FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Amos
Date: 10 Oct 13 - 04:32 PM

(Plot-shattering violates the core etiquette of the game, here! The thread must move on!)

The dicks on the floor were non-plussed; they didn't know banjos even HAD capos, and they were pretty sure the idea of a banjo capo leaving bloody prints was at least as improbable as a chupacabra doing it. But, after all, they were dealing with a Legend in His Own Right--Blake Madison, the toughest dick ever to slip a thread into the Mudcat Forum unobserved--so they decided to give him the benefit of their ignorance.

The forensic report came back within two hours, by which time the dicks had finished printing the pad, and had bought Madison his second, third, and fourth Guinnesses in the back room of the cafe downstairs.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: gnu
Date: 02 Sep 13 - 07:05 PM

(It will come)

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Crowhugger
Date: 02 Sep 13 - 06:49 PM

(ever hopeful)

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Crowhugger
Date: 23 Aug 13 - 06:50 PM

The chupacabra wandered in from Mudcat Alley and laid its chin on Pekoe's lap. Pekoe dipped his finger in the small cup of Amaretto and offered it to his old friend. It licked every trace from Pekoe's finger. Harmi heard its footsteps and came back to the tea kitchen to do the same. 'Llulah followed closely and copied her example. Greetings completed, the chupacabra harrumphed into a heap on its favourite warm spot on the worn hickory floor.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: gnu
Date: 21 Aug 13 - 03:06 PM

The brandy tea kicked in. Pekoe asked for Amaretto dell'Amorosa on ice. His favourite. Looser and more lucid with alcohol, asked his real name, he replied, "Pekoe is fine. Tea can be calming but too much caffiene can set you off without warning when someone pisses you off. It's like having a name which is two names... two personalities. I hear something strange happened. Any idea what or who it was all about?" It was the way he asked that instilled an unease. Who really was the man with two names?

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Crowhugger
Date: 21 Aug 13 - 11:01 AM

'Llulah skipped to the main kitchen, jiggling with energy as she tugged Harmi's sleeve and pointed back through the doorway.
    "He says at least a pot!"
    Harmi nodded, her eyes a little absent today. She finished tossing the day's batch of quinoa salad before making her way the rearmost room. Settling herself somewhat, 'Llulah brought over large teapot half full of freshly brewing tea and ceremoniously placed it in front of Pekoe. She removed the lid and Harmi topped it with brandy. Pekoe shivered ever so slightly, and nodded his thanks. He pulled a small suede lump from a soft leather night bag. Deft fingers untied a single thong so that the suede fell away showing a clean porcelain sake cup ready to fill. As he drank--always with two hands on the cup--he shook his head several times. Harmi waited.
    Pekoe sighed. "Your brandy delivery is at the bottom of the river."
    "Bloody hell." Resignation came through stronger than frustration. Those bootleg cases might as well have been smashed on a sidewalk. The last time a boat went down with her goods it was away from the town making a clandestine recovery possible. This was different.
    "Shit," she pined under her breath as she made her way back to the remaining day's work.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: gnu
Date: 21 Aug 13 - 05:43 AM

(I always thought it was black rum made with monsters and demons just like the churchlady told me.)

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Crowhugger
Date: 20 Aug 13 - 05:29 PM

(gonna have to go look up "kraken"--but later, after rehearsal!)

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Rapparee
Date: 19 Aug 13 - 09:40 PM

In the muddy depths of the harbo(u)r the slimy tentacles of the kraken stirred to life.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: gnu
Date: 19 Aug 13 - 01:58 PM

His head was low, as if peering at the ground. He shuffled slowly along the alley and into the cafe. He sat. Asked, he replied, "Tea, skim milk. At least a pot." Asked, he looked up from under the peak of his cap with bloodshot eyes and said, "Me? Just call me Pekoe. I need that tea."

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Crowhugger
Date: 18 Aug 13 - 09:00 PM

From the tea kitchen at the back of the café Harmi's granddaughter could hear sounds of splashing as sailors and rats alike abandoned both riverboat and the banjo player. The sailors in the main had jumped directly into the water while the rats mostly fell to the murky current having failed to gain a foothold on the hawser or on the other rats already clinging. Above the splashes rose a broad chorus in time and tempo with the swimmers until finally the splashing ceased and the dripping ensemble stood on the gravel beach. As one they sang and dripped as they gathered scraps of stray materials, anything long and solid.
    Young 'Llulah Madison laboriously filled the kettle just as Blake had once done in that same kitchen. The girl knew that waterlogged sailors meant that Nanna would drink tea while they warmed themselves and told their stories, mostly not drinking tea themselves. She dragged a large jug from the special pantry over to a small table in the tea kitchen.
    The sound of the sailors using their found tools again and again to conk the rats as they, too, arrived at shore, did not carry to that part of Mudcat Alley.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Aug 13 - 09:01 PM

Down on the docks a line of rats ran across a hawser tying the riverboat to the dock.

