A. L. Kaplan

Tag: rescue

  • KEEP OUT: A LITTLE DRAGON ADVENTURE

    Keep Out

    Step one, get past the iron door barring the cave. Luckily, it was only eight feet tall. I grimaced at a yell in my head. One of the down sides of being a telepath was getting sucked into impromptu rescues.

    “I’m coming,” I sent back.

    I’d slipped past enough ‘Keep Out” signs to understand this one even if I didn’t know the language. I focused on the pipe just above the door. There was a small pop, and then I was peering down an empty hallway. Teleporting had its limits so I decided to hoof it down the steep ramp, keeping an eye out for guards.

    I’d like to say my superior stalking skills ensured that I wasn’t spotted on the mile-long path, but that would be lying. The bottom was another story. One of the guards managed to trigger an alarm before I knocked him out.

    “Hurry!”

    “I am,” I said, fumbling with the keys.

    Some prisoners are just too darn impatient. A satisfying click heralded my success. The door creaked open…onto another door.

    “You’ve got to be kidding.”

    A few other choice words slipped out while I worked the second lock. Three more doors and a leg shackle later the dragon was free, sort of. She trembled as the guards charged, firing weapons. Dispensing with the usual dragon greeting, I grabbed her neck and focused on a field several miles away. A soft pop announced the teleport. Score one for Little Dragon; soldiers zero.

    After a quick thank you, the dragon launched herself into the air. Seeing a dragon soar is a thing of beauty, and not one likely to be viewed on earth. Now, if I could just figure out how to teleport myself home. Or at least figure out what planet I was on. Danged. Sleep teleporting really sucks.

  • SNOWBALL SAVES THE DAY

    20150129_133654Everywhere that Snowball looked he saw sad faces and drooped shoulders. Sally at the salon pat his head and gave a halfhearted smile. Even Happy Harold from the hardware store looked dejected.

    All the gloomy faces made Snowball’s big brown eyes feel as blue as the clear sky. Snow Town hadn’t had any precipitation in months. Now it looked like there wouldn’t be a white Christmas. Tourists didn’t want to visit a snowless Snow Town. Some had already turned around to head for damper locations, making the town’s future look dim.

    Snowball shivered, but not from the biting cold or the wind that whipped his fur up into a demented pom-pom. Five years ago he’d been a frightened, scrawny, half-starved pup. The people of Snow Town rescued him and gave him a loving new forever home. Now it was his turn to help them. If only he could make it snow.

    The smell of Peta’s meat pie from the pizza place made Snowball’s mouth water. He had to stop and shake the delicious smell from his mind so he could focus on finding snow. Pizza couldn’t help. Or could it? Snowball jumped onto the counter and grabbed a jar of parmesan. With bounding leaps he spread the stuff around town, covering it with a layer of delicious white cheese. It didn’t take long for his people to understand his plan and join in the sprinkling. A few Facebook posts later, tourists flocked to see the best smelling ‘snowdrifts’ ever.

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  • THE RESCUE

    I glare at the man who tried to kill me and spit the grenade pin onto the ground. He and his pals picked the wrong folks to mess with when they abducted Mistress. I’m way more than a little white dog. I scramble across the beach and into the water as the man turns into confetti.

    A little twist of magical energy and my fur vanishes, paws become flippers. I shoot toward the wooden dingy like a torpedo. Too busy gaping at the cloud of smoke on the beach, the four pirates don’t notice me until I transform and land amidst them as a king cobra. My venom splatters the man closest. He tumbles into the water. Ducking a machete, I bite another man. The machete gouges the bottom of the boat. Water bubbles up. Good thing Mistress still wears her magic boots.

    Something grabs me. Not good. I can change shape, not mass, so I’m small. Fur once again covers my body, this time with feline accessories. I twist and slash with my claws. Blood streams, but he holds me fast under the water. Spots fill my eyes. I have to wait for energy to replenish.

    Finally I can change shape again. My new eel form shoots electricity in one enormous blast. The two remaining pirates convulse, then collapse. It’s not over yet. The dingy is sinking. Mistress is too hurt and tired to transform. So am I, but somehow we make it to shore. Mission accomplished.

  • SHORE 1: AN INHOSPITABLE SHORE

    My skin felt like over-cooked bacon. There was no water or food on this island, only a few spiny shrubs. Dehydration would probably get me first. Already my tongue felt thick and heavy. It would have been better to have drowned with the rest of the crew. Instead, I floated for days before washing up on this sandy deathtrap.

    It was midday when I collapsed on the coarse sand. Something snapped in the scrubby growth. I opened my eyes. The sun hung low. I strained to hear past the steady crash of waves. Another rustle, even closer. Maybe it was something to eat. I scanned the landscape.

