dad visited him with Mibbie every day over the last 6 years. However, their visits were short since Bingley refused to speak to them again after his parents had him arrested. Maybe it was the trauma, maybe it was because their betrayal made him remember his own betrayal of Jobber.

Mibbie was only 2 years old when Jobber died so she never really knew her brother. Truth be told, she didn’t even know her living brother.

But Mibbie was 8 years old now. She was 8 years old and had lost both her brothers to the Grinch.

“Mibbie, are you ready, darling?”

“Yes, mom”

They visited Bingley everyday around the same time. The best doctors in Whoville said consistency might get him to open up. His parents never gave up hope. Whether it was a hope to get their son back, or just hope to one day find out the truth, Mibbie didn’t know. Other than their daily visits, her parents refused to talk about Bingley or Jobber.

The prison was only a short walk over. Usually enough time for Mibbie’s dad to drink a cup of coffee.

“Good morning little Mibbie,” the prison guard greeted her every morning with a smile. It was the least he could offer to this broken family.

“Morning, Mr. Groop,” Mibbie said cheerfully.

The rest of their routine was pretty standard. They went into the visitor’s room where Bingley was rolled out in his bright green straight jacket. He had requested green so he could feel the trauma his brother felt being wrapped up in that thick green fur matted with blood.

His mother broke the silence first, “Good morning, Bingley. Today is Mibbie’s 8th birthday! Say happy birthday to your little sister, won’t you?”

Bingley eyed his sister and cocked his head slightly. Has it really been 6 years already? He thought to himself. But he remained silent as usual.

They continued to tell Bingley about their weeks, all the new news of the day, what their plans were, and of course that they still loved him. It was all pretty routine.

Then a loud blaring speaker went off. The siren was high pitched. Mibbie noticed for a second a look on her brother’s face. Fear didn’t quite define it. It was something deeper than a simple fear; there was agony there, as if his very soul feared for its existence.

“Everyone get on the ground, a prisoner has escaped, we need to get everyone locked up! You all need to leave!” The guards came pouring in, grabbing Bingley to take him back. Mibbie’s parents were being ushered away by multiple guards too.

“Mibbie, come on, sweetie!” Mibbie’s mom screamed as the guards pulled her parents further away.

“Grab the kid, Groop!” the guard holding Mibbie’s mom yelled out pointing over to Mibbie.

Groop ran over to grab Mibbie, and then “WHACK!” He was on the ground. Mibbie turned to see Bingley standing freed from his straight jacket. The guards around him were unconscious.

Mibbie’s eyes widened with fear. Her parents stood trembling, everything happened so fast they couldn’t do anything but watch.

And then Bingley did something nobody ever saw coming. He bent down and gave Mibbie a hug.

The siren still blared and voices screamed all around, but he was still able to whisper into Mibbie’s ear.

“Happy Birthday, little sis. I don’t have much time. You are old enough to know the truth now. I didn’t kill your brother. The Grinch did. Please, Mibbie, believe me. He’s killing more people. He’s killing people in all Whoville. He’s coming after me soon. I just know it. He’s more than a monster. There is something else at that cave. Please, Mibbie! Save me!”

Groop recovered from his bang on the head and tackled Bingley to the ground. “I’ve got him, get them out of here!”

The guards ushered Mibbie and her parents out of the prison. Filled with fear and relief, Mibbie’s parents wrapped her in a hug.

“Are you ok, Mibbie? What happened?”

“He…” she wasn’t sure what to tell them. They wouldn’t believe it anyways. If they did, Bingley wouldn’t be in that awful place. “He said, happy birthday.”

Mibbie’s parents didn’t know what to make of that. “Well, that’s very good, then.” Mibbie’s dad said.

Their walk home was quiet, but deep down Mibbie believed her brother. She had to visit that cave. But she was going to need help.