Contraband

"Did you bring it?" Daily Flash Fiction Challenge entry for 6/6/26.

The small cluster of students huddled underneath the aluminum bleachers of the high school football stadium. They eagerly stood shoulder to shoulder talking excitedly amongst themselves.

“Did you bring it?” One of the students asked, excited.

“Of course I did,” another replied irritably. “We wouldn’t all be standing here if I didn’t.”

Mr. Wheatley, the physical education teacher, was walking by the other side of the bleachers when he heard the excited utterances coming from underneath. He rolled his eyes. As a longtime educator closer to the retirement side of his career than the beginning, he had seen it all; kids gathering together to smoke cigarettes, experiment with drugs and alcohol, sneak a look at pornography. You name it, and Mr. Wheatley had seen it.

As he stealthily rounded the bleachers and approached the students, a snapping twig gave him away and the kids quickly hid whatever they were doing behind their backs.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Wheatley! Lovely day, isn’t it?”

“Come on,” Wheatley replied, impatient. “Let’s have it.”

The students exchanged confused glances.

“Have what, sir?”

As he got closer, the students closed ranks.

“Kids, I don’t have time for this. Either give it here, or get detention. Those are your only two options.”

Reluctantly, one of the kids held out his hand and produced the contraband that they were all gathered to obsess over.

Mr. Wheatley took the card and stared at it.

“What is this?”

“A Gengar VMax Pokemon Fusion Strike card,” one of the students offered.

“I didn’t understand half the words you just said,” Wheatley said.

“It’s a really rare card from a trading card game. I pulled it this morning.”

Mr. Wheatley handed it back and let the students be. Hiding under the bleachers to share trading cards? Now he had seen it all.

---

Word Count: 300

Prompt: Write a story that includes the line: "Did you bring it?"

Written for: "Daily Flash Fiction Challenge"