sam221766
01-05-2014, 09:53 PM
This is my third attempt at writing a short story. I hope you enjoy it! I'm not very happy with the end but I was getting brain fatigue but may update/change it later. The changes will be posted on my blog and possibly here. As always, feedback is welcome, and I incorporated some of the prior feedback into this story.
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| An Unexpected Mission |
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One day I was talking to my commanding officer, who I also lived with. I had been complaining about not doing any army missions now that we were both in the National Guard. I was at home when his wife told me, “So, you want to have kids and you also want a mission?” I raised an eyebrow at her and said, “What do you have for me?” She said, “Do you like driving kids around?” And I was all, “Is that a big part of parenting?” She assured me it was. Then she said, “Get into your uniform, while I write the mission on a piece of official army mission paper.”
So I went into my room and changed into my army jammies, called that because they’re loose and comfortable like pajamas. I yelled to her through the door, “Should I bring a gun or anything like that?”, and she said “Just your uniform and yourself should be fine.”
I came out of my room with my spiffy one star hat and my green camouflage shirt and pants and some mostly shiny black boots. She said, “Here’s the official mission details” and handed me a post-it note with the words written on it to go pick up teen agent and one of her friends from school and to drive them to their respective houses.
I said, “This official mission paperwork looks a lot like a post it note.” She said, “Do you have any questions that aren’t dumb?” So I asked, “Do the kids know where they live and how to get there?” And she assured me they did, and if not she would use our official army communication devices that looked a lot like cell phones.
So I got in my car and drove to the designated Jr. High school. I arrived a bit before the designated time and sat in my blue four door car feeling a little awkward to be dressed like a soldier in a civilian area where everybody else was dressed normally for a nice spring afternoon.
After sitting in front of the school for a while, a few other cars came and waited with me, and then I saw teen agent coming out of the school near the front of a big group of kids, and waved to her. She came over to the car and asked, “Are you taking me home today?” And so I said, “Yeah, you and one other girl, Katie. Do you know what she looks like?”
“She’s not here yet”, teen agent replied. So I said, “Keep an eye out for her since I have no idea what she looks like.” Teen said, “Yes Sir.” and smiled a big grin.
We were mostly surrounded by kids getting picked up with the bulk of them still on the school property and a good number walking around us towards cars and homes.
Then unexpectedly, a boy I didn’t know that was also in the 11-12 year old age range jumped into the back seat of my car! I said, “Hey bro, what’s up?” and he replied, “My dad is going to kill me.”
So I took a look around and noticed one of the larger male parents was making an angry beeline right at my car. I hopped out of the car and tossed teen agent the keys and indicated with a hand gesture to lock the car behind me. She did, leaning across the driver’s seat from the front passenger’s seat to push the lock all button while also holding my keys.
As that was happening, I was out of the car and the other guy, maybe about my height at 6’1” with more of a gut than I had, got all up in my face and said, “What’s my kid doing in your car?”
So noticing he was standing too close to me, I brought my arms up between us a little and said, “I don’t know. Do you want to talk about it?” He said, “I’m his dad and he should come with me!”
Just then I heard teen agent yell through the slightly open window, “He doesn’t have custody!” She had probably been asking him questions while I was standing up to the big parent, although at 21 years old I was pretty big and in good shape from fighting and the army diet.
So while still standing close, he said “You had better hand him over, he’s lying and I have custody.” So I said, “Is it okay if we call the police and let them resolve this? I’m a soldier, not a cop, and I’m not sure what the right thing to do now is, or what the laws are about excessive force.”
As I was finishing up that statement, he stepped back and turned, heading for an empty vehicle. I stepped with him, just a little behind, and he put his key into the trunk lock of the car and opened it up. I saw some metal objects in there, including a tire iron, and it looked like he was going for it.
So I said, “Woah there” and grabbed his arm from behind. He tried to twist out of it, and I let him go with a little push away from the vehicle. He then tried to wind up and punch me with his right hand, and I blocked it with my left arm and spun him around into an arm lock.
While still holding his arm in a twist, with his face on the asphalt, I looked around and asked if anyone was calling the local police. A few people weren’t using their cell phones, and a few people assured me the cops were on the way.
+--------------------------+
| An Unexpected Mission |
+--------------------------+
One day I was talking to my commanding officer, who I also lived with. I had been complaining about not doing any army missions now that we were both in the National Guard. I was at home when his wife told me, “So, you want to have kids and you also want a mission?” I raised an eyebrow at her and said, “What do you have for me?” She said, “Do you like driving kids around?” And I was all, “Is that a big part of parenting?” She assured me it was. Then she said, “Get into your uniform, while I write the mission on a piece of official army mission paper.”
So I went into my room and changed into my army jammies, called that because they’re loose and comfortable like pajamas. I yelled to her through the door, “Should I bring a gun or anything like that?”, and she said “Just your uniform and yourself should be fine.”
I came out of my room with my spiffy one star hat and my green camouflage shirt and pants and some mostly shiny black boots. She said, “Here’s the official mission details” and handed me a post-it note with the words written on it to go pick up teen agent and one of her friends from school and to drive them to their respective houses.
I said, “This official mission paperwork looks a lot like a post it note.” She said, “Do you have any questions that aren’t dumb?” So I asked, “Do the kids know where they live and how to get there?” And she assured me they did, and if not she would use our official army communication devices that looked a lot like cell phones.
So I got in my car and drove to the designated Jr. High school. I arrived a bit before the designated time and sat in my blue four door car feeling a little awkward to be dressed like a soldier in a civilian area where everybody else was dressed normally for a nice spring afternoon.
After sitting in front of the school for a while, a few other cars came and waited with me, and then I saw teen agent coming out of the school near the front of a big group of kids, and waved to her. She came over to the car and asked, “Are you taking me home today?” And so I said, “Yeah, you and one other girl, Katie. Do you know what she looks like?”
“She’s not here yet”, teen agent replied. So I said, “Keep an eye out for her since I have no idea what she looks like.” Teen said, “Yes Sir.” and smiled a big grin.
We were mostly surrounded by kids getting picked up with the bulk of them still on the school property and a good number walking around us towards cars and homes.
Then unexpectedly, a boy I didn’t know that was also in the 11-12 year old age range jumped into the back seat of my car! I said, “Hey bro, what’s up?” and he replied, “My dad is going to kill me.”
So I took a look around and noticed one of the larger male parents was making an angry beeline right at my car. I hopped out of the car and tossed teen agent the keys and indicated with a hand gesture to lock the car behind me. She did, leaning across the driver’s seat from the front passenger’s seat to push the lock all button while also holding my keys.
As that was happening, I was out of the car and the other guy, maybe about my height at 6’1” with more of a gut than I had, got all up in my face and said, “What’s my kid doing in your car?”
So noticing he was standing too close to me, I brought my arms up between us a little and said, “I don’t know. Do you want to talk about it?” He said, “I’m his dad and he should come with me!”
Just then I heard teen agent yell through the slightly open window, “He doesn’t have custody!” She had probably been asking him questions while I was standing up to the big parent, although at 21 years old I was pretty big and in good shape from fighting and the army diet.
So while still standing close, he said “You had better hand him over, he’s lying and I have custody.” So I said, “Is it okay if we call the police and let them resolve this? I’m a soldier, not a cop, and I’m not sure what the right thing to do now is, or what the laws are about excessive force.”
As I was finishing up that statement, he stepped back and turned, heading for an empty vehicle. I stepped with him, just a little behind, and he put his key into the trunk lock of the car and opened it up. I saw some metal objects in there, including a tire iron, and it looked like he was going for it.
So I said, “Woah there” and grabbed his arm from behind. He tried to twist out of it, and I let him go with a little push away from the vehicle. He then tried to wind up and punch me with his right hand, and I blocked it with my left arm and spun him around into an arm lock.
While still holding his arm in a twist, with his face on the asphalt, I looked around and asked if anyone was calling the local police. A few people weren’t using their cell phones, and a few people assured me the cops were on the way.