Hardy and Jimmy: A Flash Fiction

Once upon a time, there lived two brother rocks. The eldest rock was Hardy. He was nice and big. With smooth textures, Hardy was the “good rock” of the family. He would always stay with the other rocks, helping them with channeling the rain water to the underground veins. His younger brother, Jimmy wasn’t like the other rocks. He was small and rough. He had sharp edges and no one wanted to sit next to him. But Jimmy didn’t care, he wanted to cause trouble. He wanted until the humans walked over the gravel and jump inside their shoe. His favorite spot to stay was near the toes. When he had bothered them long enough, they would tear off their shoes and toss him far.

One day, Jimmy and jumped into a sandal of a young girl. She was happily skipping to the playground. He was on his way to his favorite spot, but his timing was off. He landed in the middle of the sandal and she stepped on him.

“Ow!” she screamed. “I must have a rock in my sandal.” She knelt over and pulled off her sandal. Jimmy tried to move, but the girl saw him.

“No, please don’t throw me!” Jimmy cried, sarcastically.

“I’m not going to throw you.” the girl said, smiling devilishly. Jimmy felt concerned as she carried him to the playground. She walked over to the fountain and loamed over it.

“No! Don’t put me in there!” Jimmy cried. He heard stories of fellow rocks being thrown in here. Only to see who can make the biggest splash.

“This is payback.” the girl said, cradling Jimmy in her palm. Jimmy tried to roll off, but the girl kept him still. She brought her arm back and tossed Jimmy into the fountain. As Jimmy’s life flashed before his eyes, he noticed he had been a bad little rock. He realized why he was called “pebble”. Pebbles were the lowest of rocks.

Jimmy made a small splash and slowly sunk to the bottom. As he landed on the fountain surface, he can still see the girl looking over the fountain. He turned to see his fallen brothers. There were different shapes, sizes, and colors. He knew no one will come after him, no one came for these rocks. Jimmy thought about his brother Hardy. I wished he could have been like him. Big, well rounded and good. He just remained motionlessly, like a good rock should.