Episode Three: Infestation

(Revised Version - 2018)

After a few weeks of settling in, Jack was finally starting to feel quite at home in the little village. Unfortunately, he was having a difficult time trying to plant his crops and soon became very frustrated with the task. Just when he was about to give up, a little sprout could finally be seen coming up from out of the ground, exciting the young fellow to extreme levels of joy. He hopped up and down, circling around the small sprout in a dance, all the while singing a very off-key tune.

Just then, from out of his peripherals, he noticed something running away. It was small and fast... too fast for Jack to get a proper glimpse of it before it had already scurried away into the hole in the door of the tool shed.

"Rodents!" Jack cocked an eyebrow. It came as no surprise to him that tiny creatures would want to live on his wonderful farm; it was, after all, the greatest farm in the entire world. "Ruff! Come on, boy! We have a new job to do today!" he exclaimed as he walked over to the door of the shed.

Bending down, he examined the hole in the door and took notice of its size. Whatever ran past him couldn't have been very big at all, but it was still considerably big for a rat - if such was the case. He opened the door and looked around the room very carefully, but he could detect no movement at all.

"I'm gonna get you, just you wait!" Jack yelled happily at his newfound enemy. Closing the door, he went back to his room to think about who he should call to help him exterminate the pest.

The first person that came to mind was the carpenter who lived in the mountains. This man seemed the very capable type. And while he was up in the mountains, perhaps he would pay a visit to the old man who always seems to be play there (Eve's grandfather, of all things). If only there were one more person able to help him on his mission…

"Two's enough, I still have you, Ruff!" Jack smiled at his little dog. With that, he was off to the mountains to ask his fellow neighbors for assistance on his murderous rampage.

It was a bright and sunshiny day, clear enough for Jack to think straight for the rest of the afternoon. The walk to the mountains did not take long at all, and he was very satisfied by that fact, as Mr. Jack is normally quite impatient. This was not his first trip to the mountains, but it was the first time that he was confident enough that he wouldn't get lost again. He longed for the day that he would be able to come to the mountain without getting lost so that he could spy on Eve as she made her weekly soak in the hot springs.

When he arrived at the carpenter's house, Jack knocked loudly at the door… constantly.

"Muffle, muffle," the door opened. "What is the meaning of…?"

"I need help!" Jack yelled with eyes as wide as coconuts at the older gentleman in the doorway.

"Hmm? Is it an emergency?" The carpenter now had a great look of concern on his face.

"Yes. My farm is being invaded!" Jack maintained his intensity.

"Uh, well… I guess I could come over and take a look around for you. I don't exactly know what you mean by 'invaded', but I'll see what the matter is." And with that, the man was off to the farm.

Meanwhile, Jack would continue on his new quest to find helpers. It wasn't long before he found Eve's grandfather on his morning walk, just waiting for an adventure to take place.

"Help me, Eve's grandpa! My farm is being invaded!" Jack yelled as he ran to the man, scaring the old chum half to death.

"The aliens have come back… alert the entire village! They've found me!" The elderly man suddenly became very fearful. His eyes lit up in a way that Jack had never seen before, and suddenly he was very scared as well. Was it really possible that an alien species had come to invade his farm, and not just some pesky rodents as he had originally deduced?

"Aliens?! What are we gonna do?" Jack exclaimed.

"I've waited fifteen years for those buggers to return, it is time I ended this! Go to the village and tell everyone! We need to formulate a plan on how to capture and dispose of these creatures," The confused man limped away as fast as his tired legs would allow him to.

Jack stood there for a moment, unable to move. He just stood there thinking, until his thoughts disappeared into the wind.

"What's that I hear about aliens?" The fisherman suddenly appeared from behind Jack, having overheard the exciting conversation that had just taken place. Jack did not turn around to greet him, he remained immobile. The fisherman waved his arms about furiously, trying to wake Jack up from whatever trance he was in, but he could do nothing. "Jack! Hello in there?"

Intermission

"By heavens, where are the rest of the villagers?" Eve's elderly grandfather shouted from across the field at the carpenter.

"This is no matter for them, it is only an infestation of rodents. It's really nothing to worry about at all, I can deal with the situation on my own. But where is Jack?" The carpenter cocked an eyebrow.

