A Collection Of Short Stories

Fred

Fred crawled up the side of the tall building, making minimal to no sound. He was too driven by determination to be nervous. One hand slipped off a brick and dangled in the air. His body tilted, but he remained on the side of the building. Using all the strength he had, he pulled his arm back up and grabbed a new brick. He then continued upwards, completely unfazed.

When Fred reached the top window, he clung to the building with three of his limbs while using his free hand to shift through his backpack. When he found the wedge he was looking for he pulled it out and forced it under the window, prying it open.

The window creaked a bit, but no alarms went off. Fred lifted himself inside and surveyed the room he was in. It was a room full of weapons- that was perfect for his plan. He glanced at each of them and decided on a long, shiny sword.

He raised it off the table and admired the feel of it in his palm. He didn’t have long to enjoy it though, because an alarm went off. Fred was instantly on guard, holding his sword in front of him. The door to the room swung open and people covered in black clothing rushed in.

The one in front stopped the other and offered Fred a choice. “We can take you to our jail or we can kill you.”

With the second option Fred knew he would have a fighting chance, but with the first he would most certainly be killed. They would take his weapon, lock him up for a few days and hang him in the city square. The Maecenas was a merciless group.

Fred knew he had to fight. So he lunged forward and attacked the leader, killing him as soon as the sword cut through the man’s chest.  This triggered an instant reaction from the others and they all descended upon him one at a time.

The first one put up quite a fight, slashing a few cuts in Fred’s skin and lowering his overall health. But Fred hadn’t come this far just to die. He fought back and won. One down, three to go. The next was easier and seemed scared; Fred threw him out the window. Two down, one more left.

Fred was slower this time and his opponent got the first strike, attacking Fred with fierceness. He got in a few good blows, but Fred was ruthless. The third one was killed as well.

He could have waited until he was completely recovered, but Fred was dying to get on with his mission. He only had a limited time left. So he chowed down a slice of bread that helped a bit before leaving the room. The hallway was lit with torches and seemed to go on for miles in either direction. Fred went left.

He crept past all of the doors until he got to the end of the hallway. This time he was more cautious and made sure to disable the alarm on the door before entering the room. It was the room he’d been looking for.

Seeing no one in the room, he started towards the pedestal that held his prize on it. He was halfway there when a voice stopped him in his tracks. “Ah so we meet again.”

Fred turned and saw his nemesis, Dr. Kuroki standing by the door with some guards. “Your time as ruler is over Kuroki.”

“Is it?” The doctor replied before signaling for his guards to attack. He stood back and watched as Fred fought them all off. The years spent in the academy had trained him well.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Fred gloated once the guards were disposed of.

Dr. Kuroki laughed a cold evil laugh and didn’t reply. Instead, he jumped into the air and spun around before changing into a giant bat.

“What the-?” Fred exclaimed, jumping back.

The bat glided closer. “I’ve been preparing for you Fred.” He finished the sentence and dived, growing huge fangs. Fred slashed at the bat with his sword and they engaged in a battle that seemed pretty even. The time they spent fighting wasn’t calculated, but it seemed to go on for a while.

Finally Fred gained the upper hand, hovering over the doctor. “You’re time here is over!” He brought the sword up to deliver the final blow just as everything went dark.

“Mom,” a young boy complained, frowning at his mother. “I was about to win.” He was clutching his remote tightly, his eyes blurry from staring at the screen.

Jane rolled her eyes. “You said you would get out when family arrived, remember? Besides, you’ve spent long enough on this game.”

“But mom, I just got this game last week,” he whined, sulking because he had been so close to winning.

She laughed. “And you’ve spent all week playing it; it’s time for a break okay?”

“Fine,” the boy grumbled, leaning into his mother’s shoulder. “Can we play something else then?”

“Let’s play cards,” his father suggested as he entered the room.

Jane grinned. “That’s a great idea John. Do you think that sounds fun, Jake?”

Jake finally pulled his eyes away from the television, excited to spend time with his family. “Okay, I’ll put this controller away.”

“We’ll wait for you in the kitchen,” his mother promised, kissing his forehead. Then John and Jane left the room.

Jake put his controller on the table. “I will be back soon Fred and we’ll beat the next level, I promise.”

“I know kid,” a voice seemed to whisper. Jake giggled and ran to join his parents, already excited to resume playing his new video game.

 I wrote this for a website based around short stories.