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Fic: Coin Collector
Title: Coin Collector
Author: Erin (erinm_4600@yahoo.com)
Characters, Pairing: unnamed OC (mention of Cain and Airofday)
Rating: G
Summary: Life in the Realm is hard enough when Tin Men aren't cheating you out of your money...
Warning: post-series *Written for Round 13A at tm_challenge.
Disclaimer: The original characters belong to L. Frank Baum and their respective actors. The current characters belong to Sci-Fi, the movie folks and their respective actors. The OCs are mine.
Life in the Realm of the Unwanted wasn't exactly easy, but it was decidedly better than life above ground. That much, everyone seemed to agree on. Zone laws didn't touch them in the Realm, and, for the most part, the Longcoats stayed out. Granted, that didn't mean the Realm was always free from the intrusion, but they were few and far between. Some folks had only just arrived, while others had lived in the Realm for a lifetime. Children were born, the elderly died; fights broke out and business was transacted - legal or not. No one was forced to stay, but no one really wanted to leave.
Some set up shop, business as usual, while others tried to scam and scheme the new arrivals. Generally, though, even though everyone stayed out of each other’s business, everyone still looked out for one another. It wasn't often that a person in the Realm was wronged who didn't see some sort of revenge enacted. For all the talk about the unruliness of the place, the women of the Realm were actually safer there than in Central City.
At one point, a school even formed, to give the children who found themselves transplanted to the Zone some sort of a life. The Realm had its own newspaper, utilities and even though there was no government in control, the people fell into a habit of following an unwritten law. Their system worked, the people liked it and, when an outsider tried to disrupt that system, that was when folks started to get angry.
One man - who liked his simple little life, just as it was - had the even simpler task of collecting the change from the meters all over town. The money collected from the meters usually went to keep the power running, aside from his wages. His entire week's work consisted of walking the Realm, end to end, and emptying the boxes. The whole process took only three hours and he was usually home in time for dinner.
What most folks didn't know was that the meters were wired to keep count of how many times the meter was used, making his job that much easier when it came to counting each week's take. The first half dozen meters never really got a lot of use, but they were in some fairly awkward locations for foot traffic. The meters on the main road through the Realm, however, usually managed to make up for the others.
The meter in front of Airofday's storefront always seemed to have the best luck with getting use, and was always the one that caused him the most trouble. With her half-answers, folks would always put more coins in, trying to get the answer they wanted to hear, until they were either out of money or gave up. Her meter, he had to check almost daily.
That particular evening, he already knew something was wrong, just by stepping up to the meter. For one thing, Airofday and her "army" weren't there. Next, there was a definite dent in the meter. Grumbling, he set down the bag and examined the damage. Why anyone even bothered to try and break into the meters was beyond him. Everyone in the Realm knew that the money covered the electricity, and even if they were desperate, the Sacred Heart never turned anyone away.
As the cover popped off and the day's take dropped into his palm, he quickly counted the coins and then leaned down to glance at the counter. One coin off. Running a finger over the damage, his eyes narrowed and he grumbled.
"Damn Tin Men."
My thanks! \O/
Author: Erin (erinm_4600@yahoo.com)
Characters, Pairing: unnamed OC (mention of Cain and Airofday)
Rating: G
Summary: Life in the Realm is hard enough when Tin Men aren't cheating you out of your money...
Warning: post-series *Written for Round 13A at tm_challenge.
Disclaimer: The original characters belong to L. Frank Baum and their respective actors. The current characters belong to Sci-Fi, the movie folks and their respective actors. The OCs are mine.
Life in the Realm of the Unwanted wasn't exactly easy, but it was decidedly better than life above ground. That much, everyone seemed to agree on. Zone laws didn't touch them in the Realm, and, for the most part, the Longcoats stayed out. Granted, that didn't mean the Realm was always free from the intrusion, but they were few and far between. Some folks had only just arrived, while others had lived in the Realm for a lifetime. Children were born, the elderly died; fights broke out and business was transacted - legal or not. No one was forced to stay, but no one really wanted to leave.
Some set up shop, business as usual, while others tried to scam and scheme the new arrivals. Generally, though, even though everyone stayed out of each other’s business, everyone still looked out for one another. It wasn't often that a person in the Realm was wronged who didn't see some sort of revenge enacted. For all the talk about the unruliness of the place, the women of the Realm were actually safer there than in Central City.
At one point, a school even formed, to give the children who found themselves transplanted to the Zone some sort of a life. The Realm had its own newspaper, utilities and even though there was no government in control, the people fell into a habit of following an unwritten law. Their system worked, the people liked it and, when an outsider tried to disrupt that system, that was when folks started to get angry.
One man - who liked his simple little life, just as it was - had the even simpler task of collecting the change from the meters all over town. The money collected from the meters usually went to keep the power running, aside from his wages. His entire week's work consisted of walking the Realm, end to end, and emptying the boxes. The whole process took only three hours and he was usually home in time for dinner.
What most folks didn't know was that the meters were wired to keep count of how many times the meter was used, making his job that much easier when it came to counting each week's take. The first half dozen meters never really got a lot of use, but they were in some fairly awkward locations for foot traffic. The meters on the main road through the Realm, however, usually managed to make up for the others.
The meter in front of Airofday's storefront always seemed to have the best luck with getting use, and was always the one that caused him the most trouble. With her half-answers, folks would always put more coins in, trying to get the answer they wanted to hear, until they were either out of money or gave up. Her meter, he had to check almost daily.
That particular evening, he already knew something was wrong, just by stepping up to the meter. For one thing, Airofday and her "army" weren't there. Next, there was a definite dent in the meter. Grumbling, he set down the bag and examined the damage. Why anyone even bothered to try and break into the meters was beyond him. Everyone in the Realm knew that the money covered the electricity, and even if they were desperate, the Sacred Heart never turned anyone away.
As the cover popped off and the day's take dropped into his palm, he quickly counted the coins and then leaned down to glance at the counter. One coin off. Running a finger over the damage, his eyes narrowed and he grumbled.
"Damn Tin Men."
My thanks! \O/