8

Chapter 8

No one in our little circle of acquaintances knew there was supposed to be an eclipse.  It was one of those 'total solar eclipses' that take most people deliciously off-guard.  First, the unremitting sun is hanging above you like a branding iron.  Then suddenly, BOOM!  Pitch black.  Darkness at noon.  It was this celestial event that caused Edgar to miss his pounce, and Ethyl to misplace her punch.  They froze, too.  In confusion.  The universe bartered with them a momentary cease-fire.  Edgar's ice cream wagon caught the worst of it, however.  Someone in our little circle of acquaintances inadvertently nudged it just enough for the force of inertia to win over the force of gravity and friction and...anyway...the ice cream wagon lurched with a squeak and a twist down the increasingly sloping street.  It picked up speed pretty quickly.  One would doubt the aerodynamic efficiency of such a blunt boxter-like vehicle, but after only a few seconds, it was careening through the waning darkness of the eclipse down the residential street bound for who-knows-where.  That shiny little thing was really moving.
No one in our little circle of acquaintances noticed this was happening, until it was too late.