Saving the Day
Nathan was hunched over his desk, as usual. His notes were neatly stacked in piles in front of him, and organised by subject. He'd been at it for hours, and was only half way through his material. But that's what it takes if to are trying to get accepted into the most prestigious law school in the country. And that's was what he wanted more than anything. Despite his drooping eye lids, and his increasingly sore neck, he knew he had to keep studying. He had his final exams tomorrow. And he had to ace them ALL. He closed one text book, and reached for the next.
There was a gentle knock at the door. It could only be one person. "Nate?" Came a small, barely audible voice.
"Pete, I can't play right now. I'm busy." But the five year old opened the door and wandered into his big brother's room anyways.
"Whachya doin'?" He asked. He jumped up onto his brother's lap.
"I'm studying. I have a big test tomorrow, and I can't have any distractions."
Pete held his head up proudly. "I won't be a 'straction. I'm almost in grade one, you know. Maybe I can help." He picked up a paper and looked it over. "What are we studying?"
Nathan rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but smile. He took the paper from Peter's tiny hands and put it back in it's pile. "Tell you what." He said, turning Peter around to face him. "It would help me sooo much if you could remind me how the ABC's go."
Peter's face absolutely lit up. "Okay!" He grinned, and then began to rattle off all 26 letters. Nathan pretended to pay close attention.
"Thanks, Pete. You really saved the day." Nathan praised when he was finished. Peter smiled.
"Like a superhero?"
"Exactly." Nathan said, and lifted Peter back down onto the floor. The five year old had a dreamy look on his face. "What?" Nathan asked, amused by his expression.
"Teacher asked us to draw what we wanted to be when we grew up. I didn't know until just now! What a great idea, Nate! I'm gonna be a superhero!"
"Well, what do you know." Nathan replied. "I guess we helped each other out, eh?"
Peter nodded, and then dashed out of the room, with his fist in the air, like superman. Nathan shook his head and went back to his notes.
What a ridiculous idea, he thought. Oh well. Every kid goes through that superhero phase. He'll grow out of it eventually…