    A dark shadow moved toward me. Two giant eyes peered from the darkness. Vertical slits reflected yellow in the failing light. My stomach twisted. To have come so far only to be eaten by a beast was fate’s ultimate cruel prank.

    I forced my cracked lips open. “Make it quick.”

    The beast towered over my prone body. Instead of death, furry arms scooped me up like a babe. I was too stunned and exhausted to fight. It carried me down a ramp into a bunker and place me on a bed.

    “Catherine. We have a guest.”

    Another creature appeared. “Poor thing’s dried out and terrified, Tom. Bring me some cactus juice.”

    I sipped the offered juice and let my feline rescuers fuss over me. If this was a hallucination, it was a good one. If not, I’d have an interesting story to tell.

  • MIDNIGHT WOLF

    “Leave him be, Billy.”

    “Dumb wolf cur always stares at us.”

    “It’s just his way.”

    Billy hurls another rock, but I knock it down with my book. Not a sound comes from the fenced in junkyard, but I know from the look on Billy’s face that Midnight is showing off his pearly whites.

    “Fine,” he yells, then disappears around the corner.

    Midnight’s golden eyes meet me when I turn. “Sorry, Midnight. See you tomorrow.”

    Silence greets me, as it has every day for the past five years. I smile anyway, then hurry to catch up with Billy.

    A hand slaps over my mouth and I’m dragged into a dark alley. I crash into a wall. My head spins. Three masked figures loom over me. Hands dig into my pockets, yank off my sneakers. A fist slams into my gut. My heart pounds as a knife flicks into view, arm ready to strike. Billy’s body lies nearby. I clamped my eyes shut, and wait for death.

    Screams fill my ears, but they aren’t mine. When I finally open my eyes, my attackers lie in a pool of dark liquid. A pair of glowing gold eyes stare at me from across the alley. Then they vanish.

    ***

    The police never found Midnight and the junk man claimed he never had a dog. I don’t walk that way anymore, but sometimes, out of the corner of my eye, I see Midnight in the shadows, watching out for me.

  • GUIDING LIGHT

    Grogan yanked the huge oil drum up another step. He was almost to the top of the lighthouse now. Pain lanced his arm, but he ignored it. He had to light a beacon and save the ships headed for the rocks.

    Outside the hurricane hammered the old lighthouse. For thirty years he’d been her keeper before they were both declared obsolete. Who needed a lighthouse when everyone had electronic guidance? Now the fancy new phone his granddaughter gave him spewed nonsense. It looked like the ships were fouled up as well.

    Good thing they hadn’t forced Grogan to leave when they cut funding and stripped her clean. But now the only way to make the lighthouse shine was to burn her. Tears streamed down his face as he pulled at the drum.

    “Sorry, Love. You know it’s the only way.”

    Another wave of pain shot through his chest and his foot slipped on the smooth stone steps. He watched with dismay as the barrel clanged to the bottom. Grogan doubled over in pain.

    “How can I warn the ships? I need help, Love.”

    Suddenly the pain stopped and warm arms pulled him up. Grogan took the last few steps in one stride. He knew what to do now. Fire radiated deep inside him. It burst outward in a blinding light. Almost as one, the storm-tossed ships turned away from the rocks.

    “Thanks for your help, Love. You’ve always been there for me. We’ll be together forever now.”

  • Toucan Rescue

    “Damn it, Winona, leave that thing alone. Humans are nothing but trouble.” Sam flapped his wings and clicked his long yellow beak. The vine they stood on swayed with his movement. “My cousin went to investigate a human and was never heard from again.”

    “This one doesn’t carry a thunder stick. He isn’t even fully grown. Poor child looks absolutely terrified. See how he’s running, crashing into every bush and bramble?”

    Sam plucked a nearby berry, ignoring the human and those chasing him. “The silly land dweller won’t live for long. There’s a jaguar fifty feet ahead.”

    “Look out! Look out!” Winona dashed after the child, swooping low over his head. “Turn around.”

    The human stopped, hiding his head with his featherless wings and gasping for air. His eyes widened at the sound of running feet and began to leak fluid. Winona didn’t need to think about it. She swooped down, grabbed one of his flailing limbs and yanked him to the side. At first he resisted, but finally, he followed her to a nearby hiding place. The child crouched behind a rock just as a whole herd of humans came into view. These humans waved thunder sticks, yelling as they barreled right into the waiting Jaguar.

    The boy closed his eyes, trembling at the sounds of battle. Once the jungle had quieted, he pulled a young toucan from his bag and held it out to Winona and Sam.

    “Goodness,” said Winona. “I told you this one was different.”