Short Stories

Story 1 - The Rosary

The boys scanned him, looking at him as if deciding whether to gobble him up or let him live.

After a good five minutes of their staring, one of them spoke up, " kind of a pretty boy, ain't he?".

He flinched at that. but tried to look a little more confident.

He wasn't wearing his binder, but he had a flat enough chest that they shouldn't be able to tell.

He hoped, anyway.

" say, pretty boy, what are you gonna give us in return for the help? " another asked, making eye contact with Ty and taking a long, slow drag of his cigarette.

What the fuck had he gotten himself into?

" Uh...I don't got anything with me right now " the brunet murmured, backing up a bit. He would run when he got the chance, " but I could probably get you some...some cash or something...".

The tallest of the teens before him flicked his cigarette to the ground, hopping down off the truck.

FuckFuckfuckfuck!

Ty was quick to turn and run, but the male grabbed his arm before he could, the other  boys joined their friend, the lot of them tossing their cigarettes aside and grabbing him, holding him down.

However, before they could do much of anything to him, the whole area exploded in a show of smoke and fire, the boys scrambling to get the hell out of there.

Ty scrambled to get up and leave as well, hand already reaching for the rosary in his pocket.

His hand closed on air, his pocket empty. He whipped around, searching through the growing fire and fallen debris for his comfort object.

The only remaining piece of his life that wasn't completely fucked up.

He saw it then, lying on the ground under a piece of shrapnel. Despite the momentous explosion from before, the overhead canopy was still standing, bits and pieces of it on fire and some still falling.

He would only have a second to try and grab it before he was skewered.....but this was all he had left.

This was it.

The male said a quick prayer under his breath, kicking off the slightly charred slippers he was still wearing.

He had to do this.

Ty took a moment to ready himself, before running into the flames and towards the rosary.

He nabbed it and began back, but he didn't make it all the way. A piece of the metal canopy fell from above, pinning his arm to the ground.

He screamed, tears evaporating in the heat as quickly as they came.  The flames grew and free and grew, getting closer and closer to him.

He was taking in gasping breaths now, the black smoke starring to overwhelm him. He was still gripping the rosary in his left hand, trying to lift the shrapnel off his right.

The male cursed in Italian, he couldn't get the shrapnel off without hurting himself, but the smoke was becoming too much.

Then he saw him.

One of the boys from before was rushing back, running to help him.

Ty didn't ever find out why the male had helped him, but he was thankful all the same.

The taller male managed to get the shrapnel up, but Ty was out of air. His lungs were filled with smoke and he was nearly unconscious by the time the other male got the metal off.

He later learned that the boy had carried him all the way to the hospital, nearly five miles up the road.

Ty lived, though he had several burns and his arm was broken in several places.

When he woke the next morning, his rosary was gone and his parents were there, the both of them sobbing.

His parents were so scared for him and decided that morning that they would do their very best to accept him.

And they did.

Ty only wished he could have thanked the male from before, but he didn't think he'd ever see him again.

However, nearly five years later, he got a text message from an unknown number, a location to meet at.

He did, stronger and more confident now than he had been before.

He wasn't scared in the least. And he shouldn't have been.

After all, it was the mystery male from before, and he had Ty's rosary.

" I think you need this more than me, " the male murmured, placing it in Ty's hand, " sorry I kept it for so long ".

The two talked for a while longer, but in the end, they simply disappeared from each other's lives once again, the only thing connecting them Ty's half-melted rosary, now inscribed with the words ' pretty boy '.

He took it more as a reminder than a threat.