BRUNDON FIELDS AND THE MYSTERY OF THE RUBBER DUCKY PART 10

This is the end. After all the crazy things that had happened to me in the last day, it was finally going to be over. I was now experiencing the last few minutes on this earth, and I was living it out in the presence of terrorists. What a way to die.

The President of the United States stood at the base of the Lincoln Memorial, with all of the spectators sitting or standing on the steps. Cameras were positioned all around the President, and there was even a glass podium set up in front of him. It looked like he was about to make an important announcement, and this got me wondering why he was here, and why he wasn’t broadcasting this from the safety of his Oval Office.

We (meaning me, Green, Jack, and two of Green’s men) stood off to the left on the same level as the President. I had no idea what Green had up his sleeve, but I knew it wasn’t going to be good. It was no pure coincidence that we were here the same time as the President.

All of a sudden, my rubber ducky was being shoved into my hands, and Green was whispering into my ear. “Ok, little Brundon, this is your moment to shine, to show America what you are made of. You are going to walk straight ahead, walking behind the President, and I will be behind you. When you are behind the President, drop your rubber ducky right by his feet, and then continue to walk forward. I will be following you, so if you make one wrong move, or try to escape, I will shoot you in the back. Understand?”

I gulped and nodded. So this was how it was going to go down. This was Green’s brilliant plan. And I would finally find out what my rubber ducky was made of. Secretly, I hoped it turned out to be one big misunderstanding, and my rubber ducky was not special at all. I hoped that I could go back to living my normal, pathetic life, and pretend like this had all been a dream.

Green shoved me forward and I started to walk to the President. As I drew closer and closer, I began to wonder if I could do it. Could I let go of my beloved rubber ducky and place it right underneath the President? Could I endanger the life of the most important man in the whole United States? Then I remembered that Green was right behind me, with a gun that was ready to shoot me in the back if I strayed from his plan. I had no choice. I had to go through with this.

BEEP. What was that noise? BEEP. It sounded familiar. BEEP. I had heard this noise before. BEEP. The noise beeped every single time I took a step. BEEP. And then I remembered where I had heard this noise before. BEEP. My mind whirled, and suddenly, Green’s plan started to make sense.

And then the moment arrived. I was passing directly behind the President. My heart rate picked up drastically and my breaths came short and quick. I knew what I had to do, even if it meant killing the President of the United States.

I tossed my rubber ducky right at the President’s feet. It seemed to soar through the air in slow motion. I watched my ducky fly towards the President, and eventually landing right between the President’s legs. It had been a perfect throw.

I continued to walk on, trying to not look suspicious or like I had just planted an innocent looking rubber ducky at the feet of the President of the United States. I risked a look behind me and Green’s face immediately filled my vision. Man, he was closer to me than I had thought.

The last few steps seemed to drag on forever. This felt like a walk of shame and guilt. Under the face of death, I had doomed the President instead of sacrificing myself. I was a traitor.

I had reached the other side. Green stepped up beside me and patted me on the back. “Well done, boy, well done. Now it’s time to see what your rubber ducky can really do.”

I watched helplessly as the President began to speak.

“People of the United States, we are gathered here today to witness a remarkable change in our country. In light of everything that has taken place over the past few years, I am standing here to tell you that as of today, we have now reached a peace agreement with the Middle East. It is my honor and privilege to declare world wide peace!”

Thunderous applause broke out. People yelled and cheered their enthusiasm. I would’ve clapped, too, if I wasn’t standing next to a terrorist who was rebelling against this peace.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Green speaking softly into a two way radio. “Begin detonation.” Those two words confirmed my suspicions. I had been right!

In that moment, something in my brain switched on. I realized that I couldn’t just stand there and watch the President get blown to pieces. I had to do something. I had to try and save the President of the United States.

I leapt into action, running straight towards the President. I didn’t care if Green had a gun. I was going to serve my country, or die trying. I reached the President in five seconds. Two bodyguards tried to stop me, but I slipped in between them. Sometimes it helps to be super skinny.

