Comfort Food
Jun. 24th, 2009 03:58 pmFrank and Joe Hardy were sitting idly at the soda fountain in a small drugstore. It was the midst of the Great Depression, and the drugstore wasn't doing great business. Frank and Joe were two of only three people at the counter. The third was a shifty-eyed man sitting three seats away. Joe wondered if this fellow might be a visitor from another planet, but he didn't mention this to Frank, since he wasn't sure if Frank even knew the concept "visitor from another planet." That was more along Tom Swift's line of work, and of course the Hardy Boys and Tom Swift belonged to a different series of books. Joe wasn't supposed to have anything to do with Tom Swift, but he had snuck off and participated in a few Tom Swift stories anyway, under an assumed name. Tom didn't mind, but strait-laced Frank would take it amiss - or would be dumbfounded, anyway. In any event, if the character farther down the counter really was from another planet, that would be a first for a Hardy Boys mystery. People from other planets weren't allowed in Hardy Boys mysteries - at least Joe didn't think they were. Joe wondered if the man had seen him in one of Tom Swift's adventures and followed him back.
( Suddenly the man spoke )