Terry chuckled to himself as he pushed the trashcan to the curb. A ruckus filled the night; it came from his neighbor’s trashcan. A short pair of legs in brown leather hung outside of the large black container. The top half of the body seemed to be searching for something inside the can. He thought he saw hooves instead of feet, but it was also two in the morning. Terry assumed it was one of the neighbor’s sons. He was about to call out to the boy but the figure pulled his torso out of the trashcan. His hooves clicked against the street when he landed. Standing on the floor, the figure was only a few inches taller than the trashcan itself.
The streetlamps revealed that it wasn’t a neighbor boy; not a boy at all. He looked like a short, burly, bearded, shirtless man with two small ivory horns growing out the top of his head. The faun looked at Terry then bolted at him.
“AAHH!” Terry yelped and took several steps back. Then he realized the beast-man wasn’t interested in him. He opened Terry’s trashcan and began rummaging around in it.
“Aha!” the faun said with a small, squeaky voice. He threw a chicken bone out of the can and onto the street. “Perfect!” he said. He tossed out several more chicken bones into the growing pile.
“What the hell?” Terry whispered. He made his way to the pile while keeping an eye on the trashcan. Every step Terry took resulted in another chicken bone being ejected from within. “We didn’t eat chicken all week.” As he wondered what it meant the faun hopped out of the trashcan and noticed Terry was close to his pile. The faun waved furry hands at Terry in a “shooing” motion.
“What are you?” Terry asked while obliging the stranger with a backward step. The faun cocked his head at Terry then looked around himself. He looked up and down the dark, lamp-lit street then back to Terry. Their eyes met, then the faun shrugged and bent down to collect his bones.
“I know you understand me,” Terry said. He didn’t know for sure but the creature seemed intelligent enough to converse; to itself at least. The faun shook his head and reached into a leather pack tied to his waist. He pulled out a black card and tossed it on the floor. A pitch black hole, the size of a manhole cover, appeared.
“Don’t question odd happenings,” the faun said. “Don’t forget to take your trash out again.” The faun took a step toward the hole and Terry realized it was about to leave. He needed an answer. Any answer so he could go back to sleep in peace. He shouted out the first thing that came to mind.
“WE DIDN’T EAT ANY CHICKEN!” The faun paused mid-step and smiled.
“The quest says you did,” he said then jumped into the hole.
