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Your stories: Who to trust by ellathebookworm

'Do it, Ralph, it screamed, Do it and save the world. Obviously, Ralph couldn't resist that.'
Euston train station
'There had been something really suspicious about that man, the one who had strolled past him about two minutes ago. Only just had Ralph noticed what it was.' Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian

Ralph yanked his hood up and ran. Across the road in the drenching rain, and into the grotty train station. Walter was there, as he had said he would be, but Ralph didn't care. His mind was focused on something completely different. There had been something really suspicious about that man, the one who had strolled past him about two minutes ago. Only just had Ralph noticed what it was. And then off, like a rocket ascending into space. He had to stop that man. He just had to.

Suddenly Ralph caught sight of the suspect, reading a newspaper on Platform 3. Ok, he thought, I can't reveal that I know what he's got, so I'll just act normal. Ralph slowed down, back to Earth again, hearing the noises that everyone else was, seeing the sights that everyone else was. But not for long.

Again, determination swept over him, and all sound was drowned out. The whole world was drowned out, apart from that one man, the one man that held something more powerful than the world itself.

Ralph started walking up to him, but then stopped. Should he do it? Or should he just let someone else do the hard work? Suddenly, his conscience took over him. Do it, Ralph, it screamed, Do it and save the world. Obviously, Ralph couldn't resist that.

"Uh, hi," the man said as Ralph halted in front of him and turned to face him, "Which train are you on?"

"I'm not on a train," Ralph exclaimed, "But my Dad works here and he asked to search your bag because… it looked suspicious, but I don't think that you heard. So, I need to search it for you."

"Go ahead," the man answered, grinning. Ralph was confused. He hadn't thought that it would be that easy. The teenager looked through the satchel until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out the golden pyramid, with pictures of a bird engraved on its sides.

"Wow, that's nice," Ralph muttered, "What is it?" He already knew what it was though; he was just acting. He turned the pyramid around in his hand, feeling the waves of power surge over his body. He found the button to release the power. He was about to press it when---

"Wait! Stop!" The man looked shocked.

"Why?" Ralph urged.

"None of your business."

"I'm searching your bag, Sir. I need to know what it is."

"You can't."

"Then I'm going to have to take the whole thing away to be examined. It may not return."


"Sorry, Sir. You've lost your chance."

Ralph stood up, grasping the pyramid tightly, tighter than he had ever held anything in his life. And again, he ran. As he exited the station, he saw Walter, looking bewildered.

"Run," Ralph yelled, "Run!"

When the two boys returned to Walter's house, his Mum was already stood at the front door, looking angry. Ralph could just imagine her, face red, steam coming out of her ears.

"So, the police have just phoned," she roared. Walter groaned. He had been in trouble with the police before, for something that he had been forced to do when he had been captured by an enemy gang. Obviously the government could help, but when they heard what had happened from a fourteen year old who had just been caught shoplifting, it just wasn't something to be believed So they were on their own.

"Look," Ralph muttered, "It was a dare, right? From one of the coolest people in the neighbourhood. We couldn't refuse, could we?"

"A dare to steal a valuable item from a wealthy businessman?"


"They said that you, Ralph, had been reported to have stolen something."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're lucky. I told them that I'm a policewoman, which you know I am, and they let me be. I said that I would sort it out. I'm not going to take it any further than this, ok? If I find anything that doesn't belong to you then… Go to Walter's room, boys."

They trudged upstairs and entered Walter's bedroom. It was painted black, with a red carpet. There were clothes strewn all over the floor, and the bed's duvet wasn't even on it. The TV was still on, and there was a ripped poster of a rock band stuck to the door. Ralph coughed. The bin was overflowing.

"I tell my Mum that it's clean. So my Mum thinks it's clean," Walter said in his deep, scratchy voice.

"Yeah," Ralph replied awkwardly.

"What was that all about, anyway?"

"I just saved the world."

"You did what?"

"I saved the world! I got it!"

"Got what?"

"The pyramid! I've got it!"

Walter's face told Ralph what he was thinking. His mouth was in an 'O' shape, and his eyes were really wide. There was something… fake about it though. Like Walter already knew that Ralph had it. Finally he came to his senses and told Ralph to open it, however Ralph refused.

"No, we can't."


"Because when you open it the power floods out, and we don't know how to use it properly. We need to get it to Dr Fracture before anybody else realises that we've got it."

"Anybody else? …"

"Yeah, that man, he knows."

The boys decided finally that Walter would sleep with it under his pillow, and then the next day, Ralph would present it to its rightful owner: Dr Fracture. Then Walter lugged a purple sleeping bag in and Ralph stole one of many black pillows off Walter's bed. The light was switched off, and Ralph snuggled cosily into his bed. Walter crept over to the window to shut the curtains. He took one final look outside.

The man who Ralph had stolen the pyramid from before was in the front garden, staring up at Walter with a smile on his face.

Walter smiled back.


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