For the month of May, The Lasso is featuring a collection of short stories submitted by seventh grade students at Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School. You are cordially invited to take a break from reality and take a ride into the vivid world of short fiction!
Avenger
By Marc Wu
Buck Anderson shifted nervously in his Avenger plane’s pilot seat. He was the pilot of an Avenger dive bomber, which was en route to bombing the Japanese main fleet at Midway Island. The U.S. had intercepted radio transmissions from the Japanese saying that they would attack Midway Island, an island in the Pacific Ocean. If the Japanese captured Midway, then the Japanese would be close enough to the U.S. to attack the mainland. But the U.S. wasn’t going to let that happen. The U.S. sent three carriers to Midway to attack the Japanese fleet—the Hornet, Enterprise, and Yorktown. These three carriers combined could carry over two hundred planes. A wave of torpedo bombers had been launched from the main fleet earlier. No one had come back yet. Buck hoped the men were still alive. Just to make sure, Buck looked back and saw his radioman and gunner James in the back seat.
“You okay?” Buck yelled to James. James gave a thumbs-up, and Buck turned his head back forward. Suddenly, there was a clearing, and Buck saw a dot in the distance. Wade, Buck’s squadron leader noticed it too. At first, Buck couldn’t tell what it was. But as Buck’s squadron got closer, Buck realized what it was. It was a Japanese Destroyer.
Buck looked over at Wade, who signaled to follow the destroyer. After a few minutes of following the destroyer, a gray dot appeared. Followed by another. And another. Before long, there were tens of dots. Wade was the first one to realize what the gray dots were. It was the Japanese Main Fleet.
Buck angled his plane down toward the Japanese fleet. His plane began picking up speed. As Buck’s plane shot toward the Japanese fleet, he thought about his family. His mother, Patricia, worried about Buck constantly. Patricia always would send Buck letters whenever Buck’s carrier, the Enterprise, docked, asking if he was ok. Buck answered the letters as soon as he could and sent them back. He also thought about his wife, Freya. Buck would do anything to see her face again. Suddenly, antiaircraft shells exploded all around Buck, snapping out of his daze.
One bomber went down after another. With each explosion, Buck flinched. He knew that he could be next. However, he kept going. As bullets whizzed past Buck, he felt a rush of adrenaline with each bullet, blood avidly pumping in his veins. Shells exploded in the air like orange fireworks. One anti-aircraft shell exploded right next to Buck, and pain flared in Buck’s side. He was hit! As Buck flew toward the fleet, the pain got worse. But there was no time or space to give up. Buck’s plane continued to pick up speed and bullets still flew. But Buck ignored them and kept going towards the ships. He chose a target. It was an aircraft carrier.
Buck steered his plane towards the giant rising sun that was on the aircraft carrier. He looked at his altimeter. 5000 feet. Keep going. Bullets got closer and closer. 4000 feet. Too high. Bullets got closer and closer, and a bullet hit Buck’s plane. 2000 feet. Almost there! Buck thought. 1000 feet. Perfect!
Buck released the bomb and pulled up. Nine times the force of gravity pushed on his chest– Buck couldn’t breathe. He began to black out. He began to lose control.
And then Buck’s plane leveled out. The pressure on his chest eased, and Buck sighed. He looked back at the fleet and saw that it was obliterated. Buck sighed with relief. He had done it. He had bombed the fleet at Midway.
