Baked Scribe Flashback : Tiddy

 

Figuring out how to put an end to the project upriver was the only way she could save the town. The offense that had been perpetuated by the foreign investors had to be corrected. Otherwise, each and every one of them could end up dead because, once the creature had exacted its revenge, it would almost certainly turn on the town itself. The problem was actually being able to convince the company.

News had made its way down the river about the problems that had already plagued the work site. The weather would turn on them in a moment, heavy fog rolling in to overtake them. When the fog finally lifted, they would find equipment wrecked and often, injured workmen. A few people had gone missing, and others had reported seeing something darting around the site, short as a small child and wearing rags for clothes.

The creature had been a part of the town for longer than anyone could remember. Even the children who had originally given it the nickname “Tiddy” were now themselves senior citizens. The people of the town had made peace with it long ago but, if this offense was allowed to continue, none of that would matter. The thing would rip its way through as many people as it required in order to regain the water it so desperately needed.

She knew that this had all started when the company had diverted the river, denying the creature its access to the water that it loved more than life itself. The water was its life and now that it was gone, the benevolence, which they had grown to expect from the local creature, turned into rage, and a thirst for vengeance.

She would have to convince them to stop the project altogether. The only way to lift this curse would be to cease any work and return the river to its original course. Nothing else would suffice. It was the only way that Tiddy would be satisfied.

Chances were likely that the investors would just laugh her out of the room, assuming they even agreed to meet with her. There was little or no chance that they would give in to any suggestion, not if it meant losing their all-sacred dollars. Hunger and greed demanded satisfaction, unaware of the perils that they were putting everyone into. She knew her chances were slim. That was why she had brought the backup plan.

She had to protect what mattered.

Running a hand once more into her bag, she felt the outline of the explosives that she could only pray she wouldn’t have to use.