Wee Weasel Tales: Fiendish Friends

Hazardous Hardware - Part 1

This is the first part of the tenth chapter of the triquel; Fiendish Friends! This chapter contains the beginning of the deadly hardware store break-in, which was referenced in the Willy's Wonderland movie! There's more detail about it here though, as well as more dialogue! I hope that you guys like it! 👍

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Outside Hank's Hardware Store, in Hayesville, an hour later ...

A shabby blue truck drew up in front of the aforementioned shop, and parked. The buildings around the hardware store itself were dilapidated and slightly cramped.

The driver was a bespectacled, grey-haired man in his late fifties. He wore dark jeans, yellow shirt, tough boots, and a blue and white cap. The man also wore a zipped-up, red flannel jacket.

His name was Mr Hank Parris, the owner of the main hardware store of Hayesville.

"I can't believe this! Another darn false alarm", Hank growled angrily as he got out of his truck. The store owner then slammed the door shut with a loud 'BANG', presently in a very foul mood.

"Probably a squirrel setting off the motion sensors again." As he stomped his way to the store door, Mr Parris made a mental note to himself to replace the shop's sensors soon.

The current ones were WAY too sensitive! Case in fact with the probable cause ... squirrel.

For the past two months, Hank had had to extract squirrels from his hardware store on at least six occasions! And always at night too!

Poor little critters seemed to have a habit of wandering in through small gaps in the windows, and getting lost in the shop. What was worse was the fact that being lost: made the squirrels hungry ... hungry enough to rifle through the shelves for food!

Hank Parris just hoped that he could catch his latest furry intruder quickly, before things got too messy! And so that the store owner could go back to bed as soon as possible!

———

In the packaging aisle, inside Hank's Hardware Store ...

"Come on, little fella", Hank Parris murmured as he reached up to the top shelf of the right side of the aisle. The man then started feeling around with his hands for the invasive critter.

Unfortunately, the shop owner could feel no furry bodies with his hands, or hear any chittering sounds. Giving up on that side of the aisle, Hank then turned to the left side.

"Come on out! I'm not gonna hurt you", he said, still attempting to coax the squirrel out of hiding. Suddenly, there was a loud, 'clunking' sound in the tools section, not too far away from the owner.

Hank Parris's head immediately jerked around, and he stared in the noise's direction with surprise.

"What in tarnation was that?" the man said, now on the alert. When he listened closely, Hank could hear the sounds of human-like whispers, giggling and the sounds of 'paint cans' spraying.

Hank sighed deeply as he then turned and walked back to the front of the shop ... to fetch the rifle he'd hidden under the counter.

"Darn it! I hoped it wasn't this situation! Anything but stupid hooligans ... again!" he thought sourly, frowning.

———

Five minutes later ...

Hank Parris marched slowly but surely through the packaging aisle, towards the sounds in the tool section. The shop owner's face was twisted in a scowl, and he was holding his rifle at the ready ... in his hands.

"Ok, fellas. This ain't funny no more", Hank stated ... deliberately speaking loudly. "I know that you're probably all huffed up on my painting products, but it's time for you to be moving along now!"

The man didn't expect any real resistance though ... based on his past experience with previous hooligans. The paint-addled cowards usually dropped everything and made a run for it the moment Hank appeared on the scene with his gun!

As it turns out, Hank Parris was half right! There WERE paint-addled hooligans loose in his store ... but they weren't HUMAN ...

———

In the tools section, at the back of the store ...

Seeing all kinds of empty paint cans being tossed to the ground just around the corner he was approaching, Hank Parris speeded up his pace. The shop owner marched quickly around the corner ... and halted instantly, his eyes widening.

"What the hell?!" Hank's head snapped around from left to right as he surveyed the scene before him, his expression one of absolute shock!

Two of the animatronic mascots of Willy's Wonderland were standing in the wide aisle: Arty Alligator and Tito Turtle. The animatronic alligator was busy spray-painting a scene on the grey wall at the back of the aisle, with green paint.

The scene depicted was a simplistic one: a pig-tailed girl and two boys standing by a tree under the sun. The painted girl stood on a big rock, while the boys stood on a stretch of pavement.

As for Tito; the blue turtle was currently holding a blue paint-spray can and spraying its contents into his mouth. His eyes were half-shut ... a potential effect of all the paint he was huffing.

The two robotic mascots had obviously not heard Hank earlier, and turned instantly when the shop owner came into view ... their expressions full of shock too. For a few seconds, the animatronics and man stared at each other, equally gobsmacked.

Then ... evil grins appeared on Arty and Tito's faces; looks that immediately made Hank take a step back! Gun or no gun, the situation seemed more dangerous now!

"What-What are you two doing here at this time of night?" the shop owner said at last, trying to get his confidence back. Instead of answering the question, Tito Turtle merely smirked and turned to his companion.

"Mi amigo! I think he's after that squirrel that broke into here!" he said, knowingly. Hank Parris blinked at the blue reptile's statement, thoughts racing through his head!

"Wait, wait a moment!" the shop owner interrupted Arty's response, eyes widening in surprise. "There really is a squirrel here then?" Hank further inquired, ignoring the annoyed looks of the two animatronics.

Tito's face suddenly changed though ... from a glower, to an evil smirk.

"Bueno, HUBO uno ... (Well, there WAS one ...)" he said, sharing a deliberate wink with Arty. The aforementioned alligator then turned completely around to fully face Hank Parris, grinning evilly.

The aforementioned man froze to the spot in horror from the sight of a limp, lower half of a squirrel hanging out of the alligator's jaws. Tail and all.

Arty Alligator merely chuckled darkly and slurped the rest of the squirrel up into his mouth ... as easily as one would do a milkshake. The shop owner then finally realised the gravity of his current situation!

Hank wasn't sure that his rifle alone would be enough to stop these monsters if they decided to attack him together!

"Awww ... Look now, fellas; I don't want no trouble here", the man spoke nervously. Hank smiled weakly as he slowly stepped back towards the safety of the other aisles.

"Let's just take it easy ... What do you say?" he pleaded. In response, the two animatronic mascots shared another malicious wink with each other ... before looking back at the frightened shop owner.

"You want a hit of this?" Tito suddenly asked offhandedly, his voice strangely amiable. The robotic turtle held up the blue paint spray can that he'd been huffing from earlier.

Does anyone trust this animatronic turtle right now? Vote and comment if you like it! 👍