Thanks to Cyndera for the following guest post/short story, “A Tasty Surprise”. A little drama that’s close to home for me…and I’ll get him next time! (Just keep reading, and pay me no mind here–it’ll all make sense in a minute, I promise.) ~Timewalkerauthor
All stories posted in this capacity may also be found under the “Stories” heading in the menu. Thanks for reading!
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I came home from work around nine in the evening, plumb tuckered. It was a hard day, as usual, but you gotta do what you gotta do to make a livin’, right? In these parts, it ain’t easy. You gotta be careful wherever you go. “West Virginia, Wild and Wonderful” my rump! I could do without the “Wild”, believe me. “Wild” around here equals snakes and other fellows you don’t want to run into. I had a few close ones in my time … scared the heck out of me.
Well, let me tell you, the last few days were even less fun than usual. It had been raining like crazy, and I could virtually feel webbings grow in-between my toes. Might even have been better at this point than feet, really: the puddles around my house and work kept getting bigger and bigger. Noah had the right idea back then, let me tell you … an arc would have been very convenient at times.
When I got home, I shook the water off my feet and went to see if there was any food. I had just recently moved to a new place, and so far I was pleased: Lots of bites laying around here and there. I really couldn’t complain. So I looked around, as usual, when suddenly one of these huge animals crossed my path that you see roaming everywhere, behaving as if they owned every place you go to. There were three that had chosen my place as their dwelling: this particular one, the biggest and tallest of them, showed up every now and then, sometimes with and sometimes without the other ones —smaller, young ones, maybe. The big one, he can be loud at times (at least I am guessing it’s a he … my knowledge about these critters is quite limited), but the the smaller ones can really give you a headache. They stomp, and scream, and sometimes they get into what looks like fights. Usually, the big one separates them, and growls at them, and then there’s peace for a few minutes.
I am usually good about avoiding dangerous creatures, but earlier today I wasn’t in my best form. I was hungry, hadn’t eaten all day because of some work that needed to get done down at the community center, just by the river, and so I did not pay much attention. Imagine my surprise when suddenly a HUGE foot stood in front of me. I swerved to the right and narrowly avoided being crushed. These things really needed to be restraint somehow.
Look, I have no idea if these things are intelligent or not, but I gave a friendly not and made my way past the giant. I think he said something, but it was all gibberish to me, so I didn’t pay much attention. I found some crumbs in the kitchen and returned back to my place.
While eating, I heard more footsteps, and from the sound of it, it was the younglings. Oh, great, here went my peaceful evening. Somebody should tell these creatures that some of us are working hard every day and deserve some quiet-time. To my surprise though, the giant didn’t yell. He communicated with them in a quiet tone. Well, good for them. I really hate to complain about neighbors. Only calls for trouble, you know?
Later that evening, I left my place again only to find a strange contraption in one of the corners of the room. I looked at it; I had never seen anything like it before. It didn’t really matter though, because in the middle of it was a glorious piece of cheese topped with peanut butter. I couldn’t remember the last time I had eaten cheese and peanut butter! I got closer and noticed that the ground of the little contraption was a little sticky. I tested it carefully: One foot, then another, then the third and fourth. Granted, it was a bit hard to walk, but I could reach the cheese with only two more steps. Holding it carefully in my mouth, I made my way back off the sticky stuff, went home again and had a great midnight dinner.
Makes you wonder though … no way those creatures had put it there on purpose, but hey, who cares, right? Food is food. I just hope there’s more tomorrow!
Timewalkerauthor 