A Rock of Virtue

Silence filled the air in the dark and dusty dining room as Ronnie James stood before his older brother. The two had a decision to make that would not be easy and as they weighed their options they were painfully aware that time was slipping away. The bells of the ringing clock accented the imperativeness of the virtue upon which would determine their immediate future.

“Ozzy, what are we going to tell Mom?”, Ronnie said in a panicked voice.

“Grandma and Grandpa got this table when they got married and you know how sentimental Mom is...I think we need to make up a story.

While in the house, Ozzy, only fourteen had thrown an ill-guided rock at his younger brother which caught the stem of the chandelier stopping it in mid-flight causing it to fall right onto the middle of the dining room table. The rock left a very obvious and uneven indentation in the table and scratched the mahogany finish. The boys’ mother would be home from work soon. A single mother of the two boys, she took a job at the postal office for the benefits and the amount of holidays and she depended on them to help keep things running smoothly at the house.

“No, mom will know, and besides, what kind of story would explain this?”

“Easy for you to say, you didn’t throw the rock, Ronnie”, Ozzy said with disdain for his younger brother.

“Mom will be very upset but she always says that telling the truth is more important. We will probably be grounded but it would hurt her feelings if we lie and she knows it”.

“You’re right”, Ozzy agreed and just then, the rumbling sound of the garage door was louder than it had ever been.


WORD COUNT: 297