My Boo Radley by T.E. Loper An Unexpected Rescue writing prompt entry |
My generation shouldn't be alive. Kids had no iPhones or helmets, and monkey bars were on concrete playgrounds. City teens of color were guaranteed to be drafted and sent to Vietnam. I was one of the lucky ones: I lived in a small suburban town in South Jersey, an oasis shimmering in the summer heat rising off a vast farmland desert. As kids on summer vacation, our mothers would demand we go out and play. The rule in my house was, "Be home by five for dinner!" My nomadic friends and I would set out unsupervised on our imaginary adventures, mounting our two-wheeled dromedaries, stopping at whichever friend's settlement was closest at lunchtime before continuing our intrepid yet carefree journeys. One summer, both my friends suffered a fate worse than death: summer camp. I was suddenly alone. The soybean wastes are not to be traveled lightly. But Youth is incorrigible. The tree was old and gnarled, and never to be climbed alone. As I was climbing—alone—I heard and felt a snap. When I came to, I was upside down six feet off the ground with my foot wedged in a tree crotch. Karl, the mysterious terror of our childhood imaginations, was the deaf and dumb son of a local farmer. As he came towards me, I must have fainted. I woke leaning against the tree, my sore ankle wrapped in an old shirt, my bike beside me. Mom didn't notice my limp as I came in for dinner.
|
©
Copyright 2024.
T.E. Loper
All rights reserved. T.E. Loper has granted FanStory.com, its affiliates and its syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work. |
© 2000-2024.
FanStory.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you. Privacy Statement
|