Old Man Billy And The Bad Kids

• Clancy Paterson, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2018

Bang!’ “Blasted kids,” old man Billy yelled. Billy had just been severely attacked by firecrackers and he had burns all over him. He put some ice on his burns.
He heard a knock on the door and it was his friend Jerry. “Hey mate,” said Jerry.

“What happened here?” Asked Jerry.
“Those blasted kids came back,” Billy said.
Billy and Jerry lived in Reefton where there were no cops, so Billy had to work this out for himself. It was dinner time so Jerry stayed for dinner.
Tonight’s meal was deer and bangers and mash. Billy had freshly killed the deer with his gun. Billy liked hunting, but there was a rumour going around that if you go hunting after nine o’clock big foot would come. But that’s just a myth. Billy had gone to bed.
The next morning, Billy woke up to motorbikes outside on his property. He got his gun and went outside and fired a shot up into the air and yelled, “You kids never come back.” The blasted kids rode off.
It was time to feed Barry the llama. He was a strange llama - he could talk. He fed Barry potatoes and vegetables. Barry was very smart.
Enough about Barry, it was time to cut some crops. “Oh damn, those blasted kids have destroyed my vegetables crops!” Billy yelled. Time to go to Launching Place Nursery, which would take 1 hour driving, because he lived deep in the Reefton bush, but he didn’t have a car or a motorbike.
So Billy had to ride Barry, which would take them 6 hours. So Billy rode all day to get to Launching Place, but the nursery was shut. So Billy stayed the night in a nearby paddock.
While Billy was away, Jerry was planning a big trick for the kids harassing his friend.
In the morning, Billy woke up and he bought his plants and headed home.

6 hours later…
Billy got home and planted his plants and Jerry shared his plan with Billy. The plan was to make a big foot costume and invite the kids over at night and scare them into never coming back.
They made the costume. The kids came over that night. They arrived at exactly 9 O’clock. Jerry jumped out of the bushes, “RAW!”
The kids got scared and pooped their pants and ran off and left their motorbikes. So Billy put the motorbikes in his shed so he could ride them to the shops next time and Jerry could to. Jerry put the costume in the shed and Billy never saw the kids again.