[Write a story or journal entry influenced by a photograph you see online or in a magazine.]

Okay, sure. I’ll find a random image on Google and write a story about it.

The image: Two guys using spray paint to paint a wall.

…

Markus lowered the bandana covering his mouth.

“We can still turn back. There’s still time.”

Although his words could make it seem as though he regretted their plan, he didn’t really. He said it for his older brother’s sake.

“You’re right; we can.”

Kiso didn’t bother lowering his bandana or pausing his work, simply speaking over the sound of his spray can and through the piece of cloth.

“Just making sure you haven’t changed your mind.”

Markus raised both his bandana and spray can to continue the mission.

“I know, bro.”

The two worked silently in the bright, afternoon sunlight from there, ignoring pedestrians as they painted whatever came to mind on the random wall they chose.

However, it seemed to Markus that his older brother still had a few misgivings with what they were about to do, because his collage didn’t appear to be random at all. Within it, one could see various programming terms and symbols painted in wacky fonts and bright colors that joined to form the outline of a flower.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

To a stranger, it would just appear to be abstract art. Yet, the sight made Markus want to shed a tear, as it portrayed exactly why he thought his sibling shouldn’t take part in their ridiculous plan.

The two brothers were born to what others might refer to as a “broken home”, with an unreliable father who ran away early on and a whimsical mother who only did the minimum when it came to taking care of her children. Such a situation was not too uncommon where they lived, but that didn’t make living in it any easier. In fact, it only made it worse.

They followed the footsteps of the other troubled youths around them by not caring about school, getting into fights, and committing crimes like petty theft. That was, however, until they met a real gang member.

They were excited, at first, wanting to live through the same excitement he did, as a criminal who did what he wanted and wasn’t restricted by the same norms as regular folks. Yet, to their surprise, the gang member told them to fuck off and not follow his example, as the world of crime was serious. After a while, he managed to convince the pair to go to school and use their time wisely, which they did. But, to his dismay, when they graduated, they still chose the gang life.

Thinking that they were better off under his wing than another’s, he took them in. Yet, despite doing so, he did his best to keep them out of trouble, letting them experience the gang life only enough to placate their desires for a group to a part of, so that they could turn their attention to anything more worthwhile. He’d even been the one to teach them to paint.

And his schemes partially worked! But only on Kiso, who learned to program. Markus, although wanting to become a florist when he was very little, put little effort into learning any skills, deciding to stay in the gang.

Then, the gang was raided.

“There they are.” Kiso’s voice brought Markus back to the present.

A police car pulled over near the two before a couple officers hopped out and made their way to the siblings. The police tried questioning them, but they simply continued painting, vandalizing private property, ignoring the officers until they pulled out the handcuffs. At that point, they quietly allowed themselves to be arrested.

They were soon going to break their father figure out of jail.