Electric Hero
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“So, how was your date with the Ice King?”
The question came from a boy with bright red hair and freckles. He wore a blue superhero costume that was made up of several pieces sewn together in an odd fashion. His costume was mostly black with some blue highlights here and there. His shoes were blue with a lightning bolt on them.
“It went well,” Finn said as he finished off his milkshake. “We talked about our favorite video games and stuff.”
“Oh yeah? Did you ask him what his favorite game was?” asked Flame Princess. She sat down next to Finn with her own milkshake.
“I did,” said Finn. “He said it was one called ‘Ice Blast.'”
“Really?” said Flame Princess. “That’s my favorite game!”
“Cool,” said Finn. “Well, I gotta go now. We’re going to play a new game called ‘Hexes and Dragons.'”
“Sounds fun,” said Flame Princess. “See ya later, Finn.”
Finn nodded and waved goodbye to her as he left the restaurant. He walked down the street, looking around at all the stores and people passing by. Finn loved this town because it was so big and had so many things to do.
“Hey, Finn!” a voice called out to him. Finn turned to see a tall, thin boy with orange hair and freckles. He wore a green superhero costume with a lot of gold trim on it. His shoes were green with a lightning bolt on them.
“Hi, Flame,” said Finn.
“How’s your date with the Ice King?”
“It went well,” said Finn. “We talked about our favorite video games and stuff.”
“Oh yeah? Did you ask him what his favorite game was?”
“I did,” said Finn. “He said it was one called ‘Ice Blast.'”
“Cool,” said Flame Princess. “Well, I gotta go now. We’re going to play a new game called ‘Hexes and Dragons.'”
“Sounds fun,” said Finn. “See ya later, Flame.”
Flame Princess waved goodbye to him as she left the restaurant. She walked down the street, looking around at all the stores and people passing by. She loved this town because it was so big and had so many things to do.
***
The following morning, Finn woke up in his bed. He yawned and stretched his arms over his head. He sat up and looked around for his stuffed dragon, Dizzy.
“Dizzy?” Finn said. “Where are you?”
He searched his room, but couldn’t find his stuffed dragon anywhere. “Dizzy! Where are you?” Finn called out to his stuffed dragon.
Finn stood up and walked over to the window. He opened it and looked outside. A gray, foggy sky greeted him. He turned back around and saw something on the floor that didn’t belong there. It was a piece of paper with some writing on it.
Finn picked up the paper and read the words written on it.
“I am the Ice King,” said the letter. “My name is King Olaf. I am not who you think I am. I am the most powerful wizard in this land. I am also a villain. I have been trying to destroy your village for years, but I’ve finally found a way to do it. You must come with me to my castle to stop me.”
“No,” said Finn. “I’m staying right here.”
Finn crumpled up the letter and threw it into the fireplace. As soon as he did, the fireplace lit itself up. “Nice trick,” Finn remarked to himself. He then walked over to his bookshelf. He picked up some more paper and wrote down his own letter to the Ice King.
Dear Ice King,
You are not who you say you are. Your true form will be revealed when the time is right. Until then, I am going to stay here in this beautiful village, surrounded by friends, family, and good food. Have fun in your castle full of ice monsters. Bye.
Finn crumpled up his note and tossed it in the fireplace like the first one. As soon as he did, the fireplace lit itself again. Finn shrugged his shoulders. “Guess they can both light themselves up whenever they want,” he said to himself.
After reading his letters to the Ice King, Finn walked down to the kitchen. He poured himself a bowl of Frosty Flakes from the cabinet, added water, and took a spoonful out. His eyes widened in shock as he realized what he’d done. He’d mixed the wrong cereal.
“Ow,” he cried.
His hand was stuck to the cereal box. He pulled hard to try and get it off, but nothing happened. Finn tried harder, but the pain was too much and he started crying. The sound echoed through the house. Finn dropped to his knees and sobbed into his hands.
“What’s happening?” asked Flame Princess.
Finn wiped his tears away from his face and stood up straight. He sniffled. “Uh…I got Frosty Flakes mixed up with Frosties,” he said. “So, yeah. They’re both cold.”
“Oh, that sucks,” said Flame Princess sympathetically. “That sounds really painful.”
“Yeah, they’re making me cry!” said Finn angrily.
Flame Princess shook her head. “Well, don’t let it hurt you too much. Maybe we should go back to bed.”
