Carrots


He threw a worried look behind him as he ran, and the "no trespassing" sign that should have been getting smaller seemed to be getting bigger all the time.

He wondered why he had ever decided to steal carrots from the farmer Jacob in the first place.

His regret turned into panic as a shot rank out and salt ripped through the leaves of a tree directly to his side.  The carrots quickly fell from his hand and from his list of priorities as his legs shifted into gears previously undiscovered.

"You… thieving…. Son…. Ofagun!" the farmer Jacob gasped out as he ran, tearing through the underbrush.

Jacob swept by the carrots, glancing as he passed, intent on catching more than just his property.

The thief, a 14-year-old by the name of Jesse, was a repeat offender, though by nature he was far from offensive.  He was just mischievous and with great capacity for eating.

As Jesse flew along, he glanced one too many times behind him, running headlong off an embankment into a creek bed, breaking his arm and bloodying his nose.  Despite the pain he tried to bury himself in the mud, panic still retaining a hold on his mind.

Jacob arrived at the creek bed wheezing, nearly tumbling into it himself.  Jesse's disguise hardly cold be considered camouflage, and he was easily spotted.

"Alright varmint, get out of there!" Jacob shouted, leveling his shotgun.

The mud didn't move at first. But then it started to shift and a sniffling boy rose from the filth, arm askew and face a mess.

When he saw the arm, Jacob's countenance changed and he lowered his gun.

"You…, you…, I caught you!" Jacob said haltingly." What's … wrong with your arm?"

"I think its broke," Jesse responded.

Jacob tossed his gun aside.  He suddenly recollected his own mischievous self at the age of 14, stealing onions from his farmer neighbor.  He cursed himself and his precious carrots.

He broke off two sticks and fashioned a makeshift brace for the boy's broken arm, then carried him back to his house and called the doctor.  While they waited they ate carrot soup.