The Princes of Ayodhya-The Ramayan Through Short Stories

The Prank War (Prompt Fulfillment Part 2)

The Prank War-(Prompt Fulfillment #2)

Shatrughan had traded in a small stack of toffees for a single water bomb which he planned to throw in the middle of break. The problem was, who should he target? Bharat had been the victim of many pranks, and Shatrughan wanted to give his calm elder brother a bit of a break. Ram was doing something important, as always, and Shatrughan didn't want to disturb him. Daura and Riku were becoming too boring to prank.

Then his eyes locked on the perfect target; Lakshman. Shatrughan had scarcely pranked him, and he couldn't quite remember why. His twin would have the best reaction, and all he was doing was carrying a few logs of firewood. Yes,Shatrughan decided. Let's try out this water bomb on him. With one careful swing of the arm, the water bomb soared through the air, and hit his arm with an explosive splash of water. He was soaked.

"Ouch!" Lakshman cried, dropping all of the logs on his feet, which were now useless as kindling. He then turned and narrowed his eyes as Shatrughan gulped. A sudden memory came back to him. The last time he had pranked Lakshman, he had gotten quite an ear-twisting.

"Shatrughan!" He yelled, marching towards the younger twin and folding his arms crossly, giving him a death-glare. Shatrughan, although weak-kneed by the glare, had a pride to maintain, and unwisely spoke.
"What? I bet you couldn't do better than that. You're just silent. You don't even know humor." Ram and Bharat watched the entire scene from 3 feet away, the necessary safety distance one needed to keep when the twins fought. Ram, at that very moment, face palmed.

"Oh, I'll show you humor." Lakshman snarled. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have 5 logs of firewood to collect." He stormed off, and everyone automatically cleared a path for him. Oh no Shatru, what have you done? Bharat thought.

Lakshman's mind buzzed as he walked. Did he really not have any humor? He always knew that Shatrughan was the one who made people laugh, but that was just because Lakshman didn't speak as much. He was sure that he could prank Shatrughan tenfold better than that stupid water bomb. A stray leaf that had fallen from a tree landed on his head. Idea! That night, Lakshman spent his time collecting mud and leaves. So Shatrughan wanted to challenge him? That would be a grave mistake.

The next morning, as Shatrughan stretched underneath a tree, a bucketful of mud fell on top of him. He blinked confusedly through the goo, before a flurry of leaves randomly topped the extravaganza off.

"What happened?" whispered Karan. Bharat winced at the mess. "Shatrughan challenged Lakshman to a prank war." Lakshman jumped off the tree, grinned victoriously at Shatrughan, then walked off. The entire camp stalled to stare at the princely victim, before Karan shouted,

"Shatrughan declared a prank war on Lakshman! We have another twin argument!" Everyone stepped five meters away from Shatrughan, frightened. Declaring any kind of war upon Lakshman was dangerous. Best case scenario would involve him not caring. Shatrughan narrowed his eyes. Oh it was on.

After taking a bath, Shatrughan sat down to plan his next prank. More water bombs? No, too boring. Broken sword? Laksh would kill him for that. Spicy food? Yes! Thousands and thousands of chili peppers in the ladoos! Shatrughan smirked. After this epic one, Laksh would surely back down.

Dinner came too slow that day, and Shatrughan sprinkled crushed chili peppers on top of Lakshman's quickly before he came. This should end it, thought Shatrughan. This should prove that I am the Pranking King.

"Hello, Shatru," Laksh plopped down next to him and took a large bite of the ladoo. Shatrughan eagerly waited for the moment where his face would turn bright red, smoke would come rushing out of his ears, he would jump in the pond in desperate need for water. That time never came. Lakshman just continued eating the ladoos, looking no different than normal, except for that fact that he looked smug from the successful prank earlier.