Skirmish at the Shop
Two burning suns shine down on a red desert that stretches on for hundreds of miles, but hidden amongst the sand dunes one can see a very beaten path. The silence in the environment is deafening with the only sounds to be heard being that of wind. There are no plants, no animals, and not a drop of water in sight, even the sky is barren of clouds and tinged red from the suns. Following the path eventually leads to a city that has seen better days.
A long center street is full of tents with fans aimed at all of the attendants, but do little to help in the heat. A large man in the biggest stand is stocking his shelves full of reused cans and bottles containing water. He is wearing a thin brown poncho with a stained white button-down underneath and black pants. A black bandana is tied around his neck with a dragon silhouette outlined in gold. The man is practically oozing grease and if one were to luck closely enough they would find two of his molars replaced with lustrous gold.
Approaching the stand are two young boys one no older than ten, and the other in his late teens. They wear green and blue pants torn at the knees respectively, with handmade sandals and white tank tops that have not been cleaned in months. They stop for a few seconds along the side of the road before arriving at the stand and begin whispering to each other.
"Sam, I'm going to talk to Lard Ball and distract him, what I need you to do is grab two of the big bottles and sneak back to Linda and the others", whispers the older of the two.
"Alright be careful Frank, he's definitely going to be cautious after Weasel and Jack got him last week", replies Sam.
"It's alright I got this".
Sam then walks up to the big man's stand and talks to him making sure to distance himself from the shelves to draw him out of the stand.
"Excuse me sir, but do you have carts, my boss sent me to do a large order and I don't want to take multiple trips"
"Yer in luck kid I got one recently, but make sure to return it else sum'n bad might happen t'ya" threatened the large stall owner.
All the while Sam begins to grab the bottles. After getting the first one successfully, he sees the only other big bottle is quite far away and it'll be tough for him to reach. Putting half of his body weight on the shelf he extends his arm barely brushing the bottle with his fingertips. Sam slides even further along the shelf until it is supporting almost all of his body weight. He finally is able to grab the second water bottle, but the shelf breaks causing all of the bottles and cans to fall on the red ground. A few of the bottles are pierced by pebbles and begin to leak as the plastic has been reused for years and the plastic has become soft and easily damaged.
"Oy you fucking rat, come here now and I'll only beat you half to death before sending you in" bellows the owner.
He turns and walks towards Sam, who is still sprawled over the ground amidst a broken shelf and towers over him with his large frame. He grabs him by the collar and raises him up to his eye level and prepares for a hook with his greasy right hand. His hand barrels towards Sam's stomach, but before it makes contact he is tackled to the ground. Frank is wrestling with the owner on the ground and with his grip loosened Sam is able to wiggle out of his grasp and break free. Frank is in a desperate struggle trying to pin the large owner to the ground because with his frame he has no chance of taking him on one on one, while doing so he is able to yell out to Sam.
"Sam you goddamn idiot, run and get the fuck out of here!"
"I can't leave you here Frank", cries out Sam in desperation.
"Don't worry about me I've gotten us through worse, I need you to take care of Linda and the rest of the kids when I'm gone so get out of here now", Frank retorts.
Sam scampers off with one of the water bottles still in his possession. His disappears into the horizon and the owner finally shrugs off Frank, who is preparing for the beating of his life.