Tomorrow's Dandelion
“Oh, Brick! We're never gonna catch this guy!”
“Martha - when the people of this city put Brick Macy on this case, they knew what they was doin'. I always get my man...some of the time. And sometimes I don't, but when I do, I get 'em good. And I mean really good. You gots nothin' to worry about,” Brick said reassuringly.
“Oh! I hope you're right,” Martha said as she resumed her secretarial duties.
“Of course I'm right - I'm Brick Macy. And I've been hot on this guy's tale for weeks now. It's only a mattera time before he screws up. Just last week he left his callin' cahd on tha floor at the scene of a robb'ry like usual...only this time he left something el-“
“Brick! There's a guy on the phone who wants to talk to ya! He says he purposely interrupted your anecdote to add suspense to the story!”
“Mahtha! You're talkin' crazy! What story?”
“Tha...story for tha paypa!”
“Why would interrupting my anec - ah, forget it! Lemme talk to this guy!”
“Okay Brick! I'm puttin' 'im through!”
“'ello?”
“Hello, Detective Macy. My boss is feelin' a bit unda tha weatha at tha moment, but he wanted me to deliva this message,” the man said. He then cleared his throat and stated the directive, “Brick Macy, stop followin' this case or you won't have nothin' to follow it with no mo'!”
With that, the caller hung up and the detective resumed talking as if someone was paying attention. “The Snot-Nosed Bandit! He's quickly becomin' a big thorn in my side. And I mean really big. You know, like the kinda thorn you'd find on a rose bush that had somehow gotten really big. Only this thorn doesn't have a rose attached to it. No - there's no beauty here. Just plain old evil dandelions. Dandelions with thorns.”
Brick was so close to the Snot Nosed Bandit that he could smell him - something which the crook was rather envious of. The robber had been terrorizing local banks and leaving his calling card at every crime scene - used tissues scattered all over the floor. Before being so rudely interrupted, Detective Macy was referring to the last robbery scene. The normal calling card had been found, but this time the robber had left something else - burnt microwave popcorn bags. This was peculiar because it was the thirties and microwave ovens hadn't been invented yet. This could only mean one thing.
“Mahtha! I've got it! The Snot-Nosed Bandit is a traveler from the futcha! That's tha only way to explain the microwave popcorn bags. And I know that they're microwave popcorn bags because the narrator told me! So now I just gotta get in my time machine and go into the future to find this crook,” Brick stated as he rushed Martha outside to his car. He tried valiantly to find the time traveling button in his “time machine,” but it was of no use. It seemed as though Detective Macy would be doomed to always being a step behind the Snot-Nosed Bandit.
Just then, Brick spotted a commotion at the bank across the street. He resumed trying to locate the time traveling button, then gave up and told Martha to duck down. “Stay heah, Mahtha, I'm goin' in.”
“Goin' in wheah?” Martha asked.
“The bank, Mahtha.”
“O.K., Brick. Be ceahful!”
Brick got out of the car and made his way to the bank. He peered inside the building and spotted the Snot-Nosed Bandit and his cronies. He knew that this might be his only chance, so he quietly slipped in the front door. Brick saw the small black box that the leading crook was wearing. He figured that this was the source of the crook's time-traveling ability, so he shot it, shattering it to pieces.
“My walkman!” the Snot-Nosed Bandit exclaimed, “You'll pay for that, Brick Macy!” Sensing defeat, he pressed the button on his belt and he and his henchmen vanished. Brick was left with the confused patrons and a sense of defeat. He walked back outside and headed towards his car. He knew that he could not stay upset for long - there were other dandelions to pursue.