It’s All in the Timing
written by: Johnch
Duckworth stood, contemplating the bent shaft of his bicycle pump, a ninety-degree kink. Carefully, he started to straighten it out only to find he now had two parts, one in each hand. He pushed his hat back, exposing the sweat on his brow to the evening air, wondering how he was going to make the train.
“Quiet country lanes don’t offer many opportunities,” he mused aloud, his voice lost in the overhanging trees.
“Ahh, nothing else but to ride the bike with a flat tyre.”
Stuffing the broken pump into his backpack, Duckworth presented his feet to the pedals and his bum to the seat and set about grinding the rubber tyre into small black pebbles to be left as a trail to his destination.
At the top of a hill, Duckworth paused and retrieved a bottle of water from his backpack, sipping the last of the water. Grimacing at the bottle, Duckworth thought about the decision not fill it. That last kiss from his wife as he hurried to the door, “I can make the six fifteen if I go now.” Her laugh, excited at the prospect waiting.
Topping the hill, Duckworth, thighs aching, rested on the down slope, concentrated on keeping the increasingly erratic front wheel on the narrow path. Finally, he reached the crossroad. Stopped taking extra care now, for three people had died at that place last year. He wheeled his bike across and was about to mount his bike when something glistening under the hedge caught his eye. He dismounted and, stepping off the road, reached under the hedge. Disconcerted by the barbs of the box thorn, he stooped lower, finally grasping the object. As he straightened, he heard the roar of a truck coming round the corner and then the tangling, jangling noise of his bike bouncing under the truck.
Stunned, he paused before pulling his mangled bike upright and then hurling its useless form into the hedge.
Then, in complete dismay looked at the ring pull tab shining in his hand.
“Humph.”
NOTE:
Based on the Prompt – Three Objects, One Truth
- It’s All in the Timing - February 21, 2026
- Consequences - November 26, 2025
- Hallowe’en - October 28, 2025
