The Abominable Eggman from Anteggtica

The Abominable Eggman from Anteggtica

Last winter I was drawing the beautiful mountain scenery of Antegggtica, when all of a sudden something terrible happened! Some THING, big and ugly, jumped out from behind the bushes and slashed my drawings to bits! I remember it all like it happened yesterday…

It had been reported that a so called “BEAST” had been terrorizing the people of a small town called Anteggtica.

Anteggtica, located high in the mountains of Eggland with snow on the ground year-round, was no stranger to natural disasters such as avalanches and blizzards. The people there were even accustomed to encountering and defending their small town from wild animals such as bears, cougars, and even highly aggressive mountain goats; however, none of these calamities or predators compared to the destructive nature of this new intruder.

Seeing as though the encounters or sightings of this new creature had yet to produce any type of visual evidence, it occurred to me that this may be a great opportunity to illustrate the beast for everyone to recognize and identify. So, I packed up my easel and the rest of my drawing supplies and headed to the mountains.

Upon my arrival to the small town of Anteggtica I noticed that there was very little activity to be had. Not a single person was outside. It was quiet. Eerily quiet. Most of the buildings had the windows boarded up and the doors latched closed.

I made my way to the small inn near the center of town.

The front door to the inn was a large, heavy wooden door that required both hands to pry open against the cold-wind. I entered a small, rustically decorated lobby, with the heavy door slamming behind me, and spoke with the desk clerk about checking into a room.

The front desk clerk was a tall slender man with white thinning hair combed back against his nearly bald head, with a salt-and-pepper colored scruff around the lower half of his face.

He spoke in a soft, shaky voice, “Hello, welcome to Antegg Inn, I’m Emmett. Are you looking to get a room here with us?”

“Yes”, I responded.

Emmett stated that he had many rooms available and began to inquire how long I was staying and was curious what had brought me to Anteggtica.

I informed Emmett that I had just arrived in town and I was unsure how long I would be staying. I also mentioned that I was an artist with an interest in drawing the beautiful scenery of the area.

While speaking with Emmett, I felt it best to avoid discussion of my intention to seek out the so called “BEAST” of the area. It was apparent by the looks of the town, and Emmett’s recoiled demeanor, that this “BEAST” was so feared that the very mention of the creature may set off a panic alarm of some sort.

After Emmett provided me the key to my room, I gathered my belongings and made my way down a dark, sparsely lit corridor with faded green doors and brass room numbers on either side of the long hallway.

I found my room, number 9, and opened the door to a small, dingy space, which evidently hadn’t been updated in quiet some time. Immediately to the left was the bathroom sporting the matching trend of a faded-yellow toilet, shower/bath combo, and pedestal sink, all within arm’s reach of one another.

Past the bathroom, the room was completed by a full-sized bed to the left, covered by a floral-pattern bed spread with matching throw pillows, and a dark 6-drawer wooden dresser to the right.

I placed my duffle bag on the bed, unpacked my clothes, stored my art supplies and easel against the wall next to the dresser, and settled in for the night.

The next morning, I decided to get an early start and headed out just after sunrise. As I passed the front desk, I noticed that the individual standing behind it was not Emmett, the older gentleman from the night before. The new clerk was a young, somewhat portly man, perhaps in his 30s, with short, auburn hair and hazel green eyes. With a round, clean-shaven-face he smiled at me and introduced himself.

“Good morning, I’m Brett the daytime clerk here at Antegg Inn. I was delightedly surprised when Emmett informed me that we had a guest staying with us,” he said, almost beaming.

“Good morning”, I replied. After exchanging pleasantries with Brett, he inquired as to the reason for my stay, just as Emmett had done the night before. Once again, I stated that I was an artist with an interest in drawing the beautiful scenery of the area, being cautious to avoid mentioning my intention to seek out the so called “BEAST” of the area.

Brett suggested a few picturesque locations around the area that would provide great scenery for my drawings. I figured that those areas were as good as any to begin my search for the local “BEAST”. I gathered my supplies and provisions and headed out.

I hiked up the snowy, mountainous terrain far enough away from town that all there was to see was smoke from the chimney stacks. The snow on the ground, gleaming white and undisturbed with no evidence of foot prints from man or beast, stretched as far as the eye could see. I took the opportunity to make some sketches of the beautiful landscape, and then continued on my quest.

Still headed away from town, I came upon a small wooden cabin nestled into a shallow valley surrounded by rolling hills. I approached the cabin and knocked on the battered wooden door. There was no response to my knocking but I noticed that the door was slightly ajar.

As I slowly peeked inside and quietly announced myself, I saw that there was a man, sitting in a chair next to a crackling fire coming from the fireplace, and he was sleeping.

