Writing prompt short story
The prompt:
The mist sheeted our island just as we had planned and we stood by the raft. It was overturned and settled into the beach.
‘Hurry,’ I said. We picked up the raft, each on the four sides of it and scrambled to the water. The water was freezing and stabbed like pins in my feet.
‘Come on,’ Jaykisana said. He was the bulkiest of us all and when he stepped onto the raft, it rocked as if giving up.
Raghav and Dan climbed in before I had my chance and to my horror, I saw that there was little space left on it. I pushed Dan and began to climb while Jaykisana pulled out the two oars underneath the wooden boards.
As soon as I jumped over, the raft began to sink and we all waited in tense silence to see if it would hold our weight and regain its buoyancy. It did not. The raft lost the balance and we were all in the water. The corner of the raft scraped my leg and I saw the water turn pink near me.
Raghav shivered as we stared at each other. The realization settled over us as sun’s light settles over the world each morning.
‘This raft only looks like for three men.’ Dan noted finally.
‘One of us has to stay behind.’ Jaykisana said but it was clear he did not include himself in the “us”. He climbed up on the raft, grabbed one oar in his hands and slid the other behind him with his leg. Smart guy. I can’t deal with him.
‘Listen, I have a wife… and a baby girl who has now all… grown up. I have to see them and spend… my life… with them.’ Raghav said between his chattering teeth.
Dan looked at me and put his hand on my shoulder. ‘We all know you have no one waiting for you out there buddy. I have my mother who is dying and I want to see her once before she dies. I had told you guy about the letter from my brother saying she was seriously ill since last month.’
‘So what? Does that mean I have to stay behind? This was my idea. I planned everything. We have this chance because of me.’ I contested.
Jaykisana stood silent on the raft, his forearms flexing as if they were crushing the oar. Raghav began climbing up on the raft without looking at me. I wanted to climb but I was frozen by their sudden backstabbing, and also by the water.
‘I will come back for you, Rafi,’ Dan said. ‘We’ll plan through letters and I’ll, we’ll come and get you. What say guys?’ He looked at others for support.
Wow. Such I had never heard such hollow words from people I called friends. But maybe they weren’t my friends at all. It appeared there were going to force me to stay behind. I wish I had a gun to shoot theses bastards and feed them to the sharks.
A wind began to blow and it felt like my skin was being frozen for preservation.
Oh, wait.
I walked back out of the water and Dan climbed back on to the raft. Raghav smiled and did I see tears in his eyes? I don’t know and I don’t care now.
I did not want to give them any hint of my immediate realization and to fake sadness, I put my head down and began walking back to my cell, to safety, to life.
‘We’ll come back for you Rafi,’ I heard Dan call back, a reassurance in his voice.
The wind picked up speed. I heard the oars slap the water and as soon as I was sure the mist hid me, I sprinted. Climbing the wall back was not possible, so I found a rock nearby and clobbered my head with it. I ran to the prison gate and felt the warm blood run down my neck. Do not faint now, I said to myself.
I reached the gates and banged on them. There was immediate clamour behind the gates and I saw the guards stare at me in horror. One aimed his rifle at me while the other opened the gate and came out. He was going to punch me but I collapsed on the ground and showed him my blood-soaked hands and started grovelling.
‘They have escaped!’ I cried. ‘They beat me and escaped.’ I pointed with my hands.
A third guard came running to us and as soon as he heard my words, he took out his radio and yelled, ‘Samsher, we have escaped prisoners in the west! Escaped prisoners in the west. They have reached the waters.’
I was cuffed while I counted seconds. I bet that the wind would clear the mist away enough that Samsher could shoot. But seeing the mist float around me in the wind, I wasn’t so sure now. I may get at least a month of solitary for my attempt, I knew. But I wanted those bastards to pay.
Bam!
The sound was the sweetest for me at the moment as it echoed by the prison walls. I counted one.
Bam! Two.
The guards pushed me through the gates.
Bam! The third shot. Samsher better be a good sniper. Thank me later for your practice, Samsher, I thought.
I did not attempt to hide my smile. I must have looked smug with my bloodied head and a smile on my face.
I waited to hear more shots in case Samsher missed any shots. There were no more shots. Either at least one bastard escaped or all were shark snack.
After three months in solitary, I wrote a letter to Samsher congratulating his perfect shots. He will go down in history as the best prison sniper, I hailed.
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