Flash Fiction Friday: The Ninja's Ransom

It wasn’t so bad--until the ninja took a hostage.

We didn’t mind that the batteries kept disappearing. When we ran out of 9-volts, it wasn’t as if we needed more. Nothing in the house used them. So we left the box empty.

We should have known better. The ninja’s AI was better than any toy purchased at the low, low price of $29.95 should have had.

As soon as I turned it on, the 8-inch-tall doll came to life, leapt from my hand and disappeared in the shadows. Real great toy that runs away from you and takes up residence in the dark parts of your house. Sometimes little things would disappear, but the ninja wasn't a terrible house guest. It even stayed out of Fido's way.

The ninja ran on 9-volt batteries.

When the batteries ran out, everything changed. The ninja stole the only phone cable in the entire house.

No big deal, one might think, losing a phone cable. We have cell phones, we don’t need a phone cable. Except, our home uses DSL. And somehow, the ninja knew that. The ninja understood that. It knew that we would be forced to acknowledge its demands if we couldn’t check Google for “How to deal with a ninja infestation”. (Before you ask, the 3G reception at our house is non-existent.) And we couldn't just wait it out. Fido would be able to take on a squirrel, but a tiny ninja? Not a chance.

I looked at the miniature ransom note one more time:

3x 9-volt battery, rechargeable
2x recharging station
otherwise, dog is next