Chapter 9
August 17, 2022 at 7:00 pm
Joshua could see Samantha's eyes getting heavy. She had been awake for eighteen hours and it was beginning to show. Carefully, he let her lay down on the sofa and he went into the bathroom.
Joshua continued the mental block on his father while he checked out his clothes. They were almost dry but still covered in mud. He decided to try to brush them off and put them back on. Hopefully he'd be warmer in them than he was in the towels.
Despite the messy state of his clothes, Joshua felt better. Some of the mud had come off and now he could see how his sneakers were doing. Silently, he walked over to the door and bent down to touch them. Unfortunately, they were still soaking wet. Joshua grimaced at the idea of having to put them back on.
Walking back over to Samantha, he saw that she wasn't really asleep. She smiled at him and sat up.
"You should probably get some sleep." Joshua said.
"I can't. I guess I'm just nervous about what my Mom and Dad are going to do when we get back." Samantha replied.
"Yeah, I'm sure that things aren't going to go well when we do go back." He sighed. The sixteen year old sat back down next to her and she put her head on his shoulder.
"At least you got some of the mud off of your clothes." She said trying to point out something positive.
"Yeah and it looks like the rain is slowing down." Joshua smiled. He turned his head and kissed the top of hers.
"And we've settled our problems." Samantha started. "Well almost all of them."
"I've been thinking about that. There is another option but I don't know if Dad knows about it." He said.
"What kind of other option?" She asked.
"Well I was talking to my counselor at Hero College and he said that if I wanted, Dad could teach me to be a hero." Joshua said.
"You wouldn't have to leave?" Samantha asked.
"No and the college said that I could still get my certification too." He smiled.
"Something doesn't sound right about that? Don't colleges usually want money?" She wondered.
"Actually, Hero College is a non-profit organization. They don't expect money because what they are doing is going to help society. Heroes fight for truth, justice, honor, and liberty so there isn't any money in that." Joshua explained.
"So how do you guys manage to live?" Samantha asked.
"Well my Mom will teach dance classes at the dance studio and fill in occasionally down at the community college for some history classes. Dad teaches Tae Kwon Do to police recruits." He told her. Samantha nodded thoughtfully and said,
"I suppose you'd better do your thing and let him know where we are, huh?" Joshua just shrugged. He was about to answer her when he heard something. Putting his right index finger to his lips, he motioned for Samantha to be quiet. She nodded and slowly got up off the couch. Joshua moved to an unbroken window and looked out. There were figures moving among the trees. Quickly, the soon-to-be-hero focused his abilities on them.
What is it?Samantha mouthed. Joshua turned to her.
To Be Continued…
