"MOMMY!"

A loud wail was heard throughout the household. Daddy dropped his vacuum. Mommy accidentally broke one of her golden plates. And Rosie almost choked on an Oreo cookie that she had stolen from the neighbors. They all grew frustrated. That annoying call could only mean a few things: Caillou was either hungry, in some mild form of pain, or was in "trouble".

Rolling her eyes, Mommy went upstairs, followed by Daddy. They opened the door to the bathroom, finding Caillou on his knees in front of the bathtub, his head underwater. He was thrashing. Mommy grabbed her son by the ankles and yanked him out.

"Caillou, what were you thinking, putting your head in there? And why did you call us?" Mommy asked, also wondering why it had taken all her strength just to pull Caillou from the bathtub. Caillou started bawling again.

"S-something grabbed me, Mommy! It wouldn't let go! It had tentacles and –" he burst into tears. Daddy sighed, and left the room. Mommy was better at comforting crying kids than he was. For her part, Mommy was worried. Caillou normally had a big imagination, but nothing like this. Still…she had felt like something was pulling Caillou.

Caillou was still sobbing, so Mommy pulled him up, so that he was eye level with her.

"Caillou, you're getting to be a big boy now. Sometimes, you have to face fear head on. You can't always call us for help…we won't always be there", she said solemnly. Caillou looked at her and asked when lunch was. Mommy sighed. He really hadn't been listening at all, had he? They went downstairs to have lunch, where Caillou made clear that he hated carrots, lettuce, and salad. Plates were thrown that day.

A few days later, it was time for Caillou's "once-a-week-bath-fun-time", as Mommy and Daddy called it. Caillou called it "dumb and silly". He never liked taking baths; it got even worse after the "Bathroom Incident".

But Caillou had to stay hygienic, so bathroom time it was. Caillou tried to make a run for it, but Daddy scooped him up.

"But Daddy, I don't want to go in the bathtub, the thing with the tentacles might still be there!" Caillou yelled, kicking and struggling the whole way. Daddy laughed.

"Oh, Caillou, don't be silly. There is nothing in the bathtub, I promise". When they reached the tub, Daddy was dismayed to see a bit of green-colored slime in the tub. Caillou paled.

"Caillou, did you do this?" Daddy asked sternly, putting Caillou down. Caillou shook his head, not wanting to open his mouth. You never knew what would go inside there nowadays!

Daddy decided that Rosie must have done this; she and Caillou had been at war for days! Caillou had put worms in her breakfast one morning. The next day, Rosie had put something funky in Caillou's shampoo. The poor kid's hair had never grown back, and from that day forward, it had been WAR!

Daddy wiped the green gunk up, and turned to his son, who was kicking himself. Daddy wasn't really sure why Caillou did stuff like that.

"Caillou, time to get in the water", Daddy said as he turned one of the glass faucets. Caillou fainted. After Daddy shook Caillou, the bald kid woke up and began crying again. Angry, Daddy dropped Caillou in the water, and left the room, locking the door behind him. He would come back in half-an-hour.

Caillou was scared, even more scared than the time he thought he had lost one of his toys at school. It turned out that Leo had swiped the toy. Caillou had given him such a punch! But this was worse, because a punch couldn't save him from whatever was lurking in the deep, dark water.

Then Caillou had an idea! He grabbed his goggles, and peeked underwater. Impossibly, the bathtub seemed to lead to miles and miles of an underwater subterranean. Then Caillou saw the flash of a tentacle. He quickly put his head back above the water.

He wanted his mommy and daddy. Even Rosie would be comforting to have around. Well, maybe not. After all, she was even younger than Caillou. What could she so against a creepy water monster. That's when the tentacles started to rise out of the water. They were green, with suckers all over them.

"Ah! Rexie! Help me!" Caillou yelled. Of course, Rexie didn't arrive. He was a stuffed animal. Stuffed animals couldn't do squat. Thinking fast, Caillou grabbed the liquid soap container, and poured it all over the bathtub. The bubbles grew and grew.

"Ha! Now that monster can't see me!" Caillou boasted. He smiled to himself…when the bubbles began disappearing, as if the monster was sucking them all up.

Dang! It worked on Mythbusters! Those liars! I hate them! I'm telling Mommy! These thoughts raced through Caillou's head. But then he remembered something his mommy had told him.

"Sometimes, you have to face fear head on".

Making a fist in determination, Caillou grabbed his goggles once more, and dove underwater, passing the tentacles. He kept swimming until he reached the center, where all the tentacles extended from.

Being a young boy, if anyone were to ask him to describe the creature, Caillou would probably answer, "He was big, and green. HE WAS HUGE!" Caillou was sure it was a guy, because it had a deep, booming voice, despite having no mouth.

"Young boy, I sense great fear in you. I will take you from here, into my realm." Caillou wasn't sure how, but he could talk back, despite being underwater!

"You're a bully, but you don't scare me! Mommy says I have to look at what I'm scared of. If I do, I bet it'll go away", Caillou said confidently. The large being stared at Caillou, with glowing eyes. The boy, however, didn't flinch back. The being laughed.

"Young one, you show great bravery. I will take you back home; you have impressed me". Caillou giggled.

"That's what my pre-school teacher told me after I finger-painted the Eiffel Tower", Caillou said, offering to show the being his painting, if he could find it, because he couldn't be sure if Leo or Rosie had stolen it, or worse, torn it up.

"…Perhaps another time. Now be gone; this realm is no place for a boy". With that, the being moved its hand (claw?), and the waters began to move and bubble, and Caillou began to rise.

"Wait, I don't know your name!" Caillou yelled, alarmed. He heard it was rude not to ask!

"My name is such that you could never pronounce it", the being said, before Caillou reached the top. Caillou excited the bath, dried up, and got dressed.

A few moments later, Daddy entered the room. Caillou hugged him, surprising Daddy.

Caillou ran downstairs, and also hugged Mommy. Mommy hugged him back.

"Caillou! Have you been having too much of your sister's meds again?"

"No, Mommy! You were right! I had to face my fears head on, and then it wasn't so bad anymore! The water creature was nice." With that, Caillou went to his room, humming, leaving his mommy confused.

A few days later, Caillou was visiting the library when he came across a book. Caillou looked at the cover, smiled, flipped through some pages, and then went to the librarian to check it out. The title of the book was "Cthulhu".

Author's Notes

My first Caillou fic is done. I never liked the show, and I hate Caillou, but the plot in my head had to come out. Initially, I had planned to make this more comedic, or more horror-ish, but I chose to do a bit of both. :)

And yay, Cthulhu.