"The Bandit"
The Parameters:
Genre: Action/adventure
Required Idiom: “Put hair on your chest”
Required Adjective: “General”
The Story:
Ash follows Dad and Uncle Flint down the rainy street. They’re late, and Mom’s going to be mad.
“Lemme see,” Dad says, and Flint hands him the little bag they just got from their friend. Dad sniffs. “That’ll put hair on your chest.” He looks back at Ash. “Don’t tell your Mom.” He and Flint laugh.
“She already hates me,” Flint says. That’s true, Ash thinks.
They descend the subway steps into the nearly empty station. Flint turns to Ash. “You ever hopped a turnstile?”
“Like, not pay?”
“That’s the general idea. Jump over and open the gate for us.”
Dad’s quiet but smiling.
“I won’t go to jail?” That really makes them laugh.
Ash is the tallest kid in fifth grade, but suddenly that bar looks higher than it ever has.
He grips the sides, hoists himself up, arms quivering, kicks, knocks into the bar, tries again, clears it, slips…
And tumbles onto the concrete. Flint laughs behind him. He drags himself up–
“Hey!” Out of nowhere— a cop. Ash doesn’t know what to do, doesn’t know what punishment this warrants, can only picture himself in a prison cell, so he takes off down the platform, weaving around confused passengers, sprinting fast as he can.
The cop is yelling and so is Dad but Ash keeps going, up the steps to another platform where there’s a train waiting, doors closing.
Ash leaps inside.
As it pulls away, he wonders what Dad will tell Mom when he goes to jail.
Next Week:
Genre: Horror
Required Idiom: “Bend over backwards”
Required Adjective: “Vigorous”