"I sent him to alert the people! I tell you, the aliens have returned to finish what they started. That young feller's grandfather and I went through hell the last time they came around, and I knew they would come back some time! We can't let them overrun us, not now! Not ever!" The old man said in all seriousness. The carpenter felt badly for the man, knowing that his mind wasn't what it used to be.

Ruff had followed close by as the fisherman showed up at the farm. He considered for a moment alerting them of what had happened to Jack up in the mountains, but he decided against it in case it was nothing but a big prank.

"Ah, the fisherman. Can you do us all a favor and take him back to the mountains?" The carpenter pointed accusingly at the elderly man beside him.

"Well, sure. What seems to be the problem?" The fisherman was very interested.

"You can't take me! I'm the only one who can save us!" The old man raved loudly. Ruff found the man very amusing, and began to bark and jump in attempt to play with him.

"Why don't you go warn your granddaughter of what is happening? Surely, of all things, she must be the most important to protect," The fisherman used his intellect to outsmart the old man. Eve would definitely be able to calm him down and make sure that he took his meds, thus putting the whole fiasco behind them.

"Eve, yes! I must get her out of the village before it is too late! I shall return..." And with that, he was gone.

The fisherman and the carpenter entered the tool shed together, but no trace of any rodents could be seen anywhere. Ruff sniffed high and low, determined to help these men find whatever it was that they were looking for. In just a few short seconds, Ruff had found a footprint and began barking to alert them of the clue.

"Good boy, Ruff. Hmm, these don't look like animal prints at all. They don't belong to aliens, of course, but strange nonetheless..." The carpenter studied the prints hard. Suddenly, from behind them came the sound of a footstep. Both men turned quickly to see where the sound had come from, but not quickly enough. The little critter was out the door of the shed before they could even catch a glimpse of it.

Running as fast as they could, they emerged from the tool shed into the sunlight and studied the fields before them.

"Ruff, ruff!" Ruff barked, running out into the fields in obvious pursuit of something. Seeing this, the two men struggled to a considerable pace to join the chase. The action ended when they reached the old bolted up well. Upon further inspection, the fisherman realized that one of the boards had been taken off the well.

"Isn't that curious."

Just then, Jack arrived on the scene, having recently awakened from his state of… whatever.

"Jack, did you do this?" The carpenter asked instinctively. Jack looked at the well and shook his head defiantly. The man had meant the removal of the board, but Jack had thought he meant the building of the well. Either way, this had been the first time that Jack had ever been near the well in his life.

"That is just the strangest thing," The fisherman observed.

Unable to stand the suspense any longer, the carpenter bent down and pulled away the rest of the boards to get a look inside the well, but was disappointed to find that it was still too dark to see anything. "Damn. Do you have a flashlight, Jack?"

"Nope, I have something better!" Jack proclaimed, and with that, he picked up Ruff and threw him mercilessly down the well. Both men were stunned, but were fast relieved upon hearing the barking from within the well.

"He's okay, so it must be safe," Jack smiled, tongue hanging out as usual. "Look out, boy! Here I come!" Jack yelled as he jumped in after his pet. The two men tried to grab and hold onto the boy in an attempt to keep him from landing on the poor animal, but they were too slow.

"Yelp!"

"Jack! Are you two okay?" the fisherman yelled down.

Jack looked around... this had been no ordinary well. He found himself in a room, one that looked like a small home for very small people. Furniture and appliances all around, it was an amazing sight. But Jack was frightened. He called up for a sledge hammer, as he needed a weapon to protect both himself and his little dog (whom, by the way, was alright).

The fisherman ran back to the farm as fast as he could, leaving the carpenter behind to ask questions.

"What do you see, Jack?" The carpenter hollered.

"I see… a Barbie's dream house," was all that the confused boy could muster. Just then, out of the corners of the furniture, little heads began to poke their way out. It took a moment for Jack to realize what was happening, but in time he concluded that these were indeed real elves.

"Jack, what is going on?" The carpenter begged for a plausible answer.

"Santa's workshop... in my own backyard!" Jack's eyes went wide. Ruff hid snugly behind his master's legs, afraid of the little people and what their intentions may be.