The President looked completely shocked. I didn’t care and I didn’t think twice. I tackled him to the ground, trying to get as far away from my rubber ducky as possible.

BBBOOOMMMMMM!!!

A massive explosion erupted, and in that moment I knew that it had been my rubber ducky. The President and I were thrown backwards into the air.

We landed with a big SPLASH! Fortunately, we had crashed straight into the pond directly in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The cold water was a quick relief to the unbearably hot heat that my body had just experienced.

I let my body drift in the water, overwhelmed by what had just taken place in the last few seconds. Finally, I came back up for air, and what I saw amazed me.

Standing in the water next to me was the President of the United States. He looked at me with a confused look on his face, and then stuck out his right hand. I shook it heartily; glad to see that the President was still alive. I had done it. I had saved the President’s life!

Then I turned my attention back towards land. What I saw falling from the sky rocked my world. Confetti floated in the air, slowly making its way back to earth. I stood in shock. This is what had been in my rubber ducky the whole time? Confetti?!
The sound of laughter erupted all throughout the Lincoln Memorial. Green, Jack, and even the President were bending over in uncontrollable laughter. I hung my head in shame. I had been tricked!

“It’s all right, Brundon. Don’t be ashamed!” said the President. “This was all a test to see how well you did under trial. And I must say you performed exceptionally well.”

A test? All this time, I was being played? I couldn’t believe this.

Jack and Green came to the shore of the pond and pulled us both out of the water. They both had big grins on their faces. I looked at them in disgust.

“This was for your own good, Fields.” Jack said.

Green nodded in agreement. “I’m not really a terrorist. Like I said to you when we met outside the school, I really do work for CTU. This whole thing was just a field exercise to see if you were CTU material. And I think you proved to us that you are ready.”

The President chimed in. “How do you think we allowed you to plant the rubber ducky at my feet? If it had been a real bomb threat scenario, my Secret Service agents would have been all over me.”

I still had one question though. “What about all of the people that died?”

Green answered. “Our guns had no bullets in them. The men weren’t really dead. They were actors, faking death.”
I nodded in understanding. It all made sense! Everything that had happened to me had been a practice run to see if I was good enough. Suddenly, I raised my bowed head and smiled widely. Even though I had been tricked, I had still passed the test.
Green handed me a shiny badge that he had withdrawn from his pocket. “Brundon Fields, welcome to the Counter Terrorist Unit.”

I grabbed the badge, feeling like I was in one of my crazy dreams again. But I wasn’t. This time, it was real life.
The badge had my school picture on it, and underneath it ran my name in bold, black letters: BRUNDON FIELDS.

I didn’t know what to say. “Thank you.” I said simply.

The three men nodded. Jack ran back to the crowd, and then returned moments later with something in his hands. I gasped when I realized what it was: a brand new rubber ducky!

Jack handed it to me, and I snatched it up right away, hugging it. Then I did something that I had only done in private or when on one had been looking. Right in front of everyone, and in front of several cameras, I gave my new rubber ducky a huge, wet, slimy kiss.

At first, there was an awkward silence. And then, the applause began. They were clapping for me! After all, I had completed my mission, even though it had been a fake one.

BRING! BRING! Jack’s phone was going off.

“Hello?” he said. “Yes? Really? Ok, we will be there right away.”

Jack turned to Green and I. “That was CTU. There is a situation at the White House. We have to leave immediately.”

As we began to run back towards the parking lot where our van awaited us, I smiled. It was time for my first real field operation. I was now a part of CTU, and I would not fail. Move over Sherlock Holmes, Brundon Fields is here to stay!

THE END

BRUNDON FIELDS AND THE MYSTERY OF THE RUBBER DUCKY PART 9

Have you ever thought about death? Death is a mysterious thing. No one exactly knows what death feels like, because no one is around to tell the tale. When you are told that you are going to die, it is also a mysterious thing. Something inside of you opens up, and it’s like a sudden fear erupts out of that newly created hole and consumes you.

