Crumb Trail — The Rising Tide, Page 1
By Suha · Published
Transcript
Page 1. A wide establishing panel of the Tiny Case Agency clubroom — a low wooden desk with the chipped pencil mug, a stack of cardboard boxes, a blank corkboard, a small white mini-fridge in the corner, a folding metal chair and a single square window with warm low afternoon sun. Momo, in her too-big mustard-yellow trench coat and dusty-red scarf, crouches and points one tiny sleeve-swallowed hand at a small puddle of clear water spreading on the floorboards near the fridge corner, her magnifying glass in the other hand. Ganta sits on the boxes with his pale-blue juice box, and Biscuit is curled asleep in her open cardboard box. MOMO: 'Water. On my floor.'
Image description
Wide view of the Tiny Case Agency clubroom in warm afternoon light. A chibi girl in an oversized mustard-yellow coat crouches and points a magnifying glass at a small puddle of clear water on the wooden floor near the corner. A chibi boy in a mint-green cat-ear hoodie sips a juice box on the cardboard boxes, a round white cat sleeps in an open box, and a small white mini-fridge stands in the corner.
About this chapter
A small puddle spreads across the Tiny Case Agency floorboards, and Momo is certain the agency is under siege by a rising flood — an intruder who crept in at dawn with dripping boots, water meaning to drown them out. She wrings out her own soaked coat hem as evidence, climbs to 'high ground' on the folding chair, and finally tracks the tide to its source in the corner. Ganta tells her on page five that the fridge is open. She hushes him, follows the drips herself, flings the mini-fridge door wide to confront the intruder — and a cold drip lands on her nose. Unable to admit she left it ajar, she shoves the door shut, declares the breach sealed and the tide turned, and falls asleep. Ganta delivers the verdict once she is out: she left it open.