27 comments

Adventure Fantasy

The rusted train screeched to a stop as it reached the end of the railroad tracks, causing everyone aboard to groan in annoyance. The train made a horrible sound as the conductor pressed on the break, an ear piercing sccccrrrEEECHHHH. All the passengers covered the ears, including one curious little boy. He covered his ears with both hands, pressing hard, and looked at the people around him with probing glances. He wore a scruffy shirt with dirt scattered amongst it and matching dirt covered trousers. His mousy brown hair was hidden inside his ball cap, but a few curly locks had managed to escape.


When the train came to a complete stop and passengers removed their hands from their ears with irritated expressions, the young boy turned to the man seated beside him. “Papa, why are we coming home so soon? Europe was so much more excitin’ than North Carolina.”


His father followed the other passengers with his eyes, knee bobbing up and down impatiently. “Because, son, your mama and sisters are here. It’s time we go back to them; your mama ain’t happy we left.”


The boy bit the inside of his cheek. “Why did we leave, then?”


His father did not hear him, he was already up and out of his seat, heading towards the train doors. “Come on, Lawrence!” he yelled over his shoulder. Lawrence snatched his backpack off the ground and hurriedly followed his father.


The town was bustling around them when they stepped off the train, people travelling from one market stand to the other gathering vegetables and bread for their dinner. Lawrence had always had a certain wonder about the markets. While they were in Europe, the markets always contained wondrous artifacts.


As they continued walking, one market in particular caught his curious eye. “Papa, look!” Lawrence yanked his father’s sleeve and dragged him towards the stand. There was a leather-bound book with crinkled pages and a peeled back cover. “Papa, I want to see that book. It could make a fine addition to my collection.” Lawrence’s eyes sparkled as he reached out to stroke it.


“Boy, don’t touch that.” His father yanked his hand back, scowling. “You don’t need another useless knick-knack. Your mama ain’t gonna be happy if you come home with something like that.”


Lawrence nodded sheepishly, turning back to the road with his father, when a gruff clearing of the throat stopped him in his path. “Is that so?” the voice asked. They turned back to the stand to see an elderly man—shining white hair, wrinkling skin, and bony hands clutching a wooden cane in one hand and the leather-bound book in the other. “Is your father aware what kind of book this is?”  The boy let go of his father’s hand, walking back towards the stand with wide eyes.


“Don’t tell me what I do and don’t know,” the father growled.


He grabbed Lawrence’s wrist, nearly crushing his bones, and yanked him back towards the road. But Lawrence did not move. Instead, he continued to stare at the elderly man clutching the book. The man held Lawrence’s gaze as well, as if urging him to stay. “What…what kind of book is it?”


The man smiled a wide, menacing grin. He grasped his wooden cane and limped around the stand to face the boy. He leaned in closely and whispered, “It’s a book of stories. Stories of travelers, stories of princes and princesses, stories of the poor, stories of little boys just like yourself.”


Lawrence listened closely and his heart expanded. Who even knew one simple book could contain such tales? “But my father won’t let me have it,” he whispered, fearfully.


“Oh, but I think he will.” The man straightened up slowly and looked fiercely into the father’s eyes.


“I already said I ain’t buying no silly book,” the father sneered.


“I will pay you two-thousand dollars for the boy. I see through your intentions coming back to this town. The boy will only get in your way. I pay you for the boy, the boy gets the book, everyone wins.” The elderly man’s voice was strong, hands clasped tightly in front of him as he stared at the father.


Lawrence’s heart pounded inside him as he realized the deal being made. Tears filled his eyes quickly and he reached for his father’s sleeve. His father, however, jerked his sleeve out of reach. His stare was blank and his eyes glassy as he nodded his head in agreement to trade his son for two-thousand dollars. The man gathered the money from somewhere deep below the stand and handed it to the father, grabbing Lawrence by the scruff collar of his shirt.


“Papa, no! Please don’t let him take me! We’re going back to mama; she’ll be so angry at you!” Lawrence screamed, tears leaking onto his cheeks in big, wet blobs.


His father simply pocketed the money, turned around, and said over his shoulder, “We were never here to see your mama. She doesn’t even know we’re here. You’ll be better off with someone who cares enough to buy you.” And with those last words, Lawrence was suddenly left without a family and had only a simple book for comfort.