Rats abandoning a ship, he thought? Could this be a portent? Or could it just be a fumigation or something?

There was no way to know, he thought, except that that boat has a bad list to port and there's six inches of water on the bow deck. He briefly pitied the banjo player plucking away on the Texas deck, oblivious, like all banjo pickers.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Crowhugger
Date: 12 Aug 13 - 05:35 PM

Fido pawed the riverbank with his left front hoof, then rhetorically urinated in the slight depression it made.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Rapparee
Date: 12 Aug 13 - 09:37 AM

Meanwhile, he turned to his pet, Fido, and asked rhetorically, "Have you ever tried to use a left-handed mouse?"

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: frogprince
Date: 11 Aug 13 - 12:39 PM

Oops; I guess I lost my cookies while composing that last post.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: GUEST
Date: 11 Aug 13 - 12:35 PM

Gale LeFevere, originally from Newfoundland but now very much a big city gal, oozed into Blake Madison's office. You could say that her dress was kinda tight; actually you could say that, if one of the ink colors in the tattoo on her thigh was in thicker ink than the others, you would have been able to see that part of the design standing out in relief. She eased down unto Madison's lap, settled herself with a bit of a wiggle, and said "So, big guy, how was your day?". Madison smiled slightly and said, "I'm not sure you really want to know".

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: gnu
Date: 11 Aug 13 - 05:20 AM

"Flat, oily ca'm" is how Gale, the gal from Newfoundland, would describe it. But, where did Gale fit into this mess? What was Gale's tale?

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Rapparee
Date: 10 Aug 13 - 10:32 PM

...the waves passed the finish line and no more laps were required. Both the harbor and the harbour took on the smooth, glassy surface that can only precede a gale.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: gnu
Date: 10 Aug 13 - 06:41 PM

At the docks, the waves were gently lapping hulls of the moored. Then...

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Rapparee
Date: 10 Aug 13 - 09:52 AM

Outside in the alley, the chupacabra smiled and pulled on the leash. Away from the sounds coming from the room up above. Let's go down to the docks and see the riverboat, it seemed to be telling the man holding the leash.

"...no such thing as a chupacabra." It regally led the way. It hadn't come here to be insulted and even now it was planning its revenge. Revenge, cold and sweet and gruesome.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: gnu
Date: 10 Aug 13 - 06:17 AM

Dripping. Dripping? Dripping! "He's close.", he said quietly, his eyes still scanning everything.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Amos
Date: 09 Aug 13 - 09:46 PM

Madison didn't answer. He leaned against the doorway of the bloodied flat, staring keenly at every square inch, his blue-gray eyes blazing. He cracked a deck of Luckies and lit one with a single flip of his thumb on a folded matchbook which advertised piano lessons. Slow plumes of steel-gray smoke drifted out of his nose.

"You guys know as well as I do there's no such thing as a chucacabra," he smirked. "As usual, you're missing things. Those prints weren't made by toes."

The detective was unimpressed. "All right, wisenheimer, what were they made by??"

Madison laughed. "They were made by a capo."   He turned to the flat's front hall closet and flung it open, reaching inside with his free hand. The other held his smoking Lucky. "In particular, a banjo capo." He whirled and brought his lanky arm out of the dim recesses of the closet. "This banjo capo." In his left hand, the other-worldly shape of a long-neck five-string bano hung before their eyes. It had a capo on the fourth fret. The capo was dripping blood in slow, rhythmic drops.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Janie
Date: 09 Aug 13 - 06:47 PM

(Hello Froggie!!!!)

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: frogprince
Date: 09 Aug 13 - 10:53 AM

The scene returns to the murder scene in the upstairs apartment. Blake Madison has finally decided that his safest alternative is to call the police and direct them to Muller's body. Two detectives have proceeded Madison into the apartment. They have found only mangled clothing scattered on the bloody carpet, with singularly strange bloody footprints leading out through the window and down the fire escape. The prints appear to be of a four-footed creature. The back paws have seven toes each, the front paws three toes each. As if that is not enough, the front paw prints appear to have claws with barbed tips. Detective first class Joe Kawalzki leans in a door way, his palm clasped to his forehead. "Keerist, Madison", he moans; "Do you ever get involved in anything that doesn't turn into a friggin' nightmare??"

