1988
Eleven-year-old Shawn Spencer’s keen ears jerked him from sleep. He could hear his father’s gruff voice down in the kitchen. Slipping out of bed, he snuck out of his room and down the stairs, using the stealth techniques his father had taught him. As he got closer, he heard more and more of his father’s conversation.“And you’re sure there’s no one else who can help you?” Henry Spencer was saying. Shawn peeked around the corner and saw his dad leaning against the kitchen counter, still in the sweatpants and undershirt that he slept in. “Okay. Okay, Edna. Give me twenty minutes and I’ll be there. No problem. Bye.” Henry hung the phone back up and closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose with his right thumb and forefinger. “Shawn, what are you doing out of bed?” he called without looking at the doorway.
Shawn sighed at his discovery and stepped into the kitchen. “I heard you talking on the phone. What’s wrong?”
“Mrs. Johnson thinks her heater is out, and her husband is out of town. The maintenance man isn’t answering his phone, so she wants me to go over and fix it,” Henry said.
“At two-forty in the morning?” Shawn squeaked, his keen eyes taking in the time on the wall clock.
Henry came forward and knelt in front of his son. “Shawn, someday you’ll receive a call for help from someone. It may be at two in the morning, or at six o’clock at night. But you have to realize when people really need your help, you’ve really got no choice.”
“Why? Can’t she just get the heater fixed in the morning?”
“She could,” Henry replied with a sideways nod of his head. “But that means that she’ll be spending the night in a very cold house, and little Jimmy might get sick. You know Jimmy, right?”
“Sure, he’s in the class under me,” Shawn replied with a shrug. His eyes widened. “Oh. He’s the one that always gets sick, right?”
“Yep,” Henry answered with a quick nod. “So if we wanna help keep Jimmy healthy, then I have to go over there and take care of the problem now.”
“I get it,” Shawn said with a small smile. “You better get going, then, Dad - after all, you’ve got no choice!”
Henry couldn’t hold back a smile. “Aye-aye, kiddo. And you better get to bed. Go on, now!” he declared, giving his son a gentle shove back towards the stairs.
Present Day
“Mph,” Shawn Spencer groaned, rolling over as his phone rang incessantly next to him. His bleary eyes peered at the alarm clock. “Who on earth would be calling at three-thirty?” he moaned, blindly reaching for the phone. “H-hello?” he asked, stifling a yawn.
“Shawn, oh, thank goodness you answered!”
Shawn blinked a few times, trying to place the voice with a name. “Mrs. Mahoney?” he asked, sitting up a little straighter. He clicked on his bedside lamp. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s my heater, I think it’s gone out!”
Shawn couldn’t help but smirk at the ironic resemblance between this situation and the dream he had just been having. “Let me guess - the maintenance man isn’t answering his phone?”
He heard the elderly woman chuckle. “Right you are. You really are psychic, aren’t you? I had mentioned earlier this week that I thought it might be going out, and what does that man do? Promptly heads out on a vacation without bothering to take a look at it!”“Don’t worry, Mrs. Mahoney. I’ll head right up,” Shawn reassured her.
“You’re such a good boy, Shawn! Your parents must be proud to call you their son!” Mrs. Mahoney gushed.
Shawn rolled his eyes but didn’t respond. “Give me a few minutes to get dressed, Mrs. Mahoney, and I’ll be right there.”
“Oh, thank you, thank you! And how many times must I tell you to call me Elizabeth?”Shawn resisted the urge to drop into a British accent as he replied, “At least once more, Mrs. Mahoney. As always.”
To his surprise, she replied, “That’s from one of those new pirate movies, isn’t it? I just can’t remember which one at the moment…”“Bitter cold can do that to a mind. I’ll be there soon. Bye!” Shawn answered with a chuckle. He hung up the phone and rubbed his face. If I can get this done quick, I can add another two hours of sleep to my three before the sun comes up, he thought with a yawn as he stood and grabbed some clothes.