(prompt: 'crack' Aug 6, 2021)

'CRACK!' "BOOM!" "CRASH!" "SNAP!" "THWACK!"

All over the world, people rushed outside, panic-stricken. All looked upwards in horror at the sky cracking into myriad shards of refracted light - from the sun in some places, the full moon on the opposite others.

A terrorised child stuttered, "Is th-th-this the H-h-enny P-penny s-s-st-ory, Mummy? Is the s-s-ky f-falling?" The mother hugged him tighter, reassuring him, but with terror deep in her heart and soul, she had no real answer.

It had come with a number of dazzling lightning bolts, near-blinding those looking up at the time. Not a good moment for the heavenward-gazing to be praying to their Gods, as they had recently when a black shroud blotted out the sun, causing a terrifying plunge into total darkness.

"It's the end of the world... " some cried, piteously.

"We're doomed... " grieved others.

Now another horror threatened their very existence, leaving them wondering what on Earth their World was coming to. Many deeply regretted not having sacrificed more; been better humans; not cursed their mothers-in-law so bitterly; mowed the lawns yesterday before that huge, threatening cloud arrived and emptied itself in a deluge that felt like another Great Flood approached. The wish-we'd-have-done's list grew lengthy. Suddenly, a humongous voice thundered out, with the potential to make tall buildings sway (if there'd been any back in pre-history).

"Who did this despicable damage?" Thor roared in a voice that shook more great deluges of water out of the clouds. The 'should've done' mowers cringed even lower, uselessly trying to hide themselves like the snakes in the grass they truly were, as a small voice came from behind the mighty Thor. "It wath me Dad. Thorri!"

Thor spun around to angrily confront his boy (almost a man now, shoulders still narrowish, but arms and thighs thickening, as was the fuzz growing on his chin and along his jawbones). "How many times have I told you not to do burn-outs and wheelies with your sky chariot? Told you it would all end in tears some day! Now look at what you've done!" And Thor gave his son a cuff over the ears that sent him tumbling, head over heels, for several miles, then pinging him back (boomerang style) with his magical magnetic hammer. Combined with his magical iron glove (the very glove Michael Jackson tried to imitate, countless centuries later), Thorri had no means of escape from his father's wrath.

"It's all very well to be sorry, Thorri - but now I must do better than all the King's horses and all the King's men - and try to put the sky back together again. You're grounded, young man. For two centuries this time! I've told you a thousand times - when it comes to roaring across the sky in celestial chariots, you must never forget - whilst wooden wheels rumble, steel wheels tumble!"

"Although all that glistens is not gold, much that glitters IS actually glass. You've heard of the glass ceiling, haven't you? Aaarrgh, you useless yobbo - just get on with the picking up bit. NOW!!!"

And it mattered not how Thorri sniffled and snuffled and rued his foolhardiness, he had to face the inevitable tough love his famous father dished out.

In true old-time storytelling fashion, there's a moral to this story, and it's this -

'It's better to be Thor than Thorri'

Author's Note: If you feel you've read this nonsense before, you MAY have, IF you've ever paid any attention to my other collections. Happens this one shone several years ago and used to be nearly 900 words long. Owzat for editing?