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Topic: Heroes (03/08/04)
TITLE: The Heart Knows By Clotilde Martinez 03/14/04 |
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Before long, Gabe came back. "Alright, I talked it over with the boss and he replied that since you are certain about your knowledge of heroes that you can take the test. So, if you are ready, take a hold of my hand." Fran held on to Gabe's hand and before long, she found herself in a diner. Gabe handed Fran a pen and a notebook. "I want you to write down who you think is a hero and why. I'll come back once you finished your answer." Gabe then disappeared. "Let me see, there's the cook, the waitresses, and some customers.” said Fran, observing the scene for a moment. She noticed that the cook looked a bit crazy, so she crossed him off her list. She looked at the customers and servers and decided on one server, who was polite and pleasant to her clients. Once, Fran wrote down her answer, Gabe appeared again. "Ready for the second part." replied Fran as she took hold of Gabe's hand. Now, she found herself in a library. The librarian was knowledge therefore she must be a hero. After all, heroes are smart people, wrote down Fran, barely looking at the green haired kid with the piercing.
Once again Gabe appeared to take Fran to yet another part of the test. This went on for the next three hours. Fran choose this person over that person and her reasons ranged from the way they were dress to the way they spoke. Then the test was over and Fran relaxed as Gabe looked over her answers. “How did I do?" asked Fran. Looking up, Gabe replied” Not so good." "What do you mean?" "I mean that you failed the test." "You must be crazy. I pick the right people." "Oh. You pick the right people? Tell me, wise one, how you know the "right people?" asked Gabe.
"You can tell them by the way they looked like." said Fran. "So, in your book, Heroes are these perfect human beings." "Duh, that's what I been saying." replied Fran. "That's why you fail the test." answered Gabe,"In the first scene, you relied that the waitress was the hero because she was pleasant. Why did you overlook the cook?" "He looked strange." said Fran. "That strange man rescued his next door neighbor from a serial rapist." answered Gabe. "Oh, I did not know that." said Fran, a bit ashamed.
"In the next scene, you choose the librarian due to her intelligence and ignore Issac." "Who's Issac?" asked Fran. "Issac, that punk kid, happens to be one of the boss's favorite heroes.” said Gabe. "Why?" "He organized a blood drive to save the life of one of his classmates, even though that classmate used to harass him when he was little. " said Gabe, who went on thru the list of the unchosen people. "You did not choose the bum because he smell. Did you know that decades before he helped liberated a Nazi concentration camp? You overlooked the tennis player, stating there's no such thing as sport heroes. True, not all athletes are heroes, but did you know she volunteers her time in a nursing home? What about the CEO? Not all business people think about themselves, did you know that he works closely with the kids at one of the poorest schools in state? I could go down the list of the others not chosen."
"I did not know, perphaps if you have told me a bit about them." said Fran. "Did you not listen when I went thru the list of how to recognize heroes?" asked Gabe. Fran was quiet. "No, I was busy thinking of other things." "Listen, carefully, you do not judge a hero by the way they look like. Not all heroes are smart or athletic. You must not used your five senses to looked for heroes. Just, used that one sense." said Gabe. "What is that?' asked Fran. "The heart." replied Gabe," The heart knows the truly beauty of the hero, even when the rest of the senses see only the ugliness." "I guess I still have lots to learn." replied Fran. "Don't worry, Fran. Even angels can make a mistake." smiled Gabe as he patted his student angel on the shoulder.