Bubbles, the menace



Bobby Foxworth, super hero, has saved the day again! Bobby returns to his apartment after a grueling and trying day of crime fighting. He flops down on his lazy boy chair and reflects on how he saved three people from a burning building, rescued a cat from a tree, and a stopped a runaway bus after being hijacked by a villain.

His apartment is small with one room where his couch turns into a bed and his refrigerator is placed next to the TV, which is precariously balanced upon a carton of cat food from the neighbor’s trash. The cat food reminds him of how he may be a clean freak but he idolizes trash men for being able to keep the world a better place. That is his goal to make the world better. As he dreams about this he stares at the football game on TV and absentmindedly zones out. The game is interrupted for breaking news. The newscaster is reporting about a local lunatic who has been menacing the entire town of Seattle. The story details how this crazy kid has burned down a building where 3 people had to be saved by firefighters. The story goes on telling how a cat was chased up a tree by this same dumb kid and again firefighters had to come to the rescue of the cat and get it out of the tree. Lastly this kid continued the havoc when he knocked out a bus driver causing it to go out of control and crash. This kid has in total cost us $500 million dollars, just this month. The newscast finally identified the kid at the root of the story and it was him, Bobby Foxworth!!! Did he just hear that correct?? Then again the TV said “he must be stopped, we must stop Bobby Foxworth!!

Bobby thinks how can this be??? They are not praising Bubbles the superhero but making Bobby out to be a bad guy. He looks over at Seamus his pet beetle and realizes his worst fear is coming true. He is going to be known and remembered as that dumb kid. He gets up and instinctively starts cleaning to calm his nerves. He turns off the TV and scrubs and wipes everything in his small apartment. He decides to clean out Seamus’ cage to make his little buddy happy. He looks at the beetle and thinks he may be his only friend right now. Bobby shuffles his feet outside to the dumpster with his head hung low. His blond hair is a crazy mess from shaking his head and his blue eyes are filled with tears. He feels very defeated, a lot like when he was shot, stabbed, punched and headbutted.

Several people headed his way begin to walk past then turn the other way to avoid him. He wonders if they have seen the news or is it just his appearance tonight with all his tattoos, scars and body piercings. He hates trash but thinks maybe that is where he belongs. He is about to toss in the bag that has his super hero costume of cape, tights and underwear and suddenly Bobby hears a baby crying. He looks around wondering where the sound came from and who the baby could belong to since the streets were deserted.

Bobby smells smoke and begins to frantically looks around, the smell and sound gets worse. He looks up and on the 3rd floor of the abandoned building and sees a little boy in the window. In that moment Bobby forgets about all the bad press and self doubt. All he can think about is the small child in a building that was quickly beginning to burn. He can’t go into the main door because he sees the flames. He calls 911 to report the fire and then notices an old rusted fire escape. He looks at the costume in the bag in his hand. He tosses it in the trash and takes a deep breath. Without thinking about danger or obstacles he focuses on saving the kid. He climbs up the series of old rickety ladders. He reaches the little boy and gently lifts him out the window. He begins to climb down quickly just as the firefighters pull up. Right behind the sirens and lights are news crews. He does not even notice until he is on the ground safely with the child.

All of the sudden the lights and camera are on Bobby. The reporter says he is a hero! Could it be Bobby is a hero, a SuperHero! The little boy looks up at him in thanks. Then a woman comes running and crying. You saved my baby she says. You are my hero! There was that word again, hero. After all the negative thoughts and after he had given up on himself and the idea of being Bubbles, here he was a hero. He was not in any costume or trying to make some crazy thing into a chance for him to play crime fighter. He was just a kid that wanted to help people and he did it!!! He could make the world a better place.