“The bats have grown awfully skinny, haven’t they?” A voice came from around the corner of the convenience store. When the kid turned the corner, she found herself face-to-belly with an incredibly lanky stranger.

“Excuse me?” she said. She backed up a few paces to see better.

He looked down at her. “You know, the bats. Are you here to see them? There isn’t much left. They turn sideways and they’re gone.”

She began unwrapping a chocolate bar. In the quiet of the deserted store’s side, and being in the middle of nowhere, the crinkling sound was all she could hear. Anyone else might be nervous or thinking about stranger danger, but the tall man’s tone let her know he wasn’t a threat.

“No. I’m just passing through.” She broke off a square of chocolate and offered it to the man. He took it.

“You are? A shame. This might be our last chance to see them before they disappear. You can call me Snaggletooth, by the way.”

She tilted her head. The man had perfect teeth, nothing snaggly about them. “Call me… Kid.”

Code-name Kid, she thought. Her real name, Elisa, embarrassed her. Maybe Snaggletooth felt the same way about his real name. She already felt a kinship with the dude.

In the morning mist, with the rays of rising sun peering through the clouds, she could hear no birds. A rumble came from around the store. The bus started up. The pitter-patter of little feet, muffled by the mist, still echoed off the sandstone outcroppings all around them. The desert heat was already swelling. She dabbed at the sweat with a handkerchief.

“Is that your group? You better go.”

She wiped her chocolate-smeared fingers on her handkerchief, stuffed it back into her pocket, and peered around the corner. “I’ve got a moment. Lin’s still in the bathroom, and they won’t leave without her. Tell me about those bats.”

She heard about the boom-and-bust of the town, but nothing to explain the reasons behind it. Ms. Renaldo might put a question about it on the test, and she’d have all the intel.

“Not much left to tell. Perhaps I’m the only one who still remembers.” He pulled a pipe out of his pocket. “Back in the day, Axeblade thrived. The lard bats provided everything: food, lighting, healing remedies, and the exports were tremendous. Something that burned five times longer than kerosene and packed a wealth of vitamins—the world simply couldn’t get enough.”

“Out of bats?”

“You’ve heard of whale blubber by now. But people have to hunt those down and travel hundreds of miles. Bats like to roost in the same place every night. Easy to harvest. What’s so strange about that?”

She shifted on her feet, the gravel crunching beneath her boots. She squinted up at him. “I dunno.” Her stomach rumbled and she ate another piece of chocolate.

“Nature is incredible and varied—a treasure-store of things beyond our wildest imaginings. But, back to the bats.” He began lighting his pipe, and she knew the story was about to get serious.

“About forty years ago…”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

***

When the story ended, the bus was gone. Strangely enough, she hadn’t even heard it leaving. With five coins in her pocket—including her lucky silver penny—and a burgeoning appetite, she returned to the store, but found nothing she could buy besides a pack of gum. Water wasn’t free here, either, unless she wanted to drink from the sink. However, the sink water wasn’t potable, and a sip of it left her tongue a little greasy. Though her stomach felt fine, she didn’t want to risk it.

The bus would return for her, once they noticed she was gone. So, she waited around the front of the store with the old man. She blew bubblegum bubbles until her face was sticky, and then went inside to wash it off. When she came back out, the man was pacing.

“I shouldn’t have kept you.” He shook his head, looking so forlorn that even his mustache drooped.

“It’s alright.” A little adventure wouldn’t hurt. She’d really wanted to check out that stone formation in the distance. Ms. Renaldo said ‘no climbing,’ but she didn’t have to know.

How to separate herself from old man Snaggletooth? She wasn’t sure.

“Hey. Do you have any money?” she asked him. She turned her pocket inside out. Nothing but a dirty handkerchief and a couple coins were left.

“Well, since the bats left town, I can’t say I’m flush. But I’ll get you something to eat while we wait.” He smiled and went inside.

When he was focused on the shelves, she bolted. Vanishing behind a stone pillar, she caught her breath for a few moments, and then when she was sure no one could see her for the mist and the bushes, she advanced on her target: a sandstone outcropping so tall it reached above the fog.

The old man called for her in the distance. “Kid?”

What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. She’d just have a little climb and take a couple photos, and then return. It’d be the adventure of a lifetime. Of course, he’d excuse her because she was ‘just a kid’ and ‘doing what little girls do.’ Adults were too slow to catch on. So, adventure, and then return. Besides, she couldn’t leave for too long, in case the bus came back. And the heat! The dry weather was unbearable.

She walked through a forest of dead trees and stone. Each step made a satisfying crunch of dead twigs on sandy grit.

“Kid?” Passing onwards for several minutes, the voice receded into nothing, as if strangled by the fog.

She cast a glance behind her, still walking, and when her head turned forward again, she heard a clunk. Something metal was buried under the sand. Another glance upwards showed her no closer to her target than when she first began. Dang.

I’ll just check this out, and then I’ll keep walking.

The mist grew thicker. Shouldn’t the sun have burned it away by now? Another glance around, and she knew she couldn’t find her way back until it cleared.

No matter. This piece of metal in the middle of nowhere demanded investigation.

She kicked sand and rocks off the top. Her boots got a little scuffed, but it was nothing a bit of leather polish couldn’t fix later. When pausing to catch her breath, she stood atop the big piece of metal. A closer look revealed it to be a hatch of some sort. Through the hatch she felt a far-off, rhythmic thumping. Maybe an animal was trapped inside, trying to escape?

Even though her thirst was near unbearable, she couldn’t leave now. Such mysteries just begged for a competent investigator. Sweat soaked her back as she kept brushing the sand away. Something red was underneath.

Rusty metal poked through. Careful not to cut herself, she kicked off the last bit of dirt and used her hands to open the broken latch. She stepped back and lifted the hatch until it was wide enough to look inside. Half rusted away and full of holes, the metal wasn’t too heavy.

There was no animal, but the thumping sound grew louder. She paused and pressed a finger to her neck, wondering if it was just her racing heartbeat, or something else. Nope, it was something deep underground. A ladder receded into darkness, and she heard running water. A freshwater spring?

She’d have to have a little drink before heading back. She opened the hatch all the way and lowered herself into darkness. After reaching a ledge, she kneeled and scooped up the running water.

Except it wasn’t water. It was lukewarm oil, speeding along a huge tunnel—or was it a pipe? It didn’t matter. Frustrated, she went back to the ladder.

But her boots, soaked in the stuff, couldn’t grip the metal bars, and her hands were too greasy to find purchase either. Exhausted, she rested for a moment and then tried climbing again. Her hand slipped, and then gravity pulled her down, forcing her to put more weight on her feet. Her boots slipped, and she splashed into darkness.