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Rapparee
Date: 08 Aug 13 - 11:41 PM

Under the table the chupacabra was nuzzling a white rabbit, obviously concerned about the effect the rabbit's rather large watch would have on its digestive track.

The submachine gun had disappeared to where ever such things disappear to.

He turned to the Chief Mudcop and said soothingly, "You can take him away. Be careful, he's a tricky one, and watch out for his life companion, 'Doctor' Watson. I believe that he is related to 'Doctor' Jekyll. You may leave now."

The mudcops threw the lanky fellow into the mudwagon and left.

Meanwhile the chupacabra hacked up a hairball of white rabbit fur.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Janie
Date: 08 Aug 13 - 09:36 PM

(grin)

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Janie
Date: 08 Aug 13 - 09:34 PM

(sorry for typos and left out words. We be used to it, eh? and can read between and among the errors?)

The Stranger was no where to be seen. Blake slipped up the stairs.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Amos
Date: 08 Aug 13 - 09:24 PM

(Dear Lonesome---see what happens when you take a few days off?)

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Janie
Date: 08 Aug 13 - 09:23 PM

The calico cat and white rat had bee-lined for the cosy alleyside room and Harmi's granddaughter the second the Blonde had stepped into the cafe, relishing the warmth and the bowl of tuna salad left uncovered on the counter. Lazlo had carelessly left the door to apartment opened at the top of the stairs. Schrodinger's cat, quietly slipped out the cracked door, unobserved and unmeasured in amidst the the noise and distraction. From the very top step, he made a quantum leap and landed next to Harmi's granddaughter.

Harmi's granddaughter, unfazed, looked at him and remarked, "'Is you is, or is you ain't?' It don't matter. Have some tuna."

The rat looked apprehensive. The calico ignored him.

Out in the main dining area, Blake awkwardly patted the top of his mother's head, (he couldn't stand to see a woman cry,) but didn't hesitate to take the opportunity to edge away from her. Encounters with Mom always were awkward and unwelcomed - or not. A paradox.

Blake didn't like paradoxes.

he also didn't like accordions.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Crowhugger
Date: 08 Aug 13 - 05:00 PM

Everyone who hadn't already dropped their forks and knives does so now. In one enormous shared motion the café patrons sit just a little taller as they begin to sing The Fox Went Out on a Chilly night at the tops of their lungs and in full, spontaneous harmony. It isn't enough to drown out the mudcops, rather it knits together the wail and twang into a poignant whole. Harmi's eyes fill as she sings,
    "...Old mother flipper flopper jumped out of bed..." A tear drops to the her apron at, "...there were the little ones, eight, nine, ten..." She is recalling the pack of coyo-dogs that came through last week and halved the local flock of pigeons.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Rapparee
Date: 08 Aug 13 - 11:29 AM

With a siren pitched in a key that only dogs and bluesmen can hear and loud enough to damage the hearing of anyone within a hectare, the mudcops' paddy wagon rolls up to the door. The front door crashes open and a long series of mudcops in riot gear, each armed with a five-string banjo or high-powered accordion surround the customers.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Crowhugger
Date: 07 Aug 13 - 09:50 PM

In the cosy alleyside room in back of the main kitchen Harmi's granddaughter drags from a corner the fat log with a big L-shaped notch cut into it. The noise stops with it's perfect positioning in front of tea sink. She crosses to the stove and reaches for the tall hinged handle that sits perfectly centred somehow above the lid. There's no clatter at all as she lifts the empty kettle and skips a few steps with it then mounts the log step stool. When the kettle is filled to the top of calcium deposits she closes the tap and makes her way back silently down the stool, struggling with the load until it is back on the stove. Silence in the café always means tea.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Rapparee
Date: 07 Aug 13 - 09:48 PM

"Oh, all right," he said, apparently pulling a .45ACP Kriss Vector submachine gun out of midair.

He turned to the chupacabra and commanded, "Fido! Sit! Alert! Stay!" and headed for the stairs. Back flat against the right hand wall he moved like a shadow up, every sense alert and firearm poised for instant use.

At the top of the stairs he crouched and then disappeared in the hallway to the right.

****

There was the sound of a door being violently flung open and a series of garbled commands was heard downstairs. A few moments of silence, and then he appeared at the top of the stairs holding a lanky man by the collar.

