Songbird perked up as the repairman
emerged from another drawer; she had thought her chance at escape had
been lost. With renewed hope she watched the blob’s movements. How had
he gotten out of the drawer and into another? She watched him board up
the door and hummed softly to herself, waiting. She was curious and
wanted to ask questions, but now certainly wasn’t the time.Sure
the door was barricaded, Songbird gave a sharp chirp as a way of saying
‘I’m still here, don’t forget about me!’ quickly. She wasn’t sure what
the blob was going to do now, but she hoped this time it would get her
out for good.
“Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten.”
The Repairman squinted, trying very carefully to pick the lock manually. Several boings, twangs, and clicks were heard, but judging by the inkblot’s expression, not a lot of progress was being made.
“Oy,” he groaned out of frustration. “This is a good lock.”
“Either that,” he did not add out loud, “or I’m just bad at picking locks.”
He reached into his hammerspace and pulled out a small box labeled “ACME Automatic Lock Remover”. He reached into it and began to read the instruction booklet aloud.
“…Thank you for buying…quality assurance…not liable for damages…Ah! ‘Using the Lock Remover’! Step one: place Remover on or next to lock.”
He pulled the Remover out of the box. It was a narrow, bright-red cylinder, with ACME proudly stamped on it with black ink. A long string came out of the top of it. After a bit of fiddling, the Repairman managed to stick the bottom of the device into the keyhole.
“Step two: light fuse to begin activation process…Um, okay…”
He pulled out a lighter and flicked it a few times, before finally lighting the far end of the string. Slowly, the flame climbed up the fuse.
“If you hear a prominent hissing noise, it’s working correctly…All right…Step three…take cover…”
Siblings-a-Fixin' 