This fear is precisely what I felt when Green told me I was going to die in Washington D.C. It scared the crap out of me and the only thing I could do was clutch my rubber ducky closer to my chest.

Our helicopter landed moments later, and then we were ushered out of it and onto the landing pad. I was put right next to Green and Jack, with armed men all around me. There was no way I was even going to think about escaping. From the landing pad, we walked to a door that led into a massive building. Once inside, Green snatched my rubber ducky from me, holding it as bait so I wouldn’t run away. He was certainly a smart terrorist.

We were led right into the nearest elevator. My philosophy was that stairs were faster than the elevator, but these guys obviously disagreed. Silence was the dominant element as we descended through the thirty nine floors of the building. Green wasn’t one for small talk, and neither were his men.

The elevator doors finally opened on the first floor, and we spilled out of the front doors. Waiting for us were two big, black Hummers. What was up with Green and Hummers? I was forced into the first Hummer with Green and Jack. One of Green’s men got into the drivers seat and off we went.

I risked asking a question. “Where are we going?”

“Shut up.” Was Green’s reply.

Obviously our destination was being kept a secret. That was fine with me. I would know where we were headed soon enough.

It turns out that ten minutes later, we had reached our destination. And where we were floored me. Because looming in front of us was the Lincoln Memorial.

After parking, Green hauled me out of the Hummer and waved my rubber ducky in front of my eyes, tempting me. I turned away in disgust, not being able to see my rubber ducky in the hands of that evil man.

As we neared the Lincoln Memorial, I received a second surprise. Part of what surprised me was the amount of people that surrounded the memorial. There were people everywhere, but why they were all here was a mystery to me.
And then I figured it all out. This is what really surprised me: standing right below the Lincoln Memorial was the President of the United States.

It all started to make sense. Somehow, someway, I was going to die here, and I had a sinking suspicion that the President was going to die with me.

BRUNDON FIELDS AND THE MYSTERY OF THE RUBBER DUCKY PART 8

Betrayal is a curious thing. One minute you think an invincible counter terrorist agent is your friend, and the next, he has stabbed you in the back. Not literally stabbed, just metaphorically. Anyways, my point is that betrayal can be a pain in the butt. I had put my trust in Jack, thinking that he would have solved all of my problems when he had jumped into the helicopter with the unconscious Green. Instead, he had folded under pressure when he was met with machine guns aimed at him when they landed. I though Jack Bauer would’ve rather died than give in to terrorists. I guess I was wrong.

When I finally opened my eyes again, it took me a while to get used to my surroundings. I lifted my head up slowly, my eyebrows wrinkling at the unfamiliar items around me. There was also a constant humming noise in the background. Where was I? I sat up all the way, looking all around at me, trying to find any clues as to where I had been taken. That’s when I saw him.

Jack sat in a chair in the corner, silently gazing at me. I didn’t see Green anywhere around me so I thought it would be safe to talk to Jack. Maybe he could answer some of my many questions.

“Where am I?”

It took a little while for Jack to respond. “You are in Green’s helicopter.”

That explained the unfamiliar surroundings and the humming noise. “Where are we going?” I asked.

“Washington, D.C.”
My heart stopped. Green was up to no good. And if his evil plan involved Washington D.C., then things were worse than I had imagined.

“How long until we arrive?”

Jack glanced at his watch. “Five minutes.”

Before I could say anything else, Green walked in. I noticed then that there was a separating door between the cockpit and the seating area of the helicopter. Green had been in the cockpit and now I got to see his lovely face once again.

“Why hello again, little Brundon, it’s nice of you to join us.”

I was silent, letting Green know that I was not enjoying this one little bit.

Green took a seat in one of the empty chairs. “Jack, leave us.”

Jack obediently left his chair and took Green’s spot in the cockpit. On the way, Jack whispered two words that immediately filled me with hope. “I’m waiting.”