***


Years went by as Lawrence worked for the elderly man. He was taught to refer to him as “Ol’ Art” and Lawrence obeyed. Ol’ Art never paid much attention to Lawrence, only giving him what he needed and sometimes letting him travel to other market stands to gather food. Lawrence isolated himself in the small shack most nights, clinging to the only source of hope in his life—the leather-bound book. He memorized the tales, sympathized with them, and thought of the characters as his friends. They taught him how to be brave and how to care for others. When he was not working for Ol’ Art, he helped the elderly market stands sell their produce.


One day, as he returned back to the shack in the evening, Ol’ Art was sitting at their grubby kitchen table, hands clasped in front of him. “Good evening, Lawrence,” he said.


Lawrence startled for a moment, reaching for a light-bulb to illuminate the dark shack. “Good evening, Ol’ Art. We had a good profit today.”


Ol’ Art nodded solemnly, looking anywhere but Lawrence’s face. “Sit down, boy. We need to talk.” He never had spoken to Lawrence that way, and it made his heart jump. “I heard word of your father today.” It was said so quietly that Lawrence was not sure he heard him right. His heart threatened to leap out of his chest and out onto the market streets.


“Pardon?”


“Your father, Lawrence. I heard of him and he wants you back. But we sure as hell are not going to let him get you. I paid two-thousand dollars and there is no way that man is going to take you away from me!” Ol’ Art slammed his fist on the table with so much force, it made his bones rattle.


“I don’t understand, why would he want me back all these years later?”


“He knows something,” he whispered, looking into the distance with wild eyes. He slammed a fist on the table again, then turned in the direction of Lawrence’s room. He went in and came back out with Lawrence’s leather-bound book. “We’re escaping, Lawrence,” he said with a malicious grin. Lawrence’s limbs trembled with fear as he watched his caretaker mutter nonsensical words and lay the book open on it’s back. He waved his hands, muttering gibberish over and over again.


And without warning, Lawrence and Ol’ Art were no longer inside their rundown shack. Instead, they were surrounded by people of no color, all staring at them with alarmed expressions. “Ol’ Art, what did you do?” he breathed.


“I just saved us, boy.”


Lawrence looked around at the faces he had read about so many times and realized that this was just the beginning of something far more numinous than the life he once knew.   

June 05, 2020 21:46

You must sign up or log in to submit a comment.

27 comments

A. Y. R
10:35 Jun 06, 2020

Descriptive, engaging and a very, VERY interesting read! I was left wanting to read more! You say this wasn't one of your best stories and its flawed, but I see nothing but a great story that I very much enjoyed reading, so am very glad you went ahead and still posted it anyway! I know the feeling all too well of not liking your own stories, but it's always better to still finish and post them for good practise and feedback to improve future stories. And where you may not enjoy yours, others would have a different opinion and get an amazi...

Reply

Maggie Deese
13:48 Jun 06, 2020

Thank you so much for such an amazing, sweet comment :') you literally just made my week! I'm glad you enjoyed this piece, even though I didn't. It was a bit of a struggle to write this past week, especially with everything going on in the world, but I'm glad I decided to finish this one. Thank you again for the kind words!!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Roshna Rusiniya
09:02 Jun 07, 2020

Beautiful story. I loved the descriptions. Also loved how it ended. Good job!

Reply

Maggie Deese
12:51 Jun 07, 2020

Thank you, Roshna!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Maggie Deese
21:50 Jun 05, 2020

I wasn't going to comment anything, but insecurities have taken over! I want to say how this story is not one of my best and that it could have been better, but instead, I will say how every story is unique and has it's flaws. This one is definitely one of my more uniquely flawed pieces, but I hope you enjoyed it all the same. Thank you :)

Reply

Show 0 replies
Kelechi Nwokoma
04:31 Jun 14, 2020

Wow, Maggie! This story is really wonderful. I went through the comments and I saw that you didn't like it, but I did. It was really interesting and fun-filled. And if you're working on writing a children's novel, you'll do really great at it. I'm a teenager, but I still love reading children novels, and I enjoyed this one so much. I'm glad you wrote it. Keep it up!

