07-08-2010, 06:02 AM
There was a clang of a shop bell as someone entered The Toy Box. The enigmatic old fellow that the locals refer to as "The Toymaker" looked up over the glasses he was wearing. He saw no one, but this neither confused nor frightened him. He took the oddity as phlegmatically as he took just about anything and simply waited.
"Hey - Geezer," came a strange little voice from floor level, followed by a knocking at the divider that separated the front of the shop from the back. "Lemmie in."
The Toymaker got off of his work stool and without a second thought unlatched the divider and opened it to see a strange little figure standing there - presumably the owner of the strange little voice. The creature was red with black stripes, a white and red mohawk, body paint, and far more teeth than anyone but a shark would dare to have.
"Ah, Peeblo," the Toymaker greeted placidly. It wasn't the usual to have an imp as a customer, but the Toymaker was a firm believer that all creatures of all ages needed to play.
"Right," Peeblo said impatiently. "Listen up - I've gotta thing I want you to build for me. They say you're the best toymaker in the Chain, so you're probably the only human that can do it and do it right."
The Toymaker motioned Peeblo to come with him to the back of the shop where they sat at a table and Peeblo drew out what he wanted, explaining how it worked.
"...And when the little angel pops up, you *smash* it with a sardine. It's kinda a training tool for us imps," Peeblo finished.
"Ah, a variation of 'Whack-a-Rodent' games," the Toymaker said. "But why sardines?"
"How else would you play Sardine Smash? With a cod?" Peeblo sneered.
As the Toymaker could find no particular flaw in the imp's logic, he let the issue drop.
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