How Would They Respond?

The sun slanted westward. Smoke rose from chimneys, and the aroma of dinner wafted through the air.

A few children had gathered in the street. One of them held a new toy, spinning its propeller over and over. After a hundred turns, he struck a pose and threw it toward an empty stretch in the distance.

The Slime Gel string began releasing its stored elastic energy, spinning the propeller rapidly and pulling the little wooden plane forward through the air.

The children laughed and jumped with excitement, counting how many doorways the plane flew past.

When it landed, the next child immediately ran over to fetch it.

A door opened along the street, and a middle-aged woman called out, "Come back and eat!"

One of the children recognized his mother's voice and turned to say, "I'll be there in a minute! It's almost my turn. I'll come back after my flight!"

This was an incredible toy from the Duchy of Weissen. They said it was very, very expensive. Everyone had chipped in their pocket money to buy a tin of mandarin oranges, and only then had its owner let them play with it.

The woman didn't care about any of that. Dinner was what mattered most. She snapped, "If you don't come back right now, I'm shutting the door! Don't blame me when the Weissen Devil comes to eat you tonight!"

The boy hunched his shoulders. Seeing the little plane fly off again, he gritted his teeth, but in the end, he turned and headed home.

"Ah!"

As soon as he turned around, he heard his friends cry out in alarm.

A carriage came around the corner just as the plane flew past. It landed right beneath a wheel, and a sharp crack rang out.

The toy's owner immediately burst