The Loki Chronicles: Treasured Moments

Moment 20: "Unpredictable" (Aug 20, 2022)

[NOTE:  The tragic events on May 24, 2022, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas motivated me to write this. There are some references from the story "12 Plot Points Of Christmas: A Writer's Challenge" and "My Friend Loki: Strange Magic." Although the story deals with an alarming situation, I would consider it, at most, a PG rating.]
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Loki and I had been summoned to Agent Phil Coulson's office. Although Loki was in good standing with the agent, more or less, as a default, he and I both prepared ourselves for possible not-so-good news.

Once we sat down, Coulson didn't waste time.

"We received this letter from some friends you made last year," he said. "It was sent a few weeks ago to Tony Stark since they didn't know how else to contact you. When it got to us, it had to go through the usual protocols to make sure it was legit. It's now been cleared for the both of you to see it."

Coulson passed Loki a green envelope. We noticed the return address on it was familiar.

It was from the Hamilton House Orphanage.

Opening it up, Loki pulled out a piece of paper with a message written in coloured pencil:
"Dear Loki and Beverlee,
We had so much fun when you performed magic for us at the Winter Holiday Party. We are having another special event and would like it if you both joined us. We will have lots of chocolate! We hope you can make it."

And below that, was another message in bright ink, possibly a gel pen:
"And it's not just the kids who want to see you again, we ALL do. Ruth."

Loki began to laugh, "Very sweet and well played. But you can't trick a trickster, Coulson."

"Loki, this is no trick," Coulson stated, his voice matter-of-fact. "These kids really want to see you and Beverlee again."

Loki looked at me then at Coulson for a long moment. It was like he was waiting for one of us to fess up.

"But why?" Loki asked, perplexed. "I'm... I'm... me."

"A call was made to Ruth Gallagher to find out what this was all about. She told us while you were visiting the kids, you mentioned in passing about being adopted?"

"Oh, that was Thor," Loki corrected, rolling his eyes.

"Well, the kids found it encouraging that you are, well...one of them. Ruth said they still talk about your performance. And after some discussion through the proper channels, we've concluded that this is one assignment you can't pass up."

"Why do you say that?" Loki asked with curiosity.

I smiled to myself, knowing the answer, but I wanted to hear it from Coulson.

"These kids have no prior knowledge of your actions from the past. They have no bias and appreciate you for who you are and what you do when you are with them. Consider it... an entry-level in repairing your reputation."

I touched Loki's arm, "These kids could be the key to your future. And if Ruth and the staff are also keen on having us..."

A small smile teased Loki's lips, "We did have fun spending time with them, didn't we?"

"We sure did," I smiled back, then turned to Coulson. "So what exactly is this event?"

"Child Safety Week," Coulson said with a robust smile. "It's an event to bring awareness and to build skills in managing real risks to children's safety."

Coulson continued to explain that a schedule of special programming had been set up for the children to have visits with individuals who work in the safety industry. Some were from law enforcement, the medical field, sports teams and even technology companies.