Week 14.5 – Bare Handed

Previously: Twain revealed that he had been manipulating Digger the entire time. Then he sent Digger into the past so he could make his escape. And now…

Digger pitched forward and landed in a puddle. Filthy, muddy water splashed up into his face. He sputtered and wiped his eyes clear with the backs of his wrists as he slowly got to his feet. He was almost afraid to look up and sees where he had landed. The mud could mean anything from his last visit to the lake to a trip back to the Jurassic. Except that it smelled and sounded like a city. He looked up and said, “You’ve gotta be shitting me.”

He stood in a muddy patch of what was mostly parking lot. Across the street was a large metal building with a huge vinyl banner stretched across the front that read “Flea Market Today.”

He had gone back to the same damn time: the day he fought (and was) Frog Boy. Why?

But why didn’t really matter. What mattered was that he get back to his own time as quickly as possible before Twain could get away.

[blockquote type=”blockquote_quotes” align=”right”]He was already breathing hard when he burst through the doors into the massive building. He felt weak and slow. Being normal sucked…[/blockquote]Horns blared as he took off across the street. He still didn’t know the official rules of time travel–perhaps he wouldn’t be allowed to return to his own time until he had accomplished some crucial feat, for instance–so he had to go with what he did know: the route back was through the crystal.

He was already breathing hard when he burst through the doors into the massive building. He felt weak and slow. Being normal sucked. He was startled at the way people stared at him, then realized just how filthy he was.

No use delaying. He plunged into the warren of booths, unsure exactly where to find the man with the pendant. He thougt he heard a commotion from off to his left, so he cut that way and stumbled against a display of canes standing up in a tall garbage pail. The canes clattered to the floor, and Digger stumbled past them as their owner shouted, “Hey, stop that guy!”

But before anyone could do anything about it, he cut around another corner and kept running. His side was beginning to ache. He heard another shout and a crash from off to his right and headed that way. It was no good, though. He was just too slow. And then he saw what he needed.

He snatched a skateboard from a display in one booth, ignored the angry shouts from behind him as he sped down the aisles, tracking the fight by the noise. And then he spotted the guy, the exchange student or whatever, down one aisle. Problem was, he was on the other side of the fight.

Digger reversed direction, cut back and skirted the fight. As he came out where he could see the guy again, Frog Boy was confronting him. Digger pushed the board as fast as he could, then realized he wouldn’t be able to stop in time. He was going to hit the guy! Had he hit the guy before? Would this change the future?

What will happen next? Will Digger make it back to his own time? Will Twain get away? Join us next week for the next exciting chapter of Run, Digger Run!

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