Saturday, October 24, 2009

Raven's Challenge 86

It is Saturday and time to play with words supplied by Raven's Wordzzle
This Week's Ten Word Challenge will be: Incensed, sidewinder, bogus, conniption, Haz-mat, conniving, customize, perforated, zeal, rolling off a log
And for the mini: abstemious, chlorophyll, origami, cheerleader, dung beetle



The Mega Challenge as
The Ongoing Adventures of Agent 012

Agent 012 still a light green was called into the Agency. Homeland Security wants them to help in finding Nazeeh Haz-mat
A leading terrorist who is now rumored to be in the United States. It is believed he is here conniving to purchase a sidewinder missile from an illegal arms dealer. He is described as having the zeal of a cheerleader trying to change the momentum of the game. He has the tattoo of a dung beetle on his left arm just below the elbow. He has an abstemious diet free of alcohol and fat foods and has suffered from a perforated ulcer. He can customize a disguise as easy as rolling off a log. But sometimes you can see through his bogus identity because he absentmindedly makes little origami dung beetles. He is known as becoming easily incensed and may throw a conniption fit if crossed. At such times he kills and leaves no witnesses.
Agent 012 looked at the description and thought “This is a guy you want to send an agent as green as chlorophyll out after. I wonder what he thinks of green people?’
They set Agent 012 up as an illegal arms dealer in New York and let out the word he had a contact with a sidewinder missile supplier.
Now he had to wait and see what happens.
It might even be a good day.

The ten word challenge-Truth Above All

The head of the local Haz-mat team became incensed almost to the point of having a conniption as he analyzed the soil around the former sidewinder missile plant. Ted was not just another government bureaucrat but a committed ecologist who brought real zeal to the job. He knew that the owners of the plant were conniving with some of his superiors to “customize” the report so everything would look better than it was. They wanted him to turn in bogus figures. It would be as easy as rolling off a log they said. But not for him. He believed in truth and the public’s right to know.
But now he was angry and scared. He had received a picture of himself in the mail perforated with a hundred little holes and the words scrawled across the front “the truth can kill.”
He thought for a long time and then he dialed the local TV station. “I have an important story for you”, he began but at that point the phone went dead and the lights flickered out.
The found his body the next day . He was shot in the head and his apartment was ransacked.
Two days later his agency submitted the bogus report complete with the made up numbers.

The mini challenge- Truth Wins

The manager of WWTT TV opened the box that came to him in the morning mail the top part of the box was filled with dozens of chlorophyll colored origami dung beetles. He hoped this was not another add for some abstemious diet product or book. He hated it when they wanted him to be a cheerleader for those things. Removing the dung beetles he found a letter from his friend Ted. The station had just done a piece on his murder telling how the police had no clues and no leads.
Below the letter were recordings and video tapes, copies of lab tests and a password to a secret website.
The editor of the local paper had received a similar package.
That night both the Station and the paper broke the story. The story of cover ups and lies. The story of approval by high ranking officials of patently illegal acts.
Out of the expose came indictments, prison sentences and the beginning of the clean up of the site.
Ted’s killing was traced to a man hired by his boss to shut him up at all costs. Both the killer and the boss were tried and convicted.
The town had a martyr that would be remembered for years. He gave up his life for the truth.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Indeed it could be a good day for Agent 012. :) Sometimes I guess it does help to be green. Interesting. Sad that one has to give up life for the truth...but the truth must be told :)

Akelamalu said...

That's 3 of us now that have made origami dung beetles! LOL

As always you made the words fit effortlessly into your stories Dr. John!

Raven said...

Bravo! Agent 012 always delights me. A dung beetle tatoo was such a clever way to get rid of that word! And I thought your two-part story of the of cover-up and justice was wonderful. Well done! I'm so impressed with how smoothly everyone but me made these words work. Well done!

Reston Friends! said...

I went "oh no!" at the end of number 2...but fortunately, read #3 and while still sad, felt that the death had not been wasted. Well done!

Argent said...

Nazeeh Haz-Mat! How clever is that? (Oops, unintentional rhyme). No rest for poor old Agent 012 then? Not even time to get rid of all the green. He is one dedicated agent to be sure. I really enjoyed how you fitted the words into this story.

... and another terrific two-parter! The world needs more people like Ted. Mind you, if we were all like Ted, we wouldn't need people like Ted I suppose.

Another sumptuous helping of very entertaining reading. I'm going to have to go back and read all the Agent 012s soon - I think they're so cleverly done!

DawnTreader said...

What a challenge for Agent 012. And excellent use of words by you...

Maude Lynn said...

I really like Truth Above All. Excellent job!

Anonymous said...

Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!

Anonymous said...

I can' t but agree.I always wanted to send a letter in my situate something like that but I conclude you' r faster.
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