Wordcount: 769
Quote:
Pinecone Projectile (10) : A strange anomaly has befallen Destiny City. Ordinarily, a falling pine cone would
hardly be worth noticing; there are plenty of them littering the city on a daily basis. However, recently some of these pine cones are causing a bit of noise. Scientists are blaming some bacteria in the trees natural sap as being responsible, but some pine cones are falling to the ground and making loud crackling, popping sounds–or worse, exploding upon contact. As if the sound of small explosives aren’t enough, some reports even claim to have witnessed sparks and small fires. You’d better be careful when walking around any areas with trees–and definitely don’t start throwing these just to see what happens!
hardly be worth noticing; there are plenty of them littering the city on a daily basis. However, recently some of these pine cones are causing a bit of noise. Scientists are blaming some bacteria in the trees natural sap as being responsible, but some pine cones are falling to the ground and making loud crackling, popping sounds–or worse, exploding upon contact. As if the sound of small explosives aren’t enough, some reports even claim to have witnessed sparks and small fires. You’d better be careful when walking around any areas with trees–and definitely don’t start throwing these just to see what happens!
It was lunchtime and the crowd of men were chatting and joking, lunch boxes open on whatever surface they could find, rarely all that clean. Ben sat there munching away on his coldcut while he watched the crew joke and razz each other, he wasn’t paying much attention at all. He had more than enough to think about without adding in the s**t these grown as children got into. It was just so damn hard to wrap his head around the last few days. Everything, and he did mean everything had moved so damn fast. The whole dating of Abby, and agreement of the engagement, to that nonsense of magical BS of a war. Although it didn’t escape him about the irony of him, a descendant of pretty Irish Irishmen being on the side of the ‘law’ as it were. It did answer several questions though, his eyes tracked over to the burnt out husk of the bank their company had been hired to demo. Several questions indeed.
If Ben hadn’t been so lost in his own thoughts the loud crack behind him wouldn’t have startled him so damn bad. His soda, that he had been taking a swallow of, went down the wrong pipe and he started to choke. A large callused hand, more like a giant mitt, slammed into his back over and over as Ben did his best to cough out the soda. Finally he waved his ‘rescuer’ off and rasped out, “The ******** was that?”
“That, Bosman, was you choking,” One of the construction workers quipped, using his own can of soda in a toasting gesture. “You're supposed to swallow the cola, not breathe it.”
“Like your one to talk! You’ve never swallowed in your life!” One of the smart asses snarked, Jerry.
“That's not what your mama said last night!”
“The ******** you say about my mama?”
“You heard me!”
“Shut up you twats!” Roared one of the brits on the crew, “First all ‘swallowing’ implies dicks not the sweet, sweet cream of Jerry’s mama. Get your insults right. Second all Mrs. Smith was with me last night, I ain't seen you there Billy so shut your trap. Besides, I don't share.” Both Jerry and Billy were sputtering and about to get seriously pissed off when the much larger man continued, “Either way, that's not what the Bosman was askin about.” The brit, everyone just called him Brit actually, turned to Ben and pointed to the pine that was just on the other side of the street. “The tree’s cones are getting a bit more spicy this year. Poppin somin fierce when it hits the ground. Not sure why Bosman.”
“News says it's some kind of bacteria,” Piped up the youngest of the entire crew. “If it had just been one tree I would have figured the kids were gluing those snapping poppers to them but,” The young man shrugged even as he finished up his bag of chips, ignoring as another small explosion was heard. He had gotten used to it since there were a bunch of pine trees near his place.
Ben still stared at the young man, Chip, rather incredulously. That was some Bullshit if he ever did hear it. Bacteria? Seriously? Who did they think they were kidding? As two more cracks filled the air in rapid succession Ben really had no other option than to just shrug and ‘accept’ it since he had no better options. A check at his watch told him their lunch break was over, Jerry and Billy were still arguing but a lot more quiet now since Brit was glowering over them. They were the only two on the crew that hadn’t finished their food. Good… This will teach them to focus on eating rather than pissing each other off, Ben quietly noted even as he called everyone to order, grinning evilly when his two stooges started to scarf what was left of their meal.
“Hey Bosman, how's that girl of yours?” One of the guys asked as they headed back to the construction area, everyone slipping on hats and gloves.
“Better than yours Tim!” One of the others yelled back.
“Shut up you two and get to work!” Ben shouted at them all, smiling even as he shook his head and secured his hat. “******** in a Three Stogies movie, I swear,” He muttered even as he listened to his crew get back to work, the sounds of distant explosions quickly masked by power tools and general destruction as they methodically pulled the building down one brick at a time.
