The dragon. Finish The Story Contest - Week #59

For those who don't know this kind of contest yet, every week one of the guys from the @bananafish tribe writes a little story and all you have to do is write your own ending about the story (no more than 500 words). Come and join us, there are many ways to win prizes and of course, have fun.

This is my entry for @bananafish's Finish The Story Contest - Week #59


Image by Socorro Benavides at Pixabay

This is the story of the week...

Coaster Town

by @zeldacroft

“Carl, I’m not telling you again. No.” The teen shook his head emphatically as he shut his locker. John started to walk away, with Carl close behind. Most of the students had already escaped after the release of the final bell, leaving the two teens mostly alone as they exited the grimy public school halls.

“Aw c’mon, man, my first shift starts tomorrow and I promised you’d be there,” Carl begged.

“I don’t understand, why did you even take the job if you knew you needed another person?”

“Because I knew I could count on you. My oldest, most bestest friend. Buddy, Old Pal?” He nudged John in the ribs, who rolled his eyes and started walking faster out of the building. John could feel his resistance waning under the shallow arguments and incessant prodding. Saturdays were valuable, but it was almost summer and getting a job wouldn’t be so bad if he could do it with a friend. He could still make Carl work for it though.

“I don’t know, I’m not liking all this peer pressure,” he teased. “Mrs. Campbell would be very disappointed in you.”

“Peer pressure doesn’t include perks like Coaster Town has,” Carl clarified.

“What perks?” John questioned.

Carl stopped and faced him, taking a dramatic, deep breath.

“Fifteen percent off park entry!” He exclaimed, inciting an amused eyebrow raise from John and a chuckle from a passing teacher. “Plus a free pass for the Twister of Doom and free hamburgers from the café!”

“Oh, I’m sure unlimited hamburgers won’t get old fast.”

“They pay over minimum wage, too. Seriously, this could be our big opportunity for some cash before summer hits.”

They were nearly outside, the fresh late-spring air drifting in through the open door. It was a nice change from the mustiness and body spray overdoses, and it made John almost look forward to working at a theme park. He felt the call of freedom in the form of sunlight breaching through the school windows. Stepping outside, the afternoon warmth of the sidewalk between the brick institution and the emptying parking lot won him over.

“Did you say we get to work outside?” John asked. Carl’s face lit up with optimism.

“Yep, at least most of the time.” John stepped next to his bike, one of the last few chained nearby. He ignored the eager inquisitiveness emanating from Carl as he unshackled the bicycle and stood up.

“Well, I suppose I could give it a try, anyway,” he conceded. Carl did a strange sort of clapping dance motion as his grin grew its customary vastness.

“Thanks John, you won’t be sorry,” he promised as he proceeded to unhook his own bike. “And don’t worry, they provide our costume and everything.” John halted.

“Wait, our costume? Singular?” John could have sworn he heard the job description as entertainers, plural.

“Yeah, the mascot costume. I haven’t seen it yet but I’m sure we’ll fit.” Carl climbed onto his bike as John filled with horrific regret.

And now, my final

A couple of gentlemen found themselves resting in the coolness of a Sunday evening. They were absorbed in their thoughts, immersed in the constant chirping of the crickets. The bubbles climbed desperately towards the edge of the glass, creating a white foam like milk, while on the outside they sweat large drops of water that slipped on John's shoe.

Carl took a sip of his beer and took a look at John. The gray hairs painted his hair, but even his expression retained the eternal youth of a perennial friendship. At least he still had his hair, unlike Carl, who was bald like a frog.

"Remember the time we worked that summer at the Coster Town theme park?"

"How could I forget that dragon costume?"

John chuckled.

"A dragon?" Asked a small voice spying closely on the two gentlemen.

Little Lucy approached her father and showed a big smile full of missing teeth.

"That's right, your uncle Carl had convinced me to work in an amusement park."

The eyes of the little one enlarged lend to know more about the history.

