Mini Short Stories: 2020 Volume 1

Ring - Story 1

There was bright sunlight pouring into her room, but the heat felt like lasers. She woke up with it already on her mind. Today was the day. The thought kept repeating in her mind as the fifth alarm finally sliced through her thoughts. It was time to get up. It was time to face it.

Rituals are habits and thankfully hers helped her move on autopilot. Her hand was on the door and she allowed herself a deep breath. "Time does not stand still," she admonished herself. She muttered that sentence all the way to the kitchen yet her plastic smile was already bright.

Her mother wanted a family breakfast, but Katy lied easily about an emergency meeting at school. Her mother smiled back and turned quickly away to hide her own pain. Katy's dad was more direct. "Can you handle it, girl?" "I can!" she nodded bravely. His eyes were calmly concerned as he instructed, "I'll pick you up after school." She simply nodded and felt the terrifying pressure like a thin ring around her throat.

School was another easy ritual. It was the final day and she had earned superb results in her mock examinations. The Spanish teacher exclaimed that she could speak confidently with natives while the principal boasted that fourteen Ones were in her future. She felt the ring constrict, but she calmly put on her plastic smile for all the compliments. The petty jealousy from bitter classmates also earned the same elastic smile. Then came the careless comment as she walked out. "Steups! Dem teachers not playing fair. They just sucking up cuz she family and dem rich."

The ring snapped.

She spun around at the giggling group and tried choking back the words that wanted to spew out. She hated the secrecy. She hated her helplessness and the lies. She had nothing to lose. She pulled off her wig and pitched it at them. The room went startlingly silent. "Yuh loss yuh hair?" an incredulous titter started.

"Yes! I lost my hair!" Katy yelled and the crowd instantly became hers. "Same way I got sick. Same way I bought this stupid wig! Same way money can't buy me life. I have three months of life left! And no more of it left to give to you fools."

She ran then sobbing all the way to her father who just held her without question. "I'm going to die in three months, Daddy!" she wailed. "You have three months to live, Katy love," he replied, but she felt his warm tears and somehow did not feel as alone. For the first time, Katy was looking forward to living the next few months of her remaining life.

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This is a sad one isn't it?
But still there's an undeniably positive feeling at the end.

What would you call that feeling?

The story was inspired the idea of having a suffocating secret or a stressful dilemma.

Do you think she looked cool as she ripped of that wig?
Personally, I think she's rather epic even with a reduced life span.

How would you stop bullies?
For me I would just ignore them and pretend they didn't exist 🤣🤷🏾‍♀️

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