The One That Got Away

“He went down there!” Oscar said pointing along the road where the bollards were.

“That road’s closed,” Jamie replied, pointing to the bollards, “there’s no way he would have gone down there.”

“He did, I saw him!” Oscar was indignant. He stomped both his red wellington boots-clad feet in turn, waved his large net ferociously, and walked passed the ‘no entry’ bollards without another thought; Jamie swiftly followed.

“Keep your eyes open, Jamie.” Oscar whispered as they crept passed the roadworker’s digger; the roadworker’s nose pointing into his newspaper.

“Keep up, Jamie. Have you seen him yet?” Oscar swung his net around, pretending to aim for his catch.

“He didn’t come this way, I tell…”

“What are you two doing down here?” Jamie was interrupted by the roadworker, who’d finally seen them walking over the rubble by the hole in the road. Both Oscar and Jamie froze in their tracks, Oscar attempting to hide his net behind his back.

“Sorry, Mister,” Oscar said sheepishly.

“It’s Oscar who dragged us down here, Mister,” Jamie pointed at his friend who stood on top of the mound of soil. “He said an orange butterfly flew this way, he wants to catch him so he could keep him as a pet.”

“There’s been no butterfly down here, lads”, the Mister said, “You’d best go back the way you came.”

Head bowed, they quickly ran passed the roadworker and a spare traffic light propped against the wall, not noticing the bright orange butterfly hiding beneath.

Posted in response to Jenne’s photo challenge; to write a story up to 250 words based on the image.