“Over the Fence”

Author’s Note: This is a Take Ten to Write story and has not been proofread for errors. If I feel inspired or if there’s interest in the story, I’ll post a revised, edited, and extended version at a later date. Happy reading!

Prompt: “It’s easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.”
– Leonardo da Vinci

A yell rips itself from my throat as I pull myself up the fence. Trembling, my fingernails dig into the rain-softened wood and drag the rest of my body toward the top.

Finally, I flop onto the top, grateful for the rest. I don’t think that my body’s going to be able to take much more. After all, they always say that the second day of training is the worst.

I faintly hear Crocker yelling at me to keep moving, but I ignore him. I’ve already pushed myself this far; I’m not going to let him force myself even more past my limits.

My eyes close. Just a quick nap won’t hurt. After all, I deserve it.

Crocker goes silent. Actually, everyone goes silent. Something’s up.

My eyes open, and I see Crocker staring directly at me. Panic spikes in my chest as his hands shove my side. I topple over the side of the fence, another scream escaping from me.

All the air is knocked from my chest as I land hard on the ground. Crocker’s lucky I didn’t break something.

I push myself to my feet as Crocker jumps down, landing gracefully next to me. I open my mouth to yell at him, but the anger on his face stops the words in my throat.

“Don’t you ever ignore me again,” he snarls. I wrinkle my nose at the stench of his breath, which just earns me a growl. “Dish duty,” he barks, “until you learn your place.”

Even I know better than to argue at this point. It doesn’t mean that I’m happy with it, but it’s better than toilet duty.

Crocker gives me one last warning glare before turning on his heel to start up the training again. I sigh as I rejoin the line.

It’s going to be a long three years.

Final Comments: For some reason, I had a really hard time figuring out where this one was going to go.

Overall Rating: 🤔