Outstanding Story (Sub-junior) - The Wanted Man

“The Wanted Man” is one of the outstanding stories (sub-junior) of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2019 written by Chibugom Dike, RA international school, Nigeria.

The Wanted Man

It was a Sunday night, when daily news reporters reported that a man had just escaped from prison. His name was Billy Jumbo and he was 22 years old. He had been spotted at a doughnut shop but he got away. Along the way, he found a pickup truck, broke the glass, unlocked the door from the inside then hijacked it. Just as he was driving off, he found some more clothes and food supplies, he couldn’t believe his luck.

After some months, he had thought that the cops had forgotten about him. So he decided to trade his old clothes for some jewellery, then he started selling them for a living. A girl named Paulina lived in a house near where he was selling. She wanted one but unfortunately the girl didn’t have enough money. She thought of trading something for the bracelet. Suddenly Billy saw a police man and started to run into the bushes and luckily for Billy the police man did not spot him. Later that morning, Billy came back making sure that the coast was clear. He then went back to the little girl and asked “What are you willing to trade me for this bracelet?” The little girl replied, “I don’t know.” So she asked him to come into her house, but Billy did not know that the girl was living with her parents and her dad was a police officer. Luckily, her dad was not home but her mom was at home.

Her mom asked her “Who is he?” and Paulina replied “He was selling bracelets and I am looking for something to trade with him.” She kept on looking and looking until she found a golden plate. Suddenly, the doorbell rang and it was her father. The robber immediately knew that he was a police officer because he was in his uniform. He looked for somewhere to hide but there was no place and her dad arrested and took him back to jail.