Once they were able to get the temporal boundary lock working, it was only a matter of time before someone stupid enough to look for it would try. A self-proclaimed ‘Urban Legend’ scientist, Professor Quark spent millions of dollars in the hunt for many of the world’s imaginary creatures.

After a dozen or so failures, he was beginning to scrape the bottom of the proverbial barrel. That’s when the TBL was released. In a fit of passion, he purchased one of the first working prototypes and set off for wetter areas of the country. After a quick search, North Idaho was chosen… only because there were a series of quick, intermittent storms supposed to be rolling through.
Arriving in a small town just east of the Idaho/Washington border, Quark set up a mobile unit on the side of a local forested hillside.

“How long do you expect this to take?” Steve asked Quark. Nobody knew the man’s given name any more, nor did they care with how well he was paying them.

“Minutes.” Quark grunted as he bent over, checking the settings on the TBL device. Pleased with the readout on the small screen, he stood upright, a loud pop emanating from his lower back. “It’s not like this thing can stay on for any longer amount of time.” His scowl had almost become a permanent feature on his grizzled face.

Steve double-checked the connections to the portable generator that would power the device for the few short minutes the professor had noted. “Think there’ll be anything?”

“Steve,” Quark’s head fell back, allowing him to stare up into an angry gray cloud, “I don’t pay you to ask questions.”

“Yes, sir.” Steve felt a small drop of water hit the back of his hand. “Should be another wave of rain coming any…” The deluge stopped his words cold, literally. It was a much colder rain than any experienced in the desert of Arizona.

“Hmm.” The professor shrugged the wetness off, walking over to the canopy sticking out from the top of the RV they had rented for the occasion. “Not used to it actually reaching the ground every single time.” He flopped into a folding chair. “Is Tito in position?”

Steve ducked under the awning, pulling out a walkie-talkie from his back pocket. “Tito, you in position?” His eyes darted to the matching equipment sitting next to Quark on a small table. That lazy son of a…

“Yeah!” Blasted from the two boxes. Both men reached to turn the volume knobs to a respectable level. “I’m here.” His voice came out overlaid with the sound of pouring rain.

Steve’s eyebrow lifted, asking his boss a silent question. An imperceptible nod was his reply. “Let us know as soon as it stops raining over there.”

“Ten four, good buddy.” Tito responded with a strange southern twang. The men could hear his chuckle as the sound clicked off suddenly.

“Remind me to fire his ass once this is over.” Quark grumbled into the din surrounding them.

“Yes, sir.” Steve had been asked to do this many times, yet never did. Tito was one of the few people Quark would still work with that had any sense of humor left in him.

“Too many trees here.” the professor said. “Can’t really see anything.”

Steve turned, looking at the view he was currently preventing the other man from seeing. Down the hillside, through a light copse of trees was the Spokane river flowing below. The town, spread out on the other side of the river, was small and quaint, a bastion of small-town America jammed between two cities that seemed to cater to tourists more than anything else. “It’s a good view from here.” He said, definitely not loud enough to be heard by anyone around.

“That was awesome.” Tito’s voice crackled from the walkies.

Quark reached out and thumbed the button on the side of the tiny device. “Just let us know as soon as it’s visible.” He glared at the box, as if it could convey his frustration that way. “And keep your commentary to yourself.”

“Yessir!” Tito replied instantly, the smile still visible in his voice. Steve couldn’t help but smile.

“It’s slowing down, sir.” Steve stepped out from under cover, heading over to the technological wonder that would disprove yet another tall tale.

“I can see that.” The older man sat in the chair a while longer, making sure he wouldn’t get too wet, first.

“It’s appearing now.” Tito had the sound of awe added to the humor.

Steve stepped over to the generator and tugged on the cord, starting up the chugging, puttering machine. “Ready, sir.”

Quark finally left the comfort of the awning, wincing as small raindrops fell from the gray sky above. “Is it fully formed?” He spoke louder than necessary.

“Almost, sir.” Tito’s voice echoed in the silence of the trees.

“Good.” The professor knelt before the TBL, making sure lights and dials and screens were lit that were supposed to be.

“Fully formed…” there was static from some kind of interference, “…and button is pressed.” Tito was currently wearing a headset that allowed the TBL to essentially ‘see’ what he was looking at, currently. This gave the machine much more usefulness and power than just one that could stop time.

“Is it going to work?” Steve said quietly, looking into the air for any sign of what they were waiting for.

“I don’t…” the older man spoke loudly, his nerves not allowing him any respite from stress. Both men’s mouths dropped open as a brightness came dropping in from the sky. It was slower than Steve expected, but much prettier.

The colors were bright and vibrant, and they blended so subtly that it was impossible to distinguish the changes. As the end of the rainbow settled to the ground, only yards away from the men, they could see a shape inside the glow that hadn’t been there before. “Now!” Quark said to his own finger as it punched down on a digital picture of a button on the piezoelectric screen.

Steve’s stomach lurched as everything around them stopped. “Wow.” was all he could say as he noticed a drop of water, distended from gravity, hanging in the air in front of his face.

“What is that?” Quark’s voice was hushed in the complete silence. He turned to frown at Steve. The other man just shrugged. “I’ll check it out.” He trudged over to the bright section of colored forest, the shape getting clearer and clearer as he got closer. Mere feet from it, he stopped. “Uh… hello?” It was a little creature, squatting down on its haunches, staring at the professor.

“Oy.” the thing grunted. It came out much deeper than Quark was expecting.

“Are you the…” Quark licked his lips, not daring to use the word that had been running through his head ever since finding out about the TBL, “…leprechaun?”

“Eh?” The thing’s face pinched up in confusion. At least, the man guessed it was confusion.

“My name is Professor Quark.” He stuck a hand out, realizing a bit too late that the size difference between the two would make shaking hands veritably impossible.

“So?” The thing stared at the proferred hand.

“Not a person of many words, are you?” Quark said aloud, still studying the smallish creature.

“Talkin’ to yoo, ain’t I?” Steve had to smile at the jibe, and also the way it seemed to have trouble with the ‘you’ sound.

“What are you?” Quark squatted to bring his view closer to the thing.

It stuck a long tongue out, reminding the men of a snake tasting the air, before sucking it back in its mouth. “Gualld.”

Neither man was expecting the suddenness with which the world jumped back into life. In a flash, the rainbow, along with the creature, was gone. The few small drops of rain still coming down continued their progress. The sounds of the forest that they were completely unaware of before, assaulted their eardrums for a few seconds before their brains acclimated and turned it into a normal volume. The professor turned on his heel, nailing the other man to the ground with a wide-eyed stare. “Did you hear what it said?”

Steve nodded slowly. “It said Gualld.” He did his best to apply the same inflection the creature had used in pronouncing the word.

“I wonder what that means?” Quark stood in place, eyebrows furrowed in thought.

“I think that was its name.” Steve offered up.

“It’s name?” Quark glanced up at the other man. “You don’t mean to tell me…”

Steve nodded again. “I think that was the Gold at the end of the rainbow.”

I was irritated, to say the least, at today’s prompt… so, I decided to write a short story instead. Sorry about the length, but it just came flowing out. Let me know if you like it in the comments.

See you tomorrow.