The New Heroes: What I Did on My Holidays

for Jessie

THIS IS WHAT I did on my holidays during the summer. My mother and my dad and me and my sister Clara who is six were all going to go to Spain for our holidays because of the sun, and because there's a resort there that my dad's friend went to last year and he said it was fun.
On the day that we were supposed to go, my uncle drove us to the airport, because if we went in our own car then we would have had to pay for parking there for two whole weeks. Dad said that the parking was so expensive that if we did that, then we wouldn't have been able to afford to go to Spain.
Then I said that if we couldn't afford to go to Spain then we wouldn't need to park in the airport for two weeks, so then we would be able to afford to go.
Then Dad said to me, "you're missing the point again, Jason."
Anyway, uncle Geoff drove us to the airport and Dad sat in the front so that meant Mom sat in the back with me and Clara so I had to sit right next to Clara and she kept pinching me when Mom wasn't looking. Then when I pinched her back Mom saw and she yelled at me to stop.
At the airport we had to wait for ages to get on the airplane. It was a jumbo jet. We weren't allowed to go into the upstairs part. There were lots of other families on the plane and they were all going to Spain too. Actually that makes sense because that's where the plane was going.
When the plane landed we all got off and had to wait for our bags. I made friends with a boy from Belgium whose name was called Marcus. He said he had a full set of Titan cards but I didn't believe him and then he said they were in his bags and when the bags came out he'd show me. But his family were going to a different part of Spain so I didn't see him again.
Then we had to get a coach to the hotel, and everyone was singing on the coach. Mom and Dad sat near the back but they said that me and Clara could sit behind the driver. I think that was because they were getting annoyed with Clara pinching me all the time and me pinching her back only sometimes.
Anyway, I don't think that the driver was very happy with all the singing. He probably has to listen to the same songs every time he drives the coach, and I expect he's sick of them. I imagine that there are times when he'd love to hear everyone singing something else. Or not singing at all.
Anyway, before we got to the hotel the driver suddenly stopped the coach, because all the other traffic was stopped. Way in the distance we could see something was happening, but it was too far to make out. Everyone stopped singing and rushed up to the front to see what was going on. Because I was the nearest, I had the best view.
At first it looked like there was just a big cloud of dust, and then all of a sudden this thing came flying out of the cloud of dust and crashed to the ground right next to the coach and burst into flames. It was a car! Everyone started to panic and all the other drivers got out of their cars and ran for the side of the road, but we couldn't get out of our coach because of the burning car. The driver told everyone not to panic, but I could see that he was panicking himself.
Then we saw another car come flying - it sailed right over our coach but I didn't see where it landed because all the adults were standing behind me and I couldn't see past them.
And then all the people on the side of the road panicked again and they climbed over the barrier and ran across the fields, because something was coming right towards us and it was knocking cars and trucks out of the way!
Everyone on my coach started kicking at the windows and everything, trying to break them to get out.
Then my dad said, "Jason? Where are you?" Because he couldn't see me.
I said, "Right here, Dad, at the front!"
He said, "Grab your sister's hand and don't let go whatever happens!"
I said, "Okay Dad." I wasn't really scared at all, but Clara was crying.
I grabbed Clara's hand but she kept trying to pull away and she looked really scared. So I turned to see what she was scared of, and then I saw a huge blue shape coming towards the coach. It was Brawn!!! He kicked a Toyota over and then punched a big silver car out of his way!
Then I was suddenly knocked down, and at first I thought it was because Brawn had reached the coach but then I realised it was the coach driver who had jumped out of his seat and crashed into me. I was still holding on to my sister, and I looked around and saw that we were the only two left in the coach. I still wasn't really scared, but I was annoyed that everyone else had left us behind.

Outside, I could see my parents and all the other passengers, and my mom and dad were trying to get back to the bus but the other passengers were holding them back.
Then I looked out the front window again, and Clara was hugging me so she didn't see. What I saw was Brawn, standing there right in front of the bus! And he was really, really angry. And then he looked right at me, and I think he saw the way I was hugging Clara to protect her, and all of a sudden he opened his mouth to growl and I could see that his huge teeth were all brown and yellow.
And then he reached out with his massive hands and just tore off the front of the bus! He ripped it like it was made of paper!
Then Brawn growled again, and he leaned his huge head into the bus and said to me, "Why aren't you running like all the others, kid?" His breath smelled like a sewer, which was what made my eyes water a little bit.
So I said, "Because I'm not going to leave my sister behind. She can't run as fast as me and I can't carry her."
And then he laughed, and he said, "You think you're some kind of hero, then?"
I said, "I'm not a hero. I'm just a brother."
Brawn said, "You better get you and your sister out of this bus, kid, because I'm going to tear it apart!"
I don't know why, but I wasn't even a bit scared any more. I just had a feeling that he wasn't going to hurt us. I said to him, "I can't get out because I'd have to leave Clara behind."
And then he smiled, and it was kind of a friendly smile, not really an evil one. He said, "What's your name, little boy?"
I said, "My name is Jason Scott."
He reached up and grabbed hold of me and Clara, and she screamed! And then Brawn lowered us to the ground and he told us to run, so we ran to where our parents were.
And then Brawn looked over at us, and laughed again, and said, "It was nice to meet you, Jason Scott!" And with that, he lifted up the entire coach and threw it into the next field, and then he kept going.
Later I heard that he disappeared into the hills and the Spanish police were searching for him, but they didn't find him.
Anyway, after Brawn went everyone kept telling me that I was a hero and that I was very brave. Dad said that he was very, very proud of me, and Mom kept hugging us and crying. Later, Dad found the coach driver and gave him a thump for running away and not helping me and Clara.
We had to wait for hours and hours for the police to finish going over everything and to get our bags back. Then we got on another coach and drove to the resort, but this time no one was singing at all. I expect it was because they were all pretty tired.
The resort was good fun, but not really as exciting as I'd hoped it would be. On the day we were coming home we heard that there was a big battle in America and all the superheroes and villains disappeared and no one knows what happened to them. That was two months ago and they're all still missing. I hope it won't be too long before they come back.
Mom says that next year we won't be going back to Spain. But the good news is that Clara has stopped pinching me and now she says that I'm her favourite brother, which is stupid because I'm the only brother she has.
Anyway, that's what I did on my holidays.