1 Geo
Geo wiped his bloody nose, leaning against the cinderblocked wall of
the neighborhood playground. Everyday, it felt like to him that the beating won't
stop--his step-father, his step-brother Johnny, and the neighborhood bully named Eddie,
They all had something in common--they liked beating Geo. As Geo stood up, the group
of boys surrounding him stood in a half-circle, menace on their faces. Eddie, the bully,
was the biggest one of them all. He took lunch money from the grade schoolers just for fun,
and threatened the nerds in his class to do his homework for him. And to make things worse,
the teachers and the headmaster let him get away with it. Why? Geo doesn't know, and
Eddie didn't care. As far as Eddie was concerned, he was King Bully of the 7th Graders.
But Geo didn't buy it. He wouldn't give Eddie any money (not that he had any to begin with),
or do his homework for him, or make him a sandwich for lunch. Geo didn't want trouble, or to get
into trouble. But yet, he's getting a beating still. Today, Eddie and his lackeys took Geo's
backpack, and found an old camera--Geo's father's camera. They tossed it around while Geo
chased them, but he stopped, and they tired of the game quickly. Eddie snatched it from Tommy,
the head lackey, and looked it over. "My uncle had one of these. He traded it in for a better model,"
Eddie stuck his face close to Geo's, nose-to-nose. "What's it worth to ya, huh, Geoffrey?"
Eddie sneered into Geo's face, "Ya better let me have yer camera, or I'll give ya a beatin'
ya've never had in yer life!" He grinned into Geo's face, his fat, pink cheeks wobbled as he did so,
reminding Geo for a moment of a fattened pig. Geo tried to grab for his camera, but Eddie kept it
out of his reach. "Look," Geo pleaded, "I'll give you anything you want, but I need that camera back!"
"Then ya shouldn't have taken a pic of me with Donnie Braxton, me beatin' the stuffin' outta him!" Eddie
laughed at Geo's efforts to get the camera back from him, "Serves ya right!" the lackeys shouted at him,
"Give it up!" Eddie held the camera high above his head, while Geo tried to reach it by jumping as high as he
could, but Eddie was too tall. As soon as his feet landed on the ground after a futile effort to reach
his camera, Eddie kicked Geo in the stomach. Eddie's grinned widened as he watched the small, skinny,
spiky haired kid double over, and fall to his knees with the wind knocked out of him. Geo was stunned.
As Geo struggled to breathe, to ease the pain in his stomach, the jeers and shouting changed to
screams and shouts. Geo looked up, and saw he wasn't on the playground anymore. He was in a magnificent, futuristic city with a transparent dome covering the city. He noticed that he was one of hundreds of people, who were shooting at the sky. This his surprise, the sky was burnt orange, like a sunset sky on Earth. They were firing at the sky, which were filled with strange, metallic, robotic creatures, who fired green beams at him and the others. People were falling down, dead, all around him, screaming in agony as they fell.
Geo was scared, very scared. He felt helpless, and scared. He looked down, and saw a weapon in his hands. He felt a quiet dtermination grow within him, replacing his fear. He lifted his gun, faced the creatures flying towards him, and...
...punched Eddie squqre in the face. Eddie cried out, his nose gushing with blood. Not wasting any time, he kicked Eddie in the stomach, making him fall to his knees on the concrete ground. Eddie doubled over, gasping for breath. Eddie's lackeys, including Johnny, stopped their shoutings and jeers, shock on their faces. Eddie looked up, the shock on his face matching his lackeys'. Eddie looked at Geo's face, and his pink cheeks, along with his face, went ashen. He whimpered softly, crumbling under Geo's intense gaze. Geo put his hand out, "My camera, please?"
Eddie was more than willing to comply. Hastingly, Eddie gave Geo back his camera. Geo took it,
and walked past Eddie without another glance. As Eddie's lackeys moved out of the way for Geo, Geo felt a sense of dignity he never thought he had before. He ignored his sore, bloody nose and tender stomach, walking with his posture a little bit straighter. He felt a sense of pride, and a dark feeling in his heart, replacing the
innocence he left behind with Eddie, who was slowly getting up to go home. No, Geo thought to himself as he picked up his backpack, and shrugged it onto his shoulders, camera still in his hand, I left my innocence back at the futuristic city, wherever it was, Geo walked home, knowing that his step-father or step-brother won't lay a hand on him ever again.