He said it so softly that Green didn’t hear it. At first, I thought I had even imagined it, but as I continued to think about it, I was sure that he had actually said it. Was Jack still on my side? Was he pretending to go along with Green so that he could find out his plan and then foil Green at the end? If so, then my situation definitely looked more promising. Maybe we could defeat Green after all…

My thoughts were interrupted by Green. “I brought something for you.” I turned my attention to him and my heart melted as I saw what was in his hands. My rubber ducky had made an appearance once again, and my heart skipped a beat every sing I saw it still alive and in one piece.

Then Green did something that really shocked me. He tossed my rubber ducky into the air, and I reached out desperately, hoping to catch it before it hit the floor of the helicopter. To my relief, it landed straight into my outstretched hands and I quickly drew it in and brought the rubber ducky to my chest, savoring the closeness. This was the first time I had held my rubber ducky ever since Green had stolen it. Now it was safe in my arms and I never wanted to let go of it ever again. I brought the rubber ducky up to my face, and glanced at Green to make sure he wasn’t watching. Green was staring out the window, lost in thought, so I quickly kissed the rubber ducky right on its beak.

That’s when Green spoke again. “Brundon, welcome to Washington D.C., the place where you will die.”

BRUNDON FIELDS AND THE MYSTERY OF THE RUBBER DUCKY PART 7

Let me start off by telling you that I hate surprises. As with most detectives, I like to know everything, so the people in my line of work try to stay away from surprises like this. But sadly, I seem to be a magnet for shocking events that catch me off guard. From being surprised by my rubber ducky being stolen by my algebra teacher turned terrorist, to meeting Jack Bauer, to having Green show up at my front door when he was supposed to be dead, I had encountered many sudden surprises in the last 24 hours and I did not like it one bit.

All of these things were big surprises, but the fact that my rubber ducky was still alive was the biggest surprise ever. I had seen it explode earlier on Green’s helicopter pad, so how could it be here all in one piece? My super fast thinking skills produced only two answers: either the rubber ducky I was seeing at this moment was a fake, or the one that had exploded had been a fake. At the moment, I was undecided about which idea was the correct one.

I thought I had been done with all of this. I thought Jack Bauer had taken care of Green and made sure he was locked up somewhere. What had gone wrong?

Before I could shut the door in Green’s face, Green shoved his way into my house, the gun still pointed at my forehead. I backed up hurriedly, trying to somehow escape from this evil terrorist that wanted my rubber ducky for some evil, mysterious plot.

Being the genius that I am, I backpedaled right into a wall. Green seized this opportunity to get right up in my face, close and personal.

With a wicked grin on his face, Green started to talk to me through clenched teeth. “You thought you were rid of me, didn’t you? Well, surprise, surprise, I am back! And this time, there will be no escaping me.”

I gulped. I could see the rage in Green’s eyes and I knew he meant business. The only thing that bothered me was why he hadn’t shot me yet. If he didn’t want me to escape, then why was I still alive? The only answer to this question that I could come up with is that it could be that he wanted me to see his evil scheme carried out. After all, his plan did have to do with my innocent rubber ducky.

Green continued. “You see, Brundon, I want you around for the grand finale. I want you to see what your rubber ducky can really do.” Yep, my thoughts were correct. He really did want me to stick around for the end.

“And what can my rubber ducky really do?” I asked. I made my question sound innocent enough.

Green just shook his head. “All in good time, boy, all in good time.”

“When will this good time come around?”

“Well, if you really want it, it can come in an hour.”

“Ok that sounds good.” I was hoping I wouldn’t regret those words later on.

“Very well, then. Off we go!” With that, Green grabbed my arm and led me back over to the front door, roughly shoving me outside and shutting the door behind him. I was now on my way to my most certain death. To say that I felt hopeless was an understatement. If I was Sherlock Holmes I would spring into action, disarm Green in a flash, and have him unconscious in under a minute. But unfortunately, this was not so. In reality, I was Brundon Fields, who had twigs for arms and sticks for legs.

