NaNoWriMo Day 26 - 54k words

Slugtectives Gary and Larry the Leopard Slugs

Proposal
Larry sat in his nook staring at the wall, lost in his thoughts. He ran the scenario over in his head countless times and each time it felt like it morphed a little bit, edging closer towards possibility and further from imagination. If he were to email the man and confess what he had done by accident maybe he would be understanding, maybe he would accept help. The shift from doubt to hope was gradual but he could feel the surging desire to follow through.
He refocused his eyes and snapped his mind back to the present as he felt himself decide to try. He moved to the pda and and began to tap away at the screen, beginning with an apology then slowly explaining the steps that lead to the house being raided. He stopped and read back through his writing to make sure he was on the right track then paused as he tried to remember the details of the raid. The memory hit him that he had slept through the raid and Gary and Tendra had seen it. Pushing the pda aside he paused before slowly moving out the entrance of his nook.
Gary sat in his hole still tending to his swollen foot when he heard Larry’s call from the entrance. He returned his call then soon Larry came inside and said, “how’s the foot?”
“It’s getting better. The swelling goes down as long as I am not on it,” Gary replied.
“That’s good, then stay off it,” Larry said with a smirk.
“As long as I’m not following you around it’s okay,” Gary shot back.
“Ehh, it’s good for you,” Larry said offhandedly then continued, “what can you tell me about the raid?”
“Why?” Gary asked slightly confused.
“I was asleep for it and you two saw it,” Larry replied.
“But why do you need to know?” Gary asked still confused.
“You said I should tell the man so I’m writing an explanation of why and how the raid happened, that it was actually my fault,” Larry said.
“It was an accident, it wasn’t your fault,” Gary said quickly.
“If I wouldn’t of sent that slimer then none of this would have happened,” Larry said shaking his tentacles.
”You don’t know that. Maybe the man was on a list somewhere anyway and this was just a normal raid,” Gary said flatly.
“Whatever, would you come over and describe the raid so I can write it out?” Larry asked motioning towards the entrance to the hole.
Gary watched him motioning then looked down at the swollen lump spot on his foot. He wiggled his foot some aas a test then looked back to Larry and said, “sure. You might want to get Tendra, she might remember something I don’t.”
“Good idea, I’ll go talk to her and she if she’ll come over too. You can go ahead and I will go find her,” Larry said as he began to move towards the entrance.
“Sure,” Gary said slowly, “I’ll be over in a bit.”
Larry had already started out the entrance to the hole and just caught Gary’s words. He was on a mission and made a straight line run to Tendra’s hole where he quickly called for her before starting to slug through the entrance. As soon as his head poked inside he heard her yell at him, “I’ll be out in a minute!”
Larry shrank back at the sudden bellowing from inside her hole and turned around quickly and waited outside for her to emerge. Soon she popped her head out and stared at him and and said coldly, “what do you want?”
“Hey. I need you to come over to my nook with Gary and tell me about the raid,” he said lightly.
“Can’t he tell you about it? He was there too,” she said with the annoyance sounding in her voice. She stared at him as he contemplated and after a moment continued, “why do you need to know anyway?”
“I’m doing like Gary said and writing to the man to explain what happened, that this was all an accident.”
“You’re doing what?” Tendra said directly, her eyes narrowing quickly.
“Yeah, I’m writing an explanation of how the raid happened but I wasn’t there to see it like you two were and I think he might need to know some of what went on. Can you just come over and humor me for a bit?” Larry pleaded.
She stared back at him then in resignation said, “fine. I’ll be over in a bit.”
Larry smiled and quickly said, “thank you” before turning and heading for his hole calling behind him, “see you in a bit.”
Tendra quickly pulled her head back inside and sat in annoyance as she looked around at the remnants of the slug she had been in the midst of eating. They occasionally would stray into their realm and she had managed to catch this one, it standing no chance against her much larger size and extra sharp jaws. Luring back to the hole had been the hardest part.
She turned and leaving her meal in her hole slugged to Larry’s nook and went directly inside. She looked directly at Larry and said, “okay, what?”
Larry stared back at her taken aback by her attitude before saying, “sorry to inconvenience you but I need to know what happened during the raid.”
Tendra turned to Gary and flatly said, “you go, I’ll fill in the parts you miss.”
Gary stared at her for a moment then turned to Larry and began, “we were up on the bush watching the news when the helicopter landed and men in black jumped out of vehicles all around the house. They ran at the house and kicked the door in. The men in black ran in and grabbed the man, handcuffed him, and then threw him in a car and drove off.”
Larry listened to him talk then at his pause said, “okay, give me minute,” then pulled his pda in and began tapping at the screen furiously with his lower tentacles.
Tendra and Gary exchanged glances as they watched him try to write it all out, pausing occasionally to search for the right word. Finally he looked back up at them and said, “okay what next?”
Gary continued, “after they hauled the man away the rest of the people ransacked the house. They went to each room and tore it apart. They were looking for a computer and all electronics. That’s when they too the wifi.”
Tendra continued as he paused, “they said they had the ip address and that “it” had to be here.”
Larry listened again then continued tapping away at the pda. After another while he looked back up and said again, “what else?”
Gary and Tendra looked at each other than back at Larry and in unison said, “you were with us after that.” Their sudden unison surprised them and they smiled and looked at each other as they finished saying it.
Larry chuckled a little then asked, “what?”
Tendra rolled her eyes than said, “you were with us for the raid, remember?”
“Yeah, we came and got you and we went back up on the bush to watch.” Gary said emphatically.
“Oh, okay, yeah. I had forgotten the time line. So really it was the helicopter landing and them hauling the man off then they took all the electronics?” Larry asked.
“Exactly,” Tendra said with an exasperated sigh.
“Alright, sorry, just making sure I have it right,” Larry said defensively.
Gary and Tendra again exchanged glances, their eyes raised, then looking back at Larry Tendra said coldly, “you were with us for the rest, I’m going back to my hole to finish eating.”
Tendra didn’t wait for a reply as she began to exit his nook, Larry glanced up to watch her go with a murmured “thank you” and Gary sat watching the whole scene.
Larry sat tapping at the pda again and Gary waited and watched him, expecting him to look up from the pda he slowly figured that was not going to happen. He turned and slugged out of the nook.
Larry sat and tapped at the screen, the words flowing freely again and he described the rest of the raid. He paused for a while as he tried to remember the robot clearly but the sudden memory of the wifi getting pulled from the wall filled his mind and he felt himself shrink before focusing harder on his tapping.
He pushed the pda aside after a last few taps at the screen, his mind still rolling around everything he had written, trying to find something he had missed. He knew there was something he could write that would get the man’s attention, he just couldn’t quite put his tentacle on it. He decided to go out for a wander and to find some food and think. Exiting his nook he looked to Gary’s hole then to Tendra’s and then thinking better of it he headed off towards the plastic’s edge.
As he slugged towards the plastic his mind was awash with memories of the prior days and he searched for the one thing that would be just the right thing, the right reason for the man to trust him. Stopping next to a large pile of decaying leaves he mindlessly chewed on it as he sat lost in his thoughts. Slowly the idea formed and as he continued to ruminate the idea began to grow and take form.
He came to and looked over at the pile of decaying leaves and then back to the plastic’s edge in the distance. He felt the surge of understanding growing in him and the building flutter of excitement. He turned and slugged for his nook with a clear idea of how to finish what was turning into his proposal. As he entered his nook he quickly went to his pda and began tapping at the screen with his tentacles, a slight smile held as he wrote.