In the blink of an eye, a short story by Lee. Date added: 2007-08-26. Times viewed: 1077.
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- Intro: A young life taken too soon
- When he woke up that morning he didn't expect his day to end the way it did. The day seemed like any other when his alarm went off at 10am that morning. Stretching and letting out a loud yawn he swung his legs round to the side of the bed and sat up. He looked over at his bed side table and reached for the remote to his I Pod music system. Flicking through the tracks he finally came to rest on one of his favourite hip hop tunes. As soon as he pressed play, the room was instantly filled with heavy bass and a thumping hip hop beat.
Today was Saturday. No school, no homework, just chilling. As he walked over to his wardrobe to decide what outfit he would sport today his mobile rang. Frantically he searched for it, determined to reach it before the clanging mobile ring tone stopped. "Found it!" the mobile vibrated in yesterdays jeans that were in a heap on his bedroom floor.
It was his 'girl', with the morning ritual wake up call. She sounded so good, her voice was like the softest pillow and he was sinking deeper into it as each word flowed from her mouth. He loved her, but he wouldn't tell her that, man pride and all that. After their conversation he got dressed. Settling for his green t-shirt and yesterday's dark denim jeans. He turned sixteen yesterday and his Mum had bought him new trainers. He had been raving on about them for weeks. Slipping them on to his feet and then checking himself in the mirror he made his way downstairs. His Mum was making toast, he greeted her with his usual morning kiss and went to the fridge in search of his morning orange juice fix. As he gulped it down straight from the carton, much to his Mums disgust his mobile rang again. This time it was one of 'the boys'. They exchanged teenage conversation in a language no adult could understand and decided to meet up in the park for a game of football.
Once he had finished on the phone his Mum handed him a letter eagerly thrusting it into his hand, it had arrived that morning. He knew what it was, it was a letter from a major football club. He had applied to join the team once he had left school. Scouts had been to see him play in inter school matches and seemed impressed. He looked at it nervously turning it around in his hands. His Mum watched him desperately wanting to snatch it from him and rip it open. The suspense was driving her crazy. He decided that he would read it later and left it on the kitchen table, his Mum sighed in defeat. He kissed her good-bye and told her his'girl' would be round later and he was off to play football in the park. "He's a good boy" she thought and sat down to eat her cold toast.
Placing his earphones in his ears and turning his music up full blast he stepped out into the warm summers day air. He smiled to himself thinking that in a few years time he could be a top world famous footballer and have his 'girl' by his side. As he walked up the road to meet his friend, rapping along to the tunes and bobbing his head to the beat, he passed two boys around the same age sitting on a wall outside one of the houses. He took no notice and carried on walking enjoying his music. As he neared the park gates he turned and looked behind him. he could sense that someone was following him. He was right. The same boys that he had seen on the wall were walking behind him giving each other sideways glances. He felt a little uncomfortable so he stepped up the pace. He took his earphones out of his ears and put them in his jeans pocket. His friend hadn't arrived yet so he sat down on the nearest bench to wait for him.
His mobile rang and it made him jump. Laughing at himself for being such a baby he took the phone out of his pocket to answer it. Letting out a sigh of relief he was instantly relaxed by the soft pillow like tones of his girlfriend. The boys that were behind him entered the park. He saw them and looked away. too late they had already seen him. Cursing to himself he carried on with his conversation, hoping, praying that his friend would arrive soon and the boys would just walk past and leave him alone. No such luck. As he carried on talking and taking brief glances at the boys walking towards him, he felt the urge to tell his girlfriend how he felt. He didn't know but he knew that now was the time to do it even though they weren't face to face and he wasn't really the romantic type. Then the words spilled out. There was a silence on the other end of the phone, just as she was about to answer the boys approached the bench. He was no longer listening to her, too aware of the uncomfortable situation with the boys. One stood on the bench and sat right next to him, while the other stood directly in front casting a shadow over him. The boys looked him up and down, then focused on his trainers. They told him they liked them, he nodded in agreement. His girl still on the phone asked what was wrong. he smiled and said it was nothing.
The boys didn't leave. He grew more and more uncomfortable and stood up to leave. The shadow casting boy who was a lot taller than him stuck one of his feet out causing him to trip over it. He tried to carry on walking. The boy on the bench came up behind him while the other shouted in his face accusing him of stepping on his foot. He apologised, even though he knew it wasn't his fault and tried to walk away. But it was not to be.
The boys drew in closer and the next thing he knew he felt the most excruciating pain in his chest, spreading throughout his body. He dropped to the floor, and as he did he could see his friend running towards him shouting and the boys walking briskly in the other direction. Everything went blurry, he was drifting in and out of consciousness. He could hear faint screaming, his phone lay on the ground. It was his love, she was still on the phone. He looked into the face of his friend who was holding him on his lap and was talking in a language he could no longer understand. He felt so cold. Then everything went black.
..........................................................................................................
The door bell rang. She stood at the door pale and lifeless. His Mum welcomed her in and they sat at the kitchen table in silence. She made them both a cup of tea that they both stared at and didn't drink. The warmth of the cup in their hands was sufficient for now. His Mum took the letter he had left in her hands and turned it over in her hands. This time there was no urgency or desperation. Slowly she tore it open. "congratulations!" it said. He had got in. His Mum let out a sad heavy sigh. " He was a good boy" she said. Together they cried into their cold cups of tea.
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