Arlis and the Boys
The Doctor has returned.
"Are you," the oaf of a child paused for effect, "...in?"
Arlis shifted his weight. He eyed his would-be comrades, an assortment of boys he'd seen in the schoolhouse. Generally, he'd seen them in the back of the room, doing anything but pay attention. Though aloof and brutish, they seemed, in some crude way, to have life figured out. Their offer was a generous one, but something tugged at a corner memory, a phrase, an idea.
The oaf coaxed, "It's simple. We need a distraction. You're not technically stealing anything. You just have to be...there."
The word echoed and twisted along the freshly paved streets of fledgling wisdom. The sum total of Arlis' knowledge gleaned from only a several short years of living. There. Then. There. Here. Their. Them. Us.
The voice of his grandfather whispered from a thin alleyway of recollection, "You do as you see right. Everything else...well, that's their problem."
Arlis cocked his head and puffed his chest, "I'm out, and forget you. I'm staying here."
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Comments (4 so far!)
ethelthefrog
An inspired peek into the roiling mind of tween-aged youth. So few have the strength to refuse this kind of invitation. This one has a light of hope.
- #697 Posted 10 years ago
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Andrman
"Thin alleyway of recollection" what a brilliant way to describe the hard to trust nature of memory. Youve created a perfect pinpoint moment, realistic and relatable. Wonderful.
- #704 Posted 10 years ago
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Story prompt:
In the nearest book to hand, find:
The seventh word on page 12
The tenth word on page 37
The 30th word on page 64
Write a story or a poem that uses all of these words, contextualizing them and providing a conclusion of some sort.
Vary at will.
- Published 10 years ago and featured 10 years ago.
- Story viewed 28 times and rated 0 times.
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Escapist
"There. Then. There. Here. Their. Them. Us."
Love how this captures the frantic thoughts we have when making a quick moral decision like this one. Well done!