In a parallel Universe one over from ours, slug season opens!

In a remote part of northern New Mexico there exists a little known area as pristine today as it was 10,000 years ago. Because it lies on lands granted Native Americans under one of the few treaties still honored by the government, public access is extremely limited and those permitted in are tightly controlled.

Each year, however, an annual Sangre de Cristo Slug Hunt lottery drawing is conducted and a limited number of hunters are permitted on the wilderness lands to seek out and shoot the largest slugs in North America.

During this two week open season on slugs, tribal governors contract with the National Park Service's toughest law enforcement personnel, the feared "CIT" (Criminal Interdiction Team) from Asheville, North Carolina, to police the activities.

Recent years have seen incidents of interlopers illegally trespassing during the Slug fest. Strangely, attracted to the event like moths to light are a number of politicians curious what happens to the slugs when hunted by people. Last year, before gaining speakership of the house, Nancy Pelosi and a small number of legislators were captured and escorted under tight security from the protected grounds.

A photographer who witnessed the event and tried to photograph it was warned by the CIT, "Sir, these are tribal lands overseen by the U.S. Department of the Interior and under the provisions of the USA Patriot Act you cannot take photographs of official government activity without authorization. Put your camera down now!" placing his right hand upon his holstered revolver. The photographer did not persist.

However, it appears a tragic event has marred this year's Slug Hunt festivities. As is now being reported, a 77 year old myopic Gladys Worstburger of Cornudas, Texas mistakenly shot what she thought was the season's largest slug. "Just look at that monster!" Worstburger beemed. "Why he must be six feet long and nearly 200 pounds," she said proudly before being told the slug she had bagged was a human being instead.

As the CIT removed the unidentified body, one witness said the victim bore an eerie resemblance to an Alaska senator currently under investigation for corruption in his home state.

Gladys Worstburger has pleaded not guilty to 3rd degree manslaughter maintaining, while her kill was not a slug, it was an honest mistake and, in the spirit of the hunt, still eliminated a predator from corrupting the pristine landscape.

(Dada note: This fictional alternate Universe story is based on a couple events that actually occurred in this Universe.)