This week’s fun words to play with: Altitude Plunge Leather Vision Justify Chime Combustible Masticate (chew) Straddle Trundle (to roll along, to travel in a wheeled vehicle) Alliance Crevice

Kevin was an habitual masticator. His mother worried about him all the time. ‘You’ll go blind she said.’ ‘You’ll wear them out, said his dad.’

But Kevin was unfazed by such comments. Masticating was a way of life for him and he was never going to listen to any logical justification for his ceasing his behaviour.

Despite what many saw as an affliction, Kevin went about his day clad in his favourite leather attire doing the job he most loved in life, adjusting the chimes on the Town Hall clock. This was a life long passion for clocks and Kevin’s vision of being an old man still working his passion sustained him through every working day. He was always very conscious of the previous chime adjuster who sadly plunged to his death when he unfortunately tried to change a tick to a tock and as every one knows that foolish action only meant a chime was out of kilter and caused him to over balance and well as they later said, he had ticked his last tock.

Kevin as time went on developed an alliance with a certain Juliette who being a member of the local Assassins guild had sought Kevin out as a possible source of an assassination location. Altitude was what many assassins thought of as a fairly safe working tool. A fall from the right altitude brought about swift and permanent results and the hapless victim when last seen straddling the tower steps could have been forgiven for taking that one last step, over balancing and becoming an entry in the next days obituary column. As it was the gentle assassin’s nudge at that precise moment would never show up in the autopsy report.

Life was a bed of roses for Kevin, he was employed in a job he liked, people liked him and his mum had not long since bought him a trundle bed. What more he thought could I want in life?

But there were dark clouds on his horizon. In a small crevice in the Town Hall clock tower a terrible discovery was made. Packed in combustible materials was Kevin’s best mate and fellow masticator Joe the Chewy. Joe had been missing for a few days. Suspicion, as it should, found Kevin.

It appears the heinous act had come from a heated argument between Kevin and Joe as to the best vantage point to see the beautiful vision of Juliette’s apartment. Kevin was protective of Juliette and argued with Joe who then ridiculed Kevin’s interest in the cold-blooded assassin.

With one thing leading to another, neither being able to justify the others reasoning, Joe had brushed Kevin’s leather vest with his fist as he straddled the last steps to the clock tower, as his hand slid off the smooth leather his momentum caused him to trundle head first into the crevice that was to become his final resting place.

All this happened on the midday chime.

Kevin still masticating like there was no tomorrow considered plunging into the crevice to join his friend but realised he had an appointment with Juliette to well and truly cement their alliance.

Written for: https://mindlovemiserysmenagerie.wordpress.com/2015/02/16/wordle-48-february-16-2015/