You decide to talk to Shorty. He’s escorting the largest of the prisoners… all by himself?
“Let me help you out there, Shorty,” you say. “Then we’ll have a little talk.”
You lead Walter into the cell. It’s good that he’s cooperative; you get the distinct impression he doesn’t need a weapon to cause trouble. Definitely better keep an eye on him.
“Thanks, boss,” Shorty says. “What’s on your mind? I think between me and Butterfly, we already summed up what you missed here.”
“Well, I’m going to want details on that, but right now I want to talk to you about Silver.”
Shorty’s eyes light up.
“Silver! I’ve got a lot of stories about him, sir. Which one would you like to hear?”
“Well, that’s the thing. There’s one I’m trying to remember. All I recall is, something about, uh, water.”
You don’t really like thinking about the rain. You’re not superstitious about the rainspawn, exactly, but you don’t like being reminded of them.
“Hmm… Oh, yeah,” Shorty says, thoughtfully. “I think I know the one you’re talking about, it’s one of Silver’s greatest moments. Of course, there’s a lot of versions of the story, so that’s probably what’s getting you mixed up.”
“Could be,” you mumble. You might also have only heard the story when you were drunk, but that doesn’t seem worth bringing up.
“Okay, well, get ready to hear it. This is a little story that I like to call…”
Oh, right, Shorty’s got names for all of his tales of Silver’s escapades. You forgot about this.
So what is this one called, anyhow?
Suggestions:
The Day We Saved A Baby
Cue Shorty Story time!
(In the style of Dr. Seuss or other children’s authors please! The rhymes and marginaly condescending tone help Shorty remember.)
Author’s Note:
Observant readers may notice that Shorty doesn’t follow up on his earlier question on where Corvus has been for the last little while. I forgot he asked it when I wrote this. Still, his main reason for asking was that he was worried, and now that Corvus is actually here, he’s not as worried, so this isn’t that strange.