Maisel’s Neighbourhood Watch Log: September 17th, 2023 – 2:12 PM – The Neighbourhood Watch Clubhouse
Above me, I heard the shed door slam and a… voice? It called again, still muffled by the trapdoor, but this time I could make it out, “Maisel!” Before I could process that someone was coming to look for me, the trapdoor opened, and Sasheen and Murlocke began to climb down the ladder.
How did you find me?
We know you, Maisel. Where else would you go when you were feeling upset?
I’m not upset.
Right, and I’m not worried about this butterfly problem.
She rolled her eyes as she sat down beside me.
I forgot how much of a disaster this place was… Those creatures are so little, yet so… violent.
Murlocke looked around at all the damage caused by the snarf.
Sasheen turned to face me.
We all miss, Pocket.
Murlocke sat down on my other side and wrapped his arm around me.
Yeah, and we’re all going through this together.
Who cares if, after this mystery, the supernatural is gone for good? The Neighbourhood Watch is never going away again.
I know Pocket’s gone… but I wish he wasn’t.
I was trying my best not to burst into tears.
Sasheen squeezed my hand.
Do you remember all the trouble he used to get us in? Like that one time we were in your basement, and Pocket ran in holding a baby raccoon?
I couldn’t help smiling at that memory. It was a quiet afternoon, and we were being very responsible by getting our homework done on time.*
| *Comment: Sasheen REFUSED to do anything fun until we finished the homework. – Maisel |
Then, Pocket burst in, his clothes were torn, he had scrapes all over his body, and in his arms was a tiny furry raccoon. Tears were streaming down his face as he tried to explain how he found the raccoon. He was out exploring when he heard a soft mewling noise from the bushes and found the baby all by itself. He was worried about it and didn’t know what to do, so he took it with him.
Murlocke and I thought we should take it to an animal shelter, but Sasheen insisted that we return to where Pocket had found it first. Sure enough, when we arrived, we found the mother raccoon and three other babies searching the spot where Pocket had found it. We all said goodbye to the raccoon as it waddled over to its mother. Another successful mission for the Neighbourhood Watch.
I can’t believe he just picked up a wild animal and brought it home.
You can’t? He was always trying to befriend animals or supernatural monsters that we ran into on missions. Look what happened when he tried to train that snarf.
We really should have cleaned all this up a while ago.
Murlocke stood up and walked over to a pile of toppled boxes. He shifted a box to one side and reached into the darkness.
Ouch!
He pulled his hand back.
What happened?
Sasheen ran over to him.
Something poked me!
He sucked on the part of his hand where he had been jabbed.
Sasheen crouched to look between the boxes.
You two have to see this.
Don’t worry, I’m okay…
I scrambled over to get a look; in the gap between the boxes, there was a nest. It was made up of my old sewing supplies: yarn, bits of fabric, and thread. In the mess of materials was a greyish-brown snarf glaring back at us. It was without a doubt the ugliest animal I’d seen in my entire life. Its body looked like a squirrel’s, but its head was something else… it was like someone took a pigeon’s beak and jammed it into the rodent’s face, causing the whole thing to look smushed and disfigured. The creature shifted to reveal that it was guarding four tiny snarfs, which were somehow even more monstrous than the adult. They were completely bald, so they looked like lumps of pink flesh with beaks.
Do you think that’s the same one that Pocket tried to train?
How long do snarfs live?
We all looked around at each other, but nobody offered an answer.‡
| ‡Comment: How do we not know this? I’ve gone through all of ALFRED’S books, and he never mentions it. – Sasheen |
Well, I guess we’d better add ‘relocate family of snarfs’ to our list of to-dos.
I suddenly started laughing in that uncontrollable and sudden sort of way. Murlocke and Sasheen looked at each other, confused.
What’s so funny?
It’s just… Even after all this time, Pocket is still somehow causing trouble for us.
Pocket probably caused us as much trouble as the actual supernatural threats.
I managed to catch my breath as our laughter died down.
Speaking of which, we’d better deal with our butterfly problem.
I motioned over to the map of Harrington, which still had the circle I cut out pinned over the forest.
Are you sure? Murlocke and I can go first and let you know if we find anything.
I’m sure. We need to go to the… Haunted Forest.
– Maisel
You’re all caught up!
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