campylobacter: Are you going to take off these cuffs, or do I have to do this with my tongue? (tongue)
[personal profile] campylobacter
culvert illustration
TITLE - Crucified Toad (1/5 Chapters)
AUTHOR - campylobacter
EMAIL - campyspornshack at gmail d o t com
RATING - PG-13/Teens (language)
GOSSAMER CATEGORY - T (Adventure)
SPOILERS - Little Green Men
KEYWORDS - Pre-XF
SUMMARY - 10-year-old Scully shows a 12-year-old boy her secret hideout. Who is he, and why is he so mysterious? I challenged myself to write Mulder & Sully meeting as kids, yet preserve future canon.
STORY TIMELINE - Sunday, June 16, 1974, Father's Day
EPISODES - Space, Little Green Men, One Breath, Piper Maru, Christmas Carol
SEQUEL -The Pilot episode of The X-Files is the sequel.
DISCLAIMER - My cat eats lawyers.  
SIZE - 38k / 6397 words
DEDICATION - To Xandria and her request for me to develop this idea
AUTHOR'S NOTE - "The whole idea behind the show was kids acting the way kids really act.... it's children who are all corrupt and you sort of learn to be a decent human being hopefully by the time you grow up." -- SOUTH PARK co-creator Trey Parker. Beta-read 6 years ago by the lovely and talented MaybeAmanda, who pointed out a kink in my timeline that I've only just finally resolved!

CHAPTER 1: False Silence

A long, long time ago, there lived a toad named Mr. Wharton Oddbottom who dwelt in a velvety, green marsh. One early winter day he hopped to a wee tidal pool to sun himself at the water's edge, only to find that the pool had receded to a small puddle in the center. Hoping to escape the chill wind, Mr. Oddbottom slogged through the muck to reach the last of the water, where he submerged himself in the warm mud and contentedly fell asleep.


A not so long time ago, little girl named Dana trampled through scrub and brush to visit Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. When she arrived within a stone's throw of Uranus, she saw, through the bushes, a strange boy peering into its dark opening. Dana watched him carefully inspect the large concrete drainage pipe before putting his head and shoulders inside. He appeared to be listening for something.

Before she could react, he disappeared into the pipe on his hands and knees, piece by piece: blue shirt, rumpled jeans, dirty sneakers vanishing into the dark of the hole.

Dana waited for him to exit, but the minutes were too long, and the summer too short. She crept closer, surveying the late afternoon landscape around her hideout for other intruders. Occasional insects swayed lazily in the amber sunshine above scruffy, scentless wildflowers. The rest of the gully revealed no one.

She wondered if the boy had reached Tunnel Pluto, her hideout; or if he had discovered her stash of toys; or if he were eating her candy.

She did not see him carrying a flashlight, and hoped her belongings were safely hidden in darkness. She considered the possibility that maybe he had passed her secret fort and was continuing farther to where the teenagers would hang out and smoke in Jupiter, the larger, main culvert that opened near Westmoreland Avenue.

Positioning her ear closer to the tunnel, she listened for reasons not to follow him, but heard only the false silence of air softly whooshing through the tunnel. Without further hesitation, Dana hopped into the cool, dry pipe and began crawling toward her underground hideout. She passed the sign she had chalked onto the smooth, curved walls:

KEEP OUT! NO TRESPASSERS!

A skull and crossbones emphasized her warning. Why had the boy paid no attention to it? Dana turned on her flashlight, which reminded her that he could not have read her sign in the dark. When she looked back, the sunlight beyond the end of the pipe shone like a bright, waning moon, partially eclipsed by the sloping angle of the tunnel. Realizing that her flashlight's beam might betray her presence and drain the batteries, she turned it off.

Continuing in the increasingly cooler underground darkness, Dana listened for the boy, but heard nothing save her own noises. She knew she had passed her second chalked warning because of a slightly sharper upturn between pipe sections. The warning read:

STAY AWAY!! NUCLEAR MUTANT TOAD!

If revealed by light, the three joined triangles carefully drawn within a circle in green chalk would bear witness to Dana's pride in not spelling it "nucular", the way her big brother pronounced it.

Only one more sign remained before Tunnel Neptune.

Suddenly, Dana heard a strange sound: a sharp, truncated croak or bark. She froze, startled. After the odd, distorted echoes had faded, she convinced herself that the boy had made the noise. If he had tried to frighten her, he failed; the sound had been more comical than menacing.

She crept carefully along the passage, straining to hear more sounds. She knew she had reached her third sign, because she felt the sudden yawn of a branching tunnel. In yellow chalk, her warning, if seen, read:

INTRUDERS WILL BE VIVISEPULTURED

Dana was dissatisfied with this sign, because her handwriting had gone sort of wobbly and looked as though she had misspelled the last word. She was glad the boy had no light by which to read.

