Trouble Comes to Surf
"Hey, kid, come here."
Rudy looked over to the right, and one of the villagers was standing there. Rudy obliged and approached him.
"Kid, you're a great help, you know that?"
"Thanks," said Rudy quietly. The villagers of Surf Village had been hospitable enough; one of them decided to let him stay at his house – basically, Rudy had agreed to work on his farm and he would be able to eat and sleep for free – today, he had been feeding the horses and chickens and cleaning out the stables.
"How old are 'ya, kid?"
"Fifteen."
"And what's your name, again?"
"Rudy."
"Well then, thanks again for your help, Rudy."
"No problem."
"Where 'ya from, by the way?"
"Here and there."
"Dream Chaser, eh?"
"You could say that."
The man paused, and then smiled, showing off yellowed teeth.
"Well, Rudy, have the rest of the day off."
"Thanks."
"See you tomorrow. Keep up the good work."
Rudy set off, and decided to walk around the village a bit and get to know it. Surf Village was an old town by the looks of it; it was run-down, and it didn't look like there was a huge population.
Rudy saw a kid sitting on a large barrel, leaning up against a fence. He had seen the kid before, when he had first stepped into the village. He was only about eight or nine by the looks of it. The one thing was, the kid looked so depressed all of the time.
"Hey kid, what's the matter?" Rudy asked.
"Oh, nothin," the kid answered quickly.
Rudy tried again. "I'm Rudy. What's your name?"
The kid hesitated. "…Tony."
"Hey Tony, I just wonder why you look so sad all the time."
Tony hesitated once again, just this time for longer. "…It's my daddy," he said quietly. "He's been sick for so long now."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"I wish there was something I could do. I would do…like anything to help daddy be well again. I would go to the ends of the earth to find a cure."
"Have you asked any of the other villagers?"
"They all say just wait, and time will make him better. But it hasn't!" Tears started to form in Tony's eyes.
"I wish there was something I could do…"
"Everyone wishes, but nobody does anything!" Tony shouted suddenly. "I'm the only one who actually cares about daddy enough to try and do something!"
"But…"
"They won't even let me out of the village to look for anything! They're so…mean! They don't care!"
"It's a dangerous world, Tony. I've been out there."
"But you don't know what it's like to see someone you love dying!"
Rudy paused for a moment. "Actually, Tony, I have." Zepet…Rudy missed him even more now.
"Someone very dear to me passed away a while ago."
It was Tony's turn to pause. 'R-really?"
"Really."
"Oh…I'm…I'm sorry…Rudy."
"It's…okay."
"Could you help me cure daddy?"
"I dunno… I don't know if there's anything I could personally do…"
"Please?"
"…I'll do my best."
Tony looked earnestly at Rudy. "Thank you."
"No problem. See you around." Rudy walked on.
"Hey…it's Rudy, right?" Rudy turned to the left, to the source of the voice. There was another boy leaning against a fencepost, but he looked older than Tony. At first glance he appeared to be Rudy's age. He was thin and tall, but yet still looked fit. Maybe Rudy had seen him in the fields, doing work as well.
"Yes…" responded Rudy.
The youth extended his hand. "Good to meet you, Rudy. I'm Tom Pifer. The mayor's son."
Rudy shook his hand.
"How 'ya liking Surf Village?"
"It's fine. It's just-"
"-Just that this village looks so run-down. I know, man; tell me about it." Tom laughed. "The village ain't what it used to be, you could say. Long ago – I was quite young then – the village was off well. And then…it just sorta stopped. People moved south, in search of more prosperous land. You see, the land here is shit. You can't grow anything good anymore. Bad luck, I guess. You're lucky to be a Dream Chaser, man. If a place isn't up to scratch, you can stay the night, and then get the hell outta here."
"It must be dull to be tied down to one place."
"Tell me about it! Well, ya get used to it, eventually. Oh, hey Rudy, here comes my dad."
Rudy looked behind him. A man was approaching; he was tall, and well built like his son. He was wearing an old black cloak.
"Tom! I see you've met our newcomer."
"Yeah."
The man shook Rudy's hand. "I'm John Pifer – the mayor of Surf."
"Nice to meet you."
"I hear you have been a great help so far as a farmhand. Keep up the good work."
"Thank you."
"Where you from, Rudy?"
"Here and there. I don't remember my home town."
"Really, huh?" The mayor surveyed Rudy quickly. "What about parents?"
"No parents."
"Sorry to hear that. Anyway, enjoy your time in Surf."
John walked off into the distance and disappeared behind a building.
Tom looked at Rudy. "Interesting fellow, my father."
"Indeed."
They were both quiet for a minute.
"Hey Rudy, come for a walk."
