SHORT STORY┃THE WEEKLY

I Am My Hero

L

uke was known for always being in the lower ranks every monthly physical training during his pre-service days.

mention his appearance: he’s thin and no muscles at all, given that he’s pursuing this kind of profession. Ever since he was a kid, he dreamed of being a police officer, who helps someone in need. He wanted to be a hero. 

That dream came true, but he’s now wearing a uniform that is not loosely fitted on him. He puts his cap on, fixes his badges and all accessories that police always carry with them. 

“What a wonderful day to be a loser, isn’t it?” One or two of his co-workers’ teases when he entered the station. “Good morning, Luke. just... don’t mind them, okay? Show them what you've got someday,” Ashton said. He is the only colleague of his who's kind to him. 

Luke never minds those guys; he knows his capabilities and worth. He's a police officer now. He sticks to his goals as a hero. 

“Can I ask you to work for extra hours tonight?” Ashton asked him. Luke just nodded and joined him and the other officers inside their vehicle. There’s an affray near the forest along west drive. Their station is the nearest, that’s why they’re assigned to take the action.

When they got to the location, no one was there. Empty, just the cries of the cicadas at night and the moonlight. 

“We’ve been framed up—” Someone shouted, but before he could finish, a shot rang out. One of the officers was shot by a gun from the bushes. Everyone became alerted which made them holding their guns as well. 

​

“What do you want?” Ashton shouted, looking from his side to side, judging the darkness that surrounded them. Another shot landed to another officer, now there are two police lying on the grass, aching and crying for help. Ashton is tiptoeing to Luke. He can't give him hand signals since they're both handling their guns. “Why are they not attacking us or even answering? What do they want from us by setting us up all here?”

“Do you badly want to know?” Luke whispered back at him. Ashton remained silent. He is waiting for Luke to say more, and staying alert from the move of the unknown threat. Luke pulled back the trigger and put it back to his gun pocket. “Let the show begin,” he said, and gun fires started to be seen from everywhere. Like a firecracker during New Year's Eve. Now their blue uniform is stained with red. Ashton got shot in his right knee, now crouching from the pain. 

“What is happening, Luke?”Ashton asked. Luke asked himself too before, what is happening to him? When he's so close to his graduation, it was postponed because the higher ups think that he's not qualified to be part of the group. He decided to join a brotherhood where his intelligence is useful instead. That connection was the key to receiving his diploma. 

He’s happy, he’s an officer now, but the unfairness and discrimination still continue in his workplace. He’s been assigned from station to station because Luke keeps asking for moving, even though the said colleagues are the one who pushes him away, degrading him, and doesn’t see him as one of them. 

Not until he met this guy named Ashton. The only one who’s kind and accepted him. I believe in him. Trusted him. So, Luke craves for his own accomplishments being bragged and acknowledged by Ashton, those crimes that he solved, those cases that they were handling, it was because of Luke. He's the one making those ruckuses and the one bringing the ceasefire. 

Eventually, Luke realized that being a villain is not bad at all. The antagonist who dressed up as a protagonist. He started to love the setup. 

He’s enjoying the idea. “I can’t seem to process everything…” Ashton coughed some blood, he’s now stabbed by Luke, four times. “I’ve been good to you all this time. . . Why?” Everything became stagnant when a cloud covered the moonlight. The smell of rusty blood lingers, mingling with the fading cries of cicadas. All that remained was silence. And the choice I had already made.

They say benevolence is the truest form of revenge. But vengeance was inevitable . . . and kindness? Kindness was a language I unlearned the moment I pulled the trigger.  ✦

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