THE FALL

It was a cold evening. There were hardly any clouds in the sky. But still, a coolness spread over Newton City. Five friends were playing something together. Something fun to play. One of them had black, dark hair and was holding a stick. Two of them with brown hair but different hairstyles were brothers, and they were holding stones in their hands, small pebbles. One of them was sitting on a stone and playing with his hands in the grass as if he were looking for something inside. One child had a blindfold on his eyes, and the others were setting traps for him in various ways and making him angry. The one boy lying on the ground had a small pocket watch on his left side.

_“Henry’s time is up!” shouted the boy.

It was a game where one of the friends would roll his eyes, and for the next 2 minutes, the others would tease and scare him with various tricks.

_“Okay, whose turn is it now?” said the boy with the watch.

At that time, all four of them stared at Nick. Niki was standing with a stick in his hand. This was the boy who was scaring the victim with a stick a few seconds ago. And now there was no other way; according to the rules of the game, now it was his turn.

_“Ah-ah. You can’t scare me. I can withstand sudden things like that better than you. But don’t throw those pebbles in my eggs, or I’ll punish you.”

Nick was a short child at 134 centimeters. A boy who was 11 years old at that time.

None of the other children were older than Nick, except for Antonio, who was bigger than everyone here. He was 12 years old, but he still didn’t give up on such a cheeky game.

A black bandage was wrapped around Nick’s eyes, and ten seconds were counted. Some were swinging sticks from behind; others were throwing stones at the boy’s stomach or legs. But Nick stood fearlessly and did not show any reaction to all this.

Then, in twenty seconds, they gathered from both sides and stood up. Nao was the name of the big brother, and Neo was the name of the little one. They took Nick’s hands and led him somewhere covered with a black cloth. Nick was fearlessly and anxiously waiting for the expiration of the time he was counting in his mind. There was nothing to worry about. His friends were taking him, and they would probably bump into something that was allowed by the rules of this game. That’s why he calmly took steps and waited for some obstacle in front of which he would be bumped.

One step followed another. There were already 11 seconds left when Nick felt tired. The leg could not feel the support, and suddenly Nick’s body fell down. The other leg also broke off from the asphalt, and Nick fell into the underworld with his whole body.

“Are you stupid? You needed to hold your hand tightly for Nick!”

“What do you blame me, you bastard?” suddenly a commotion broke out among the four children who were standing on the asphalt. One of them, Nick, should be thrown into the sewer hole.

“I felt the cool air. How it touched my body. And then I fell. Only the sound of the water was heard, and I felt a great pain in my head. There was a terrible smell, and I was lying in a viscous mass. My mind was slowly disappearing as the rhythm of the water flow was heard in my ears. What did I feel, if not betrayal? I was hurt by them, and now what should I do? Now I have to hurt them too, I swear. I will...”