So, in the absence of my normal weekly story, I’ve decided to post a different single-shot story that I wrote for class a couple weeks ago. It had some specific limitations, including having to be written in the present tense (ugh) and exactly one page. Anyway, enjoy. Or don’t, up to you…

Lonely and bored, Ainsley was always lonely and bored. As he sits on the back step, he sees a squirrel climbing a tree on the other side of the fence. He sighs, wishing he could go play in the woods and find a friend to play with. Maybe a turtle or a frog, anything really. But the fence, the fence stands tall in defiance of this desire. Eight feet of dark pine separating him from everything to be found outside.

Walking inside the house, he finds his mom sleeping on the couch with the TV on. He tiptoes over to the front door, but the lock denies him escape. Returning to the yard, he glares at the fence with every ounce of his ferocity. He has tried climbing it many times, but the smooth wood offers no footing. But past failure does not discourage him from trying again. He goes to the one place where a knot in the wood provides some small amount of grip, and struggles with all his might. Still the fence defies him.

Frustrated, Ainsley vents his anger into his ball, kicking it across the yard. It bounces off the fence and returns to hit him in the head. With the blow comes inspiration, and he picks himself up to run inside. Returning with an extension cord, he stabs the end into the foam sphere, which he then kicks with all his might. The ball soars over the fence with the cord trailing behind, and again the child begins to climb. With the cord and the knot to help, he gets his hands on the top of the fence, and tries to pull himself upward. He only gets far enough to get a glimpse of the other side before his strength fails him. Hanging there for a few moments, he waits for his strength to return. Then every muscle in his body strains to get him up, and this time he makes it. Carefully dropping down, he sets off in search of adventure.

‘Till later

-David