Twenty minutes. That was how long was left on Rainer’s patrol shift before he was freed from being on duty at the Fall Festival. Twenty god damned minutes that seemed to be dragging on for longer than the nearly six hours before combined. It had been a small mercy from the sheriff to score the morning festival patrol; not only had it saved him from the busiest time of day, but there was still plenty of time to escape to the woods, to go fishing or anything that was far away from the damn town square and the bustle of the event. Arms crossed, he surveyed the crowd that sprawled out in front of him, eyes occasionally dropping to the watch on his wrist. Nineteen minutes. Eighteen. Sevent– The crashing sound jolted him from the trance he had fallen under, watching the hands spin endlessly around the watch face. Eyes darting left and right, he tried to spy the source of the noise. “What the fuck was that?”