“Okay,” said Finn. “Thanks for coming to check on me. I feel better already.”
Flame Princess smiled at Finn and patted him on the shoulder before walking down the hallway toward the bedroom. After she disappeared around the corner, Finn took another bite of his Frosty Flakes. They were delicious. Then, he put them in a bowl and headed back upstairs to finish getting dressed.
***
Finn was brushing his hair when he heard a knock at his front door.
“Who could that be?” asked Finn. “Is it the Ice King yet? Should I answer it?”
“Probably just someone who wants money or candy,” said Flame Princess from the bathroom where she was putting on makeup.
Finn went to open the door and saw that it was a little girl standing on his porch. He frowned and stepped outside to talk to her. She looked scared and nervous, almost as if she was afraid that Finn would turn her down.
“Hi,” said the little girl. “Can I ask you for something?”
Finn frowned and raised an eyebrow at her. “What? Are you some kind of child beggar?”
The little girl shook her head. “No. My dad told me never to beg, but I need help. Do you have any spare change?”
“No,” said Finn, shaking his head. “Why are you even asking me for anything? Why don’t you go talk to your parents about it instead of bothering us?”
“My mom says you should only talk to nice people,” replied the little girl. “But, I’ve been talking to lots of nice people and none of them will give me any money.”
“I’m not a ‘nice person,'” said Finn. “I’m a bad guy who has no friends.”
“Then how do you know that I can trust you?” asked the little girl curiously.
“Because I’m a bad guy who doesn’t have any friends,” repeated Finn. “And also because my mom told me not to talk to strange kids who knock on our door looking for money.”
“That’s not very nice,” said the little girl. “Are you sure you’re a bad guy? Because all of my friends say that you seem pretty nice.”
Finn shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably. “You wouldn’t understand. It’s complicated.”
“It’s not complicated!” said the little girl with a frustrated tone. “You’re a bad guy and I just wanted to know why.”
Finn rolled his eyes. “I’ll tell you,” he sighed, trying to ignore the fact that this little girl seemed genuinely concerned about him. He decided to make a show of being annoyed by this kid. He leaned against his front door with his arms crossed over his chest. “Just to be clear, I’m not going to give you any money, so don’t bother asking again,” he said. “Now, get lost.”
“Okay,” said the little girl, turning and walking away. When Finn saw her running out into the street and then disappearing into the woods behind their house, he sighed and turned back inside the house to get dressed for school.
He had a good night’s sleep after all. He felt rested and ready to conquer the world. Or at least start his morning. His plan was to get to class early so that he could take care of some business first and then catch up with the Ice King. But, he didn’t think he’d get to go back to bed after he was done. And, he definitely hadn’t expected to meet any children at the end of it either.
Finn finished getting ready and opened the door to go downstairs, but when he did, a man appeared next to him out of thin air. The man looked surprised to see Finn there, but he quickly recovered. “Good morning,” he said with a smile on his face. “I thought that was you.”
“Who are you?” asked Finn suspiciously.
The man shrugged his shoulders. “A friend of mine is expecting me in the living room, so…”
Finn glared at him. “You know what? Never mind that right now. Who are you?”
“Um…” stammered the man, nervously scratching his neck. “I’m here to give you this.” He pulled a small envelope from his coat pocket and handed it to Finn.
Finn examined the envelope. There was writing on the outside and nothing else. He tried opening it to see if there was any clue inside, but when he did, his hands shook uncontrollably and he dropped the envelope on the floor.
He stared at the envelope for a moment, trying to figure out what happened, but he couldn’t tell how the thing slipped from his fingers. He picked it up and examined it, wondering if he might have imagined the whole incident.
“Did you drop something?” asked the man curiously.
“Huh? Oh, yeah,” said Finn. “Sorry.”
The man smiled at Finn and gestured for him to follow him upstairs. Finn walked past him and headed for the stairs.
When they got to Finn’s bedroom, the man sat on his bed while Finn stood next to him. “How long have you been awake?” asked Finn.
“Not long,” answered the man.
“Oh,” said Finn. “Well, what were you doing?”
“Waiting for you,” replied the man.
“For me? What do you mean?” asked Finn, confused by the man’s answer. “I didn’t think anyone knew where I live.”
“I wouldn’t have known,” said the man with a shrug. “But, your father sent me.”
