The Magic Bridge

‘You will have to calculate the path you can take to cross the bridge.’

‘Why?’ I felt amused; grandpa had not stopped treating me as a little kid. I was grown up; I was fourteen.

‘It’s a magic bridge; if you are erratic in your path you will face dire consequences.’

‘Grandpa, there are no magic trees and magic bridges in the real world.’ I was proud of my awareness.

At that moment a young man came on his cycle; he was headed for the bridge.

‘You don’t believe me; just wait and watch. That fool of a boy will regret crossing the bridge on a cycle,’ grandpa said with some flourish.

I looked at the man on the cycle; he was half way through and nothing untoward had happened.

Suddenly the cycle overturned and I missed a heartbeat.

The man got up and laughed a bit loudly.  He had hit a stone lying on the bridge. No damage had been done. He rode away on his cycle.

The grandpa pouted at me and said almost is despair, ‘It never happened that way.’

I felt sad for the old man and hugged him.

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A post for Three Word Wednesday and FFfAW

Word count 193

Stone Quarry

He knew where he would leave the vehicle; and the dead body. He had quietly gone around that place a couple of times; it was a desolate place adjoining a deserted stone quarry.

Pip was in a bouncy mood.

They had never attempted such a big heist. All these years they had pilfered only petty things; occasionally they had robbed a lone stranger of his meagre belongings. But this time they had targeted a jewellery shop.

He had decided that he would he would shift somewhere else. But Pip was a problem. Pip was vapid and cruel; he had to end his relationship with Pip if he was to make a new beginning. He knew what he had to do; it was unavoidable.

Everything went as planned. In fact they were surprised at their own deftness.

As they were driving to their den, he suddenly took a detour. Pip looked at him and laughed; he was in a bouncy mood, ‘Everything must be worth fifty million, no?’

He casually glanced at Pip; he was waiting for the right moment. Suddenly he felt a searing pain under his left shoulder.

Pip had pierced his chest with a stiletto. Pip left the vehicle and the dead body in a desolate place adjoining a deserted stone quarry.

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A post for Three Word Wednesday; word prompts-adjoining, vapid, bouncy

and FFfAW on a photo prompt.

Word count 214

The Team

The boy hobbled into the ground; clutched in his left arm was a football that his mother had gifted him. Although every step he took was painstaking yet his innocent face looked truly radiant for he had dressed like other players; but he was not a part of the team.

The mother looked through the window of her bedroom. She looked at her son and felt queasy; an irrepressible desire to scream rose in her heart. It was all her fault and she knew it. She clenched her fists, almost fiercely; the nails began to hurt her palms.

‘Why does my boy have to pay for my sins?’

The regret was soul-wrenching; more so because her mother had repeatedly warned her. But she had refused to listen to her. She wanted to punish her for being a bad mother; she had separated from her father when she was just five.

She eventually stopped using drugs; but by then it was too late. She gave birth to a deformed boy. Her son was handsome like his father but he was condemned to hobble all through his life.  

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A post for Flash Fictionfor Aspiring Writers on a picture prompt

and for Three WordWednesday: word prompts- painstaking, radiant, queasy.

Word count 186