Flash Fiction

       He was always viewed as a brave kid. Jimmy Mathews was a single child. At 15 years of age he lived at home only with his mom, as his dad ran away when he was young. Jimmy was an extremely individual kid, always quiet but always a smart kid in school. He and his mom lived in an average 3 floor house downtown Stratford. Both of them were super close to the other, and that showed on one warm September night.
"Jimmy! Dinner!"
"Be right there mom! Just finishing a science project!"
         Jimmy had a set schedule for the week. Come home after school, do homework before dinner, than after dinner he had free time where he enjoyed going to the gym or catching a good baseball game.
"What is for dinner mom?" Jimmy asked enthusiastically.
"Your favourite son! Lasagna!" His mom shouted cheerfully as she placed each plate on the dining room table. Jimmy quickly inhaled the pasta stuffed with his favorites, meat and ricotta, then went upstairs to grab his basketball bag and head out to the gym. Jimmy spent about three hours at the gym while his mom stayed home, cleaned and watched her favourite show, Criminal minds.
        Jimmy returned home at around 9:30 that night. All the lights were turned off which meant his mom had headed to bed. He grabbed a quick glass of water as he too headed up to get ready to go to bed. He had just crawled into bed and gotten comfortable when he heard a sudden knock on the door. It wasn't very loud so he didn't think much of it. About 10 seconds later he heard the knock again, louder this time but he still wasn't the slightest concerned. About a minute passed. Jimmy figured the knocking was done and he could now rest peacefully. Just as he was about doze off, he heard three loud slams on the door. This extremely startled him as he hopped quickly out of bed. He ran over to his moms room where she remained fast asleep.
"Mom. Wake up" Jimmy whispered. His mom didn't budge at the noise.
"Mom!!! Wake Up!! He said with great expression as his mom's eyes opened.
"What is it bud???" His mom spoke as she was still half asleep.
"Someone is knocking on the door I'm not sure who. Is the front door locked?"
"Yes son indeed it is, stop worrying, just go back to sleep. They will leave soon. Just as Jimmy was about to leave he peered back into the room.
"What about the side door?"He whispered. His mom stood up in  disbelief. She shook her head at Jimmy as he fired a worried look back. They each stood there silently, waiting to here a noise when all of a sudden they heard a little creek and the terrible sound of a door opening.
"Quick Jimmy! Get under the bed!" His mom whispered quietly. Jimmy quickly and silently ran over and got under the bead. Silence again as they were both waiting for a noise. Suddenly, footsteps coming up the stairs. Jimmy and his Mom each took one final breath before becoming silent. The intruder reached the last step. Jimmy and his mom waited as they felt these were their last moments together.The man entered Jimmy's mom room slowly. From under the bed they could see he was a fairly well built man who held a knife and was also armed with a gun. They knew they were in a bad spot as they were waiting for the man to look down. However to their surprise he walked by and up another staircase located in his moms room which led to the attic.
           They knew this was their only chance to escape. Quickly, once the man disappeared up the stairs, they each got out from under the bed. They raced down the stairs trying to keep quiet in the process.
As they began to put their shoes on his moms face turned pale.
"Mom what is it?" Jimmy asked in confusion as he quickly put on his shoes.
"M..my keys are upstairs on my dresser" She whispered terrified.
"Hold on I'll be right back." Jimmy ordered as he quietly began climbing the stairs.
Surprisingly his mom accepted it and looked extremely confident in Jimmy. Just  as he entered the room he heard footsteps coming down the attic. He quickly slid under the bed, hoping the man didn't hear him. The man quickly walked right buy but this time, holding a black brief case. As the man turned to go back downstairs Jimmy quickly headed for the dresser where he found the keys. He didn't pick them up properly so they fell right out of his hands but luckily on a carpet which made no noise. As he looked down to pick the keys up something caught the corner of his eye. A loaded pistol with 2 shots in it. He put the gun in his pocket and headed quietly down the stairs.
          He  turned the corner on the stairs and peered shockingly. The man had a gun pointed at his mom forcefully telling her to move out of the way. Jimmy could not make out exactly what they were saying. Not knowing  what to do, he quickly remembered he had picked up the gun from underneath the dresser. He took it out of his pocket and pointed it at the man who could not see Jimmy from behind. The man was just about to shoot Jimmy's mom when BANG!!!!
              The man dropped his gun and collapsed to the floor as Jimmy's mom ran screaming into her son's arms. They called 911 and the police where there within minutes. They identified the man to be Bill Mathews. When Jimmy's mom heard this she just about fainted.
"What is it mom?!' Jimmy asked in confusion
"Bill... that's your father Jimmy" She murmured in disbelief.
Quickly police men ran over to comfort him and to tell him he did the right thing.
"so what was he after then?" asked Jimmy.
"only one way to find out bud" as his mom opened the case. In the case held about one hundred thousand dollars that they later found out he hid before he ran away from the two. In it was note reading: to Jimmy and Kate Mathews
"You wont likely find this till the night you've killed me. In the attic hides 5 more of these cases containing the same amount of money. I had gone gambling one night when I still lived with you. I hit big And won 1 000 000 dollars. I Kept 400 000 for myself and hid the other 600 000. I promised the night I went bankrupt I'd reveal it to you. Use it wisely."
Love,
Bill Mathews



Reflection
I attempted to show that even the most normal everyday people have courage and can be a hero. In this story, i made it clear that jimmy was the hero for being extremely brave. I tried to show that courage isnt earned, but rather that its in every one of us it just depends on whether you have the courage to use the courage or if your too scared to take that chance.