Roy’s Picnic

“Roy’s Picnic” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Krisha Bansal, Ridgevalley School, Gurgaon, India.

Roy’s Picnic

Good Morning!!!! My little sweetheart!

Dad….I am already awake and don’t call me ‘sweetheart’. I am Roy; a boy. Sweetheart is used for girls.

But why there’s no such thing as girls and boys. It’s just that the gender is different. That’s what – Roy said. OK ! Ok! Leave it. Today your mom will be leaving the house in an hour and would be back only by night since she has some official work. And guess what??? We are going on a picnic, dad said in an excited tone. Okay then let’s hit the road; Roy replied while coming down the stairs.

“But first go take bath, brush your teeth, wear your clothes and comb your hair” – Dad winked to Roy. “And please don’t forget to put the mosquito spray before you leave”, mom ordered opening the door. “Ok Mom,” sighed Roy. And mom went.

Roy and dad also set off for their picnic. On the way they had loads of fun. They could not listen to songs as their radio was not working. Except that, they enjoyed everything. But they figured out a new talent. They were now making their own songs. They even lost their way to the destination. But all thanks to new technology phones. They opened their google maps and reached to the picnic area.

“When mom is around, isn’t it boring?” exclaimed Roy, to which dad gave a nod in affirmative. When they reached the picnic spot, for a second Roy was flabbergasted. He was so mesmerized by the beauty that he rubbed his eyes two three times to check if it was reel or real. Finally he gave himself a pinch – ouch! It’s real. In the picnic spot there were lots of activities. In some you had to jump and catch the rod, in one of them you had to hang on a rod and if you miss you drop in ice cold water and likewise many mores. Before going to the games Roy wanted to have something. He was making loud growling sounds. He was really hungry. His dad only bought junk especially chocolates and toffees. And that’s when Roy remembered mom’s picnic basket. But Roy had a sweet tooth too. He grabbed a burger and went to rise to the occasion.

While going towards the challenging games, Roy saw an advertisement on a pole. It was a competition; there was still time to start. So Roy went running to his dad and told him about the competition. Dad at first got a little angry and asked him to decide what he wants to do. This confused him as to what he should do? Then he finally thought that he should go for the competition. He took rupees 560 for the competition. He went to the ticket counter and bought himself a ticket. As he entered the competition area, he thought he had a sign of things to come. He thought being a sports captain in his school; he would win the competition any which ways. He was too over confident that he would win. The commander announced what all was coming in the competition. All the games which Roy wanted to do before were there in the competition – Roy thought grinning.

“Don’t get over confident, captain”. Dad advised. And there came back a big OK from Roy; getting to the starting line. Even though in the back of his head he was still happy imagining himself as the winner. He was again over confident.

There was a sound “CLICK”! and the race had begun. Roy was second in the lead. He was annoyed. Just to come first he ran so fast that he didn’t see a pole in front of him and he banged straight into it and went round and round and round. He was feeling very dizzy. That moment his father came quickly and caught hold of him. He finally stopped rotating. The First-Aid team came and gave him something cold to drink. He was much better now.

Suddenly he began to run again. Everybody shouted “STOP STOP”! But he didn’t. He said “I have to finish this race at any cost even if I lose”. His dad felt very proud. Roy finally finished the race (even after crossing all obstacles). He didn’t get any position but his father was very happy for him that he at least finished the race. Roy and his dad went home. The day was tiring and exciting. By the time they reached home mom was already in. So Roy told her everything and he started “MOM do u know……………………………..”