Charlie

A Story by jennilouhoo

Mary is Charlie's babysitter. Things turn sour during a simple trip to the park.

I slipped my foot into my shoe to find my toes submerged in pudding. Out of sheer unexpectedness, I let out a yelp. I slid my foot out of tennis shoe and examined the damage. It looked like two spoon fulls of chocolate pudding had been plopped down in the toe of my shoe. Hobbling through my neighbor's house, I found my way to the washing machine and threw in my shoe. Thank god it was a canvas shoe.

"Charlie!" I waited for a response. Nothing.

"Charlie!" I heard soft, child-like giggles from a room down the hall. Wiping off my foot, I tiptoed across the carpet hoping to hear another giggle. I opened the door to Charlie's room only finding strewn legos and superhero figurines. Closing the door back, I heard another giggle coming from the next room: the bathroom. I swiftly yanked the door open and found Charlie's beagle Max sitting in the middle of the bathtub. He helplessly cocked his head to the side as if to say, "I didn't do it!". Noticing the hamper move slightly to the left, I snatched the lid off to find my six-year-old neighbor, Charlie, biting down on his tiny fist trying not to laugh.

"What have you done to my shoes, you squirt?!" I yanked him out of the hamper and threw him over my shoulder. I carried him down the hall and into the living room, Max following Charlie's shrieks of laughter the entire way. Chunking Charlie on the couch, I engaged him in a tickle fight that left both of us on the floor, breathless and covered in dog slobber from Max's participation. Charlie reached out and poked my nose.

"I thought you liked chocolate pudding Mary!" his innocent brown eyes gleamed with youth and I smiled.

"I do, but not in my shoes you silly goose!" I couldn't stay mad at him for long. I actually loved babysitting him; I had ever since I started three years ago. Charlie had manners and a heart of gold. His parents had definitely raised him right. Not many six-year-old's made sure to give the homeless people on the corner change or feed stray pets that wandered through the neighborhood. I think he hated to see people suffer just as much as any adult. "Let's keep our food on our plates."

Charlie smiled, "OK, if you say so Mary." He got up and turned on the TV to some cartoon. He came back to where I was sitting on the floor and plopped down in my lap, snuggling into my neck. I smiled at the sweet gesture and reclined my back against the couch.

Two TV programs later, I heard the dryer buzz saying my shoes were back to normal. Charlie hopped up and ran down the hall. I followed him, but not for long. He practically ran right into holding my shoes out for my approval.

"Nothing bad happened to your shoes, Mary! See? A little pudding never hurt anyone!" He giggled showing his gap toothed grin. I ruffed up his brown hair and made my way back to the couch.

"Yeah, yeah. I hear ya," sitting down, putting on my shoes, he stood in front of my so we were almost eye to eye. He gave me his best puppy dog look. "What could you possibly want," I asked.

"Weeelllllll..... since your shoes are all better, I was thinking we could take a walk trough the park with Max and we could feed the ducks!" His smile got even bigger. I narrowed my eyes at his cuteness that I couldn't say no to.

"OK. Go get Max's leash." With cheers of joy, he rushed throughout the house yelling for the dog. Returning with the beagle in his arms and a leash around his neck, he plopped him down in front of the door. "Ready!"

"Wait!" Charlie stopped turning the doorknob. "Aren't you forgetting your jacket?"

"Aw, Mary!"

"Nope, it's chilly outside. If you don't wear your jacket, your mother will kill me."

"Fine."

I held his jacket out for him to slid into. When we were all bundled up, we marched out of his house, Charlie holding the old bread, and me walking Max. We only had a few blocks to travel until we arrived at the park. Autumn was in full swing in our neighborhood. The trees made a canopies of red and orange over the small duck pond. As we walked across the grass, the leaves under our feet made crunching sounds. Charlie couldn't resist jumping into one pile of leaves. He leapt with all his might, scattering the leaves in every direction and releasing a rush of his goofy giggles that I loved so much. Max tried to chase the ducks, so I stayed a few feet back, letting Charlie care for the birds. Admiring the serene blue sky, a chill wind blew making me close my jacket a little tighter. I didn't want Charlie catching a cold on my watch. Did I get him a warm enough jacket?

As I pondered on whether or not we should head back to Charlie's house, I heard a commotion off to the right. Thinking it was other children, I continued watching Charlie and the ducks. That is, until I heard a blood curdling scream and some sort of muffled bang. All other passerby's in the park stopped and looked to each other for answers.

"Charlie! Come on, we should leave." I began to worry. I wanted to get home, lock the doors, and find some answers. When Charlie reached me, we began walking until a man dressed in all black came running in our direction from the other side of the park. "Come on Charlie. Let's get off the sidewalk."

All of the other citizens were gasping and moving out of his way quickly. Something silver gleamed in his hand and I swore he had a patch of scarlet coloring on his clothes. He didn't seem to be heading to one specific place; he was just running. And I didn't want to get in his way.

"Mary, is that man a bad guy?" Charlie whispered at me.

"Yes, Charlie, I believe so. We should leave." The man was nearing our section of the park and I began edging Charlie behind me. The black dressed man seemed frantic and I could tell now that the shining silver in his hand was in fact a gun. I heard police sirens in the distance.

"Is no one going to stop him?" Charlie was whispering again.

"The police are on their way." I looked at him, "We need to leave."

He looked up at me with troubled eyes and peered out from behind my legs. The black dressed man was close to getting away and we had yet to see signs of the actual police getting there. I just wanted Charlie and I to leave before things took a turn for the worst.

"Come on Charlie. We need to leave. Now." He didn't budge.

"The police aren't going to get here on time, Mary! We need a hero!"

The man was getting nearer and nearer. He was about to pass us and run through the park exit when the unthinkable happened. Charlie looked up at me with a brutal honesty in his eyes.

"I'll be your hero Mary." He stepped out right in front of that man, nearly tripping him. The man staggered long enough to realize that it was a kid who got in his way. He pushed Charlie to the side and kept running. I reached for Charlie but he escaped my grasp. He ran after the man, quickly gaining on him with his six-year-old speed.

"HEY MISTER!" Charlie yelled/

"CHARLIE!" I screamed helplessly stunned by what I was witnessing. Charlie got tangled under the man's legs again, but this time he brought him down. Max was furiously trying to reach Charlie, I was loosing my grip on the leash. Charlie was trying to sit on the man now. A group of witnesses began to gain some sense back and rushed to help the struggling boy. Myself included, we ran to Charlie's aid. I finally lost my grip on Max's leash and Max took off for Charlie, beating us all there. He began biting and fighting right along side Charlie. I couldn't keep my eyes off the man's gun hand. He was waving it every direction, trying to fend off the attackers.

When I got within three feet, I heard a sickening back.

And then another.

A dog's whimper.

A woman's scream.

Sirens.

A thud.

All the noise in the world shut off as I reached Charlie. He fell back into my arms and we hit the ground. A crowd ran after the black dressed man, but I had to stay with Charlie. His usual sparkling brown eyes seemed dull. Holding into my chest, I did my best not to let him see me cry.

"It's OK, Charlie. You're OK." I tried not to panic at the scarlet seeping from his back and onto my hands. I held back my sobs. "It's all OK"

Charlie blinked and the corners of his mouth turned up, "Did I get him?" His gap tooth grin pulled at my heart strings. I looked up and saw the police wrestling the man into handcuffs. An ambulance for Charlie was not far behind.

"You sure did, you silly goose," I shakily wiped the hair from his face, "What were you thinking?" Charlie began coughing and his eyes rolled back in his head. When he could talk, blood ran from the corner of his mouth.

"Everyone needs a hero," he wearily said, "I love you, Mary." I wiped a tear forming in the corner of his eye.

"I love you too, squirt." He began to close his eyes and the paramedics weren't even there yet. "Hey, HEY! No, Charlie! Don't go!"" I shook him and he smiled at me again.

"It's OK, Mary. I just need a nap." He closed his eyes and his tiny chest quivered.

"Charlie?! Someone, ANYONE! PLEASE!" Pressing my hands to his wounds to stop the bleeding, I search for the paramedics. They were rushing this way, but I feared they were too late. I didn't fear Charlie's pulse.

"CHARLIE!" He wasn't breathing. The paramedics pulled me away from Charlie's body and began CPR. I fell in the grass, sobbing. I tried to sit up but I was woozy. All I could see was Charlie's blood on my hands.

I rolled over in the grass onto something slim and cool. I looked. It was Max's leash. Sitting up, I found Max with a gun wound in his side. He died protecting Charlie. But it was all for nothing, for at that moment, the paramedics called it.

Charlie was dead.