Thomas the Menace: A Work of Fiction

Thomas the Menace was always grinning. There was something weird about that situation. It was a look of tension, if you looked closely. The other thing about his smile is that he smiled inappropriately, even when he wasn't happy. He wore a scarf around his neck which he told everyone was to "cover bulletwounds." This story made his parents frown, but they left it alone. If he wanted to wear a scarf around his neck, it was his own business. Except, family kept commenting about how goofy this situation was. "You know, if Thomas wants to be a part of society, he should at least think about how that situation looks to others. Would it be so horrible if he at least took off the scarf? We're getting sick of it, and we would rather look at bullet wounds than THAT annoying piece of cloth..." So one day his parents sat down with him. "You're annoying people with the scarf, Thomas. You either take off the scarf yourself, or we will." He didn't say anything, but his face frowned, went blank, and his eyes widened. "Sure, okay." His mom grabbed the scarf and ripped it off. His parents both gasped. Underneath the scarf, there was a tiny razorblade in his neck, held in place by two pieces of string, attached to his ears. "For the love of GOD, Thomas, that's disgusting..." "I wouldn't do that, if I were you," Thomas said. His mom removed the knife, and it was over in a second. Thomas fell down in a pool of blood, dead on the scene. After years of therapy, his parent's finally accepted what the therapist kept repeating to them about the situation: "What would anyone do in that situation? If you see a knife in someone's throat, you remove it. You do that every single time, no exceptions. Everyone would. Point-blank, end of discussion."