There was no way I could take down Green, even if my life depended on it. Which it did.

I looked over at my driveway and noticed a big, white van. It reminded me of the type of van that plumbers and cable providers drive. I could see through the driver’s side window and noticed a man sitting behind the wheel. I assumed he was another one of Green’s henchmen.

Green continued to guide me down my front sidewalk and closer to the van. His gun was still pointed at me and his hand still gripped my arm rather tightly. Turning slightly, I made eye contact with him and asked him the one question that had been on my mind for the past minute.

“What happened to Jack Bauer?”

Green scoffed. “I took care of him.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

He sighed, obviously annoyed by my questions. “It means that when the helicopter landed, he was met by twenty machine guns aimed at his face, ready to blow him to pieces.”

“Oh.” That was all I could muster to speak. The thought of Jack being overwhelmed by terrorists was too much to bear.

We had reached the van. Green led me around to the back and opened the van doors, pushing me up and shoving me inside. I landed face down and scraped my chin on the carpet floor. Rug burn.

After rubbing my skinned chin, I looked around the back of the van. This is when I realized that there was someone next to me. There were no windows in the back part of the van, so I could only see a black outline of the person.

Green opened the passenger side door and climbed in. After buckling his seatbelt, he turned around to me. “Knock him out.”

I immediately swung my head over to the black figure next to me, but it was too late. WHACK! I received a heavy blow to the head, and it was suddenly lights out for me. The last thing I saw before I faded into the blackness was my attacker leaning in towards my face, his fist lined up for a second strike. Since the attacker was much closer to me now, I could see his face. I was completely surprised by what I saw because staring back at me was the face of my previous rescuer, Jack Bauer.

BRUNDON FIELDS AND THE MYSTERY OF THE RUBBER DUCKY PART 6

Have you ever wanted to give up? Have you ever reached a dead end, and come to the realization that there was no where else to go? This is what I felt like as I walked away from the remains of the explosion and back into Green’s building. Jack and Green were dueling it out on a helicopter, my rubber ducky had been blown to smithereens, and I was now the only one left standing.

Green’s place was void of all terrorists. Wherever they had gone, it must have been important because the place was completely deserted. Every now and then I would have to step over dead bodies, and lots of times retrace my steps as I tried to find my way to an exit. I ran down countless flights of stairs, only to find that there was yet another floor to go down. Finally, I had reached the ground floor. I celebrated by leaning over and catching my breath, panting heavily. After my heart rate was back to normal, I looked around for the door. But before my eyes reached the front door, I spied an elevator and I smacked myself in the head. How could I have been so stupid! I could have saved so much time if I would’ve found this beforehand.

Still shaking my head in disbelief, I finally spotted the exit doors and walked out. While breathing in fresh air, I realized that I had no idea where I was. I had been brought to this building while I was unconscious in Green’s Hummer, so I had no clue of how to get back to the school. This part of town looked completely unfamiliar.

I also had no method of transportation and no money. There was no way I could pay for a taxi. I was stranded.

Right as I was about to go back into the building to try and brainstorm more options on how to get back home, a man in a moped pulled up. On the back of his moped were five large boxes of pizza. I watched as he grabbed the pizzas and walked to the building next door. But the delivery man had made a mistake. He had left his moped running.

This was my chance, my one opportunity of escape. I ran over to the moped, hopped on, found the right buttons, and shifted the moped into reverse. All of this happened in about ten seconds.

Now, to tell you the truth, I had never driven a moped before. But I had driven a car, so I figured they were about the same. Right? Wrong. Mopeds were WAY different than cars. It took me a while to get used to it, but eventually I was able to control it fairly well.

Even though I now had transportation, I still didn’t know where I was. I drove around for a little while to see if I recognized any of the buildings, but I had no luck. So I did what every lost person does: pull in to the nearest gas station and ask the cashier where to go.

