The Hero Nobody Asked For

Chapter 3: Confusion

It was Tuesday, February 4th, 2020 at 8:26am, and Fern was still fast asleep, even when the morning sun bombarded their face with its rays. They were still extremely exhausted from the night before. The only thing that woke them up was the abrupt, roaring hiss from an ancient motel television in the corner of the room. After a few more deafening seconds, the hiss finally faded as a news channel appeared.

Fern slowly sat up and took a moment to stretch before focusing their attention on the dusty, still static TV screen. The news anchor cleared his throat and read over the story momentarily before starting to speak. His voice was that same generic, but showy tone that many news anchors possessed.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Tony Slitherman. Our top story this morning shows the unfortunate and somewhat tragic destruction of one of the oldest Cedar trees in Dreamstone National Park." Said the anchor with feigned sorrow before turning his attention to a tiny screen with a young reporter, standing patiently in front of the scene. "And on the scene is our lovely Debra Bernard. Now, Debra. This tree was over a thousand years old before it was mysteriously knocked down, correct?" Slitherman asked, awaiting an answer. There was an awkward delay that seemed to stretch for so long that Fern wondered if it was the news channel's faulty equipment, or the sheer age of the TV catching up to itself.

Finally, the reporter spoke in an overly chipper, almost too nice-sounding tone. "Yes, Tony. The tree would have been a thousand and thirty-five years old by the end of next December, but it was tragically knocked over by an unknown force. The local rangers suspect that it wasn't due to natural causes, nor was it by accident." She declared, trying to make this story more suspenseful than it needed to be. The footage then cut to a middle-aged, pot-bellied park ranger who was clearly the leader of that troop. He spoke in an authoritative tone, but surprisingly didn't sound as arrogant as the other adults so far. " I have never EVER seen anything like it. No animal or natural disaster could've done tha-" The ranger began before the camera quickly cut back to Debra.

"We're awaiting further investigation for now, so if you have any idea what happened, then be sure to call. Back to you, Tony!" She chirped in a sickly sweet tone.

Fern quickly turned off the television. Their hands shook with a sense of panic as they rapidly gathered the few things they had. The teen knew they would be in a world of trouble if anyone found out that they were the one responsible for this. 'Shit! I really messed up this time! First, my dad and now THIS?!' They thought, whimpering at their situation before getting out of the seedy motel and out into the city. Tears ran down their face again as they stumbled into a small coffee shop that was near the heart of the city.

Most of the customers and a cashier focused their attention on the troubled youth before going back to the noisy hustle and bustle of a regular workday. Fern huffed quietly, weakly attempting to stop crying as they rested at a booth. The glossy, iron table was unwelcoming and freezing to the touch, while the booth cushions were uncomfortably warm and made Fern's body sink a bit too low for comfort. It was all terrible, but it was admittedly better than being at that nightmare of a school with all those cold and uncaring adults.

After a few minutes of silently sitting at the booth and looking out the window at nothing in particular, a barista came up to Fern and rested a gentle hand on their shoulder.

"Hey kid, are you alright? You've just been squatting here for almost ten minutes." The barista said in almost a whisper. It was like she was trying not to scare a deer in the wild.

Fern turned to the woman. The barista was clearly in her late teens, maybe early twenties at the oldest. She had walnut-brown eyes and long, dark hair that was wrapped up in two donut-shaped buns. Her freshly laminated name tag had the name 'Darcy' written in black Sharpie. Fern looked up at her and shrugged before looking back down.

Darcy thought of something and told Fern not to move a muscle before going behind the counter again. She later emerged with a small hot chocolate in one hand and a blueberry muffin in the other. "Here. It's been paid for." She said, putting the food in front of them.

Fern muttered a minuscule "thank you" before nibbling on the muffin and taking a sip of the hot chocolate. They then thought about the kind gesture momentarily before looking into Darcy's almond eyes. "Why are you being so nice to me?" They asked suspiciously, sniffing the muffin to see if it was spiked or something.

Darcy's smile wavered a bit. "I just wanted to do something nice. I kinda assumed you were having a rough day." She answered, a bit concerned with Fern's untrusting nature. She thought of what more she could do for Fern. "I know this sounds weird, but my mom's gonna pick me up today, so you could come home with me if you want." She blurted out awkwardly. It was the first time she had ever offered that to a random person on the streets, so she hoped that wouldn't cost her any grief in the future.

Fern pondered the offer while taking another bite of the muffin. Fern could either end up missing an possibility dead, or they could have a cozy place to stay for a few days. They knew that nobody would miss them either way, so they took a deep breath before agreeing to go with Darcy.

At the end of the work day, which was around 6:20pm, Darcy took Fern to a rather familiar looking Kia Soul. It was a silvery red with a bumper sticker that had "live, laugh, love" on it. The tinted car window slowly slid down with a buzz, revealing one of the few kind faces that Fern was used to: Ms. Kinder.