Short Story Compilation 😊

Man or Eagle

I tossed the coin up to the air. I and my friends followed the coin with our eyes as it falls back. I caught it and immediately enclosed it with the palm of my hands.

And then I asked them, “Man or eagle?”

We’re playing fortune telling, and I’m going to be the fortune teller.

“Whatever your answer will be, your fortune will be decided by the coin,” I said with a mysterious tone. It’s a childish thing but we’re children anyway. “One by one, announce your answers.”

“Eagle,” Karina said.

“Eagle too,” Mayen said.

Karina got angry. “Hey! Don’t copy me!” She grabbed the collar of Mayen’s clothes as if she’s picking a fight, and she really is.

“I’m not copying you. Do you think you’re the superstar here?” Mayen replied, ready to fight back.

I guess I’m going to act like the most polite of them, “You guys, don’t fight. Even if the three of you will have the same answer, it doesn’t mean that it’s going to be right. Remember, what’s common will not always be right.”

“Fine then,” Karina said and released Mayen’s collar.

“Wait! It would not just end like that! You just harassed me you know!” Mayen impudently said.

“Let’s settle it later,” Karina replied.

“How about you Ayesh, what’s your guess?” I said to escape the current argument.

“I’m not copying you guys but eagle always win that’s why I’m going with eagle. However, how about you JT? What’s your guess?” Ayesh replied.

“Ehhhh?” I was surprised. “I’m the fortune teller so I’m not obliged to answer. But since you asked, I’m going to say, man.”

Before I opened my hands, Karina stopped me, “Wait! That’s not fair. You’re the one who tossed and caught it so you might already know the answer. Your answer will not be valid anymore. I’m changing my answer, I’ll chose man.”

“Honestly, I also don’t know which side would be shown up. But are you sure with your new guess Karina?”

“Mmmmmmm… Let me think more.”

Ayesh complained, “Cut it out Karina. You’re making it too long. I’m already too excited.”

“Fine! I’ll go with my new answer,” Karina said.

“Okay then, I won’t anymore stop opening it, whatever you say.”

I excitedly took off my hand which was on top, the coin badly went with it so it fell. As the coin rolled on the ground, we watched and followed it with mixed emotions but we all mainly feel surprised.

“JT what are you doing?” Ayesh told me angrily.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, we’ll decide the answer on whatever shows up if it stopped,” Karina plainly said.

“However, that’s not anymore going to be fair!” Ayesh said.

The coin finally stopped because it got stocked on a weed, but it leaned on the weed so it was still vertical. Both sides can be seen so the winner cannot be decided anymore.

“Look what you’ve done JT! No body won anymore,” Ayesh complained.

“Wait Ayesh. Don’t say that too early. We’re playing fortune telling, not gambling. Since things turned out this way, there’s probably a meaning. I and Karina guessed that it’s going to be man, you and Mayen said it would be eagle. In the end, both sides showed up, which means that, none of us were wrong and none of us were right. Our fortune cannot be answered by the coin. Probably, the coin was vertical because it wants to show us that life is not about guessing things, its about creating things. We only had two choices, the man or the eagle, we never thought that both sides could show up, but then that’s what happened. Things we never expected will always happen in our life and in other people’s lives too. But even though we do not always know what would happen, then doesn’t that mean that we also have the freedom to decide what’s going to happen. Also, instead of having limited choices, shouldn’t we just do unexpected things like what the coin showed us?”

“JT, you’re really weird. You’re speaking like the coin has a life on its own,” Mayen said.

“Ofcourse the coin is lifeless, because the coin is not the fortune teller here in the first place, it’s me. The coin was just an instrument.”

“You’re great JT. Let’s play again next time. I’m going home already. My mom’s probably waiting worriedly for me. Till then,” Karina said and turned away.

“Wait Karina, we’re not yet done," Mayen said, trying to stop her.

“I’ll deal with you later,” Karina replied while walking away and not even looking back.

“There she goes again, ignoring other people’s feelings. I want to curse her but she doesn’t even deserve my curses.”

“And that’s how Mayen praises herself,” Ayesh said and we all laughed.

“I think it’s okay to curse. I also curse you guys you know,” I said and their angelic faces turned demonic.

“This is how I curse you guys, listen properly, in the name of the wind and fire, I curse this people to stay with me forever,” I said and they finally calmed down.

Mayen held both of my shoulders and shook me fiercely because she felt emotional.

“You’re annoying, JT,” she said feeling uneasy, happy, and also flattered.
We’re all laughing.

While Mayen is still shaking me, I said, “Wait Mayen, you’ll make me faint." My voice sounded like I’m standing infront of an electric fan. We laughed even stronger.

Mayen is boastful, Ayesh’s weakness is rage, Karina’s is insensitivity, and I am a little bit manipulative. Even though it is a little bit, there are still people whom I’ve hurt because of it. Despite our imperfections, we still all trust each other. Maybe it's even our imperfections which made us stay together. The three of them made me aware of my flaws, but they didn’t left me hanging. The four of us point out each other’s flaws. Together, we feel very aware of ourselves, and that’s why we know that we could trust each other. I think that’s how friendship should be. We want to improve ourselves together.

-The End of the story-

Guys, I want to know your opinion about the story, and your personal opinion about friendship. You could personally message me, or write on the comments.

Thanks a lot.

P.S. I'm not an English speaking person, and I'm also not an A+ in English subject. Maybe I could claim that I'm near average, so could you please inform me if I had any errors. I'm very much open for criticisms.