Reply

Maggie Deese
17:46 Jun 15, 2020

Thank you so much for your kind comment! I'm so glad you enjoyed it. And thank you for the encouragement! I can't wait to finish my first children's novel :)

Reply

Kelechi Nwokoma
01:37 Jun 16, 2020

You're welcome :D

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Steve Stigler
20:31 Jun 11, 2020

Thank you for sharing this story. I have to say it took me back to some of the adventure stories of my youth, when a child's world seemed full of both wonder and malice. I think you have something here. Thanks again!

Reply

Maggie Deese
23:20 Jun 11, 2020

Oh I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I'm aiming to be a children's book author (I'm working on my first novel now) so I'm glad that feeling came across to you in this story! :)

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Roland Aucoin
17:17 Jun 11, 2020

It is wonderful how you leave so many questions in the wake of your story. This tale can have so many prequels, sequels, and parallels that it is boggling. Great read.

Reply

Maggie Deese
17:59 Jun 11, 2020

Thank you so much for your kind comment :) I'm really tempted to write some sequels and prequels for this!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Martin Buckell
18:46 Jun 09, 2020

Nice story. I love the descriptions, really vivid. Bravo. I wonder if you can give my last 2 stories a read? For some reason they don’t seem to have been accepted, not sure why... is it quality, content?

Reply

Maggie Deese
19:01 Jun 09, 2020

Thank you! I just looked at your stories. I don't know why "Me Time" did not get accepted, you followed all the rules and there was nothing graphic. It was a great story. You could maybe send an email to prompts@reedsy.com and ask why? As for "Fear of the Jackboot", it simply hasn't been looked at yet! There were a lot of entries for the past contest and there are still a lot of entries that haven't been accepted yet.

Reply

Martin Buckell
19:24 Jun 09, 2020

Thank you Maggie.

Reply

Show 0 replies
Kelechi Nwokoma
07:28 Jun 18, 2020

Maggie, my story, B.L.E.A.C.H, also hasn't been approved yet. I'm getting nervous because I didn't receive any critique circle mails yesterday. Is it a normal thing for stories to be approved after Wednesday, or there's a problem here? I'm really worried. Haven't written another story yet because of that...

Reply

Maggie Deese
20:13 Jun 18, 2020

Hi Kelechi. I looked at your story just now, and I am not sure why it didn't get approved. Stories do not get approved after Wednesday. I did not judge this week, so if I were you, I would maybe contact prompts@reedsy.com. So sorry! Don't let that discourage you from making more stories, though. It could have just been a malfunction.

Reply

Kelechi Nwokoma
22:29 Jun 18, 2020

Thanks, Maggie for the reply. I actually contacted the reedsy team, but I didn't get any satisfactory reply from them. I'll try not to let it discourage me, though... But I might just take a break from writing for a while. Thanks again for your help. I really appreciate it.

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
Show 2 replies
Show 1 reply
14:42 Jun 09, 2020

AMAZING story, Maggie! Loved it! Your story was described so nicely and I enjoyed reading your story till the end! 😊 Keep writing and have a great day Maggie!❤️️❤️️ ( Thank you for liking my stories...I really appreciate it)

Reply

Maggie Deese
15:03 Jun 09, 2020

Thank you so much, Harshini! You have a great day, as well! And you are welcome, I really enjoyed your stories! :)

Reply

15:13 Jun 09, 2020

Thank you, Maggie! Your comment has made my day! :))))

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
02:57 Jun 08, 2020

I loved this story and would like to read more! But, I guess that the ending is what makes it even better than it already was. Keep writing and stay safe! :) -Brooke

Reply

Maggie Deese
03:16 Jun 08, 2020

Thank you! You stay safe, as well! :)

Reply

03:17 Jun 08, 2020

You're welcome! :)

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Show 1 reply
E. Jude
09:15 Jul 12, 2020

I loved this!! The vibe at the beginning had me hooked!!! I loved the little curly-headed protagonist!! The dialogue is amazing, and the detail was also great. I don't know what else to say, except it was a pleasant read, that I thoroughly enjoyed. Would you mind checking out a couple of my stories? XElsa

Reply

Maggie Deese
23:18 Aug 21, 2020

Thank you so much, Elsa!

Reply

Show 0 replies
Show 1 reply
Batool Hussain
10:29 Jun 21, 2020

Great story. A very interesting take on the prompt! Mind checking my recent story as I'm new? Thanks.

Reply

Show 0 replies

Bring your short stories to life

Fuse character, story, and conflict with tools in the Reedsy Book Editor. 100% free.