AUTHOR’S NOTE:

The Flash Fiction Draw Challenge prompts I didn’t use this year were: A Fantasy, involving a Bicycle, set in A Swimming Pool.

Too good to pass up, so I wrote this. Happy New Year, everybody!! —-mike/jeff

A Bicycle Built Fortuitously

by Mike Mayak

“Oh, crap!” Anthony said. “We’re goin’ down!!”

“You’re the one steering this thing!” Franco said, hanging on to the back of the bicycle. “Pull up! Pull up!”

“It isn’t working,” Anthony said pulling on the handlebars. “Here we gooooo…”

Anthony MacDowell and Franco Scarlatti were learning there were drawbacks to touring the world on a magic bicycle. For one, it didn’t always go where they steered it. For another, it wouldn’t stay aloft if it seemingly didn’t want to. They had been flying over the city in the early-morning dark gawking at the houses and stores when the bicycle started to descend. They had been slowly drifting over an apartment complex by a man-made lake on the edge of town when the bike started dropping. Slowly but still dropping.

“Oh maaaaaannnn! I hope we don’t hit a window!!” Franco said closing his eyes.

“No such luck!” Anthony said. “Here comes the pool! We’re gonna…”

There was a splash as the lit blue rectangle of water seemed to rise up to them. Instantly they were immersed in the blue chlorine-tasting water as the bike kept going downward. Franco thought they’d hit the shallow end but they kept descending through what he thought for a moment was a flat fog bank but he realized it was the bottom of the pool which had dissolved when the reached it.

There was water, still blue and glowing but they couldn’t see any light source. Anthony glanced upward. He couldn’t see the pool, just a lot of water like at the bottom of an ocean. The water getting darker and murkier the further down they went. He realized to his surprise that he was breathing.

Another surprise; there were city lights beneath them.

As the bicycle drifted closer they saw the outlines of a city skyline. Some of it looked like Manhattan, some of it looked like an abandoned temple they’d seen in Asia. But none of it looked abandoned. It was all well-lit and they could see people walking around like they were opening shops for the day.

“I think the bike wants us to go here.” Anthony said.

“Or it wants to go here.” Franco said.

They circled an open area and softly drifted down for a landing. The murkiness that surrounded them was breathable and didn’t feel like water.

There was a tall man in a yellow robe with a matching yellow peaked hat making adjustments to a lamp on a tall lamppost.

“Hi,” Anthony said. “Uh, we’re new here.”

“I noticed.” the man said.

“This place is really amazing,” Franco said.

“What’s so amazing?” the man said. “We always turn the lights on at night.”

“Uh, this isn’t Atlantis, is it?” Anthony asked.

“Atlantis? No,” the man said. “You’re in The Under.”

“Under what?” Franco asked.

“I don’t know. I didn’t make the name up.” said the man. “It’s ancient.”

“Yeah,” Franco said glancing around. The city did look ancient.

“Who are you exactly?” Anthony asked. “Are you in charge here?”

“Me? Hardly!” the man said. “I just turn some of the streetlamps on at dusk. I’m the Yellow Man. I light the Yellow Area. Which isn’t really yellow except on the map the City Planners have hanging in their hallway. Say, how did you get here anyway?”

“On this,” Franco said patting the bike. “It’s a magic bicycle. Well it wasn’t magic when we built it. That happened afterwards. Since then we’ve been flying all over the world and some other worlds.”

“A bicycle built fortuitously,” the Yellow Man mused. “Makes sense.”

“It sometimes takes us where it wants to go,” Anthony said. “Oh, I’m Anthony. He’s Franco.”

“Nice to meet you,” said the Yellow Man. “So you came from somewhere up there?” The Yellow Man said pointing.

“Yup.” Anthony said.

“Most of our visitors come that way,” the Yellow Man said. “Come to think of it, maybe that’s why they call this place The Under.”

—end—

AUTHOR’S NOTE: A little vignette I may work on later. In my mind reminiscent of the Oz books which I read when I was a kid.

Here’s wishing all my readers a Happy 2026. There are more stories to come

—-jeff baker a.k.a. mike mayak