= YESTERMORROW=

## The Curious Ventures of Larson: I

## YESTERMORROW

#### arson was beginning to become quite tired as he whiled away the time sat in an armchair, staring half-heartedly at the grandfather clock mounted upon the opposite wall; such a tiresome task would require immense patience in a person, yet in this gentleman's case it was pure anticipation, for he most certainly could not wait without eagerness for the post that would arrive to-day.

There was nothing extraordinary about the day, except a cold rain was falling heavily from the skies, yet in London, England, this was no rare occurance. Wishing to be seated no longer, Larson rose to a stagger and crossed the drawing room into the kitchen, in hope of making a cup of tea to settle his nerves. Just as he reached the door connecting the two rooms a small thump resounded in his ears.

The thought which came upon him first was that he was, yet again, only elevating his hopes; the post certainly wouldn't arrive at this hour in the morning. Yet, lo! and behold, as he turned around and glanced slowly at the foot of the front door, a small, brown envelope with Lara Croft's wax insignia bore upon it was the first sight that met his eyes.

A few moments later (without consideration for the mess, mind you), Larson had ripped the letter that was addressed to him wide open, leaving nothing but a few brown paper scatterings around the desk, a beautifully handwritten note and also a photograph.

"Now I may see when I shall venture next!" Larson remarked, to nobody in particular, after which he read the letter out-loud. "Dear Larson, I am well aware of your recent interest in the Spanish case, therefore I have took it upon myself to bestow unto you the burden of detaining the criminal that has roamed freely throughout Madrid. Included in this letter is a photograph of the gentleman known only as 'El Creador' by his victims, yet you may also observe a map on the other side detailing his whereabouts. Please exercise extreme caution, for 'El Creador' has most certainly been driven to lunacy by years of corruption. I have heard many rumours of his 'work' nowadays, and it seems that he is developing a new secret weapon called 'The Dolls of Yestermorrow'. Yours sincerely, L. C."

A burden one might say, yet to Larson this was only the beginning of a new adventure! With a smile upon his face and a kick in his step his rose jovially from his chair and over to the telephone that sat quietly on an oaken coffee table in the centre of the drawing room; it was time to book a flight to Madrid.

After many hours of travelling, Larson had finally reached his destination; a small un-named village somewhere twenty four miles south of Madrid. It was quite a hot day, and the rain had been forgat. He was certainly enjoying such an incredible change of situation; whereas it had been almightly cold in London, it was so warm here! Unfortunately, all of the shops were either closed for the day or abandoned because of the recent increase in crime, and Larson had nowhere to drink a cup of tea or have something to eat. Sighing sadly, Larson followed to map southward until he reached a river.

For a while, Larson could not figure out where to go, so he decided to take a break. More hungry now than ever he looked around himself for he might espy something edible to eat, although he most certainly couldn´t kill a harmless animal in cold blood just to settle his stomach. However, as he looked down to the ground he caught sight of a small mushroom amongst the grass. He knew it wasn´t poisonous, as it had no spots, yet he considered whether he really was hungry enough to eat something from the ground; although his stomach made the decision, as it grumbled loudly.

The mushroom tasted rather nice for something half-covered in dirt, and Larson did not regret eating it at all. Five minutes later, as he sat by the river bank inhaling the fresh air and taking a few sips of water every so often, something caught the corner of his eye. As he turned to face it he espied someone duck behind a tree. Larson jumped up quickly, fighting off a sudden, slight headache, and ran toward it. The somebody looked out from behind the tree again, and Larson gasped as he caught full sight of it.

The creature appeared to be some sort of wolf, and this would not have surprised Larson so much if it were not wearing such awfully garish clothes, for example, a bright red shirt. As soon as it noticed that he had seen it, it dashed away quickly; Larson, quick in pursuit, wondered if he might be dreaming, but he knew it could not be so, as he head was hurting quite badly now. Before he could catch up with the creature, it had jumped into an aeroplane!

Just as the aeroplane was about the take off, and leave Larson with nothing, he decided to take action. With a quick jump he grabbed onto the tail and held on for dear life! Little did he know where the plane was heading... to the garden of the White Queen, where El Creador wanted to have a wish granted.

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## PREVIEW- The Curious Ventures of Larson: II

## The Forest of the Clocks

'Tick-tock was all Larson could hear as he entered the forest... was he going insane?'