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The Old Man and his tRusty Bike: a short story

The Unicorn Challenge

A magical new weekly writing opportunity from Jenne Gray and  C. E. Ayr who invite us to write a short story each Friday.

Unicorn Challenge 25 August 2023

This week’s Unicorn Writing Challenge is to write a short story inspired by this image, of no more than 250.

My short story, THE OLD MAN AND HIS BIKE is an exact 250 words long.

The Old Man And His Old tRusty Bike

The old man and his bike | Digital illustration; pen and wash©️Lesley Scoble
The bike is old and it rattles. The rust on the old chain creates a grinding noise around the cog, causing a high squeak, followed by a rasping clunk with each turn of the peddles.
 
The old man has ridden the bike since he was a boy. Nowadays, his knees creak with each wobbly pedal. Together, they make industrial music on their journey down the road. The white rose in his lapel looks dapper.

It’s time to put some WD40 on you, my old buddy. 
That’s rude, said the old man. 
He laughs (they often had these imaginary chats). 

The old man is at his happiest when cycling with his lifelong companion. Ever since that exciting Christmas Day when Santa gave him a big bike; he and his loyal metal friend always travelled together. 

Until the war.

After the war, he returned home. It was leaning against the wall, just where he’d left it. It looked different. It had lost its gloss. The bright paint of his youth was dulled. He lifted it up straight and spiders fled from under its old leather saddle. That’s when he first noticed the rust. 

Today, it was taking him somewhere else.

Where are we going? Shall we go along the coast road to look at the beautiful blue sea?
No, we’re going to a wedding. I’m getting married.

The bike trips in a rut in the road. The old man goes over the handlebars. The bike topples over, falling down dead beside him.

Lesley Scoble,   August 2023


My thanks to Jenne Gray and  C. E. Ayr for the inspiration and fun of writing to this prompt.

Lesley lives in the City of London Square Mile. An artist, actor and sculptor (her first ceramic sculpture won the V&A inspired by… Award). Scenic artist & book illustrator, playwright, (her musical play, Rapscallion performed in inner city schools and theatre school); TV dancer; Animator and illustrator for TV production. Set up Pinecone Studios Ltd and IIMSI Ltd drama and filmmaking workshops in London – producing award-winning films made by children.

lesleyscoble

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22 responses to “The Old Man and his tRusty Bike: a short story”

  2. The way I’m reading this is that the bike finally died after serving the man all this time. The man did not die, at least not on his wedding day! How incredibly sad would that be?
    This is the “The Giving Bike”, a cyclist’s edition of Shel Silverstein’s “The Giving Tree”. Poor old bike.

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  7. Oh, Lesley, the romantic in me is struggling not to believe he died on his wedding day – after having waited that long!
    But stories go where they want to go!
    I read how he viewed his bike after the war as the effect of the war on him – nothing is ever so bright after an experience like that.
    Great graphic too.

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    • Thanks so much, Jenne! I enjoyed the challenge very much.
      I set out to write a comedy 😂 but as you say,—stories go where they want! (also, I needed more word count for the comedy).

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