"You want to know about this story, don't you?"

The girl nodded vehemently

"We wore a costume of a great red dragon, made of many golden touches of frost that along with the light of the park lamps, made it shine at night as if it were alive. It was as long as a worm, as big as your mom's car.

"Woooooow!", said the little girl as she sipped her snot.

"He opened and closed his great jaws and bells sounded to the rhythm of our movements, up and down," Carl imitated the big mouth of the dragon, uniting and separating his arms, making his fingers sharp teeth.

"It was a very exhausting job. But how it attracted the public's attention. Isn't that right, John?

"Yes, all excellent, until Carl came up with the great idea of having the dragon throw fire through his mouth."

Carl laughed loudly at John's expression.

"I used a lighter and a can of my mom's perfume."

"It was spectacular!" Carl added.

"Uh-huh. We burned down half the theme park. The authorities and the firemen had to intervene. And we had to work all summer to pay for the damages," John replied.

"The best moments of our lives. If it hadn't been for that fire, your dad wouldn't have met your mom," Carl added with a big laugh.

Little Lucy, with her big eyes opened, listened without saying anything

"Your dad started leading everyone out of the park and called the authorities. Then your aunt, frightened, asked your father to look for her sister (your mom). She had lost her way between the smoke and the different establishments in the park."

"Fortunately, your father came to the rescue and I eternally fell in love with him," Sarah replied, taking the child in her arms.

"Dinner is ready," Sarah added.

Keep spreading the Steemit love


Thanks for passing by!



If you want to participate in this contest, go to:

https://steemit.com/contest/@bananafish/finish-the-story-contest-week-59



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You open this with such beautiful description of the two old men, John's grey hair, Carl being bald as a frog is a great line, it comes in so light hearted. The idea of them looking back on the summer, still friends all these years later is such positive approach.

The dragon costume sounds spectacular, and then contrasting it with the little girl, allowing them to paint it through her eyes brings an innocence to them looking back at the time they destroyed half a theme park, nearly killed a lot of people, and terrified a woman into falling in love with one of them. It brings a much lighter touch in, if only their attempt at a "lighter" touch had worked as well lol.

Ending it on the call for family dinner gives it a familiar feeling of closeness and intimacy, that brings it back to just being an every day moment between people who are so used to each other, it adds to the idea of years having passed, and John and Carl having remained friends, their lives growing alongside each other.

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"lighter" touch

That's clever 😄 (I'm still learning to get you)

I'm glad you took the time to stop by, thank you

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This post has been rewarded with an upvote from city trail as part of Neoxian City Curation program . We are glad to see you using #neoxian tag in your posts. If you still not in our discord, you can join our Discord Server for more goodies and giveaways.

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Your the second person to give me an idea about how to go about finding a girlfriend. Burn shit down. That'll attract them for sure. lol

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Yeah! That'll attract them for sure 😂 (Drakaris!)

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I love the blend of the lighthearted, silliness of the story (not that giant fires are that lighthearted, but in retrospect) and the description of the fantastical dragon told to a little girl. Both made me smile.

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Thanks for coming by, I'm glad you enjoyed it 😊

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Now this is the way to cause devastation and chaos but still keep it positive! It all worked out in the end right?

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Setting the ending to years later was a smart idea, it gave your ending such a nice atmosphere, especially with the lovely description in the beginning. The dialogue really felt like old friends talking, and the story they told to Lucy was compelling. Burning down half the park and having that lead to true love? Unexpected in a great way, and having Sarah chime in at the end brought it to a nice close. I can easily imagine them continuing past the final line, maybe reminiscing more over dinner.

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Hello @jadams2k18, thank you for sharing this creative work! We just stopped by to say that you've been upvoted by the @creativecrypto magazine. The Creative Crypto is all about art on the blockchain and learning from creatives like you. Looking forward to crossing paths again soon. Steem on!

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