Danielle had been walking for several blocks, but she kept getting distracted by one odd sight or another. At the moment she was watching a goose getting into a shoving match with a creature that looked like a giant potato chip. She wasn't sure exactly what they were arguing about, but if he had to guess she imagined it was something to do with the treasure hunt that seemed to be making everyone lose their minds.

She watched them fight it out for a few minutes before a flashing multi-colored light in the distance caught her attention and she decided to continue on. The light was extremely bright and shot off in short bursts in different directions, creating interesting patterns. She walked until she was standing directly beneath it and stood squinting up at it with her mouth hanging slightly agape.

"Like my sign, eh?"

She involuntarily jumped as she was startled out of her trance by the voice. "Oh, um, yes. It's quite pretty."

A possum wearing an eyepatch stood in the doorway beneath the light. "If you like the sign, you should check out the marvels I have inside. I'm Straight Shootin' Pete and this is Straight Shootin' Pete's Gift Shoppe."

"Nice to meet you. But I think I'm okay. I just like colored lights."

"If you like colored lights I've got lights that put this one to shame," Straight Shootin' Pete said. "And they can be yours for a low, low price. I've got other amazing things, too. You should really come inside and check it out."

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt just to browse a little bit."

"That's the spirit," Straight Shootin' Pete said. "I hope you've got your floss ready, because there's no chance you're going to want to walk out of here without purchasing something. You've no doubt heard about that treasure hunt that everyone in the city's talking about. Well, that's just some old man's floss. What I've got in here is real, actual treasures."

She walked into a store that had multiple shelves covering every wall and a few shelves stretching across the center of the room. They were filled with various objects, most of which she couldn't recognize. The shelf nearest to her as she walked in had a miniature statue of a giraffe in a ballerina outfit next to something that looked like a broken blow dryer.

"Perhaps I could interest you in a souvenir. Look, I've got little Quartzwater City commemorative license plates with people's names on them. What's your name?"

"Danielle," she said.

"Danielle? Okay, let's see. Daisy... David... Oh here we go." He pulled one off a small rack and held it out to her.

"This says Daniel."

"Yes, that's your name, so I grabbed it for you."

"Yeah, but you see, it's actually not my name. That's like a guy's name. I'm Danielle. There's an extra 'l-e' at the end of it."

"Well, it's not my fault you spell your name weird," Straight Shootin' Pete said with a sniff as he put the souvenir back on the rack. "What else can I interest you in? Would you like a commemorative shot glass? Or a pair of oversized sunglasses? I know! I bet you'd be into a snow globe! I've got a fantastic one over here that has genuine snow in it. Just don't let it get above freezing or the snow will melt and then it's just a globe."

"You said you had some lights that were more impressive than your sign outside?"

"I did? Oh, yeah, I've got these balls that light up when you bounce them on the ground. Exciting, aren't they?" He grabbed three and tried to juggle bounce them off the ground, but he quickly lost control of them and they rolled off in different directions.

Danielle stooped to retrieve one but it rolled off into another room that was separated from the main store by a beaded curtain. A sign above it said "Employees Only" but she figured it would be no big deal to duck inside quickly and fetch the ball.

"Wait! Don't go in there!" Straight Shootin' Pete shouted after her.

She walked into a small smokey room that was dimly lit. Four large warthogs sat around a table smoking cigars and playing cards. They stopped abruptly as she came into the room.

"Who are you?" one of the warthogs asked.

"Oh don't mind me," Danielle said. "I'm just getting this ball. Go back to your card game."

"How do you know we're playing cards?"

"Um, because I can see you."

"Uh oh, mates, she can see us. Well, she's going to have to be killed."

"Excuse me?" Danielle asked.

Straight Shootin' Pete burst through the curtain and grabbed her arm. "I'm terribly sorry about this, boys. She didn't mean any harm. She just wants to buy a souvenir, don't you?"

"Uh, yes. I was very interested in purchasing this ball. That's why I followed it back here."

Straight Shootin' Pete yanked her back through the curtain into the main part of the store. "Sorry about that, ma'am. I run an illegal card game in the back of the store. You weren't supposed to see that. The 'Employees Only' sign usually keeps people out. Look, if you promise not to say anything I'll let you have that ball at a discounted rate."

"I won't say anything, but you can keep the ball."

"We can't risk it, Pete," one of the warthogs said as he followed them out. "We've got to kill her."

"You killed the last one that wandered back there and I still haven't gotten all the blood out of the floor. That's why I had to move that set of shelves to the middle of the room. I just can't have you making another mess in my store. If you really must kill her, at least take her out back and do it in the alley."

