Bully

by Devin Myles

I ran home with tears in my eyes; stinging, blotchy legs from the ankles to the seam of my shorts. I told my father what Kelvin had done and he said this was all part of growing up, suggesting I should get used to it because in later life the pain would be so much worse. I next saw Kelvin playing cricket in the park; he was bowling when I picked up his bat. “Hey, crap-face; give that to me or I’ll do more than roll you in the nettles,” he yelled. I complied, batting for the full over; six times I hit him between knee and ankle. He never pushed me into the nettles again; nor did he play cricket.

6S

Devin Myles is an imaginary figure who set up a website for his short stories during a pandemic and started tweeting doodles from here.