Burglars Meet A Sword Wielding Kid

I’ve posted this story before, but when I was 12 years old, four dudes decided to try and steal from our home in the middle of the night. We were still inside, my parents were sleeping and I was happily reading manga on my room when I heard footsteps downstairs. At first I thought it was my father, but after hearing it a second time I managed to distinguish the sound of rubber soles, like sneakers. My father doesn’t use them, so something was wrong.

I rolled from my bed, grabbed a sword (I’ve liked collecting weapons since I was little) and got close to the door. That summer was infamous for a rise in violent break-ins. The thought of my family being threatened made me charge forward, and I found 4 idiots on the stairs. Adrenaline was rushing through my veins and I had trouble thinking clearly, a thousand thoughts passing through my head. I even thought they may have been hired by my father to do something, until I snapped myself out and realised they were thieves. This probably lasted 3-4 seconds, but it felt like a solid minute. One of them tried talking to me, telling me to calm down and that they were already leaving.

Then the flight or fight reaction kicked in, but instead of fleeing or taking them on I made a huge leap (that I’ve never managed to do again, even though I’m fairly good at jumping) towards my parents room, protecting them was my main intention. I barged in, warned them about what was going on, and immediately chased after the thieves. Unfortunately the bastards ran away, otherwise there would have been a brawl. I forgot to mention that I was wearing nothing but my underwear.

I didn’t sleep that night. My parents called the police a couple of minutes after the incident, and when they arrived they asked me some questions and told me I was a brave little motherfucker. I was shaking uncontrollably at this point. The next day my father called a friend of his that was in the police’s special forces, asked me again about them and told me that if I ever wanted to join them when I grew up I should let them know.

Up to this day I’m still quite proud, and the sword is still resting on the same place I picked it up from that night. My only regret is not having thrown something at them, I may have caught at least one. Still, the thought of a pint-sized berserker on his underwear chasing 4 dudes running for their lives with a meter-long sword cracks me up.