A Tad In Time

Mugsy screamed and fell to the floor. It had taken one shot, but the Inspector seldom missed. Mugsy was dead.

The credits began to roll and the music played out.

Tad was completely bewildered. He had seen two endings to the same story, both on the same length of video tape. One of the endings shouldn't have been there!

"I don't know what's going on?" said Tad, "But how could you have two endings on the same tape?"

Tad ran to his sister's room. She was reading a book when he burst in, and very cross with him, but his urgency had dissolved her impatience. Now they were going back down the hall to the TV room, and Tad, who was too confused by the strange behavior of the video tape to explain himself clearly, was waving his arms about like a bird.

"Its crazy!" he said for the sixth time.

"Its impossible!" said Debbie calmly and frowning, "You must have two separate stories on the same tape. . . or else you're pulling my leg. Is this just a trick?"

"No! Honest! Come and see for yourself!"

Tad picked up the remote and started the tape running again.

This time the Inspector made it into the warehouse, but then he was wounded and ran out on to the street. Mugsy came after him, firing wildly. The Inspector fell, picked himself up, and made it to his car. Mugsy ran after him but failed to catch the powerful machine as it roared away.

"But the Inspector never runs away!" said Tad "Man! This is weird!"

"I'll say!" his sister agreed. That was a relief to Tad.


Tad and Deborah Mornington lived in a country town. It was a typical town in every way. It had a large, white pub on the corner of the main street, several holiday houses, and a cluster of homes where the "locals" lived. (To be a "local" you had to live in the district for at least five years.) Most of the land about the town was taken up with open paddocks, where sheep stood about lethargically.

A small river ran along one side of the town. It was almost invisible, behind masses of thick, green willows.