This week’s story was written in response to one of the prompts I shared on the NV Rivera YouTube channel back in 2020 Writing Prompt #30: Inspired by Comics. I took one page out of the graphic novel Tale of Sand by Jim Henson and used it as a prompt.
This is a 2.5 minute read.
First Day
I pulled up to the station at 4:45AM, a full fifteen minutes early, sure to avoid anything to comment on. I wasn’t given a uniform yet, so I went for an outfit Mom picked out. Yes, I’m a grown man, but I was hoping to make impressions on the man behind that door in whatever way I could. I wanted more than anything to work in this police station my whole life, but I still wasn’t sure if I was making a big mistake returning home like this.
When I got out of the car I was immediately assaulted by a throng of townies. Bruce lifted me onto his and Tim’s shoulders, as the rest of Henny’s Diner crew and customers poured around us in some bizarre celebratory entrance to my first day at my new job. What will he think? I wondered. Will he think I planned it?
“Guys, please,” I pleaded, “You’re killin’ me here,” I leaned down in protest, hoping they would listen, but also hoping my body language would convey my ignorance to this ordeal. As we turned the corner, he was there, at the door, arms folded across his chest, badge blazing on his vest.
There was nowhere to hide.
“Congratulations, Boy. This is a big day for us.” he looked more amused than I expected. It got me wondering if he was the one behind the whole thing. With his sleeves rolled up and his toothy smile, it felt less like a first day on the job and more like a hazing. “I’m Sheriff Tate,” he continued, just as the guys put me down in front of him.
“Ahhh…. Errrr…. Well….” My voice echoed the stammering my identity was experience. He was Sheriff Tate, that’s true, but was I to pretend that I didn’t grow up under the same roof as him? Like I hadn’t seen him, multiple times, in his PJs, underwear, and sick as a dog? He was my father, but it’s like he knew that simply saying, “I’m Sheriff Tate,” would change that – and me – all in an instant.
Then he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulled me in through the front door and said, “Come on in, Son, come in. It’s about time for your instructions.”
The pit was full. I didn’t even think we had that many grown men left in Garden Groves, forget about having that many arrests in one night. “Busy last night, dad?” I asked.
“Now just ‘cause I called you son, don’t mean you should let your guard down,” then he leaned into my ear and whispered, “Last thing any criminal needs to know is we’re related.”
I nodded, keeping my eye on the pen, as dad -- I mean, “Sheriff Tate” -- led me over to his desk on the far side of the room. He released me as he pulled out a chair for me sit in. Time moved like a movie in slow motion. As he walked around the desk I felt all our years spill out on the surface between us. I saw all the disappointments, all the punishments, my failings, the thousands and thousands of reasons I could never be the man my father was. Sheriff Tate was a monument of this town and I was the squirrel busy burying nuts in the ground at its feet. His old swivel chair squeaked as he pulled it out. The familiar sound brought me back from my insecurities. That squeak, always the same. I wondered why he never got it fixed. He sat and the chair did its, practically iconic, rock and bounce before he swiveled around to face me, eyes watery and smile still there, but now more genuine.
“Listen, Zack,” he said, only loud enough for me to hear. I was frozen in his gaze. “I know you weren’t sure about coming back here. And I know, in some ways leaving the big city and returning home like this, must feel like a step down for you and all that. And maybe you won’t even stay on that long, but I just want you to know that it is my honor and privilege to have you working by my side for as long as it lasts.” He opened his drawer, pulled out a badge already engraved with my name and number. “I had this made the day you were born. It’s been waiting here for you ever since. And so have I.”
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The inspiration
If you would like to see the full comic book page that inspired this story, watch the video below!