69 Short Stories

1st story: The lamp in the Tree 1093words

I woke up and yawned, the clock shows 10:30 am. Stayed up too late last night, I guess. Seeing that there's still too many chips in my stomach, I decided to skip breakfast. After brushing my teeth, I jumped onto the couch and found myself digging through the newspapers my dad had left. 

"Celeb gossip, political scandal, this is not good enough!" I yelled as I yearned for some news that will satisfy my taste.

"Telia?" My mum's voice came from above. "Still looking for a suitable news article?"

"Yes!" I groaned. "Holiday's about to end, Mum! If I can't find a news report or featured article for my presentation, I'll get a Z for English!"

"I'm sure you'll find something appealing." My mum grinned and strode down the stairs. I moaned and went back to the mountain of ancient newspapers. 

"Telia! I think your friend's here!" My mum reported from the kitchen window. I jumped up from the couch and grabbed my yellow sweater as the doorbell rang for the third time. 

"Coming!" I sprinted down the hallway and closed the door behind me. "Bye mum!"

"Well, that was quick!" The girl with an innocent smile greeted me. "Good news or bad news?"

"Bad before good. Leave the best to the end." I chanted as we walked down the road. Kicking the rocks, I counted how many days I have left until that stupid news presentation is due. 

"Well, the bad news is, I found the right article for me! Before you!" Lila spun around as her long, loose hair waved in the air. "It's about a refugee group saving lots of homeless animals."

"Well, that's cheerful." Sarcastically I clapped my hands. I got out a pack of gum and handed Lila a piece while chewing one myself. "Good news?"

"I found another interesting article that I thought would be perfect for you!" She looked as pleased as a little puppy. Oh, like she really has some news that would impress me? I rolled my eyes. 

"This! I know you won't believe it!" She unfolded a piece of paper from her pockets. "Read it!"

My eyes scanned down the rows of words. At last, I sneered and read them out. "Witnessing people making an outlet in the local trees? For homeless people who don't have light at night?"

"Yes!" Lila's white teeth were glowing in her silly smile. "Isn't that something fancy?"

"No!" I snapped. "This is nothing but some fictional kiddie stuff! How on Earth can it possibly be real?!"

"See you later." I turned and headed back home. Leaving Lila standing there alone doesn't feel like a good deed, but she's the one who gave me that stupid fake article about some lame outlet！ Where did she even get that? Is this her way to prank her friend?

The keys jingled as I opened the door and slammed it behind me. Making my way up to my room, I felt too tired and too stressed to respond to my mum's voice. 

When I woke up again, it was almost sunset. My stomach grumbled as I struggled to lift myself up. I crossed out another day on my back-to-school calendar, time flies when you're struggling with homework. 

As I went downstairs, I found my parents and brother sitting on the couch, casually watching TV. For some reason, I feel sick.

"I'm going out, be back soon," I reported and went out the door. The street is empty and silent, I clenched my jumper tight and hurried my strides. Keeping my head low, I walked for I don't know how long until I reached my destination.

"Telia!" The always happy voice greeted me. "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm sorry, Lila." I hugged the girl holding a huge bag of burgers. "I shouldn't have said that you were childish, you're the kindest person I've ever met!"

"Thank you, Lila, for helping me with my assignment. Can I help you now?" I let go of her and gazed at the woods. There's indeed an outlet on one of the trees. 

"What are you doing?" I asked, gently. 

"Oh, just giving the homeless some burgers." Lila scratched her head.

"They live in the woods?" I was surprised to find out how tough that might've been. "Some real life Robin Hood?"

"I don't know." Lila shrugged, I can tell that she's being honest. She placed the neatly wrapped food near the old tree with a box behind it. "Let's go now, don't want to disturb them."

"Yeah." I nodded and looked into the woods one last time before turning. There's a note in the food box. 

"Why are you doing this?" I broke the silence. Our footsteps seem far too empty on the deserted pavement.

"One of them saved my dog," Lila replied. Tucking her hands in her pockets. "Fog went missing one day, it was a refugee boy who brought him back."

"He knocked and ran." Lila continued to explain, staring at the last ray of sunlight for today. "I left mum to attend Fog and went after the boy. He was a fast runner but yet so skinny. That night was so dark, all I knew was him yelling for me to stop chasing him and then he jumped into the woods."

I listened carefully as Lila stopped to take a deep breath. 

"I was frightened, as all of a sudden, I was left alone in the dark. " Lila resumed. I looked into her clear eyes. "All I wanted to do was to thank him. It must be very dark in the woods."

"And that's how you brought up the outlet thing?" I asked, already knowing the answer. Lila blinked. 

"Not really. I wasn't the only one." Lila nudged her mouth to one side. "But our family did buy that mini waterproof lamp. And some food every now and then."

"They used them?" I questioned her once more. It's just too impressive. 

"Yeah. The lamp was warm when I came once, the food was gone, too." Lila's eyelashes flickered. "They helped Fog a lot. They literally saved his life. The vet said he was probably stuck somewhere before he was rescued. That's why I'd feel bad not helping them in return."

"Therefore you left the 'thank you' note in the food box?"I smiled.

"Yeah." Lila blushed. "They'll understand, right?"

"Yes, they will." I gave her a goodbye hug as we arrived at my doorstep. "They will understand your kindness, Lila. And so would I."

"Thank you, Lila. You're a nice person."

Author's note:

Hello, my dear reader! I would like to first thank you for reading this far. As you may notice if you look at the contents list, most of these stories were written in 2017, a good few years ago! I believe that my writing has improved a bit since then, so if you would like to see more of my more recent works then visit stories from Part 29 onwards! 

Also, a snapshot of what is in this book:

- individual short stories, like this one

- small series, like "The Colour of U" or "Pompeii, it's August"

- an alphabetical list I started, I was going to write a short story for a class of 26, one chapter for each student and hoping to explore how some of their lives are intertwined. This would be spaced out among the later chapters, as sometimes I'd rather do some of the first two types.

Enjoy!