The cashier told me to take a left on Peretti, a right on Dekker, another right on Kingsbury, and then I would be at my school. I thanked the cashier and then drove away on my moped. The directions didn’t sound too hard and the school didn’t sound too far away.

After taking a right on Kingsbury, I spotted my school. I quickly parked my moped, and ran over to my bike that was still resting where I had left it the night before. I rode it back to my house and let myself in the front door. Mom and Dad’s cars weren’t in the garage, so I figured they were already at work. That was probably for the best, considering how I looked right now. Mom would have a fit if she saw me like this and she would ask way too many questions on how I got so dirty.

My first task was to take a bath. I felt filthy from my run in with the bomb and I deserved a nice, warm bath. While I was in the tub, I kept glancing at the spot where my rubber ducky should be, and an ache of sadness kept overcoming my body. I missed my rubber ducky SO much and I would do anything to have it back.

Just then, the doorbell rang. I stiffened. Who could it be? No one ever came to our house. Since I was the only one home, it was my duty to answer the door so I hopped out of the bathtub, quickly dried off, stumbled into some jeans and threw on a t-shirt.

I ran to the front door and yanked it open. What I saw made me wish that I wouldn’t have answered the door. I felt all of my worst fears come rushing back as the man in front of me pointed a gun at my face and grinned.

“Miss me?” Green said as he walked into my house. He held the pointed gun in his right hand, but what really surprised me was what he held in his left hand because in that hand was my rubber ducky.

BRUNDON FIELDS AND THE MYSTERY OF THE RUBBER DUCKY PART 5

Following Jack Bauer and the six other CTU agents around felt like a dream. In fact, this whole series of events felt like a dream. From my rubber ducky getting stolen for some terrorist’s evil plan, to getting abducted by my math teacher and meeting Jack, this day had been unreal.

Jack led his pack of men and me through many rooms and hallways, searching for Green.



There was still no sign of Green and we were running out of places to look. We continued to run down hallways and bust down doors, desperately trying to find the terrorist before he got away. It turns out this building was huge and had several floors, which made our search even harder.

We reached a dead end. We had been running down the last hallway when all of a sudden, it ended. Instead of the hallway continuing on, there was a door right in the middle of the wall. Jack wasted no time and he opened the door and ran right through. We all followed him and found ourselves outside on the roof. But what was on this roof astonished me even more.

Green had his own helicopter pad on the roof. And now our search for Green was over because he was also on the roof, climbing into a helicopter. Many of Green’s men were surrounding the helicopter with AK-47s in their arms. But the important thing was that we hadn’t missed Green yet. There was still a chance to get my rubber ducky back.

Jack Bauer instantly went into action. He ran towards the helicopter, dodging bullets from Green’s henchmen.

The helicopter was lifting off the ground, almost about to fly away. Jack picked up speed and I watched him dive towards the open helicopter door. He landed it perfectly. Green stared at Jack in shock, as though he couldn’t believe that Jack was there and had made it in to the helicopter. I was standing safely behind Jack’s men, and when I saw the look on Green’s face, I literally laughed out loud.

Jack delivered a brutal looking punch to Green’s face. Green jerked back in his seat and went limp. Jack had done it! He had knocked Green unconscious!

The gunfire battle was also over, with Green’s henchmen all lying dead on the ground. We had won! We had defeated the terrorists!

What Jack did next was the best thing ever. Apparently Green had been holding my rubber ducky and Jack had spotted it, so he nodded at me and tossed my rubber duck out of the helicopter. I rushed past Jack’s men and ran after my rubber ducky. Even though it had been less than twenty four hours since I had last seen my rubber ducky, I had still missed it a lot. I had gone through a lot to get my duck back and now that it was in sight, I couldn’t wait to hold it again.

As I ran to my duck, I noticed the helicopter flying away. I saw Jack in the back, aiming his pistol at the pilot. Even though I was sad to see Jack go, I was comforted by the fact that he had Green with him and I knew that Jack would take care of himself. He was Jack Bauer, after all.

