An Almost Good Plan

Written for the Daily Flash Fiction Challenge with a word limit of 300.

The prompts: This story must contain the words: blink, chicken, cross

An Almost Good Plan

There is a thin line between being heroic and being stupid; between being reckless and being chicken.

Johnny was about to cross that line.

Across the room was the nearest threat – a man wearing a ski mask, carrying an assault rifle.

Another was near the front door of the bank. He appeared to be the lookout. His attention was on the outside of the building.

The third threat of deadly force was in the vault with the bank president.

Johnny’s mind’s eye played out a favorable scenario. He would slowly get to his feet and clear his throat. When the nearest gun turned his way, Johnny would execute a spinning back kick to the head. He would then quickly wrestle the gun from the stunned hoodlum and use it to drop the lookout where he stood. Vaulting over the counter, he would meet the leader as he emerged from the vault. A quick chop to the back of the head and it would all be over.

In the blink of an eye, Johnny would go from geek to international man of mystery – a hero to all.

There were a few flaws in his plan that he needed to consider. First of all, he had only been taking karate for three weeks. At one lesson a week, he was still a white belt; the lowest of the low. Secondly, he had never shot a gun in his life. Sure, it looked easy enough. Point and shoot; just like the video games.

Finally, there was Mom. The ultimate show-stopper was laying face down on the floor next to him. Her grip on his arm was like an iron vice. She was way stronger than most of girls he knew. Besides, she would probably ground him for a week just for trying.

word count 300