Three Strikes By Curlyfro
So there I was on deck in the last inning. The game was tied and no one was on base. Both Tony and Eric had struck out and Andrew was getting ready to take his first swing. We were the last two teams left in the tournament, the Pottsville Middle School Poisonous Dart Frogs vs the Butler Middle School Diamondback Rattlesnakes. We Dart Frogs had smoked the Porcupines last night. Nothing but quills left when we were done with them! I had almost forgotten to bring the snack today, I was so worked up that I hadn't realized I had forgot them until I hit Main Street. So I had to bike back double time to get the snicker doodles grandma had made. She wanted to be supportive since she couldn't be there to watch me, so I let her make the snack. I had mowed yards all summer (well the yards on our street since my mom thinks there are kidnappers on every corner waiting for a 14 year old kid) and was still $5 short when I bought the bat on Saturday. I had forgotten about the tax so grandma chipped in when she saw me go limp with despair.
Anyway, this is the most important win of the season, of my life maybe and I can't focus...Yes- Andrew got on first base! Andrew's problem is he hesitates, he could have made it to second, but missed the opportunity. OK, no pressure, just breathe, you've got Silverton The Second (that's what I've named my bat, it replaced ol' Silverton) and the whole game depends on me not striking out AND getting Andrew home. Now why did the pitcher smirk? He thinks he's got me, he thinks...."STRIKE"...crud!... Focus focus focus! ok ok ok...that was just luck, don't look at his face, just focus on the ball, ..."STRIKE"...WHY did I swing at that? Why Why Why? What is coach shouting? And why is Andrew shaking his head? Andrew's other problem is that he is sooo competitive, I mean it is a game, we are suppose to have fun right! ok ok, here we go, he's going to go straight down the middle, here it comes, it's perfect! CRACK, It's good! It's gone! Aw Silverton, ya lucky bugger! There's first, they are still running after the ball, and there's second. They've got the ball and Andrew is going for home and they're throwing the ball, RUN! he's safe!!! We won! We Won!
ONE FOR THE REPTILE By Lamommasita
The shower was still running so off dashed Sammy to the basement. He tapped on his pocket to make sure it was there as he placed the stool by the tank. Slowly he lifted a side on the top of the tank that housed Nate's pride and joy he had used his allowance to buy, a Diamondback Rattlesnake. Sammy hated that snake for several reasons. But today he would get rid of it and get even with his older brother.
Where was that ugly diamondback Nate called Gem? Sammy couldn't see it. His heart was pounding so hard he could feel it in his shaking arms. Slowly & trembling he lifted the lock on the mesh top. Just as he held the top up about three inches his pants' button hit the glass on the side of the tank. Sammy screamed and fell backwards off the stool. Thank heavens the cement floor was carpeted because he would have been all scraped up. Then how would he have explained that? He sat there a little bit to listen for some movement upstairs. Mommy was on the phone to Granny, Daddy wasn't home yet and Nate was still in the shower. Since he could still hear the water rushing down the pipes to the septic. Sammy tried again but as he got up on the stool and started for the lid, there in the corner of the tank something moved. Oh how Sammy wished the basement had better lighting and that that stupid snake didn't look like Daddy's dark wool sweater. He had always been told not to go to near the tanks by his parents and Nate and he wished he had another choice. But he didn't and he had to do this. He recalled how Nate had given their dog his favorite stuffed porcupine toy that Santa had given him one Christmas. He loved that porcupine. Needles was his name and he protected him at bedtime to keep monsters away. No monsters in the closet or under the bed would come near Needles because he had the ability to stab them until they would cry. Sammy also remembered the awesome gift his Daddy brought him on one of his business trips. His Daddy had him look under his blue printed tie he was wearing that night. As he lifted the tie something moved and jump out at him. Sammy shock his head thinking about this and how embarrassed he was by his reaction. He had screamed and ran behind his Mommy. Well Nate never let him live it down and teased him constantly about being a baby. Nate had told his friends and when they would see him they would chant..." Sammy's a baby, Sammy's a girl...if he sees a rubber frog he'll run and his girlie skirt will whirl!" Sammy could feel his face heat up with anger. He still was a little frightened by his Poisonous Dart Frog but as long as he put it in his locked trunk at night that frog was da bomb during the daylight. Man it would stick to the windows and the shower, how cool was that! "Well it doesn't stick anymore!"...Sammy said out loud. Nate had to test out his new pocket knife and did it on frogger's feet. How awesome is a rubber frog without feet!
