Summer was the sound of leather and willow connecting hard in an open space. The ball came off the backswing with its distinct ‘chock' and arced comet-like across the sky. Tom, as he watched it fly, felt the shockwaves travel right up the handle through the rubber grip into his fingers.

‘Oh, well done, mate!' his dad shouted. They stared as the ball scribed its red parabola against the shimmering blue. From her deckchair in the shade, his mother cheered.

‘Perfect,' Tom whispered. He wasn't sure whether he was describing the stroke or the day. Very soon the season would change and it would be time to return to school, but at that moment he felt as free and as far away from the real world as the cricket ball was from the ground.

It splashed down into the shallows, the force throwing up a crown of white foam.

‘Better run, mate,' said his dad. He grinned as he jogged off to retrieve the ball.

Tom left the plastic set of stumps where he was standing and took off towards the bundled-up tee-shirt that stood in for a second set.

He touched the tee-shirt with his bat then sprinted back as fast as the sand would allow. His bare feet were burning. Sweat stung his eyes and covered his upper lip. He had definitely hit a six, but they always ran anyway. ‘House rules' his father called it. He touched the stumps and, as he turned again, almost collided with his mother.

She dashed past him. She was shouting. The other beachgoers looked up. Some started to run towards her. It seemed that everyone was running now except him.

Tom dropped the bat. The peaceful wash of the ocean was drowned out by urgent voices, yelling, shrieking. He saw a crowd gathering around his father's prone form and his mother's hunched one. Their image was stark under the sun's glare, but Tom's focus was entirely on a red cricket ball, floating away across the sparkling green water, already far beyond anyone's reach.

 

 

 

Based near Walyalup/Fremantle, English-language-teaching professional Nicki Blake's small fictions have been published online and in print. Her competition wins include Writing WA's inaugural ‘Love to Read Local' contest and Globe Soup's Winter Flash. She has appeared in every anthology published by Night Parrot Press.

 

 

© Nicki Blake

 

Published in Twice Not Shy: One hundred short short stories by Night Parrot Press (2021)

 

www.nightparrotpress.com