The carpenter could not take any more. With a deep breath, he lunged himself into the well to join his friends. Simply put, he was shocked at what he saw.

"Worker elves…they really do exist!" The carpenter put his hand on Jack's shoulder, in total awe of what lay before them.

One of the small elves walked forward from his hiding place towards the visitors.

"I have the hammer!" The fisherman reappeared and tossed the tool down to Jack.

"You're all dead now!" Jack held the weapon out in front of him in warning.

"Wait!" The closest elf begged. "We mean you no harm!" The carpenter struggled to keep Jack at a distance, constraining him.

"I think he's telling the truth, Jack!" He tried.

"I am, I am! How else do you think your crops have been growing? You don't water them or anything!" The elf pleaded for their safety.

Jack suddenly stopped his struggling and stared at the tiny elves.

"You see, Jack? They want to be your friends." The carpenter smiled gently.

Jack walked slowly forward, not wanting to scare the leader elf in any way.

SMACK!

The hammer came down upon the elf with a thud, crushing the elf beneath it. The rest of the elves panicked, screaming in fear and running frantically around.

"That'll teach you to call me a bad farmer!" Jack smiled remorselessly.

"What have you done!" The carpenter stared in disbelief.

"Rodents need to be exterminated! Plus, I wanna kill something. I don't have any chickens yet." Jack explained.

"Kill the murderers!" An elven voice sounded from the crowd, sending off a chain reaction of hateful war cries.

The fisherman acted fast, throwing down the rope he had taken from the toolshed, though he still was not completely sure what was happening down in the dark well. Jack began to climb the rope clumsily with Ruff hanging from his back loosely. The carpenter, unfortunately, was getting the worst of the deal with all the small elves crazily crawling over him and beating at him with all they had.

"Hurry up, Jack, they're breaking skin!" He yelled in pain.

Emerging from the other side of the field, Eve and her grandfather could be heard.

"Grandfather, come back!" Eve yelled.

"No! I must stop the invasion!" The raving maniac ran hastily towards the commotion with a small stick of dynamite in his hand.

Jack finally managed to climb his way out from the well and the carpenter was now given the space he needed to crawl the rest of the way up.

"See you in hell, martians!" Eve's grandfather lit the dynamite and threw it into the well, unaware that the carpenter had not yet made his way up the rope.

It all happened very quickly. The fisherman pushed Jack to the ground just before the explosion causing the total destruction of the well.

"Haha!" The old man celebrated by himself while his granddaughter stood in amazed horror.

Jack slowly got up to his feet. Normally, he would have celebrated along with the old man, but the sight of Eve made him stop dead in his tracks as he stared at the perfect angel before him. The fisherman looked on at the wreckage, too shaken for words.

"Oh, my God! Are you alright, Jack?" Eve rushed to his assistance. He looked at her in awe.

That was the coolest explosion EVER!

Intermission

The carpenter turned out to be alright after all, aside from a few broken bones and looking burnt to a crisp, but the elves all tragically seemed to have been obliterated in the blast. It was decided amongst the town that Eve's grandfather had to be sent away so that he could be taken care of… by one of the communist tribes surrounding the village.

Jack was just glad that he had properly protected his farm against the invading forces. Perhaps this was his first big step towards becoming a master harvester, but unfortunately, the credit was all given to Eve's grandfather. That didn't matter, as long as one day they all knew how special he was, and and how great a contribution we would make to the wellbeing of the town.

Eve stayed with him for the remainder of the day, making sure that he was not hurt or affected by the day's events.

"Do you think you be okay if I leave for the night, Jack?" She asked sweetly.

"For the last time, no!" Jack was getting annoyed with the repetition of her questioning.

"Haha, you're so silly. Tell you what, how about I stop by tomorrow on my way to work to check up on you?" She smiled warmly.

Jack considered this thoughtfully, but could not understand why she had to leave at all. She hugged him snugly and in another few seconds she was gone, leaving him alone with his thoughts. The hug was the greatest thing to ever happen to him. He quickly picked up his journal, but all too suddenly, the events of the day had all been forgotten.

Yeer:1 Munth:1 Day:15

Eev and I did sumthing notty and nao I hav 2 go tak car uv sumthing. O and I kild won uv santas elfs. Mi feelds ar good.

THE END