Chapter 53: The Mysterious Town
As seemly warm, bright and innocence as this town was, Ralph couldn't help but notice something odd...and familiar...about this town's layout ...
Like the fact that this town was literally placed in the middle of nowhere. It appeared to be secluded. Almost extremely secluded.
The road behind Ralph was completely bare of any cars, and it was the same even further back south beyond the town. The road that ran east and west, too, was bare of any signs of human life for few dozen miles after the outskirts of the town ended.
In fact, the next real town didn't seem to be anywhere near this one- the land around this town was just completely empty, barren of buildings for miles upon miles. There wasn't even a gas station anywhere around the outside of the town that Ralph could spot.
For few dozen miles at least, it appeared this town indeed stood alone...oddly, almost eerily alone...
And yet, it stood out as so familiar to Ralph at the same time...
Maybe...it's a town from my younger pup years or something?...
But Ralph just stared emptily down at the unknown town, trying to place just why it felt so commonplace to him.
As he did, he suddenly caught sight of another interesting feature of the town: that of a strange fence with colorful posts supporting it, at first appearing to be just another colorful feature of the town.
But this fence wasn't one that surrounded one building and one building only. It was one that, as Ralph's eyes followed it, ran all along and around the outskirts of the entire town, nearly trapping the tiny town -and it's inhabitants- inside it.
Of course, on both roads that ran through the town, there were four access gates in the fence so that cars and people could enter and leave freely... but the fence itself was still odd, making it painfully clear where the town's boundaries indeed were in the near-desert surroundings.
The whole thing made Ralph question the sanity -and motives- of the people who built the fence in the first place.
Why would this town, of all places, even need the fence like that to show where its boundaries are? Ralph thought, perplexed. There's clearly no other town for miles...
Unable to come up with a satisfying answer, the mastiff shook his head in mystery.
That's one weirdo fence, he concluded- before his guard dog instincts perked up instantly.
No, there had to be another reason for that fence to be there...and not to just show it's boundaries.
The more he peered at the fence, the more it appeared to Ralph that that seemly harmless, flimsy wire fence was purposed to somehow protect the town from the bare, outside world...
Or to selfishly keep all its sweetness -or secrets- in for itself.
This town is in the middle of nowhere... The dog connected, with a strange fence surrounding its entirety...Why...or what...is this town trying to hide from the world?...
His ears perked up in alert, Ralph's watchful eyes subconsciously searched again through the town-
Only to then land on the strangest feature yet of the whole odd, little town...and the one that was most mystifyingly familiar to him.
Near the police station and the access gates on the south running road, there was a building totally unlike the rest- one that Ralph couldn't believe he didn't even see until then.
This building stood out like a sore thumb compared the rest of the almost identical ones in the town- in size, shape, and color. It was huge, at least twice as big as the police station; it was rounder than the other, more square shaped buildings around it; and it was bright green with splashes of purple, whereas the rest of the town seemed to favored lighter, happier shades.
And it was strange, too...that unlike the other buildings, this building, despite its equally cheery demeanor...gave off a slightly creepy feel to the mastiff for some odd reason.
The creepiest feeling he had felt since observing the weird little town, in fact...
It was a creepy feeling that almost felt like something wasn't quite right with the building or what was going on inside it...
And when Ralph, the great guard dog he was, got those kinds of feelings about something or someone...they were usual one hundred percent correct.
But the most unsettling thing about the whole green building was that although he had obviously never seen it in person...Ralph could've sworn that building looked so familiar to him somehow...
So much so that the more he peered at that green building, the more perturbed Ralph got about, causing him to force his head free of the disturbing thoughts starting to fill it.
Being in the middle of nowhere; a weirdo, bizzare fence that runs all along the boundaries of the town; an eerie, familiar green building- This town is something right out a FREAK SHOW! Ralph scoffed in thought.
As his tired mind tried to decipher through all the oddness, Ralph caught sight for the first time a large, lit up welcome sign just behind the street pole on the hill, declaring the tiny town's name.
"Welcome To Sugar Russia City!" The brightly colored billboard read in over the top fruitiness. "The SWEETEST Place in the South!"
