This year I am working on a story called Bob vs. The Alien Slug Monsters. Instead of an outline I have a basic list of plot points I want to cover between meeting Bob and sending him off to fight the king of the slugs. There is more of a cast of characters than an actual outline, so we will see how the story develops. And with that intro we continue with Bob Versus the Alien Slug Monsters…
Day 8: His grin fell and he tugged his shirt straight.
His grin fell and he tugged his shirt straight. Eddie favored them with a nervous smile as he approached. His hand reached up to smooth his hair down. It was a useless effort as the hair spring right back up. “Evening,” Eddie said as he approached.
“Edward,” Enid said, her tone distinctly frosty. “What have you done?”
“Oh,” he said nervously. He looked over his shoulder at the plume of smoke still staining the sky. “I was just testing out a new mixture. Seems to be a bit more volatile than expected.”
“Volatile,” Bob repeated.
Enid put her hands on her hips. “Did you blow up the bridge Edward?”
“No,” he said. “Not the whole thing.” He smiled widely trying to look reassuring. “Just a little bit.”
Enid huffed. “Now when I get picked up to do my grocery shopping they will have to take the long way round, you know that?”
“It’s just a little damage,” he said.
“A little damage when the bridge is just standing there,” Enid said. “Possibly a lot more when a car is driving on it.”
Eddie let out a nervous laugh. “It was accidental. I’m sure in the morning it won’t look so bad.”
“Ae elves going to come in the night to repair it then?” she asked.
“I think trolls live under bridges,” Bob said.
“True,” Enid said. “But trolls don’t repair things do they? I was thinking more of the shoe maker’s elves.”
“Oh,” Bob said nodding.
“”I thought they just did shoes,” Eddie said. “I don’t recall any stories of bridge building elves.”
“You had better hope the city has them,” Enid countered. “Otherwise if could take an age before they bother to repair the bridge. It isn’t like it is high on any one’s priority list. Although I suppose I had better call and get the bridge on the list.”
Enid turned and walked back towards her house. “Come along Genghis,” she said. The Pomeranian stopped barking and bouncing and trotted after Enid as she walked back to her door.
“It was an accident,” Eddie said. He followed after her, a worried look now creasing his face. “Youll tell them it is an accident and leave my name out of it.”
Bob sighed and turned to walk into his own house. He knew that Enid would call the city and while she would report it she would leave off all mention of Eddie. Eddie would promise not to blow anything else up and for a while things would be quiet.
‘I’ll just have to plan to take the long way to work in the mornings for a while,’ Bob thought as he slipped his key into the lock. He wasn’t willing to trust the bridge until someone professional had actually looked at it and declared it safe to cross.
‘Maybe the city has a department of trolls or elves,’ he thought as he pushed his door open and stepped inside. As he closed his door he wondered if a department of trolls who inspected bridges would be some sort of housing inspectors as trolls tended to live under them in stories.
“I doubt it actually matters,” he told himself. “I doubt Centerville has wither trolls or elves lurking anywhere, or at least not in city management.”
Bob tossed his keys into the bowl by the door and moved to the kitchen. His plan had involved a pizza order as a Friday night celebration. He frowned as he realized any damage to the bridge would prevent that.
Ten til Midnight 