She sat still and listened intently. The boy was definitely in this second tunnel; she could hear breathing. Or maybe he was sniffling, for the breathing was ragged. Did he have a cold? Was he crying? Was he scared? Had he lost his way? At those thoughts, Dana stopped worrying about the intrusion on her hideout. She turned on her flashlight and shone it into Tunnel Neptune, in the direction of the sniffling sounds.
 

Continued in Chapter 2 of 5: The Mention of Her Name (published Sunday 20 June 2010)

This LiveJournal allows anonymous comments.

From: (Anonymous)
[p]The technology has been incorporated into variety of the most recent forms of footwear because it allows for a sturdy product that's conjointly price effective and esthetically [url=http://www.uggbootsuk4outlet.co.uk]ugg boots uk online[/url] pleasing . 5miles each and every way . artist definitely not applicable ornaments . If you have decided to obtain 1, then the following are the guidelines you should use to pick the very best cycling shoe for your [url=http://www.uggbootsuk4outlet.co.uk]ugg boots uk outlet[/url] self . The following to discover the right sorts of shoes sanita health care . wholesale uggs are everywhere . If you appetite to accretion out added abstracts abender it, you are able to advanced a calendar in my associate Ill try my best that will admonition you.[/p][p]observe back again and fro inside the style history, lasting style styles are no a good deal more than basically sleek shape, streamlines and tuneful colour magic . But whilst Hollywood winters do not truly require a heavy-duty winter boot, those of use who are not blessed with [url=http://www.uggbootsclearanceukonline.co.uk]ugg boots clearance uk sale[/url] a perpetually temperate climate are lucky to have footwear which is warm, comfortable and stylish; particularly inside the most brutally cold weather of the winter . They are accessible in a extensive range of colours and can be effortlessly matched with diverse outfits . Some stores offer festive offers . Pack them in Women's Classic Short UGG Boots 5825 Sand and decent wrapping [url=http://www.uggbootsuk4outlet.co.uk]ugg boots uk[/url] paper then go to your partner and give it to him . The LCD screen can be of 1024 x 600 pixels [url=http://www.uggaustraliabootshotsale.co.uk]ugg australia boots[/url] resolution or increased at 1366 x 768 pixels . Walk into street, you will see a scene that astonishes most of us-many people wear UGG, whose quantity may be [url=http://www.cheapuggboots4sale.co.uk]cheap ugg boots sale uk
[/url] larger than any other brand.[/p]
From: (Anonymous)
[p]much more generally you can uncover this jewellery in an extremely [url=http://www.tiffanyjewellryuksale.co.uk]tiffany jewellery[/url] sterling silver store also it is merely a create a difference of acquiring the store which you are protected to offer with . Bulbs Within the Tiffany Pattern Theres large number Tiffany design lamps located on outdoors promote nowadays . The bargain hunter needs not go further than the San Diego Factory Outlet Center which though going through some lean times, still has some hot tempting stores where you find superior productions at prices you speak about . It is best to stay away from chokers and even big, thick beads near the neck that add a thickness to your throat . You can even go to somewhere like elance . The following provides all of them the design on the unique devoid of the substantial price . Should you individual easier, you can test soaking the beaded silver necklaces inside very hot waters . They want to be attracted by other people and they love to dress themselves up fine and well.[/p][p]But for such a man, he would become numb when he faces countless Jewelry [url=http://www.tiffanyjewellryuksale.co.uk]tiffany stores[/url] everyday . Since Tiffany bracelet is always priced high to match with its unbeatable quality and elegance, many people [url=http://www.tiffanyandcoringsuk.co.uk]tiffany rings uk[/url] love it so much . This cool cell phone watch was the start of a torrent of wrist phones and the wonderful realisation of the childhood [url=http://www.tiffanyandcobraceletuk.co.uk/bracelets.html]tiffany bracelet silver[/url] dreams of many middle-aged men . I隆炉ve always had a love for jewellery since [url=http://www.tiffanyandcobraceletuk.co.uk]tiffany & co uk[/url] being very young but it was only really when I could afford to buy jewellery that I began seriously collecting antique pieces . The late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the corporation has 1,000 employees, and in London, Paris and Geneva to open a branch . The bottom is operate by Colonel Miles Quaritch, Stephen Lang (The males [url=http://www.tiffanyandcoringsuk.co.uk]tiffany uk[/url] Who Stare At Goats), who is recognized as a difficult primary sea who eats bullets for breakfast . Despite having been in interest for more than 30 time, she has been in request since 1845, when Tiffany and Co . 50 point >$5850 1 carat >$11100 1.[/p]

Open Journal

Friend/de-Friend/Ban me = it's all good.

Fandom's more fun when you're an equal-opportunity pervert (multi-shipper). Set porn goggles to maximum!

Mostly Stargate SG-1 with an intermittent chance of SGA & The X-Files.

BEWARE: My LJ is NOT SAFE FOR WORK.

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags