Short creative writing piece (flash fiction) written during a long commute.

Reposting with some modifications. I wrote this as a reply on Facebook when my friend posted a photograph taken of her as a child an she was trying to recollect why she wasn't wearing her eyeglasses. I hope you enjoy it...

My Reply:

You woke up that Saturday morning eager to see what the day might bring. Dressed, teeth brushed and eyeglasses on you sat at the kitchen table with your parents and ate a small breakfast of toast with jam and a small glass of milk.

The doorbell rang unexpectedly but your parents were not surprised. At the door was a delivery man with a new swing set in the back of a blue pickup truck. The yellow letters painted on the passenger door spelled, "Dietz Family General". The set came unassembled and your father mentioned it was going to take awhile but you would have none of that. You practically dove into the hall closet where the red metal tool box was kept and retrieved a flathead screwdriver and two wrenches.

Precisely 82 minutes later you were tightening the last bolt when you heard the unmistakable sound of a fire engine. At the same time you saw the new neighbor's six year old son, George chasing a ball into the street. A multi colored ball that looked like a cloudy far off planet. You knew you had seconds before the speeding fire truck and George would have an unfortunate and fatal introduction. You saw this all in slow motion which gave you the sense that there was enough time to run out into the street, gather up George and kick the ball and make a bank shot off the basketball goal that stood at the end of Mr. Wempe's driveway. But with all this happening and the truck bearing down, your eyeglasses fell from your face unnoticed and bounced along the asphalt and into the street drain.

After about 3 hours later the fire truck returned but this time with no sirens. You and George were testing out the new swing set. A Captain Nicholas hopped off the truck with the rest of his crew and a bicycle. They smiled at your parents and asked to speak with you. Introductions were made and Captain Nicholas said they saw everything but could not stop because they had to attend to the fire across town. He went on to say that they wanted to give you the new bike for being a hero and invited you and your family for a meal at the firehouse.

A local reporter, the same one that covered the fire, followed along and wanted to take a photo of just you and the bike for the local paper. That's the photo posted here. Just as the reporter snapped the picture, your mother asked, "Mary, where are your glasses?"