The Moment He Lit the Fuse | Teen Ink

The Moment He Lit the Fuse

April 27, 2021
By Ulleehn GOLD, Lititz, Pennsylvania
Ulleehn GOLD, Lititz, Pennsylvania
13 articles 8 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
"It is our choices... that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. " — J. K. Rowling


Soapy stood up and went directly to a local bank at a corner of the Fifth Avenue Street, where a cash truck parked.

It was just in time.

Seeing his arrival, five men with their faces covered in black gathered. Their plan proceeded as expected until it was Soapy’s turn.

The truck remained intact, the guard dog rolled over and went back to sleep, lights in the theater were on like thousands of past nights, and Soapy stood still, in the same way, ten seconds ago.

The world was peaceful, as not being expected.

They were arrested. While two police officers interrogated Soapy about what happened last night, he replied nothing out of something. The something was a robbery plan. The nothing followed the moment he lit the fuse.

– – – – – – – – – –

Soapy was abandoned after being freshly born.

Twenty years ago, a woman brought him home, a home of a marriage in poverty. His father was sick, lying in bed all year round. Mother always got up early, not until the sun rose, and returned home after he already travelled to the Wonderland. Their life was dependent on money from collecting garbage around the wealthy neighborhoods.

In this small home, Soapy grew to be tall and vigorous.

He conceived himself the most fortunate boy in the world. Although he could not see his mother very often, he knew that she kissed him every night, again and again. She was always proud of him, too proud that her love would never be blown away like the sand. Whenever Soapy approached, father could always catch him with his bony shoulders and obtain his endless laughs with many funny jokes.

By the time Soapy attended school, the Pandora’s box was popped open.

Soapy soon noticed the differences between him and many of his classmates. While others wore furry coats on freezing days, he only had the same papery jacket to put on. When they had meat for lunch, he was chewing bread as hard as a stone. By the time he got back home, the way to spend the afternoon was either looking at his father’s pale face, listening to the roaring winds outside, or feeling freezing air piercing through his body, unlike most of his peers, having the option to draw, to read, to watch TV, to …

Soapy subsequently realized it was a shame staying with his incapable and redundant father, at the same time, watching his emaciated mother being an aimless bee.

In response, Soapy started breaking the laws, by any means. In this way, he thought God would remember his existence and act to compensate for his parents’ negligence to him over the years.

– – – – – – – – – –

After the interrogation, Soapy was imprisoned. On the eighth of August, he got freed.

The light was on at his destination.

Through the light, he saw a back view of a woman waiting at far, like the back view, with messy white hair, riding a bike on the other side of the street, the moment he lit the fuse.


The author's comments:

I am an international student. The inspiration for this story comes from the day when I arrived home on winter vacation. As soon as I got out of the car, I saw the back view of my grandmother waiting anxiously outside the door. It was very cold that day. Her white hair tangled with the unmelted snow. At that moment, I was acutely aware that my grandmother was getting old. Like Soapy, at that moment, a small part of my heart was lost. So, I wrote down my mixed feelings in the hope that this story will remind you of someone you love, someone who will always love you.


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This article has 1 comment.


Afra ELITE said...
on Feb. 15 2022 at 2:13 am
Afra ELITE, Kandy, Other
103 articles 7 photos 1824 comments

Favorite Quote:
"A writer must never be short of ideas."<br /> -Gabriel Agreste- (Fictional character- Miraculous)

The storyline is beautiful and the message is touching...I love it...👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