I had finally reached the spot where my precious belonging lay. I scooped up my rubber ducky and held it tight. I never wanted to let it go again. I looked at the bottom of the duck and sure enough, it had BRUNDON written on it. This was my ducky all right. I brought the rubber duck up to my mouth and gave it a quick kiss. That’s when I heard the ticking noise. It was coming from my rubber duck.

I had seen enough movies to realize what this meant: there was a bomb inside my precious rubber ducky. I knew what I had to do. I figured I had just a few seconds until the bomb went off. Using my super-fast reflexes, I chucked the rubber ducky as far as I could. I watched it float in the air, and it was at that moment that I realized what I had done. I had thrown away the rubber ducky that I had gone through so much to get back. But I had had no choice. It was either throw it away or get blown to bits.

To my horror, the rubber ducky didn’t go as far as I had hoped. Instead of flying off the roof, the duck landed back on the helicopter pad. Epic fail.

BOOM! The bomb went off, causing all of us on the roof to fly backwards. I flew back into one of Jack’s men, cushioning my fall. I wasn’t hurt by the explosion, but the rest of Jack’s men were. They were all lying on the ground, unconscious. I stood up and glanced around me. Over half of the helicopter pad was gone, destroyed by the bomb. And worst of all, my rubber ducky was gone.

Tears welled up in my eyes. I stood there, taking it all in. Jack was gone on a helicopter with Green, going who knows where. My rubber ducky was gone for good. Jack’s men were knocked out cold. Was this the end? Was it all over? It sure felt like it.

BRUNDON FIELDS AND THE MYSTERY OF THE RUBBER DUCKY PART 4

I woke up seeing rubber ducks everywhere. No joke. Before I realized I was tied to a metal chair in an unfamiliar room, I noticed the rubber ducks sitting on the bookshelves along every single wall. The urge to bust out of this chair and grab a rubber ducky was almost too much to bear. If I had to, I would examine every single on of the ducks, just to find my one and only unique rubber ducky.

Wherever I was, I knew who had put me here: Mr. Reeds. He had fed me lies and then betrayed me. Could I trust anyone? Seriously. I had been beat up by a masked figure in the boy’s bathroom, and now I had been beat up by my math teacher. This was turning out to be the weirdest day of my life. And I had a feeling that it was far from over.

Now that I knew who had stolen my rubber ducky, I needed to find out why. Why had Mr. Reeds gone to so much trouble just to steal my rubber ducky? And what was up with all these other rubber duckies? Was he collecting them? Or was he looking for a certain one? These were the questions that I had no answers to. These were the questions that I hoped Mr. Reeds could answer.

As if on queue, a door on the other side of the room opened and in strolled Green aka Mr. Reeds. But this time there was something different about him. Then I noticed it. In Mr. Reed’s right hand was a pistol. Oh, boy he meant business.

Green walked right up to me and waved his pistol in my face as he talked. “Enjoy your rest?”

I smiled even in the threat of death. “Yes I did, thank you very much.” Even though secretly I was scared out of my pants, I tried not to let it show.

“Good. Now, I bet you are very curious to know what is really going on here. Don’t worry, I will make everything clear. Do you have any questions before I start?”

“Are you a collector?”

Green looked confused. “Excuse me?”

I nodded towards the rubber ducks that lined the walls. “Do you collect rubber ducks?”

Mr. Reeds laughed. “Yes, in a sense. I will explain that part shortly. Let me explain. As you may have guessed, everything that I told you at the school was a lie. I’m not part of CTU. In fact, I’m actually a terrorist.”

My mouth dropped open. Mr. Reeds, my Algebra teacher, was a terrorist?! What the heck?

Mr. Reeds continued to talk, his gun now positioned at his hip. “Brundon, the reason I stole your rubber ducky is because your rubber ducky is special. I have been all around the world stealing rubber ducks and your rubber ducky was the last rubber ducky in the world that I didn’t have. You see, I’m looking for something inside of these ducks and none of the ducks I stole had it. So I knew it had to be in your duck. That’s why I went after your rubber duck.”

