The Tales of New Yarn City : Chapter 6 : Becoming
Mortimer had to laugh out loud! The books on the desk not only showed that the company's finances were really bad, but also the reason and the success of his father's secret moth breeding were documented: During his inspections, the father distributed tiny moth eggs in the yarn shops and warehouses of the city. A dark, desperate plan to keep up the demand for Nocturn’s moth paper.
One might think that Mortimer was shocked or disappointed to discover that his father was a liar and a fraud, but the opposite was true! For the first time in his life, Mortimer felt a deep attachment to his father. What a relief not to be the only failure in a long dynasty of successful and infallible men!
Mortimer liked this new „family tradition“. What his father did because of business interest, Mortimer would now continue because of passion. He would breed the rarest and most beautiful moths. But there was one problem: what should he feed his new friends with?
Mortimer needed wool, a lot of wool! But where to get from? The company was bankrupt and the family fund was empty. The only possibility was „permanent loan“, as he called it to not call it „theft“. Later he could replace everything and he would be humble, would only take little and maybe just the unpopular colors of the last season, the non-sellers ... it was kind of hand to mouth stealing, not a real crime – right?
Thanks to the inspections he had accompanied his father for years, Mortimer knew the city's yarn stores very well. He knew where the shopkeepers were hiding the spare key, or where a toilet window was always open. On the other hand HE was well known too. He had to camouflage himself in order not to be recognized. Mortimer decided to wear a costume on his forays. A disguise that not only hid his face, but turned him into a completely different person!
When the elaborate costume was finally finished, Mortimer couldn’t postpone his criminal project any longer. Despite a slight remorse, it felt good. Maybe it was the soft cowl in which Mortimer hid his face. Silently he set off in the dark.