Upon further examination, I realized that the man had a long wooden bat in his hand resting against his torso, and heard him mumbling something in his sleep.

“Go Away! Go Away! Go away you monstrous Eggman!” the man exclaimed.

Given the location and condition of the cabin, along with the man’s appearance, I thought it to be a fair assumption that the so called “BEAST” I was seeking, could in fact be known as the Eggman that this gentleman was dreaming of.

Intending to avoid disturbing this man, I began to exit the cabin as quietly as possible. However, the floor boards of the old house creaked beneath my foot as I stepped.

The creaking sound startled the man from his sleep and he awoke in a huff, swinging the bat in every direction!

While dodging his swings, I called out to him, “Sir! Sir! It’s not the Eggman! It’s not the Eggman!!”

The man finally calmed down and realized that I was not the Eggman and collapsed from exhaustion into his chair with his bat falling to floor. I grabbed the bat and propped it up against a wall nearby. As the man attempted to recuperate from his alarmed state, I apologized for startling him and introduced myself.

He responded, “I’m Gerard. Haven’t had any visitors here in quite some time. Hope I didn’t break any bones on ya’. What brings ya’ to these parts?” He motioned for me to sit in the adjacent chair next to the fireplace.

Gerard was an older man, shorter than average, likely in his mid-60s. He had a white, fluffy beard which covered his chin and the entire lower half of his face; his head was completely bald without a single hair on it.

Taking a chance, I responded to Gerard’s inquiries. While gesturing toward my easel on the opposite side of the room, I confessed that I was seeking out the Eggman with intentions of finding the beast in order to illustrate it.

Upon hearing this, Gerard displayed a medley of emotions including surprise, fright, and uncertainty.

“The Eggman is monstrous! You shouldn’t be looking for it, you should be runnin’ from it!!”, Gerard exclaimed.

He told me of his most recent encounter with the beast.

“I came upon the Eggman the day b’fore yesterday, he said. “I was out huntin’ me some arctic hare for supper. The Eggman came out from behind a giant boulder and snatched up one of the hares I’d killed. I shot off a couple rounds outta my shotgun and seemed to distract it long enough for me to grab up the other two hares and get back home here.”

Gerard continued on, telling me about additional encounters he had had with the Eggman.

After seeing how his stories only intensified my curiosity about the Eggman, Gerard then offered to take me back into town to speak with some other townspeople to get a better depiction of the Eggman. So, I gathered up my supplies, and Gerard grabbed his shotgun and wooden bat, and we headed back toward town.

As we came upon the center of town, we noticed a crowd of people all gathered around the front of the town’s General Store.

Upon further examination of the front of the building, we could see that the front door was ripped off the hinges and the boards that had once covered the windows, were laying in the middle of Main Street. The glass on the windows had been shattered and there was foodstuff, clothes, camping gear, and various other items scattered outside the front of the store.

The crowd of people were helping to clean up the mess and inquiring as to what had happened. Gerard and I just looked at each other and whispered to one another, “The Eggman.”

Gerard and I approached the owners of the General Store, Joe and Alma Trundle, who were in the midst of salvaging what they could of the wreckage left behind. Joe and Alma were both in their 50s; she was petite and soft spoken, while he had a muscular build and a reactive disposition. Gerard introduced me and offered our assistance in cleaning up the place.

“What’s the use? That damn Eggman wrecked the whole store!”, Joe exclaimed. “We’ll never recover from this”, added Alma.

While Gerard attempted to console and encourage the Trundles, I made my way through the crowd listening to some of the townsfolk chatter among themselves about the Eggman.

Some of the residents were expressing fear and distress. Others mentioned leaving Anteggtica altogether. But a few individuals were talking about going after the Eggman and ridding their town of the beast once and for all. After seeing the fear and destruction the Eggman was causing these decent people of Anteggtica, something inside me wanted to jump on the bandwagon and GO GET THE EGGMAN!!

The next thing I knew, a group of us, including myself and Gerard, were shouting with excitement and anticipation; eager to put our words into action! But then the noise died down as we realized that all we had was exhilaration, and no plan.

Gerard was the first to speak up.

“Do any of ya’ll got an idea how to capture the monster?”, Gerard asked the group.

The question was answered with head shakes and shoulder shrugs. Suddenly, one of the townsfolk piped up and said, “Maybe if we had us some kind of bait.”

Gerard recalled that he had lost many arctic hares to the Eggman, but expressed that simply leaving a random animal carcass out-in-the-open would not be enough to lure the creature.

Then I said one of the most senseless, absurd statements of my entire life....

If you would like to read the conclusion of this story it is available on Amazon through Kindle Download or paperback purchase at the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09NH3PYHX?psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp

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