"Wait a minute, you're just going to let them take me outside and kill me?" Danielle asked.

"Well, perhaps if you were to purchase something, I might see it fit to try to intervene. But the way I see it, what does it benefit me to protect non-paying customers?"

"Hold on, is this all some kind of scam? Do you employ these guys to threaten your customers so you can trick them into buying your worthless junk?"

"What kind of monster do you take me for?" Straight Shootin' Pete said as he held his hands up in the air. "All I do is run an illegal card game in my back room. There's nothing illegal about that. Except, I guess, for the part where the card game is illegal. But that's beside the point. I can't help what the players in the card game decide to do when people poke their noses where they don't belong."

"I wasn't being nosy. I was retrieving a ball that you lost back there. I was trying to be helpful."

"Well, now those horrible gangsters back there are going to help you into the back alley and help you into an early grave. Unless, of course, you decide to buy something. Then, I might possibly be able to stop them."

"Do you really have to call us horrible gangsters?" the warthog asked. "Jeez, we've got feelings, too, you know."

"Shut up, Marvin. I'm negotiating here. Just go back to your card game."

The warthog shot a glare at both of them and then disappeared behind the beaded curtain.

"Look, I really don't know what kind of sketchy operation you've got going on here, but I don't want any part of it. I'm just going to head on out the front door and be on my way. And don't worry, I'm not going to say anything about your illegal card game. I might not recommend your store to anyone though. No offense."

A bell rang as the front door opened and a family of elks wearing fluorescent green t-shirts came filing in. The mom had a large camera strapped around her neck. They couldn't more obviously be tourists if they were carrying a large sign that said "Hi, we're tourists."

"Look kids," the dad said. "They've got commemorative license plates with names on them! Let's see if I can find all of your names on here. Alan, here's yours. Candice, here's one for you. Daniel, they've got you here. I'm sorry Engelbert. Looks like you're out of luck again. No license plate for you. But oooh! Look! They've got light up balls! Let's get one for each of you kids. Hmm. Looks like they've only got three left. Sorry Engelbert. Looks like you're out of luck again."

"He can have this one," Danielle said holding out the ball she still had in her hand.

"Yay!" the young elk ran up to take it from her.

"Engelbert!" the dad yelled. "Don't you dare take the nice lady's ball. She had it first. You're just going to have to do without."

"No really, it's okay. He can have it."

"That's very kind of you, ma'am, but we're trying to teach our son a lesson about being spoiled. No ball for you, Engelbert. Now who wants to get ice cream after this?"

The kids all let out a cheer.

"I'm sorry, Engelbert, but no ice cream for you. You need to learn your lesson about trying to take light up balls from other people. Also you're getting a little chunky. Now is there a restroom back here?" He didn't wait for a response before walking through the beaded curtain. He emerged a few seconds later. "Say, did you know you have a bunch of dangerous looking warthogs playing a card game back here?"

"That's it," the warthog known as Marvin said as he stormed back through the curtain followed by his fellow card players.. "We're going to have to kill all of them now!"

"Wait, what?" the dad said. "Did you say you're going to have to kill us? All of us? Maybe we can work out some sort of deal here. You can kill Engelbert." He thrust his youngest son towards the warthogs and then grabbed the rest of his family and darted out the door.

Marvin made a move towards the young elk, but Danielle threw the ball she was holding at him. It him squarely between the eyes, lit up, and then fell to the ground. Engelbert snatched it on the first bounce and fled out the door after his family.

"Wait!" Straight Shootin' Pete shouted. "You guys didn't pay for your light up balls or commemorative license plates!"

"Don't worry, we'll get them!" Marvin shouted as the warthogs ran out the door.

Straight Shootin' Pete turned and looked at Danielle with a crazed look in his one good eye. "You've proven to be quite troublesome, lady. Since it seems you're not going to buy anything from me, I think I might have more fun gutting you." He pulled out a long jagged knife and charged at her.

She dodged out of the way and ran to the other side of the rack of license plates so it was in between her and Straight Shootin' Pete.

"That's not going to save you," he snarled as he lunged toward her again. She shoved the rack and it toppled over on top of him. One license plate came loose and lodged itself in his good eye.

"Oh, look at that, you do have a Danielle license plate. I'm still not going to buy it, but it's nice to know you have one."

Straight Shootin' Pete let out an anguished snarl and began swinging the knife around wildly. Danielle dodged out of the way again and ran out the front door into the street where she immediately tripped over a chicken.