He casually threw him down the stairs and started down himself. Halfway down, he announced, "Cancel the mudcops. Just another troll shooting a "VR" into the wall above the mantel. Then he tripped and fell, knocking himself out on the fender. Apologize to all of these nice people, Sherlock, and buy a round for the house." The Vector moved menacingly, the green dot of the laser aiming system bright against the houndstooth deerstalker.

The chupacabra slumped, disappointed.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Janie
Date: 07 Aug 13 - 07:42 PM

The Blonde's mind was racing with anxiety and indecision, "What to do? What to do?" She resisted the urge to go smack rhinestone glasses up the side of the head just to get her to shut up her hysterical wailing. Instead, she walked over to the old phone on the wall, lifted the earpiece, cranked the phone and standing on tiptoes, spoke loudly into the speaker/microphone, "Operator? Rosanna? This is Mudcat Cafe, we have an emergency - What? Yes, we are still here and open. Yes, Harmi is still running the grill. No, we don't do take-out! Look, just do as I ask and call the Mudcops and tell them to get here stat! No time to explain, just tell them to hurry!" She was 99% sure who was on duty at Mudcop headquarters, but if she was wrong, there might be hell to pay. She could feel the sweat dripping between her shoulder blades. If he had called out with a hangover and some one else was there...well, it didn't bear thinking about.

Addressing the entire room, she loudly announced the police were on the way and everybody CALM DOWN!!!! Blake and Harmi looked over at her as she walked back over to Lazlo. She simply raised an eyebrow and smiled at the 'endearing' family tableau they presented before she turned to Lazlo, lifted an arm to wrap affectionately around his neck as she leaned in seductively, her lips nuzzling his ear. Her stroking hand found the pressure point on his shoulder, and as she gripped it firmly, she murmured, "Wipe that malicious grin off your face, take your vicious beast with you - you might need him - and get your ass up those steps and find out what the hell just happened! We need to know if we really need the Mudcops or if we need to hide a body from the Mudcops. Be back down here in 5 minutes, in case some one decides to really call the cops." She made to pull away, then leaned in again, "Wait, Harmi mentioned she has been keeping Schrodinger's cat for him while Erwin is vacationing in Greece. If the autoharp player is out there near the steps, maybe you had better take him with you. Either him or the Stranger - but not both. We have enough chaos as it is."

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Crowhugger
Date: 07 Aug 13 - 04:15 PM

"My baby!" Harmi slapped a bin of dirty dishes onto the nearest table and squeezed her way towards her son as quickly as she could between the chairs, and gave him a long hug. Blake's arms remained limp at his sides while his spine stiffened just a little.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Amos
Date: 07 Aug 13 - 03:35 PM

The cafe sat in stunned silence in the aftermath of the shot. Diners looked at each other worriedly. The lady in the brown leisure suit with the rhinestone glasses started sniffling into a napkin. THere was a stark silence upstairs.

With a loud crash, the front door of the cafe opened hard. A bedraggled looking figure in a dirty trenchcoat stepped over the threshold and looked slowly at every face, at every tab;e, at every misplaced napkin and dropped fork, his gaze finally coming to rest on the pale features of the Blonde.

Blake Madison was back in town.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Rapparee
Date: 07 Aug 13 - 02:57 PM

At the other end of the alley, at the DIMOC, a peg-legged man closed and locked the door, heedless of the screams from inside.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Rapparee
Date: 06 Aug 13 - 10:06 PM

The chupacabra sat up at the noise, licked its lips, and can only be said to smile eagerly.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Amos
Date: 06 Aug 13 - 03:21 PM

From the aprtment above the coffee shop a thumping and scuffling broke the routine sounds of dishes and the murmur of diners. Conversatios ground to a halt as the sounds grew more violent--a crash that sounded like a chest of drawers being thrown over, the slam of some dull object against the floor upstairs, and the crunch of something glass breaking.

Then, the muffled crump of a shot. The diners froze in place, caught in mid-move like a midnightt oil painting.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Rapparee
Date: 06 Aug 13 - 02:12 PM

"NO PETS!!" yelled Harmi.

"This is not a pet," replied the man. "This is a service chupacabra, and the law states flatly that service animals are permitted in dumps like this."

And he pulled the snarling, snapping animal to a table and sat down.

"A cup of coffee and a piece of your delicious poison...er, boysenberry pie, please. And a live goat for my friend here," and he scratched the chupacabra's ears.

It purred like a contented kitten.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Janie
Date: 05 Aug 13 - 11:58 PM

"Lazlo," she said in a fierce whisper, "What the hell is going on?"

