Jack "Big Foot" Salins and Sonny Anliss sheltered at the foot of a
low brick wall, planning their next incursion. They felt safe there,
camoflaged and well hidden in the undergrowth, out of sight. The
recent rain had made the air very humid. Moisture poured from their
skins, and the sun blazed down. They settled, and made themselves as
comfortable as they could, and waited for the hour to come.

On the other side of the wall, away from the undergrowth, was a
large gravel courtyard. Jack and Sonny would wait for the cover of
darkness, then sieze the moment, race across the courtyard, and take
what they could, before melting back into their environment. No-one
could stop them. No-one would find them.

Time passed very slowly. They kept a watch, for even in their place
of concealment, it was not really safe to move during daylight hours.

It was a hard life for these raiders, and their brethren. Sonny
whispered to Jack "Remember what happened to that lass in those ruins,
over there?". Jack shuddered, and looked at the far-off destruction.
War, bloody war. The lass had been with her boyfriend. They'd lived in
a nice little community. All their houses were close together. All the
houses had all been flattened, the year before, the occupants still in
them. Jack and Sonny both knew that much more attention was being paid
to their activities these days. Sonny said "You remember the old man
as was picked up the other night? Well just after he was taken away,
there was a noise like a pistol shot. We won't be seeing him again,
I'll bet - there have been others, too, - hah! We're getting thin on
the ground!" However, Jack brightened - "Maybe more booty for us, on
this raid" he muttered, unfeelingly.

Dusk fell, and the temperature fell to a comfortable level. The
marauders gathered courage, and peeped carefully over the wall.
Their goal laid ahead, tantalisingly close. A sudden movement alarmed
them - back under cover! - they hastily withdrew. It could only have
been the wind, however, and as it was now fully dark, they pressed on,
racing in the blackness silently across the gravel of the walled
courtyard, and into safety in the gloom underneath the windows. The
lights in the house twinkled brightly from behind drawn curtains, and
sounds of merriment could be heard inside, but all outside was very
quiet. They had not been detected. What did Jack and Sonny care for
the occupants of that place, anyway!

Lying still for a while, their hungry minds eagerly anticipated the
treasure that lay before them, but just as it seemed that they'd soon
have everything that they desired, the door to the back kitchen creaked
slowly open. A huge shape moved in the darkness, which was suddenly
riven with light! They could hear a loud and unintelligable muttering,
and hard boots crunched on the stones.

Without warning, the courtyard errupted in a fury of violence. Shells
exploded with all around, with dull cracks and thuds agains the walls.
Shards and shell fragments flew through the air, making a vicious
whirring noise. A searchlight suddenly swept across them, and then away.
That was a near one! Back to work, and fast! But what was that? Night
turned to day, pierced again by the painful beam of a powerful
searchlight. Jack and Sonny writhed in the light, and were suddenly
plucked bodily from their positions. Had they known the language of
this their deadly foe, then they would have heard, just before their
sorry carcasses violently disintegrated against the unyielding hardness
of the courtyard's killing wall:





























BLOODY SNAILS EATING MY FLAMING LUPINS AGAIN!!! *******S!!!!!!

The second time I read this I almost felt guilty.

Anyway I don't kill all the snails I see.

I leave some for their predators.

So I'm not really cruel.

Am I?

Sue W.

--
Derby, England.

Don't try to email me using "REPLY" as the email address is NoSpam. Our
email address is "thewoodies2 at ntlworld dot com"


"Chris Bacon" wrote in message
...
Jack "Big Foot" Salins and Sonny Anliss sheltered at the foot of a
low brick wall, planning their next incursion. They felt safe there,
camoflaged and well hidden in the undergrowth, out of sight. The
recent rain had made the air very humid. Moisture poured from their
skins, and the sun blazed down. They settled, and made themselves as
comfortable as they could, and waited for the hour to come.

On the other side of the wall, away from the undergrowth, was a
large gravel courtyard. Jack and Sonny would wait for the cover of
darkness, then sieze the moment, race across the courtyard, and take
what they could, before melting back into their environment. No-one
could stop them. No-one would find them.

Time passed very slowly. They kept a watch, for even in their place
of concealment, it was not really safe to move during daylight hours.

It was a hard life for these raiders, and their brethren. Sonny
whispered to Jack "Remember what happened to that lass in those ruins,
over there?". Jack shuddered, and looked at the far-off destruction.
War, bloody war. The lass had been with her boyfriend. They'd lived in
a nice little community. All their houses were close together. All the
houses had all been flattened, the year before, the occupants still in
them. Jack and Sonny both knew that much more attention was being paid
to their activities these days. Sonny said "You remember the old man
as was picked up the other night? Well just after he was taken away,
there was a noise like a pistol shot. We won't be seeing him again,
I'll bet - there have been others, too, - hah! We're getting thin on
the ground!" However, Jack brightened - "Maybe more booty for us, on
this raid" he muttered, unfeelingly.

Dusk fell, and the temperature fell to a comfortable level. The
marauders gathered courage, and peeped carefully over the wall.
Their goal laid ahead, tantalisingly close. A sudden movement alarmed
them - back under cover! - they hastily withdrew. It could only have
been the wind, however, and as it was now fully dark, they pressed on,
racing in the blackness silently across the gravel of the walled
courtyard, and into safety in the gloom underneath the windows. The
lights in the house twinkled brightly from behind drawn curtains, and
sounds of merriment could be heard inside, but all outside was very
quiet. They had not been detected. What did Jack and Sonny care for
the occupants of that place, anyway!

Lying still for a while, their hungry minds eagerly anticipated the
treasure that lay before them, but just as it seemed that they'd soon
have everything that they desired, the door to the back kitchen creaked
slowly open. A huge shape moved in the darkness, which was suddenly
riven with light! They could hear a loud and unintelligable muttering,
and hard boots crunched on the stones.

Without warning, the courtyard errupted in a fury of violence. Shells
exploded with all around, with dull cracks and thuds agains the walls.
Shards and shell fragments flew through the air, making a vicious
whirring noise. A searchlight suddenly swept across them, and then away.
That was a near one! Back to work, and fast! But what was that? Night
turned to day, pierced again by the painful beam of a powerful
searchlight. Jack and Sonny writhed in the light, and were suddenly
plucked bodily from their positions. Had they known the language of
this their deadly foe, then they would have heard, just before their
sorry carcasses violently disintegrated against the unyielding hardness
of the courtyard's killing wall:





























BLOODY SNAILS EATING MY FLAMING LUPINS AGAIN!!! *******S!!!!!!

"Sue" wrote in message
...
The second time I read this I almost felt guilty.

Anyway I don't kill all the snails I see.

I leave some for their predators.

So I'm not really cruel.

Am I?

No. I don't kill any snails. But my banties eat the smaller ones. I have
been known to throw the odd small snail to them and enjoy seeing the chicks
fighting over them ... but I enjoy seieng them fight over worms too and I'd
never knowingly kill a worm.

Mary