How My Life Flashed Before My Eyes

But in the midst of it all I felt aware, like I could feel everything. I felt the dry, patchy grass scratch against my bare legs, reminding me of my football days in college. I heard the trickling of the dried out fountain like it was an ocean, reminding me of my SEAL training and the all of the time I spent training for a moment, this moment. I spun. I woke up and walked into the kitchen, Max was sitting down at the table, wolfing down the remains of his oatmeal like every other school day. “You woke up early,” came the sarcastic voice of my wife, Nina, who was bringing two hot bowls of oatmeal to the table. “Hey, you never know when those extra 15 minutes of sleep might come in handy,” I replied. She handed me the bowl of oatmeal, which felt like a hot cup of tea in my cold hands. I quickly ate the bowl, excited like a kid in a candy store to finally have a break, to listen to the crashing waves on the beach, and to surf.

My thoughts ended suddenly when Max slammed the door and ran down the driveway, desperately trying to catch the bus. “Is Hubert going to meet you at his house?” Nina asked. “Yeah, I think he’s gonna get back at 9:30 or so.” “You better start going, unless you want to miss the first hour of surfing.” With that I grabbed my dusty surfboard from the garage and stuffed it into the trunk of my Ford Explorer, barely smushing the trunk shut. I slowly backed out of garage with my windows down. I felt the fresh ocean breeze on my face, the smell filling my nostrils, and wondering how I was so lucky to live in this great of a place. When I arrived at Hubert’s house I noticed three things. One, the door was slightly open. Second, Hubert’s car wasn’t in the driveway. Third, all of the blinds were shut, something that Hubert never did. I walked up to the front door and entered silently. Instantly I saw a man crouched behind the living room flat screen. I silently moved behind the couch, cringing at the floor creaked.

The man quickly turned and looked at the door, which was cracked as it had been before. I shifted my feet to get a better view of the possible thief. He was back in the same position as before, messing with the wires in the TV. I debated what this man could be doing in Hubert’s house, repairing the TV, stealing the TV, cleaning the TV. I didn’t want to make a wrong assumption and confront Hubert’s maid. My thoughts ended when I heard the man walk into the kitchen. I followed him and decided to act normal and talk to him. “How are you doing?” I asked in a friendly tone. He spun quickly, almost dropping a glass he was holding from the glass cabinet. “You scare me,” the man said in his broken english. “Why were you messing with the wires of the TV?” “I help, I am help Hubert.” “Is the TV broken?” “Yes, I help broken TV.” “Can you show me what’s wrong with the TV?” “Yes yes, I show you wrong TV.” We walked out of the kitchen and to the TV. The man pointed behind the TV. “Look, see is wrong TV.”

I bent down to take a closer look at the wires, and realized immediately what he had done. He had bugged the TV with a camera. I spun around just in time to see the blur of the man cracking Hubert’s son’s XBox over my head. I staggered sideways, trying to gather my surroundings. I felt another impact in my side as the man smashed a can of fire pit ashes into my sternum, sending me into the wall. I hopped up, my SEAL instincts buzzing like a swarm of wasps ready to sting. I wiped the soot off of my face, and looked around frantically for the man. The man was nowhere to be seen, but the previously cracked door was wide open, ocean air pouring through the oak door. I sprinted through the door and instantly locked on to my target, running for his life through Hubert’s front yard. I easily caught up to the man and cracked him like a linebacker, he flew into the ground, sprawled in the fetal position. Who was this man, he wasn’t a typical thief,