Morning all. Hope you had a good Monday and are well settled into your week. Let’s kick Tuesday off with a new writing prompt. Ready with the timers? Then off we go.
Not what I was expecting actually. I started thinking the underdog finally wins and ended up with the underdog has an epiphany. Not bad, just not what I expected. Kind of like it more.
Tuesday, September 16th: They raced across the yard.
They raced across the yard. Legs and arms pumping, heart pounding. Neither held anything back. They ran streaking through summer dry grass each hoping to be the first to reach the old oak tree. Jay was certain this time he would win. He spent the summer working to get faster, practicing even when the summer’s heat drained the sweat from his body making him feel as though he was dehydrating like a raisin.
Sean pulled ahead. His longer legs giving him an easy advantage. Jay pushed a little harder closing the gap. He glanced over and saw Sean’s face harden and tighten. He never took losing well, especially not to Jay. Jay knew he should let Sean win, if only for the sake of peace, but he couldn’t.
He was tired of always being last, always being less.
Jay saw the muscles tighten in Sean’s jaw and he began to pull ahead. Jay looked away, focused on the tree and pulled out his last reserves of strength. He would win.
He dimly felt the connection with his legs, something hitting him just above the ankles. Then, he went flying through the air like a rocket ship. And like a rocket ship his flight ended with his body carving a divot in the dirt, a long skid of impact. He looked to the side wondering what hit him and he saw George reeling in a line.
George dipped back into the trees, no doubt hiding and circling back to the others no one else saw him and if Jay cried foul he would just look like a sore loser. Ahead he heard the slap of victory as Sean’s palm slapped the trunk of the tree. A cheer went up from Sean’s friends.
“Better luck next time, loser,” Sean called. It was scant consolation to see his heavy breathing and worn look. Sean may have beat him but he had to give everything he had and still had to cheat.
Jay stayed laying in the dirt, heart hammering, breath coming in ragged gasps. The others left, cheering Sean’s win and the continuance of the rightful order. They wandered off and the world calmed. Jay sat up, still staying on the ground. He didn’t want to meet up with any of the others until he was feeling back to full strength.
George was in place before the race, he had to be. He was no where near as fast as Sean and even before he began training, Jay could usually beat him running. ‘They saw me training and took precautions.’
He nodded to himself. He knew that maintaining the status quo was very important to everyone around him. There was a natural order. His place was on the lowest rung so he had to be content with what they gave him. He knew that. Somehow he thought that if he could beat Sean in a race then someone might look at him differently. Might reevaluate his place.
‘Or at least for once tell me I did well at supper,’ Jay thought. He didn’t think it would change anything, but to have Sean not automatically win at everything would have been nice. Jay thought of George and his string. Sitting there, the sun beating down as sweat still poured from his body and his heartrate slowly returned to normal, Jay had a realization.
Ten til Midnight 