"Great power comes with great responsibilities, at least that's what some say. But what if you have nothing left to fight for..."
"Ewww that's so cheesy! C'mon Vance, you can't be more cliché than that, I mean like every superhero story begin with this!"
"So, what should I use instead? "Hello, I'm Bullshit boy I can't help but say that my best friend's work is shitty..."."
An uncontrollable laugh came out between Bart and me as soon as I ended my phrase. The librarian told us to shush but it wasn't enough to make us stop. After a few minutes, she got really tired of our laugh and we got kicked out of the school library. We were still having a good laugh for a while when we got outside.
It was pretty cold that day due to the snowfall, so, after we got a grip on ourselves, I invited Bart home to spend the rest of the afternoon. I knew my foster mom wouldn't mind since she treated him as her own son. Besides the weather, I needed his help to write my epic story about an everyday guy that, after a terrible accident, got power and became a superhero. Yeah, pretty cliché right?
After all, he's the one who came to my house with a bag full of comics when we were still children. He's the reason I fell in love with the superhero's stories. He even had a stupid superhero's nickname he chose for himself; he was the mighty "Flame Adonis" because of his shiny red hair and his incredibly fit body. Yeah, he might have had the biggest self-confidence of the entire human race.
On our way home, there was a hobo, with grey washed-out hair, two dogs and a holed soft jacket. It wasn't the first time we saw him, he was there every day, in this little alley, regardless of the weather. As always, he asked us for some money. Of course, Bart didn't even pay attention to him and continued to walk, but I couldn't help myself but give the poor man ten dollars.
"Thanks, boy, I'll be able to buy some food for my dogs and myself, god bless you!"
I knew he was probably going to buy alcohol or even cigarettes. But there was a little part of me which was hoping that someday soon, that man would get his life back on track.
I ran to catch up with Bart, but he seemed mad at me because of what I did.
"Do you think you're helping him, dude? It's because of people like YOU that people like HIM stay in the streets. It's because you keep giving them a reason to not do anything with their lives other than begging for money."
"Are you even listening to yourself Bart? Why are you so mad at this poor guy for no reason?"
"Because he's probably making more money in an hour thanks to the donation than my dad in a full day at work..."
I forgot that his family was going through an economic crisis lately. I understood why he was angry, but before I could even say that I was sorry or that I understood his reaction, he went back to the hobo. Surprisingly, he wasn't angry with him. He sat next to him. Not for long though, but it was enough for him to realize that this poor man was quite brave to be there despite the cold breeze and the continuous snowflake stroking his face. He got up and nodded to the man, who was smiling at us the whole time.
He seemed to have earned deep respect towards this man, who was never complaining about his situation to anyone and who was smiling at everyone only to brighten their days.
We were on our way home when we heard a groaning behind us, followed by another. We were curious and worried a little, so we rushed back to the alley.
What we saw there was horrific. A man was standing in front of the hobo, with the dogs' corpses lying around the poor man and the snow starting to cover them. Bart ran toward that mysterious guy recklessly.
YOU ARE READING
No blessings
Teen FictionGoing home after a schoolday, Vance and Bart, are caught up in the middle of a reckoning. They didn't imagine that being at the wrong place at the wrong time would lead to a life-changing course of events.