Rules

Big or small, Ryan broke all kinds of rules. He laughed heartily throughout his punishments for rule-breaking.

Little Ryan and Joe were playing in the garden. That's when papa called the boys out for a ride in their old Chevy.

“yippee..Papa, you’re the best!”. Joe was grinning ear to ear.

But Ryan was shaking his head frantically. “No way papa! Don’t both of you remember mama’s rule? Joe and I aren’t supposed to ride in the truck. It’s almost in pieces..”

“Oh man, you’re such a big spoil sport..rules are meant to be broken! And it’s not like we are going for some long drive. It’s just a few blocks to the mines. We’ll walk back..” Joe glared at his brother.

“C’mon Ryan, you know how much I enjoy riding with you guys. I’m sure your mama won’t mind for this once.” Papa’s voice was hopeful. “I’ll buy you ice creams!”

But nothing could convince Ryan to back away from obeying rules. “Rules are rules. I’ll never do ANYTHING against rules. But you guys can go on if you like. I won’t tell mom.”  With that, Ryan stormed into the house.

“Don’t bother about him papa. He’s an idiot. Let’s go..”.  Joe happily climbed into the truck.

Papa’s eyes followed Ryan with anticipation .

Ryan disappeared into the house, leaving nothing but a trail of summer dust.

With a sigh, papa climbed into the driving seat.

Breaking rules filled Ryan’s mind with immense satisfaction and joy. “What's the fun in living your life according to petty rules, but not your own will? Break the rules guys!”, Ryan told everyone.

At night, the city alarms blared.

People, still in their night clothes and eyes red with sleep, poked their head out of every window.

But Ryan didn’t bother. He slept on with his head under the pillow.

After a while, the ringing stopped.

Breaking rules made him feel like he was in charge. His life, his decisions. And these decisions were always outside the line. Rules..bah..they trample your life.

Ryan woke up the next day to find the house crowded.

All kinds of people had gathered there.

Ryan didn’t understand anything. He desperately searched the room for mama and Joe.

They were nowhere to be seen.

He glanced questioningly at the crowd. Nobody seemed to notice that a boy here didn’t know what was going on.

After a while, someone thrust a newspaper into his hand.

The first thing he noticed was papa’s photo. Wow, he thought.

Then he read the news – Accident in Coal Mines. 9 dead.

At the age of 20, he had uncountable police cases for major rule breaking. He considered it to be his biggest achievement.

It had been papa’s last day of life. And Ryan had turned his back on papa for the sake of obeying rules.