The Brave Little Coward

By, A.L. Shilling

Today was Nick’s day and the rest of the people of Bravery, California would just have to accept it. Theirs was a quiet town where everyone walked wherever they needed to go because cars were the leading cause of accidents among drivers. Bravery’s residents did not have electricity because the power grid was the leading cause of electrocution among modern homeowners. In Bravery, there was not a single pet in sight because dogs and cats were the leading cause of animal bites. 

On Halloween, the children of Bravery did not go trick-or treating because they were too smart to be tricked and everyone knew Halloween treats were dangerous. Each home was a modest one story ranch because everyone knew that stairs were among the leading causes of fall-related injuries. 

Nick knew that the residents of her small town were quite rational in their fears, but she was, perhaps, the only one in Bravery who did not share in all of their fears. She was more than happy to ride in her friends’ cars; she went to a school with electricity that had never harmed any of her classmates; she’d pet Alicia’s dog without getting bit; and she’d even eaten some of Chad’s Halloween candy without getting so much as a cavity.

It should be said that Nick did have just one fear: leaving her father. If she wasn’t so afraid for her dad, she’d have left this town long ago. Brian was the only family Nick had and the same was true in reverse. As the Mayor of Bravery, Brian was here to stay. The 320 other residents were too afraid to run against him, so he’d likely be mayor until he died and someone else was shoved into the role against their will.

Nick knew that being the mayor of Bravery was not a hard job. The residents were too afraid to break the law, so there was no need for a police force in Bravery. The county sheriff’s department handled the nonexistent need for law-and-order in town. An occasional tourist would stumble upon their town and wonder at the quaint homes, erroneously labeling them as Amish and Quakers. The people of Bravery were God-fearing folk - really any deity that could potentially strike them dead with a lightning bolt - but they were not the Amish. The residents of Bravery would never have dared to own a horse, and they could forget about going anywhere near one of those buggy death-traps that were strapped to the horses.

The reason for Nick’s fear was harder to rationalize than the fears of her fellow residents of Bravery. Lady Scarlet from down the road had a fear of clowns. Mr. Bennett from across the street had a fear of peanut butter getting stuck to the roof of his mouth. Nick had had to look that one up, but arachibutyrophobia was a real thing. Apparently an amorphous blob of goo that he would be unable to remove from the top of his mouth was a real fear. Peanut butter would never enter his home and Nick respected that.

Old Man Rodger lived alone because he had syngenesophobia - a fear of relatives. Nick made it a point to visit him often because she found that incredibly sad. He was grouchy, but she noticed that there was always a fresh loaf of bread ready whenever she came by. He liked her and she liked him back, each in their own quiet ways.

Today was a special day. It was Nick’s birthday, and she knew what she wanted more than anything else in the whole world. She wanted to watch the fireworks. Everyone in Bravery knew that fireworks were the leading cause of firework related injuries. Fireworks could detonate early and explode in someone’s hand; the sparks could fall and cause an out of control brush fire; or they could be so loud that the bang could burst an eardrum.

But Nick wasn’t afraid, and she wanted everyone in Bravery to experience the awe and joy that fireworks could bring. So, Nick made a plan. She would buy all the fireworks that she could afford, ensuring that they were not too loud, not too smoky, and had nice long fuses. The only thing that Nick absolutely refused to budge on was the fact that they needed to be extra sparkly.

So, Nick hopped on her bike and rode away from Bravery. The next town over was a town called Waterfield, which Nick always thought was incredibly hilarious. There was no water and there were no fields in Waterfield, unless you counted the swimming pools in people’s backyards and the overgrown lawns in some of the front yards. 

Don’t even get her started on swimming pools. Everyone knew that swimming pools were incredibly dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. She didn’t even need to get into the specific dangers; they were too numerous and terrifying.

As the first buildings of Waterfield came into view, Nick slowed down to absorb the new sounds and sights and smells. Nick had ventured here sparingly since she had to build up on her reserves of bravery for trips such as these. 

Now, Waterfield wasn’t exactly a bustling metropolis. The rest of the world might classify it as a sleepy town, but the citizens of Bravery saw Waterfield as an overwhelmingly dangerous town full of all the things that could possibly injure or kill you if luck was not on your side. 

Nick stopped at the tent that was set up in front of the grocery store. There were these fireworks tents dotted throughout the town, but this one was the closest to the edge of town and Nick wasn’t sure that she was quite brave enough to venture any further. The dozens of cars in the parking lot were already threatening to overwhelm Nick, but she steeled herself and approached the tables. 

“Hello,” she said tentatively. “I’d like to buy some fireworks that aren’t too loud, but are extra sparkly. Can you recommend some for me?”

The helper walked around the table to a section that held stacks of boxes of various fireworks that were geared toward kids. Nick could clearly see that they were meant for parents with young children, and she decided that those would be perfect for her friends and neighbors back in Bravery. 

She checked her pocket and counted out the money that she had brought. She could afford two boxes. That would be plenty.

After purchasing her fireworks, she hung the bag from her handlebars and peddled back home, breathing a bit easier the further from Waterfield she got. 

Mr. Smithers waved from his rocker on his porch and she squeezed her bike horn in reply. Miss Oliver shouted a hello from her garden and Nick shouted her hello right back. Mr. and Mrs. Woods were sitting in their favorite plastic chairs underneath the shade of a huge umbrella; their daughters played in the grass around them. Nick honked her horn and received a giggle from the two little girls. 

She realized just as she was pulling her bike up to the side of her house that she had not thought about how she would light the fireworks because fire was dangerous and everyone knew it. But as she reflected on her ride back home, she realized that she had already had a really great birthday.

Bravery wasn’t for everyone, but it was Nick’s home. Even though the residents of Bravery, California were afraid of most everything, Nick knew that there was one thing that none of them feared: each other. 

Happy Birthday, Nick. 

The end.