The Right Answer

Slowtown

'Tyler, Jay wants to take you out to see the neighbourhood kids. You goin'?' Tyler's dad asked gently, leaning down to see Tyler's frowning face looking at the floor. He sighed. 'If I must,' he said, and stopped pressing random keys on his piano and slowly got up to wander over to his sock drawer. He puts on an extra pair of socks: for protection of course. He didn't want his soul to fall through his toes. That would be dangerous. A scary thought.

Jay knocked quietly and popped his head around the door. He didn't come In, as everyone is his family knew Tyler hates people not asking to come in. 'Im coming,' he muttered quietly, and quickly walked through the door. He wouldn't want to fall through the floor. That would be dangerous. Another scary thought.

Tyler took his pokemon cards with him in case any of the other kids wanted to trade. He didn't like the kids, but some of them did have good pokemon cards.

They left with the bikes and grabbed two cards and put them In the spokes of their bikes, so the wheels made a noise like a motorbike. Then rode them all the way down to the big hill, a few blocks away from their house in silence.

They could see the kids at the top of the hill chattering excitedly, and their eyes lit up when they saw Jay and Tyler. 'Do it, do it!' They chanted, and Tyler glared at them. He disliked other children, even if they are the same age, he didn't understand them at all.

Jay looked hopefully at Tyler. He probably wanted to do it to impress the girl he liked - Madelyn. Tyler was home schooled but even he knew everyone had a crush on Madelyn. Personally, he didn't see anything in her blonde hair or bubblegum smell or Minnie mouse headbands, but for some strange reason everyone else did.

Jay had hoped that Tyler would have understood his eye message: please can we go down the hill? But he remembered Tyler couldn't read expressions as well as others, so resorted to asking him. Tyler sighed, and Jay took that as a yes. They cycled down the hill and, realising how quickly they gained speed, Tyler squeezed his brakes. He saw Jay try to do the same, but all he heard was a scrape and clang of metal falling onto the road. Jays eyes were wide, and his mouth in an o shape. Tyler came over he realisation that Jay's brakes weren't working and tried to scream, but his tongue was numb and silent. Everything had to slow down, to stop. Why wasnt it? Hid mind was a mess of panick and confusion and desperation. His mouth tried to open in a scream,but his lips were stuck together like blocks of ice.

Eventually Tyler's safety alarm went off in his head and his hands forced him to squeeze the brakes. He watched Jay's bike as a blur until, very quickly, it crashed into the brick wall at the bottom of the hill and jays poor body was thrown against the wall with a sickening smack that even Tyler, fairly far away, could hear.

All Tyler's limbs went numb, and shakingly he dropped to the floor in a weak ball, his red bike fallen on top of him. He was slightly aware of the childrens cries and the wailing of an ambulance in the distance.