A knock, loud and important-sounding, rapped on my office door. Theo had left the park for the day, but would be waiting for me at the beach. I opened the door, and promptly wished I could shut it.
Black suits.
Three big, strong men in black suits. Only They wore black suits, unless you were going to a funeral. And unless my heart had just stopped, nobody had yet to die in my office. "Can I help you," I managed to choke out, and with a dangerous glint of annoyance, "gentlemen?"
A fourth Black Suit stepped forward. When he saw I wasn't going to let him in, he stopped outside and introduced himself; in a way. "Miss Cadence Watchman, of the town of Harpstring? You are the current owner of Tide Pool Parks? I am Mr. Guntan Sochmore of the Aquatic Department. Its head, actually."
He was middling height, but from his shape it appeared the only thing he did involving aquatics was scarf down cans of tuna and boxes of fish fritters. "We have received several reports that you have permitted a dangerous Sea Folksman onto your grounds."
Reports and dangerous my fluffy green sandal. "Reports" meant spying. As for dangerous; if Theo was anyone to go by, the Sea Folk were as dangerous as a little girl's teddy bear. "There are no Sea People in my park, sir," I replied coldly, "unless you mean the sting rays."
Sochmore spread his goons, giving us a wide berth of privacy. Then he calmly, smugly, produced a photograph. It was just a fuzzy Polaroid shot, but Theo's tail was still visible. My heart sank. How had they gotten that? But I could think about that now. Any attempts to deny it would only get me in worse trouble. If they had one picture, they had more. "Theo's not hurting anybody!" I snapped angrily, losing my temper with somebody who could get me killed, "You leave him alone!"
"I'm afraid we can't do that, miss," he replied, grinning with delight at his catch. "These creatures aren't tame dolphins you can keep as pets. They are dangerous, and must be terminated."
He turned away and began to leave, just as I found my eyes were pricked with tears. He stopped and happily called back to me, "Bring 'Theo' to the stage in two days. It's time you did a little public service, Miss Watchman. And you will bring him."
I waited until they left, then sank down against the door, and began to cry. I could only imagine what they had in store for him; nothing good, obviously. And the worst part? I would take Theo to his doom. There was nothing I could do. Better to let him be led by who he thought was his friend, than tracked down by the Aquatics Department. I closed the park early and left for the beach.
|
Submission Name: "Theo"
