Fantasy fiction; Science fiction; Subconsciousness -- Fiction
Away from the building and in the car, the two inadvertent juveniles
found themselves at sharp odds with the mechanical age. Squatting on
the floor, Toffee attempted to operate the foot mechanisms while Marc
knelt on the seat and tried his small hand at manipulating the steering
apparatus and gear shift. After much concentrated effort and grinding
of gears they managed jointly to smash the fender of the neighboring
sedan. There the operation ended in dismal failure. Time was running
out like water in a hair net. Memphis, in the company of two uniformed
companions, was gesticulating wildly from a fourth story window.
"Delinquents!" she yelled. "Juvenile fiends! Now they're stealing his
car!"
"Duck down!" Toffee rasped. She reached up and pulled Marc down beside
her. "Stay out of sight!"
"They've already spotted us," Marc returned. "They'll be down here in a
moment." He reached past her and opened the car door. "Crawl out," he
instructed. "I'll follow. We can crawl along under the cars."
Like a couple of bemused slugs, they scooted out of the car, under the
sedan of the abused bumper and started on a scenic tour of gravel and
axles. They had removed themselves from the convertible by only five
cars when the sound of flat feet scraping over gravel sullied the quiet
afternoon air. Toffee, leading the way, peered fearfully from beneath
the fender of their current refuge.
"They're closing in," she said. "They've searched your car and now
they're fanning out. What'll we do?"
Marc thrust his wide-eared countenance next to Toffee's and surveyed
the situation. The policemen, under the supervision of Memphis, were
embarked upon a campaign to beat every inch of automotive brush in
the entire parking lot. Currently, however, these activities had
been arrested by the arrival of the parking lot attendant who, quite
understandably, was wanting to know just what was going on. Still the
situation looked grim for Marc and Toffee once the search was
resumed ... as it would be in only a second ... the jig was up. Marc
glanced quickly around for possible avenues of escape.
The vehicle next to the one under which they were hiding was a large
delivery truck with paneled sides. It was black and rather formidable
looking but still it offered a possibility.
"Over there," Marc whispered, pointing to the truck. "Crawl under and
toward the back. We can open the rear doors and climb inside without
being seen."
Toffee nodded and started out. When they arrived at the rear of the
truck, they managed to open the doors and get inside with a certain
amount of cooperative pushing and pulling. They closed the doors after
them and Marc found an inside catch with which the doors could be
locked. They settled back in the dimness to catch their breath.
A removable panel isolated the rear compartment from the driver's cab,
cutting off most of the light, and the two fugitives had to feel their
way about.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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