Mayor Larry is a Hero

With the dishes done, they found Gracie back at the dinner table, a spiral bound pad in front of her. “Now,” she said, “If you want desert you have to answer a few questions for me.” The two men looked at each other with a puzzled look. “Al,” she said, “You can go and make some coffee. I want to talk to Jimmy.” For the next twenty minutes or so she asked Jimmy to retell the story of how the Mayor saved his life. Al was smiling as he listened to Jimmy.

It seemed to Al that Jimmy didn’t miss a detail. Gracie heard how cold the water was, how every time he tried to step on the log it went under the water and he went with it. When he came to the part of the Mayor going under the water to pull him free, the excitement and emotion in his voice was as if he was still in the water. Jimmy was a very compelling storyteller.

Blueberry pie, ice cream, and coffee were the perfect desert. With a bit of pie filling in the corner of his mouth, Jimmy asked Gracie, “Why did you want to know all about the Mayor?” “Why, that is simple,” Gracie said, “I’m writing an article on our Mayor and how he saved your life. It will be on the front page this week.” In an instant Jimmy was up and out of his chair. “Oh boy,” he said, “Mayor Larry is gonna’ be a real honest-to-goodness hero.”

Al and Gracie ran the story for Wednesday’s edition. Many of the people in town knew ahead of time about the article. It seemed as though every place Jimmy went he was telling people of his narrow escape, and how brave the Mayor was. When the townsfolk allowed, not wanting to be disrespectful, he would go over every detail of the rescue. And Jimmy ended the story the same, every time. ‘Why,” he’d say, “Our Mayor is a real live hero.” So when the weekly came out, the headline, Mayor Saves Local Man, was no surprise.