"Attack of the Killer Dust Bunnies!" by Jess Kachine Hickman

"Aren’t you done yet?!" someone yelled. A young painter glanced over her shoulder. Brown paint spots covered her face.

"Almost," she answered. She covered the last spot on the wall before whirling around. "I shall avenge those fired before my hiring!" She brandished the paint covered brush like a dagger.

"Keep it up and you’ll be the next fired." Her boss scowled, clearly not amused. "Get all that junk picked up while I take care of the bill."

"Alright, alright." She stuck the paintbrush in her belt, getting more paint on her already stained jumpsuit. The young human crouched as she poured the extra paint out of her pan into the can. As she did, a small paint brush fell out of her pocket. She didn’t notice.

Once the cover was back on the can, she stood and left, not picking up the small brush she had dropped.

A tiny human like creature peeked out from behind a rock. It watched as the big human female walked off, leaving whatever it was she had dropped.

"Hrmm." It crept out into the open, examining the brush from a distance. The small creature jabbed at it with a sharpened twig before leaping back.

"What is it?" another one asked.

"I don’t know," answered the first. The pair of brownies stood, looking at the brush. They had never seen anything like it before.

"Will it eat us?" the second asked. The first, the slightly larger of the pair, cuffed the second.

"Don’t be stupid! It doesn’t have a mouth!" He approached the paint brush again. Cautiously, he picked it up.

"What is it for?" the other brownie asked.

"Well, that human had one. She poked at another human with it." His eyes lit up. "It’s a weapon!"

"A weapon? But Gildar, how do you use it? It doesn’t have a point!" The larger brownie turned. He scratched at the mouse skin covering his head and back. His companion was right. One end was rounded while the other had a small tuft of hair like stuff. Suddenly, an idea hit him. He smacked the smaller one over the head.

"Aha!"

"Ouch!"

"It works Nargi!"

Nargi scowled, rubbing his abused head. He was about to hit Gildar with his twig spear when he spotted something near the wall. Nargi screeched.

"Killer dust bunny!" He pointed. Gildar turned to look.

A huge ball of dust, dirt, and pocket lint rolled toward the pair. The ravenous being would eat anything in its path, absorbing it into the ball of dust. Dust bunnies were among the most feared of man’s creations. Even the humans didn’t like them. And this one, this one was large enough to swallow Gildar whole.

"Dust bunny!" Gildar echoed. He turned to run, but stopped. Nargi had already ducked behind a rock. Gildar looked down at his new weapon, then at the dust bunny. He scowled. With a less then chilling war cry, he leapt at the tumbling creature.

The dust bunny stopped, as if trying to decide what to do. Gildar took the opportunity. He swung his brush, catching the dust bunny’s middle. The creature split in two. Suddenly, both halves rolled toward Gildar. He yelped, flailing his brush around with eyes closed tight. Nargi sat behind the rock, covering his face. Gildar was doomed for sure.

After a few moments, Nargi peeked over the rock. He expected to see the two dust bunnies trundling along together with no sign of Gildar. Instead, he saw Gildar laying on his back, surrounded and covered with dust, his brush weapon laying across his bare, tanned chest. Nargi scrambled to Gildar’s side.

"Gildar! Buddy! Speak to me!" Nargi shook Gildar hard. The larger brownie coughed, sending a cloud of bunny dust into Nargi’s face. "You’re alive!" Gildar shoved Nargi away.

"Buggar off!" He stood up, shaky on his feet, using his brush as a walking stick.

"You killed it?" Nargi looked at the scattered dust, dirt, and pocket lint. "I didn’t know you could kill a Killer Dust Bunny."

"You can’t, unless you have one of these!" Gildar held up the paint brush.