The Latchkey Kid (StoryADay)

This is the story of how I saved a random person from certain disaster by watching TV.

I’m what you call a latchkey kid, which means I usually stay home after school by myself. That was because I was too socially awkward to go to the after school programs at the school or the teen center. If I had my way, I would spend my time in the library, but since the city implemented a new program designed to “help” socially awkward kids like me make some new “friends”, I didn’t bother with the library.

But maybe that would have been better compared to what I went through last week.

I was at home one day flipping through channels on TV (I usually don’t watch TV because I consider it a waste of time, but today, I had no homework and was bored) when I came across a strange channel. This channel looked like a news station, but instead of reporting today’s news, the reporters were talking about TOMORROW’s news!

I was shocked. Meaning that there was no way I was seeing the future’s news today. How did that happen? Was it even possible?

I held my breath as I watched a news story about the kidnapping and murder of a girl named Jenny Meyer. Jenny was a girl in my school who was different from the other kids, mainly because of a disability. The report said that a man posing as a psychiatrist snatched her from her front yard, and her body was found at a park not too far from the elementary school.

I didn’t know what to say, as my parents came home within a few minutes. But the channel switched itself to an educational program, which baffled me, as I wondered if the future-telling channel was for my eyes only.

Nonetheless, I knew what I had to do. I had to save Jenny before the strange man killed her.

The next day, I spotted her at school, but being in her own dream world. Knowing that I couldn’t get her attention, I wrote a message that said, “You should stay at the library tonight until your mother comes to get you. Otherwise, you will be attacked and murdered by a stranger. Please don’t ignore this message, as it means the difference between your life and death. Sincerely, a well-wisher.”

I guess my trick must have worked because when I watched today’s news, I leaned that a 25-year-old man was caught luring in the area where Jenny’s family lived. He was arrested for trespassing and Jenny was safely in the library.

I guess that the channel was telling me that I had the power to not just predict the future, but to save the lives of various people. But the only question I have left is this: should I use my newfound future-telling abilities to help people, even if there’s a way that someone will make that event happen?