| Copyright © Lynda B G Low 2006 |
| SHORT STORIES Friends Forever |
| CODE: SF-0001 / A SHORT STORY ABOUT FRIENDSHIP / FOR CHILDREN |
| Lynda's Creations |
| EXCERPT OF STORY... "What do you want to buy?" I called out in my small little girl's voice. She had an ice-cream drumstick in her right hand and the ice-cream box lid in her left. She also had this nervous guilty look on her face, as she stood there too terrified to reply. So I thought perhaps, she was trying to steal although I did not quite think that she would be bold enough to do that. But, I asked her nevertheless, so typical of a silly little girl asking a silly little question. "You are not trying to steal, are you?" In a panic, she dropped her ice-cream and started running helter-skelter. Like a hunted squirrel, she dashed down the row of attap huts and around the bend. And, I was not even chasing her, at least not yet. When I finally decided to search for her, I did not run like she did. Instead, I sat pondering for a while then slowly and carefully like a tomcat trying to follow the trail of a mouse I went from one house to another till I finally came upon her home. She was outside her attap hut, engrossed in sweeping the dusty floor with a broom almost twice her height. "Hey, you thief!" I shouted instinctively then saw her huge mother waddled out through the open doorway. "What you want, eh?!" her big voice boomed as if volume would determine victory. "She, thief! She stole my ice-cream!" I repeated. By that time Becky had already disappeared into the safety of her home. Petrified by the fierce look that was now on the huge lady's face, I watched in a half-cringe as Becky's mother slammed her front door shut in my face. Then I heard the slapping, screaming and pleading for mercy began. As I walked away, I was overcome with a sense of guilt and regret. And, the lump like a drop of mercury in my throat got heavier and heavier with each step. The next morning when I was again playing my five-stones on the same aluminum lid, Becky quietly walked in. "I'm sorry," she said then bowed down her head as if in shame. "I'm sorry too. You got beaten, no?" I looked at her bruised arms and legs and winced as if the hurt was contagious. "I'm sorry but really, you should never steal, you know? "I was hungry, very hungry. Papa did not come back for two days and we did not have enough rice in the house to eat so my wicked hunger told me to steal. Mama… mama, she beat me so hard yesterday and she said I've been a very, very bad girl!" As she stood there with tears in her eyes, I felt once again the drop of mercury in my throat. Only this time, it felt bigger and heavier… much, much bigger and heavier. "Hey, you wait, okay?" I said eventually then ran for the ice-cream box at the shop front. "Here, one for you and one for me. Don't have to steal, please... |
