Describe the perfect hero. What makes him or her a hero to you and why?
I sat at my desk in Mrs. Emerson’s brightly colored classroom. In front of me was my assignment due January 14th. Today was the seventh. One week. Great. Maybe I could get Mom to help me on this one. Derek was going to write about Superman. Peter, Superman. Jenny- Superman. Colleen- Superman. Didn’t anyone have an original thought? Well, except Sarah she was going to write about her cat. Now, that would be an original story. Pretty much everyone I asked was going to write about the guy who flies around Metropolis in blue spandex. Sure he was a hero. He saved a lot of people, but I was a little perturbed by the lack of creativity from my fellow students. I would do no such thing, even if I could get an interview. My parents have connections. They are practically best friends with the man. At least they used to be before I was born. I had decided I wasn’t going to stoop to the level of using my parents. What I really needed was to come up with a good original idea.
I continued to think about the essay on my way home from school. Blank. Completely blank. Come on Callie think! I unlocked the door to our two-story house and dropped my backpack in the entryway. Mom was in the kitchen putting away groceries.
“I figured it was time to have some real food in the house. So… how was your day?” she asked still putting vegetables in the fridge. I grabbed the new bottle of Italian dressing and started to help her.
“Okay, I guess.” I said shrugging my shoulders. “Marjorie made cheer team. She is so excited, but Jenny isn’t. Jenny was so sure she would be on the team with Jorie, but she didn’t. So I was playing interference all day. I was trying to keep both of them from getting upset at each other.” I had no desire to wear a short skirt and shout ra-ra-sis-boom-ba, but my two best friends, Jenn and Jorie, were. Part of me was glad that they both didn’t make the team. I didn’t want to feel left out being the only one not cheering.
“So did anything else happen today?” She asked nonchalantly.
“Oh, yeah, we also got a new ‘big’ assignment from Mrs. Emerson. We have to write an essay on the perfect hero. Everyone is writing about Superman.” With my statement, Mom stopped and gave me her undivided attention. She was still holding a bottle of ketchup in her left hand and the fridge door in her right “It is due in a week, and I really want to come up with someone… I don’t know… better.”
“Better?” she looked at me kind of funny, realizing at the same time that she hadn’t shut the refrigerator.
“Well, I guess not *better, Superman is really cool. I just want to do something different. I don’t want to do what everyone else is doing. You didn’t win that Pulitzer doing the same type of stories that everyone does.”
“That is true.” She continued, “So who exactly are you thinking of writing about?”
“That’s the thing. I don’t have the foggiest idea. I guess I’ll just have to figure it out. I’m going to head up to my room and try to get done some of this homework before Seattle Grace comes on. Grace is about to tell Kyle that she is moving to another hospital, and Kyle…”
“Um, okay sweetie. Well, if you need any help with your essay just ask okay?”
I nodded grabbed my backpack and headed upstairs to my room. I loved my room. It was kind of messy, but what teenagers room isn’t, right? It didn’t bother me. I don’t know why Mom and Dad kept insisting I clean it.
I sat down at my desk and got my Pre-Algebra homework out. I really don’t like math. I got about a third of the way through when my bored brain started making things up. For a while I thought I could hear Mom talking to someone on the phone. It sounded like Aunt Lucy.
"So have you tried the new double crunch mocha cappuccino flavor?"
"No, I think I’ll stick to the regular old stand by. I need to stop eating the things, but Clark knows how much I am addicted to them and what chocolate does to me."
"Well, no wonder your husband keeps buying them."
How can I hear Mom in the kitchen talking and also hear what the person on the phone is saying? It sounds like they are here in my room? I must be really bored to be daydreaming about Mom and Aunt Lucy talking about chocolate crunch bars.
Suddenly, the loudest sound I have ever heard in my entire life hit my eardrums. So much I had to cover my ears. I shook my head trying to locate where it was coming from. It seemed to pierce through my temples.
Maybe I wasn’t daydreaming, because the sound became quieter. No less annoying, but quieter. The loud buzzing sound came from somewhere downstairs. Over the din I somehow heard my Mom calling. “Um, Callie!” she shouted over the sound.
“I’m coming!” I called as I ran down the stairs about knocking over my little brother, Jon. “Oh, I’m sorry Jonny” I made sure he was okay and returned my hands to my ears. Luckily, Jon doesn’t get hurt no matter how much he bumps into things. Come to think of it, I don’t really get hurt either. I’ve never even had a scraped knee.
Something was definitely not quite right. The black smoke emerging from the oven was not un-expected; neither was the smoke detector going off. “Mom? Mom!” I shouted hands still holding my ears.
“Oh, Callie, sweetie, could you stand on that chair and manage to turn off that blasted alarm?”
Sure, I’ll turn it off like I did last time. This was my mother. Good thing Dad did most of the cooking. Usually when Dad had to work late or something we did the take-out routine, but somehow tonight Mom thought it would be good to do something at home. I don’t know where she gets these ideas, but when she gets something in her head you are not going to change her mind. Apparently, we were still going to be calling the House of China later.
Mom coughed, and waved the towel in her hand to try to dissipate the smoke. It didn’t appear to be working. Then she attempted to pullout what I could only assume was a casserole from the black lagoon. I stared at the slightly black smoldering concoction.
“Callie, it's not that bad, is it?” She looked at me inquisitively. I guess I had given away my true feelings. Maybe the discussed look on my face had given it away. “It is that bad. I’ll never be as good as your grandmother! This was one of her tried and true recipes too.” The defeated look on her face was pitiful.
“Mom, just face it. You are an award winning investigative journalist and a great mom, but I don’t think you have the cooking gene.” I gave her one of my cute smiles trying to calm her down after yet another dinner disaster.
Just then, I heard the back door opening. The only person who came through the back door was Dad. I ran and gave him a hug wrapping my arms around him.
“Hello ladies, is everything okay? I heard some commotion.”
“We are fine Clark. I’m just a little upset that my dinner surprise didn’t quite turn out.”
“Well, I am officially surprised.” He said as he kissed her on the cheek.
“I didn’t mean this kind of surprise!” Mom shot back.
Dad and I couldn’t help but laugh. Which was obviously the wrong thing to do after seeing Mom’s face. Jon came in from the living room. He was three and had obviously decided for himself to go check in on the kitchen. “Mommy, Was yucky smell?”
“Um, I’m going to order our usual.” I said quickly picking up the portable phone and exiting the kitchen to call in dinner. I didn’t really want to be in the kitchen when Mom reacted to Jon’s innocent question. Dad and I were already in trouble. The only person safe tonight was Lara, my younger sister.
To be continued...
