Today on the ol’ blog I decided to start just writing a fictional story and see where it ends up. It got quite long, and kind of dark, but hey, that is what free writing is all about, you cannot sit and think, you just keep going and see where you end up. I think it stayed pretty on course….anyway, here ya go!
For Christmas, Jimmy was hoping to get a new badminton set, but he knew it was too exquisite to ask Santa for as he had a rough year. He also knew he was on the ‘naughty list” due to “the incident” What incident you wonder? Let’s go back, all the way back to June 17th, 2011.
It was a warm and humid day in Albuquerque, New Mexico, one that was very typical of that time of year, but at the same time not typical at all. Jimmy was downtown enjoying an ice cold soda at his favorite shop in all the downtown district, “Happy Walter’s”. Jimmy loved to ride his bike the 6 mile journey every chance he could to go downtown during the summer. It was his own getaway from the hustle and bustle of his parents Fireworks stand.
Jimmy had another reason to go downtown besides the soda. It was the beautiful Hillary Newnan who worked at Happy Walter’s during the summer. Jimmy would on most days make the trip into town, meet up with his friends Winston and Tyler on the way there and then enjoy the afternoon much like any 14 year old boy would in the summer.
On this day though, something different happened. Jimmy came into town with Winston and Tyler, got his soda, and gawked over Hillary Newnan for hours. On his way home was when Jimmy’s day became very untypical.
Jimmy took the train tracks that gave him a pretty straight path from downtown Albuquerque straight to his families land and fireworks stand off the highway. Jimmy’s parents fireworks stand was one of the most successful in the nation. The sold enough fireworks each year in the month of June to provide for their entire year, even though they stayed open year round.
On Jimmy’s journey home this day he noticed something on the tracks in the distance as he rode. The figure got larger and larger as he rode. He could tell it was a man as he continue on his way. As he got closer and closer he could tell it was not a man he had seen before.
Jimmy could tell it was a strange looking man, with a long nose, dirty hair, and torn up clothes. The man was carrying a bag that was also very dirty and full.
As Jimmy got close enough the man gave him a wave, Jimmy waved back and passed the man on the tracks.
A moment later Jimmy heard a train coming in the distance behind him. He looked back and noticed the man he had passed was not walking anymore. The man seemed to be struggling a bit with his foot….it was caught in the tracks.
Jimmy jumped off of his bike and ran to the man. He helped the man try to pull his foot free. As the train grew closer and closer they were able to pry his foot clean with plenty of time to spare.
The man embraced Jimmy and as he did Jimmy noticed now that the man had an incredibly strong odor. During their embrace he noticed the man had fireworks in his bag. Jimmy picked up the bag and asked where the man had gotten them.
The man said he was taking them back to a stand down the tracks that he had stolen them from in the middle of the night.
Jimmy got angry and yelled that the fireworks came from his parents fireworks stand.
The man let Jimmy know he had a change of heart and was deciding to return them to their owners.
Jimmy picked up the bag and mentioned he could return them for him and he could go back on his way, but the man tried to grab the bag from Jimmy and they began to struggle and pull the bag back and forth between each other.
The man was able to rip the bag free of Jimmy’s grasp, but as he did he fell onto the train tracks and was immediately crushed by the oncoming train!
Jimmy whipped his head around in fear of what he had just seen. He rushed home to tell his parents of what had happened and how it all was a huge accident and the man had been trying to return some things he had stolen from their fireworks stand.
Jimmy’s parents understood and let the authorities know of what had happened. The police could not identify the man as there were nothing on the tracks and only his bag remained. Still to this day it is a mystery as to who he was.
Jimmy has been living with the incident ever since, until today, Friday, December 16th.
While Jimmy was working at his parents fireworks stand a strange, dirty, and old man walked in. Jimmy thought he looked familiar.
The man handed Jimmy a bag that was full of fireworks.
The man was here? How was he still alive?
The fireworks he returned were not the same ones either.
It turns out the man had been able to hang on to the front of the train and ride it to it’s next stop in Arizona. He had picked up some other fireworks along the way to bring back for the ones he had taken.
Jimmy and the man shared their stories about the day and how Jimmy had taken off to run home without looking back to see if the man was there. It also explains how the police were only able to find his bag at the site.
Jimmy and his parents invited the man in for dinner that night. For Jimmy, it was a relief and got rid of the burden he had been living with since June, as they enjoyed the evening together and heard stories from the man about his life and how he got to where he is today.
Only two questions remains in the story, what 14 year old kid still believes in Santa? And also what 14 year old kid wants a badminton set?
Joe Knight 