Test story: Surprise

This is a story I worked up for class over the Winter Break. It's based on the prompt: Write a story about a surprise. Written out on lined paper it comes to 26 lines. Open Office pegs it at 260 words.

* * * * * “Hey, Kid!” Old Man Henry shouted. “You wanna break your neck or somethin’?”

My friend Steve and I had been climbing on the boulders at Pineridge Park all afternoon. Old Man Henry was a frizz-haired, six-toothed homeless guy who collected bottles and trash in the park and hassled all the kids wherever they were playing.

“Let’s scare him,” Steve whispered, balancing on one foot. He pinwheeled his arms like he was going to fall. Then he did. He landed on his back on the next boulder down, smiling. Old Man Henry, I knew, couldn’t see the smile.

“Oh, geeze!” I shouted. “Call 911. His head’s bleeding like a geyser. Is that his brain? Huuuuuahhh...” I pretended to barf.

Old Man Henry started tossing plastic bags and Coke cans out of his shopping cart. He pulled out a beat-up Motorola phone. “Emergency? I’ve got a kid here who just fell and busted open his … his … his ….” He clutched his chest and dropped the phone. “Oooo….” He fell to his knees and landed on his face.

He didn’t move.

Steve and I peeked over the edge of the rock. Old Man Henry still wasn’t moving. Didn’t look like he was breathing, either. We scrambled down and rolled him over. Nothing.

“What should we do?” I asked.

“Get his phone.”

I picked up Old Man Henry’s phone. Instead of the 911 operator it was the digital buzz of a dial tone.

Old Man Henry opened one bloodshot eye. “Gotcha.”

–30–