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J A R E D
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"What do you mean “it's old”? This box was updated 50 years ago!"
In a mildewy backroom of a bungalow on 45th Street, Jared found himself faced with a rusted electrical box and an even more rusty old man. It was the second time Humphrey had called him with the complaint of sudden power outages and flickering lights.
"Exactly, and in technological terms that makes this thing a dinosaur, sir." Jared explained.
"I'm much older than this thing! Do I seem old to you?"
Humphrey looked to be about in his late 30s but his wardrobe said he was probably 100. He wore suspenders on his pants, a button-up shirt and was just a fedora away from being a Bing Crosby impersonator. But he supposed he might be able to pass for a hipster in these parts.
"Excuse me sir, I guess outdated would have been a better term." Jared said clearing his throat. He bumped his fist against the exterior of the electric box. "It’s likely it just can't support all of the appliances that are in most households nowadays... Coffee makers, toasters, microwaves..."
"I don't have no microwave, kid. Don't you know that thing uses radiation? Like an atomic bomb and you seen what the radiation did to the Japanese."
He had a feeling anyone under the age of 50 was a kid in his book.
"Right…" Jared rubbed his forehead and thought. "How about I do a test than… May I turn off the power and take a look at the meter?"
"Sure, meter’s in back." Humphrey chin gestured through the screen door to the backyard.
Jared switched the circuit breaker off and went into the backyard. The yard was just as poorly maintained as the inside, it was mostly dark clay mud with patches of grass and scrap metal. A makeshift chicken coop of corrugated sheet metal and plywood was set up in the corner and the emaciated chickens inside clucked wearily at him as he went by. He squished over to the meter towards the rear chain link fence and inspected it.
There was nothing tampered with but the needle was still spinning in the meter just as he suspected.
He scratched the back of his head, someone, likely one of the neighbors, was siphoning electricity somehow. He walked along one side of the house and hoisted aside a rusted car hood and a full set of mattress springs to find an outlet with an extension cord coming out of it that burrowed down beneath the mud. He pulled it up a little to see which direction it went and followed it, hopping the short chain link fence into the yard next door.
The bungalow on the other side was a little smaller than Humphrey’s and its windows were shuttered closed and quiet. He saw where the cord resurfaced out of the ground and disappeared through a small drilled hole in the exterior shingles. As he stood there thinking of what to do, he had the sensation of someone watching him and looked to the window above his head where he saw the closed blinds swaying as if they had just been touched.
Someone was home.
He thought he didn't get paid enough to deal with neighborhood relations. Yet two werewolves fighting for resources could spark a nasty conflict and the once Beta in him still couldn't help sticking himself in the middle to keep that from happening.
Humphrey probably didn't know the outside outlet existed judging by how little the backyard was used and he could have just unplugged the extension cord and called it good. The whole block was owned by the same landlord who charged a flat rate for utilities so the bill wasn't an issue, but Jared had no desire to come back for the same complaint over and over into the foreseeable future when the electricity thief plugged it in again or perhaps found a sneakier way to steal power.
He didn't even know who lived in this house, it could have been a bigger and antsier werewolf than Humphrey. Still he marched to the front porch of the bungalow and gave the door three hard knocks.
In a mildewy backroom of a bungalow on 45th Street, Jared found himself faced with a rusted electrical box and an even more rusty old man. It was the second time Humphrey had called him with the complaint of sudden power outages and flickering lights.
"Exactly, and in technological terms that makes this thing a dinosaur, sir." Jared explained.
"I'm much older than this thing! Do I seem old to you?"
Humphrey looked to be about in his late 30s but his wardrobe said he was probably 100. He wore suspenders on his pants, a button-up shirt and was just a fedora away from being a Bing Crosby impersonator. But he supposed he might be able to pass for a hipster in these parts.
"Excuse me sir, I guess outdated would have been a better term." Jared said clearing his throat. He bumped his fist against the exterior of the electric box. "It’s likely it just can't support all of the appliances that are in most households nowadays... Coffee makers, toasters, microwaves..."
"I don't have no microwave, kid. Don't you know that thing uses radiation? Like an atomic bomb and you seen what the radiation did to the Japanese."
He had a feeling anyone under the age of 50 was a kid in his book.
"Right…" Jared rubbed his forehead and thought. "How about I do a test than… May I turn off the power and take a look at the meter?"
"Sure, meter’s in back." Humphrey chin gestured through the screen door to the backyard.
Jared switched the circuit breaker off and went into the backyard. The yard was just as poorly maintained as the inside, it was mostly dark clay mud with patches of grass and scrap metal. A makeshift chicken coop of corrugated sheet metal and plywood was set up in the corner and the emaciated chickens inside clucked wearily at him as he went by. He squished over to the meter towards the rear chain link fence and inspected it.
There was nothing tampered with but the needle was still spinning in the meter just as he suspected.
He scratched the back of his head, someone, likely one of the neighbors, was siphoning electricity somehow. He walked along one side of the house and hoisted aside a rusted car hood and a full set of mattress springs to find an outlet with an extension cord coming out of it that burrowed down beneath the mud. He pulled it up a little to see which direction it went and followed it, hopping the short chain link fence into the yard next door.
The bungalow on the other side was a little smaller than Humphrey’s and its windows were shuttered closed and quiet. He saw where the cord resurfaced out of the ground and disappeared through a small drilled hole in the exterior shingles. As he stood there thinking of what to do, he had the sensation of someone watching him and looked to the window above his head where he saw the closed blinds swaying as if they had just been touched.
Someone was home.
He thought he didn't get paid enough to deal with neighborhood relations. Yet two werewolves fighting for resources could spark a nasty conflict and the once Beta in him still couldn't help sticking himself in the middle to keep that from happening.
Humphrey probably didn't know the outside outlet existed judging by how little the backyard was used and he could have just unplugged the extension cord and called it good. The whole block was owned by the same landlord who charged a flat rate for utilities so the bill wasn't an issue, but Jared had no desire to come back for the same complaint over and over into the foreseeable future when the electricity thief plugged it in again or perhaps found a sneakier way to steal power.
He didn't even know who lived in this house, it could have been a bigger and antsier werewolf than Humphrey. Still he marched to the front porch of the bungalow and gave the door three hard knocks.