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Thunder

Two brothers are home alone for the night. The older brother decides to play a game that could prove to be deadly.

By Harrison LindleyPublished 6 years ago 6 min read
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The thunder roared and the rain fell outside the window. “Tonight is the night,” he thought as he looked at his little brother playing across the room. The two boys were alone in the house. The clock read 8:30 pm. It was after a long afternoon of playing games and watching TV that the big brother realized it would be bedtime soon. “Should we play one more game before bed?” the big brother said.

The younger brother looked up from his building blocks and answered. “What game?” The big brother thought for a second then decided on the night’s final game. “We should play hide and seek,” the big brother said. With great excitement, the younger brother jumped to his feet and let out a joyous cry. “Yes! My favorite game!”

The big brother had him now. He knew that his little brother couldn’t turn down the opportunity to play hide and seek. Everything was falling into place. All that was left was to decide who was hiding and who was seeking. The little brother jumped up and down and pleaded to be the first to hide. “If you win in rock, paper, scissors then you can hide first.”

The boys both put out their hands. “On three.” The boys then proceeded to bob their fists up and down. On the third plunge, it was decided. The younger brother chose paper. It was easy for his big brother to win because his little brother always chose paper. Scissors was a sure thing. The little brother let out an excruciating cry. “I wanted to hide!”

The big brother looked up from his scissors and replied, “Rules are rules. I hide first. You better start counting, and no peaking.” The little brother walked over to the corner of the living room next to the window. The rain still poured outside as a huge flash of light lit up the sky as a boom of thunder followed in the distance. The countdown commenced.

The big brother ran upstairs. “Thirty seconds,” he thought to himself. He bolted around the corner of the hallway as another boom of thunder sounded outside the house. As he entered his parent’s room, he looked around. “Tonight is the night,” he thought to himself again. He could hear his brother downstairs. He didn’t have much time. He bolted toward the night stand and slid open the drawer. His heart began to race and his breathing started to become heavy as he dug through the socks. It wasn’t long until he saw it, the pistol his father kept in the drawer.

He grabbed the pistol and slammed the drawer shut. He had less than ten seconds. As another boom of thunder was heard outside the window of the room, the big brother’s plan was finally being realized. With swift movement, he ran back to the light switch and killed the lights. It was then that he proceeded to the closet. He entered the closet, closing the door behind him. “3…2…1...” he whispered to himself. The little brother’s voice could be heard in the distance, “Ready or not, here I come.”

The big brother sat in complete darkness as his little brother searched the house. After a minute or two, footsteps could be heard as the little brother made his way up the stairs. Then a shout came from down the hallway. “I know you came up here! I heard your loud feet over me counting!” As the big brother sat, he couldn’t help but smile. He wanted him to hear his steps going up the stairs. It was all part of the plan. The big brother couldn’t help but think of how predictable his stupid little brother was.

Ever since his little brother was born, he has been the center of attention. If there was only one ice cream in the freezer, the little brother got it. If he brought home some stupid drawing, their parents would mount it on the fridge while the big brother’s perfect test scores went almost unnoticed. It was always going to end up like this. The big brother’s jealousy grew into enormous rage as time and time again, his younger brother was loved and he went without recognition of his own.

“It won’t be long now.” The big brother whispered to himself as he heard footsteps make their way closer and closer to their parent’s door. The plan was finally coming to fruition. The big brother couldn’t help but be amazed at how predictable his little brother was. He knew that he would not be able to resist playing hide and seek. He knew that he would choose paper when it came time to decide the seeker. Everything was too easy.

The door of the room creaked open. The little brother made his way into the room. It was pitch dark. “Ooo scary.” The little brother said in the dark. The big brother sat quietly and waited. He could barely see the outline of his little brother through the small openings in the closet door as he searched the room. Only seconds remained before the big brother would reap the reward of his plan. He would be rid of this stupid pest, this insignificant parasite that only thought of himself. He couldn’t help but think of how stupid his little brother was as he raised the gun up and waited.

The figure of the little brother made its way to the door and stood there for a few seconds. “Are you in there, big brother?” The little brother said as another loud boom echoed and shook the whole house. The door to the closet began to open. It was finally happening. The doors the slid all the way open with a sudden jerk as the little brother yelled, “Found you!” The older brother pulled the trigger.

The gun’s hammer clicked but there was no boom. The big brother’s heart was racing. He pulled the trigger again. The hammer fell and again the big brother couldn’t figure out why the gun didn’t fire. A sinister laugh began to ring in the big brother’s ears as he looked up at his little brother. “You know that guns don’t work without bullets, right?” The little brother laughed. This couldn’t be possible. The big brother checked the gun earlier. It was loaded.

The little brother raised his hand to show that he had all five bullets that had been in the chamber earlier in the evening. They glimmered as lightening lit up the sky outside the bedroom window and followed by another loud boom that shook the house like a small earthquake. “You thought you were going to get me.” The big brother began to quiver in fear. The little brother had an evil look in his eyes as smiled at his big brother still crouched down in the closet in the dark.

“It’s too bad that you didn’t think ahead. You are so predictable. I bet you didn’t even know about the other gun downstairs, did you?” The big brother’s heart dropped as he heard those words. It was then that the little brother extended his arm with another pistol in his hand. “This one is loaded,” he said with a confident voice. As the big brother sat quivering, he began to shed tears. He thought about begging for his life, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t work. He closed his eyes as he heard his brother say, “You have no idea how easy this plan was.” A few seconds past and a final boom echoed through the house.

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About the Creator

Harrison Lindley

Harrison G. H. Lindley is a part-time writer from Belton, SC. He is Elementary Education major in college and enjoys telling short stories that will hopefully help him through school.

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