13 April, 2021

Jack and Jill #AtoZChallenge J

 

Jack and Jill went up a hill to fetch a pail of water.

...Or did they?

"Oh crap oh crap oh crap!" Jill freaked out as the blood oozed from Jack's head and spread in a dark stain on the blanket. They had flipped over in the heat of the moment and heard a crack as his head knocked hard on a rock beneath the blanket. A blanket now spreading red as Jill tried to remember if her First Aid class had taught about how to slow bleeding from a head wound.

He was still conscious, thankfully. "Head wounds bleed a lot," Jack murmured. "It's probably not as bad as it looks."

Jill placed each hand down on either side of his head and looked wide-eyed into his face. "How do you feel?"

"Annoyed," he smirked. "I didn't finish. Did you?"

"Cha... teh...uh..." Jill collapsed back to where she'd been straddling him. "At least you didn't break your sense of humor."

He groaned in response. "Uh... off? Please?"

"Oh right." Jill swung her legs to one side and straightened her dress anxious to do something. "What do we do now? I have to get you to a hospital. What will people say?" His wife was gonna be pissed! "Can you sit up? Or roll over?" He rolled to one side, moving the head wound to the top. He was reaching for his jeans. 

"Can you...?"

"Sure," Jill handed him his jeans. In that minute Jack realized he'd have to talk her through this step by step. Jill was a hot piece of tail, but clearly not great in a crisis.

"Okay, Sweets? I'm trying not to move too much. You'll have to help me."

"Of course!" She leaned in to kiss him, but must've seen Jack cringe because she pulled back. "What do you need?"

"Underwear. Find it. And pull it on me. Gently." Jill nodded and crawled around, finding them half under his legs. She put each foot through and carefully worked them up to his hips.

"That's not right," he said. "Do you see the fly?"

"What? Oh. Crap." She pulled them back down, less gently this time, making Jack grunt with the effort. After pulling them up the right way Jill guessed the next step and took his jeans back from him. She made sure they were the right way round before fighting his foot into one leg. With one foot in, Jack interrupted her progress. "My cell phone, please? It's in my jacket."

"Who you calling?" Jill asked while digging in his jacket.

"After I'm dressed, you'll need to help me back to the parking lot. I'll have the EMTs meet us there." Jill's eyes widened. Her parents absolutely could NOT know about this. He was already dialing, so Jill moved to get his pants up. "I have a head injury," she heard him saying. "Yes, me. I'm conscious, but there's a lot of blood."

He moaned in pain as he lifted his hips to help her, putting weight on his shoulder and head. "Ahhh! Hit my head on a rock, falling near the spring... yes, someone is with me to help. Can you meet us at the Spring Road parking lot? Thanks."

He hung up. "They wanted to talk to you, but we need to talk first," he said as he put the phone down. Jack saved Jill the trouble of doing up his zip and button. "Listen Jill, they're going to ask you what happened. You brought a blanket and your backpack, to study by the spring. I slipped while I was out hiking and you heard me. You have books in your bag?" Jill nodded. "Pull them out." She didn't move, intent on listening to the rest of their alibi. "Now! You may need to tell them what you were studying. Do you have homework in those classes?" She was holding up two text books. "Or, maybe there's one that you're struggling in and wanted a change of scenery or the quiet of nature to help you think?"

"Okay, okay!" Jill compared the two books. "Medieval history. I can say that being outside away from technology helped. Thanks Jack." She smiled at him, but the smile evaporated as he corrected her. "Professor Williams! Professor Williams! Always!"

She put the books away and he started moving to get up. "Okay, now help me up, slowly. Use the blanket. Try to wrap it around my head where I've already bled on it." As she tried to maneuver the bulky fabric, he continued. "You were studying, I was walking the trail, mis-stepped and you came to help. Got it?"

She was nodding as they started slowly making their way to the parking lot. They'd find out soon enough whether their story held water.

Thanks for visiting my #AtoZChallenge! All month I'll be writing flash fiction, with the theme "Audience Participation".
Now it's your turn, lovely reader. Do you have a writing prompt to suggest? Don't worry about choosing a letter of the alphabet, just leave me a word, a thought, a place, a concept... anything! I'll add it to the list.

My "Jack and Jill" story came from the suggestion that I try writing "fractured fairy tales". A suggestion provided by Gail M Baugniet of Gail M Baugniet - Author, in a comment left on my G post, here. I'll have to do another one and try to keep it more innocent.

 

9 comments:

  1. This is an interesting Jack and Jill story. I hope they got away with their alibi.
    J for Japanese Language School

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    Replies
    1. Jill would have to keep her wits about her.

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  2. Good to see you back and still going with the challenge :-)
    https://iainkellywriting.com/2021/04/13/the-state-trilogy-a-z-guide-k/

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  3. More innocent? Nah. This was perfect.

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    Replies
    1. As I worked up my K post, I realized that as soon as we flip a fairy tale it becomes less innocent.

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  4. Yes! They are filthy cheaters, but you got a good story. Great work!

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