That was it! Slowly Sammy pulled the yellow box out of his pants pocket. He put it up to the lid and tried to pour it into the glass tank. Crap...he hadn't pulled the stupid lid back far enough. He was shaking so badly he could barley stand on the old stool and yet managed to pull off more of the lid. Again he tried lifting the lid and shake the box..he lost his balance and feel into the side of the tank. OH NO....there she was...that poisonous snake was heading up the side of the tank. OH SHOOT...Sammy wanted to back out in the worse way but he had to continue for the sake of his porcupine and footless dart frog. As he was starting to shake the box again the snake lunged and grabbed the box!!! Sammy was so scared he couldn't make a noise. He felt the snake's mouth touch his fingers. OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD and the tears flowed down Sammy's flush face. He was dead. The plan had failed. He had been punished the way he had been wanting to punish Nate for all his meanness. How could this have happen? Sammy could feel a heavy weight on his chest. He heard his Mommy calling his name which he knew she would found his limp body on the basement floor and she would be crying anytime now. How could this have gone so miserably wrong thought Sammy. WAIT....you can't think if you are dead. He tried to sit up but was restricted. Here the old stool had toppled on him in the fall. His Mommy wasn't calling him it was the whooshing of the washer spinning out. Sammy looked for Gem. Oh my goodness....she was still in the tank and so was the yellow box lid. Slowly Sammy pushed the stool off of his chest and approached the snake tank. Gem had headed back toward her shoe box and the yellow lid was stuck on the tip of a twig on an old branch in which Nate had decorated the tank. Where was the rest of the yellow box and its contents? There on the basement floor was the bottom of the yellow box but where, OH NO where was the rest of it? Sammy searched the floor, rechecked his pockets, frantically scanned Gem's tank. And there, there is was....it just had to be......Gem must have devoured it sideways and Sammy could make it out about five inches down her neck. It was all Sammy could do to keep from screaming with joy. His plan had worked!!! Sammy hurried to pick the lid off the twig on the top branch, lock Gem's tank, put the stool back, put the yellow lid on it's bottom, stuffed it in his pocket and flew up the basement steps. Just as his right hand touched the door knob, he jumped! He could hear Nate yelling " Mom have you seem my pocket knife?" All of a sudden Sammy felt a kinship with Gem...they shared a secret!
Here is my stab at it...
ReplyDeleteThe solid wooden door slams open with a bang. Kicking dust and debris in all directions. The unmistakable poisonous dart frog combat boot has destroyed the door handle and hinges. 13 years in the amphibian special operations has prepared him for this moment. With hundreds of targets under Elime’s belt – this one was personal. No money exchanged hands, no favors were asked. He was here to free his people once and for all. Elime follows through stepping into the open doorway. With the surprise moment on his side, Elime catalogs the room with his R-9 rising to match his line of site. Looking to the right “Coffee table, diamond back rattle snake body guard”. Tack! Tack! Two rounds leave Elime’s R-9 meeting their target with deadly precision. Both shatter skull and sheet rock. Panning left, six Mafioso porcupines huddled around a small wooden table covered with cards and cash. Each porcupine rushes, pushing away from the table in an attempt to draw weapons. “two, four, six..” Flashing back to Elime’s early years, a close quarter instructor tells his students “Hit your hardest target first and then follow through with the rest”. Still panning left “… Left side, two” the robust porcupine is already standing with weapon drawn but the weapon is not nearly high enough to make a clean shot. Clearly the hardest target. Tack! Tack! The young brown porcupine’s head snaps back as if suffering from whiplash in a car accident. Tack! Tack! Face first, the closest porcupine’s head hits the table. Both R-9 rounds puncturing the back of his skull. “…Center back, two” Concentration honed and pure adrenaline flowing – the sounds of shots fired are no longer register only the physical impacts draw attention. The first of the rear two slumps from two newly formed chest holes, the second falls backwards in his chair releasing his weapon into the air. “…right side, two” The first round passes through the closest porcupines neck then left temple. His body immediately goes limp dropping his massive handgun into his lap. Only the Grey porcupine remains. Almost at his own line of site, the grey porcupine’s T-12 begins to fire. Four rounds leave the muzzle. Elime recognizes the remaining porcupine “…Macks… the Mafioso leader”. Elime unloads the remaining eight rounds into Mack’s chest while watching his body curl into a lifeless ball.
Weapons and bodies reach their final resting places. Silence permeates the room. It’s over. Elime’s people are free from the Mafioso oppression. “Helpless amphibians will no longer be slave traded in this swamp...“
Pain rings out. His vision blurs. Three of the four rounds fired from Macks T-12 found Elime’s chest. He peers down seeing what is left of him pour out of his chest holes. His legs collapse out from under him. His chest slams into the floor. The pain spikes and then begins to melt away. Elime’s people will be ever grateful but will have to celebrate their new freedom without their hero.