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He took the ball, raised it up then lowered it before the girl’s eyes. He patted it. It cast a sudden spark.
Then another one. The blaze would have made him drop it.
What a surprise! It was gleaming now.
It looked like a screen that had lost the signal. He turned it up-side-down and kept on turning it until it
started showing pictures.
“Witch!” shrieked the little girl.
“Hush!” screamed Grasshopperboy.
Grasshopperboy set the ball on the table and started watching. The two man, the kidnappers were no
more masked. A police patrol was escorting them. He watched them moving using their lamplight to
comb the area meticulously.
“You have to save her, captain,” said the boss. “That green, shooting thing will hurt her, sure.”
“I know him,” blurted the girl. “He is a neighbour of
us. He is the police, the protectors of our area.” She
paused then she released a cheer of joy: “Hurrah!
They are looking for me. They are good people.”
She made a move to stand up and rush to the door
but Dinkykindy caught her by the wrist and pushed
her back to be seated.
“Leave me alone. I want to go back home.”She yelled,
slapped him and tried to make a way for her little
body. He stretched his grasshopper-like legs to bar
her the way. “They are your kidnappers.” said he.
“This is a gang. These are malefactors.”
“He’s the police officer.”
“Listen to them, girl. You will understand everything.”
She wouldn’t.
He gripped her wrists violently and shook her till she
calmed down.
He focused on the ball and watched and listened:
“Now everyone knows about the girl,” stammered the boss of the gang as he pulled the police captain
aside. “We still need her to dig up the treasure.”
“Don’t worry about that,” responded the captain “Trust time.”
“You see, little thing.” exclaimed Dinkykindy.
“Bad guys!” moaned the little girl.
“Criminals!” hummed Dinkykindy, “Treasure diggers!”
“Why me?” questioned the girl naively in a low voice that resembled the purr of a cat..
"Grasshopperboy" By Ezzeddine Cherni
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