The Lightning Boys

They called their gang “The Lightning Boys.” Their given names were John, Jack, Harold and Sylvester. But their “gang” names were Speedy, Flash, Bullet, and Laser. They were fastest of their people in all the wood. Nobody could keep up with them as they raced across the forest floor. Their amazing speed caused them to become, perhaps, a little overconfident. They hid out in their leafy fort that day and planned a daring adventure. Their speed would be key to survival.

“Here’s the plan” said Speedy. “At twilight, we creep out and race to the edge of the road, wait for it to get dark, take one last drink of water, zip like lightning across and dive into the ditch on the other side for another nice long drink.”

“That sounds like a great plan” said Flash.

“Yeah” said Bullet. “This is going to be awesome. Folks will talk about us for a long time.”

“I’m not so sure” said Laser slowly. “I’ve never heard of anyone doing this before.”

“No one has ever been as fast as us before” argued Speedy.

“Yeah” said Flash. “We are greased lightning”.

“Let’s go” said Bullet.

Everything went according to plan. They made it to the other side, crept under the fence and took a long drink.

“That took longer than we thought” said Laser.

They rested for what felt like only a few minutes. Suddenly Speedy pointed and exclaimed: “Look the sun is coming up.”

“We better hurry back” said Bullet.

They dashed across the road. But before they were even half way, the sun had fully risen, heating the blacktop to intolerable temperatures. The four little slugs ground to a halt, curling up involuntarily to preserve moisture.

They were then easy prey for mothers of hungry broods, feeding their chicks.


300 words