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Janie
Date: 05 Aug 13 - 11:49 PM

Blondie shashayed up to the table with just enough swing to her hips to perhaps garnish that big tip, if it was coming from the big man with the red mustache, but not so much sass as to cost her if the small woman sitting with him was paying the tab. "Groundhog omelet with vadalia onions and habaneros and buttermilk biscuits?" The petite woman raised a hand slightly from the table. Blondie set the big platter down in front of the dark-haired woman, the granola with greek yogurt down in front of Red, and lastly, two steaming mugs of strong coffee laced with Irish whiskey at each of their sides.

"Can I get you anything else just now?" Blondie ignored the cobwebs hanging from their ears and the grimy soot on the back of the woman, obviously accumulated from lurking in the shadows of the Alley. Without waiting for them to answer she turned away, calling over her shoulder, I'll check back in a little while, as she beelined toward the door, eager to both welcome and chastise the regular coming in the door, the fellow with the chupacabra on the leash.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: gnu
Date: 05 Aug 13 - 05:04 PM

The Stranger stopped dead in his tracks. Blood? But, if it was a chupacabra, there would be no blood. Madison? Did Madison know? Was Madison now The Key to the mystery? He started forward again but faltered. What did it mean to him, he asked himself. He froze in his tracks. DAMN!

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Rapparee
Date: 05 Aug 13 - 09:51 AM

He checked the small automatic. He shouldn't have brought a 9mm Short, or if he did he should have remembered to bring the bullets. Quietly he dropped it down a sewer grate to join the others he'd dropped there over the years for the same reason.

This was getting expensive.

He sat down on a broken shipping crate and gently tickled the chupacabra's ears. Down to his last ninety-seven cents and a set of well-polished brass knuckles.

Maybe he could bum coffee and a doughnut off Harmi again. He clipped the leash on the chupacabra's collar, stood up, said "Come along, Fido" and shuffled down the alley.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Amos
Date: 04 Aug 13 - 10:33 PM

Harmi's smile dropped out of sight into her generous shirtfront, and her Latin tan succumbed to a tide of pallor. "Blake? Blake MADISON? Here?" The blonde just nodded.

Harmi pushed a tray loaded with freshly made breakfasts into the Blonde's hands. "Here. Table eleven, red moustache. I'll be back in a minute." And she vanished in the direction of the door with the pink "Senoras" painted on it.

Blonde shook her head. She thought she'd seen it all. No reason for all the emo. It had been four years since either of them had seen the back end of Madison leaving town. But that's the way it was with women who crossed trails with Madison.

She sighed and hefted the breakfast tray. She zeroed in on the tall customer with the red moustache at table eleven, and headed toward him, pasting on her best "I deserve a whalloping tip" smile.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Crowhugger
Date: 04 Aug 13 - 09:21 PM

[another goatsucker though I rather like the chupacabra reference too!]

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Janie
Date: 04 Aug 13 - 08:41 PM

Feeling more chipper with the daybreak and from Harmi's ministrations, the blond moved behind the counter to help Harmi get ready for the breakfast crowd. They stood, working shoulder to shoulder at the prep table, their backs to the door.

"Interesting doings in the alley last night," the Blond said, without turning her head. "Shadows stirring that haven't moved for years, and some around we haven't seen for years. I don't know if that thin, quiet guy over there is your new beau or just passing through, but you should know," now she did turn and look Harmi full in the face. "Blake is back in town."

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Janie
Date: 04 Aug 13 - 08:08 PM

(old timers disease, I seem to have suddenly forgot how to do proper punctuation. Forgive please - it may or may not come back to me.)

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Janie
Date: 04 Aug 13 - 08:06 PM

"Harmi, I'll be right back." The blond limped out the door, noticing the shadows beginning to fade as daylight broke, and gently grabbed the arm of the autoharp player before he could tuck himself away. "This way." She pulled him through the door and and reached for the coffee pot.

"You don't have to write a word. Just keep on there in the center of the alley, demonstrating how to calmly stay centered when you are surrounded by people shouting 'STOP MAKING SENSE!'" And don't forget, you are scheduled to teach a yoga class at 10:00.

Subject: RE: FICTION: In the Shadows of Mudcat Alley
From: Rapparee
Date: 04 Aug 13 - 07:02 PM

As he did, a chupacabra leaped silently from fire escape to the dumpster to the alley and followed the stranger's scent trail. Hunting had been good tonight, and was about to get better.