by Paul Vayro
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Puddleton didn’t offer much to its residents, especially the young ones that wished to live somewhere exciting. It hung nervously between becoming a city and holding on to its long past roots as a sedate village. For Zarg it was wonderful. A real Earth town paused in full flow. The people offered by the far the most intrigue. Zarg studied the first few in great detail. The novelty soon wore off as he began moving them around instead. Several Puddletonians were in for a nasty surprise when time eventually restarted, especially those that had been waiting for a bus and now found themselves atop the shelter.
Wondering what mischief he could weave next, Zarg sensed movement in the distance. The Jefferians were not known for their bravery and Zarg’s only plan involved hiding. Ducking behind a wall he allowed a sense of smugness to creep in. Maybe he was about to be proved right about his peoples' plan failing. The smugness quickly turned to fear as he realised he may be about to come face to face with a band of heroes out to defeat him.
He didn’t have to wait long for a young couple to come into view. Could they be the beginnings of a small band of rebels? For now they were arguing. Zarg continued observing as the male tried to walk away, his progress regularly halted as he turned to make his point to the woman in pursuit. Whatever his point it was quickly rebutted as he stormed ahead of her, powered by frustration. As he gained a fifteen foot advantage the figure changed into that of a teenager running. Zarg performed a double take filled with confusion. There had been nothing in any of the books about humans being able to morph their appearance. Turning his gaze to the woman, she too had changed. She had been replaced by an irate shopkeeper giving chase to the lad. The insults suggested he’d stolen a pack of custard creams. Intrigue got the better of Zarg as he followed the pursuit.
By the time Zarg climbed out of the garden he’d been hiding in the odd pair were together once more, only now one was an unfeasibly tall and skinny man whilst the other an excessively rotund lady. The duo walked hand in hand, turning a corner and out of sight. Zarg scampered up to the said corner and peered around it. It was a dead end and the pair nowhere to be seen. They had simply vanished. Zarg stopped for a moment to consider his options. He could return to the craft and inform everyone of his discovery that the Earth isn’t exactly frozen, or he could partake in his very own mission to discover what was going on. He gave the decision as much thought as a teenager can. He reasoned either way he would be in trouble so why not have an adventure to look back on whilst serving the resulting punishment? The logic was flawless.
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