Rudy obliged. They walked down the dusty path, past the run-down wooden fences, and were silent for a short while. Tom spoke after a while.
"Rudy, you ever heard of the Holy Berries?"
"Huh?"
"Holy Berries." Rudy noticed that Tom was speaking in a lower voice. "Alright, I'll tell ya. They were one of the things that kept us in business in the old days. Just to the southwest of this village, there's a cave. It's off-limits now, but my father and other men of the village used to mine these berries from the depths of the cave. These berries were special – better than ordinary herbs - "; Tom lowered his voice even more; "…because they had extraordinary healing powers."
"So what happened?"
"Well, ya know, too much of a good thing can kill someone, right? A truth people have known. Well, first off, the berries were becoming used too much and were bound to run out someday. So, my father had to place bylaws limiting the number of berries that could be mined, ya know, to 'save for the future years' or something like that."
Silence for a moment.
"Anyway, that didn't sit too well with everyone. Some people began to rebel and continue to mine all the berries they wanted. My father was forced to take action, and one day, he had to put one of them to death."
"To death?" Rudy was shocked.
"Yes. It hurt my father tremendously to do it, but he needed to set an example. He hung one of the men. You know what this led to, right? People began to leave in multitudes, and the population of Surf was devastated."
"Anything else happen?"
"Oh yes, indeed. Surf was cleared of the rebels…save one. This one man travelled off to the cave during the night and attempted to haul away the remaining berries that we had found. My father discovered the other man's absence and led a group of men off to the cave. They arrived there to find the guard strangled to death. They hurried their pursuit into the depths of the cave. In and in they went. It got darker and darker, they would say later."
"Did they catch him?"
"They found him at the end of the cave, at the furthest part they had dug. He was standing there, grinning maliciously. My dad confronted him and realized that there were masses of explosives there, in the chamber. The man told my father that he would blow the chamber to rubble should my father persist. One of the men in the group opened fire on the rebel, against my father's wishes. In this moment, it was believed that the heat and cinder of the gunpowder must have set a spark in the chamber and ignited the wick. When my father realized this they evacuated immediately. They escaped from the chamber just in time. After the explosion had subsided they tied up the rebel, and my father questioned him viciously. The rebel was stubborn, although he did admit that he did not intend to demolish the chamber. He was wounded badly, and my father was doubtful that the rebel would live to see another day. Some men in the group wished to kill the rebel on the spot, but my father refused – he could not stand another execution."
"What happened to the berries?"
"Unfortunately, the berries were demolished along with the chamber, as my father discovered when they surveyed the area afterwards. However, they realized that a smaller chamber was opened in the aftermath of this. In the chamber they found one remaining berry that had survived the explosion. Drastically, they found something else as well."
"What?"
"The men heard a scream and turned back. They had left the rebel tied up in the ruins of the larger chamber, and he was pointing and yelling into the darkness from which we had come. There was something…inhuman…there, my father would tell me later…a monster. The creature killed the rebel in one swipe of its massive arms. Then it came for the rest of the men. They miraculously managed to corner the creature in the smaller chamber. My father, who had taken the Holy Berry from its resting place, decided brilliantly to toss the one remaining berry at the creature. Upon impact, it dissolved into sludge and then disappeared into the depths of the ground."
"Another power of this Holy Berry, huh?"
"Apparently. My father had the men seal off the chamber and the cave was forbidden to enter afterwards. And now…well, you've seen already what it has done to the town."
Tom relaxed and leaned against the fence, once again. "That's the great story of Surf. Rudy, just don't let everyone know what I told you, though. Some people should not know."
"Right."
They walked for a bit more of a distance. They were silent. The town was quiet. Then Rudy spoke.
"Tom,
I just remembered: there's a kid who might find that information
handy."
"Tony? Yeah, definitely don't let him know."
"Right."
There was a noise behind them. Both youth turned.
"Who's there?" demanded Tom. "Rudy, check behind the barrels. There's someone there – I know it."
Rudy approached the barrels. No one was there.
"Got 'em!" said Tom. He was holding none other than Tony by the neck of his shirt.
"Let go, Tom!" shouted Tony.
"What were you doing behind the barrels, Tony? Eavesdropping?"
"…No."
"Don't lie, you stupid little kid! What did you hear?"
"Tom, he's just a kid," said Rudy.
"He heard us talking earlier, I just know it!"
Tony struggled. Tom, being drawn to Rudy's voice for the one second, lost his grip on the boy, and right away Tony ran away from the two of them.
"No, Tony!" shouted Tom. "It's dangerous out there!"
"I don't care!" yelled his voice in the distance. "I'm going to the cave, and you can't stop me!"
"Dammit!" Tom was furious. "He's gonna get in so much trouble!"
Rudy sighed.