Ah, last day of winter break *sigh* Oh well...



*Chapter 9: Summer days*

Erst wandered aimlessly down the street, his mind retracing the route he took the previous day. As he was now working permanently he'd committed it to memory. Occasionally he dodged obstacles that weren't there, or blundered into ones that had been placed there overnight. Slightly behind him and moving much more agilely was Schrock, who was watching where he was going. He moved a lot faster than you'd expect from a shelian.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

The rabbit grabbed a hold of Schrock's shell and spun him round. "(-) shelian! What the hell is wrong with you? I don't know why we didn't just dispose of you all when we had the chance!" Schrock frowned and pretended not to hear, but the rabbit didn't let go. And then Erst was there. 'Excuse me, we have to get to work, can you please let him go?' The rabbit squinted. "Hmm... no. What say I stand here and do nothing? Its not like you could be in a hurry now is it?" Schrock watched with deepening dread as Erst thought this over. He had no sense of sarcasm. "Actually, yes, we are in a hurry, our job starts in a quarter of an hour." The rabbit sneered 'Oh yes? And what would you do if I punched you right now shellfrog?" Erst considered this "I don't know, you haven't done it yet." The rabbits fist was already moving when Erst replied. There was a sickening *crrk* as it collided. The rabbit clutched his hand to his chest. "F* F* F*! Imma *kill you for that! I'll KILL you."

But Erst and Schrock had moved on. Erst kept staring at the front of his shell "That wasn't very nice, he's scratched it, look!" "Shutupshutupshutup! You want we get into trouble? Don't answer that, lets just get going"

* * *

The dirty green truck slowly chugged its way up the narrow road, leaving the occasional speck and spatter of leaked oil or discarded wrapper in its wake. Its engine was poorly tuned, belching black smoke, its windows were crusted with grime. A dandelion was sprouting out of a crack in one of its mirrors and its approach could be heard a mile away. It somewhat unsteadily turned into the parking lot before utterly collapsing slowly like a melting glacier, parts bending, breaking or just falling off leaving little more than a heap of scrap metal. Anyone who had seen it arrive would've been surprised that it hadn’t happened sooner. Nevertheless a figure emerged from the wreckage, pushing aside a door that immediately fell off its hinges, and marched into a the cafe ahead.

The owner looked up as he entered, bringing with him several candy wrappers that had blown in with the wind, they skittered across the floor before hiding under a table. He calmly walked over to the only occupied table in the joint and sat down. Meanwhile there was a gasp and a crunch from the bar; the owner had discovered a cockroach under a saucer that had suddenly grown a lovely crop of mould. Wit watched a small shape scurry out from under a bench and into a corner. Wit snapped his fingers and the cockroach crawled out and across the floor. He picked it up and stroked it gently. 'Sometimes I just love life, I don't know what people have against them. So, how long till the big event?"

Outside the sun shone, birds chirped and people went about their business. It looked as if it was going to be an unusually pleasant day.