It was all making sense now. The puzzle pieces were slowly forming together. But there were just a couple things I still needed to know. So I asked the obvious question.

“What is in my rubber ducky that you want?”

Mr. Reeds grinned. “That is the question that I have been asked for the past ten years.”

I gulped. He had been searching for the right rubber duck for ten years? Wow, this man was on a mission. And now, with my duck, his mission was finally over.

Mr. Reeds seemed to hesitate. “I can’t believe you had it this whole time and you didn’t realize what was really of inside it. All of those baths with it and you didn’t feel that it was different? Wow.”

I was fed up with all of Green’s dramatic talk. “Cut to the chase, Green.”

“Unfortunately, I do not think I can tell you what is in your precious duck. This is all top secret, you see. If I were to tell you and then you somehow miraculously escaped, I would be done for. No, it’s better if I leave that part a mystery.”

I sighed and hung my head. I had been so close to making Mr. Reeds tell me the final puzzle peace. Now I would have to solve it on my own.

CLICK. There was no mistaking that sound. I had heard it in countless movies. I jerked my head back up and found out that I was right. Green’s pistol was cocked, loaded, and aimed straight at my head.

“I’m sorry, Brundon, but I can’t let you live. You know too much and you will only get in the way.”

I said nothing. There was nothing I could say that would change Mr. Reed’s mind. I was tied to a chair and a terrorist was aiming a gun at my head, eager to blow my brains out. What a great way to die. Maybe someone would find my body and label me a hero.

This was the end of my sad, pathetically short life. I couldn’t say that it had been a great life, but it was comforting to know that I would die in the midst of the biggest mystery of my life.

I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the gunshot that would end my life. But it never came.

Instead, I heard something crash to the ground. Then I heard lots of indistinct yelling. A rush of wind ruffled my hair and that’s when I opened my eyes and saw: chaos. The crash that I had heard was the door being knocked down and the yelling was coming from several different directions.

The newcomers that had burst in had guns and they looked like they meant business. But they had no one to use their guns on because of one small problem: Green had disappeared. Where he had gone or how he had escaped so fast was a mystery. Seeing that the area was secure, the men that had barged in walked over to me.

The one in the front began to speak to me. For some reason he looked very familiar. “What is your name?”

“B-Brundon Fields.” I hated it when I stuttered.

“How did you get here?”

“I was captured.”

“By who?”

“Mr. Reeds, but he likes to be called Green.”

The leader nodded. “Well, Brundon, we are here to help. Let me introduce ourselves. We are CTU, Counter Terrorist Unit and my name is Jack Bauer. We are following a lead on some terrorist activity in this area. Can you help us?”

Did I just hear him right? Did he say his name was Jack Bauer? It couldn’t be. Was it really the Jack Bauer? The hero from 24? No way.

“Answer me, kid.”

I nodded, in shock about what had just happened. “Yes, I can help, Mr. Bauer. But I have one question first.”

“Call me Jack. What’s your question?”

“Are you the real Jack Bauer from the TV show?”

Jack nodded. “I sure am. All that stuff was real. But enough of that. How did you end up strapped to this chair?”

My eyes widened. “I will tell you everything I know.”

Jack nodded. “Good choice.”

I took a deep breath and told Jack and the rest of his men everything that had happened from this morning before school until now. Telling other people seemed to help and it also reinforced all of the details in my mind.

After I had finished telling the story, Jack whistled. “That is some story, kid.”

I started to panic. “You don’t believe me?”

Jack shook his head. “No, I believe you, it’s just one odd chain of events. It would be hard to believe if it weren’t for all of these ducks on the walls.”

I laughed. “Very true! What do we do next?”

“We go find Green.”

That seemed simple enough. I just hoped we weren’t too late, because I still needed my rubber ducky back.