“My… dad?” asked Finn in surprise. “He’s not here, though. He went to work already.”
“He left me a note,” said the man. He reached into his jacket and produced a piece of folded paper from his pocket. He unfolded it and showed Finn the message written on it: “Come to my office at 8am today.”
Finn read the words slowly and then glanced back up at the man who nodded at him reassuringly. “So, what should I do now? Should I go to my dad’s job or wait until he comes home from work?”
The man shrugged his shoulders. “Your father said to bring you to his office at eight o’clock. That means that you can go back to sleep.”
Finn smiled, relieved by this news. He really needed his rest if he planned on having a great day ahead of him. “Thanks for telling me this,” he told the man. “Can we talk later? If you want to, that is.”
“Sure,” said the man. “But let’s save talking until after your first class, okay?”
Finn laughed at the comment and agreed with it. “Yeah, sure,” he said. “That sounds good to me.”
“Good,” said the man as he stood up and began walking toward the door. “Bye!”
Finn watched the man leave and then closed the door after he exited the room. When the man disappeared through the doorway, Finn turned around to go back to sleep but stopped when he heard a knock on his window from across the street. He jumped and grabbed the curtains and pulled them apart just enough to peek outside. It was the mysterious man!
Finn opened his window, hoping to catch a glimpse of him better.
“Hey, kid,” called the man, waving at Finn. “It’s time to wake up.”
Finn waved back at the man and said, “Okay!”
Then, he shut the window and went back to his bed where he pulled the covers over himself again. He felt tired and ready for another nap, but he forced himself out of his comfort zone because, deep down, he wanted to meet this mysterious person who had been sent to find him.
The only way to make that happen, however, would be to get out of bed. After all, it was the first day of school and he didn’t want to miss his first class! So, he decided to take action.
“Wakey-wakey,” he whispered as he rubbed his eyes and yawned loudly.
Then, he grabbed his glasses off of his nightstand and put them on. He looked at his alarm clock, which was still set on Saturday. At least that meant he didn’t oversleep!
“Wow,” said Finn aloud as he saw his reflection in his bathroom mirror. “I look awesome!” His reflection gave an approving nod at his compliment. “And it’s only eight o’clock!”
He took one last look at himself before leaving his room and making his way downstairs. As he descended the staircase, he could hear noises coming from his parent’s room: loud snoring and grunting. Then, Finn heard something more interesting—his mother’s voice.
“…and don’t forget to write me a love letter, dear,” she said as she rolled over onto her side and continued sleeping.
Finn smiled to himself as he made his way to the kitchen. It appeared that he wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to get up this early.
As he entered the room, his mother was sitting at the kitchen table eating a bowl of cereal, humming happily to herself as she munched away on the dry cereal. Finn walked up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder gently, startling her out of her trance.
She turned around and looked at him curiously when she realized that he was there. She smiled at his beautiful smile and said, “Hi, honey! Did you go to bed okay?”
“Uh-huh,” he replied, nodding enthusiastically. “What are you doing up so early?”
His mother giggled at his question. “Oh, you know how much I like mornings,” she said, gesturing at his cereal. “You don’t mind if I finish my breakfast while you start getting ready for school?”
“No problem,” said Finn. He smiled and continued looking around at everything in the room. “This is really nice.”
“It looks different than it did last year, doesn’t it?”
Finn nodded his head. “Yes! But it’s really nice, too. It feels like a new house, even though we’ve lived here for years.”
His mom chuckled. “Well, maybe not completely different, but it’s certainly a bit bigger since we moved into this neighborhood.”
“Yeah, it definitely does feel that way,” said Finn, glancing at his mother with surprise.
“Do you like it so far, Finn?”
“Yeah!” exclaimed Finn excitedly. “I mean…” He paused and took a breath before asking the question he knew he couldn’t avoid. “…can you tell me what happened to our old house? I haven’t seen it yet.”
“Of course, honey. Your father and I sold it.”
“Oh,” said Finn. That was a little disappointing, but he tried to hide his disappointment by giving her a reassuring smile. “That’s okay. We’ll always have this one. Right?”
His mother smiled back at him and patted his shoulder as she stood up from the table. “Right, Finn,” she replied as she put her spoon in the dishwasher. “But don’t worry about it right now. You have school.”
With that, Finn left his mother alone at the table to go into the backyard.
The End