A Very Short Action Story by Lauren Stiller (first ebook reader TXT) 📕

The man sat on the park bench, casually reading a newspaper. He was an expert at impersonating the style of an ordinary Joe. Nearby, a squirrel ran over the roots of an oak tree. A young woman was walking her dog, and a few joggers were roaming around.
The scent of fall leaves was in the air, but the man did not care about any of that. He had come to complete one mission, and nothing else.
He neatly folded the newspaper and put it in his leather bag. It was almost time. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, the man pulled his long trench coat around himself and started towards the woods.
Withered leaves crackled beneath his shoes as the man entered the forest. Pausing, he looked around for the tree. Ah, there it was. A small pine tree with a simple X marked on the trunk. He set down his bag and opened it. Pulling out some leather gloves, the man wiggled his fingers into them.
Why are so many of the things I own made of leather? He wondered to himself. He then shook his head. He must stay on task.
The man took quite a few odd devices out of the bag and hooked them onto his belt. Glancing at his watch, he snapped the bag closed and leaned against the tree, holding a particular device.
A shadow moved at the corner of his eye. The man stepped casually around the tree to see a little girl standing in front of him.
She looked about nine years old, with curly brown hair and a cute dimpled smile.
The man smiled. “Ah, my dear Esmé. How lovely you look today,” He held up his device.
Esmé’s smile melted away into a scowl. “Same to you, Mr. Cabry,” She snarled.
Quick as a flashed, she yanked a device similar to Mr. Cabry’s from her dress pocket. Her dress twisted into a tight-fitting jumpsuit with a belt full of devices.
“I see you came prepared this time!” Mr. Cabry pressed a button on his device and two beams of energy shot from the top, twisting together to make a sword.
Esmé did the same, and they stood there, looking at each other.
WHAM! Esmé slammed her sword into Mr. Cabry’s, knocking him back with such force that should not have been possible for a nine year old.
Mr. Cabry regained his balance and swung his sword around, blocking Esmé’s sword right before it hit his chest. He then arced the energy from his sword and made a loop, slamming the handle into Esmé’s leg while the other end of it electrocuted another attacker from behind.
As Esmé scrambled for her sword, three more shadow attackers jumped from the trees holding guns. One fired at Mr. Cabry and he somersaulted forward, dodging the bullet just in time.
The bullet hit a tree and blue energy exploded from it, frying the tree and leaving the grass smoldering. Mr. Cabry turned to the attackers, eyes narrowed. That wasn’t just any bullet, that was a Zing Dart 5000. They were trying to kill him!
“Alright, you wanna play that way?” Mr. Cabry drew a gun of his own from his belt, loaded with the same darts.
An attacker came at him and Mr. Cabry sliced his neck with his energy sword. The attacker keeled over and Mr. Cabry flipped over his back, firing at another shadow enemy.
The energy dart found its target and exploded on impact. Mr. Cabry’s neck hair stood up and he whipped around, almost taking off Esmé’s head. She dodged his sword and came at him with a green axe.
Mr. Cabry saw the deadly electrodes dancing across the surface and decided he’d better move.
Esmé hurled the axe at him. It flew through the air with amazing speed and he ducked. The axe lodged itself in the tree, right where his head had been a second ago.
Esmé pulled her sword again and Mr. Cabry collided his with hers. She smiled at him and he realized he was about to be ambushed. The third attacker had gathered up more teammates and they surrounded him in a circle. But the battle wasn’t over yet.
Mr. Cabry snickered and yanked his spark blade from his belt. Esmé’s eyes went wide and she backed away. He swung it at her and it collided with her arm. She gasped and fell to the ground. Mr. Cabry smiled again and unhooked a sonic boomerang.
There was a pause, and then with a yell Mr. Cabry hurled his sonic boomerang around. It curved neatly and landed back in his hand.
Another pause. There were some snorts from the attackers as they waited for something to happen. Nothing did. One of them stepped forward and just then, BOOM!
A sonic force field exploded in a circle, knocking back all the attackers. They landed on the ground and didn’t move.
Mr. Cabry grinned and placed his weapons in his bag. “I’m glad we straightened that out,” He said, then stepped over the bodies of his enemies and walked calmly back to his bench.

Text: Lauren Stiller
Publication Date: 10-25-2012

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