Growing up John Smith was infatuated with heroism. From action figures of military men to superhero comics and movies, John wanted to one day rise up and be a guardian of the world around him. Throughout grade school he believed in this, serving as a lineman on the football team with one goal, protect the quarterback. When high school came around, John was certain he would join the military, to protect and serve. But, In his junior year, during a play in the third quarter of a playoff game, John was blindsided and knocked unconscious by the largest kid on the opposing team. He woke up with a fused vertebrae and a chest cast. Unable to do anything for four months, followed by eight months of physical therapy, John physically and emotionally ruined. All hope for a future in service and heroism was shattered.
***
*Beep beep beep*
John’s alarm clock blared. Groggily he sat up, leaving the warm embrace of his ageing cotton bedsheets. With a prolonged groan he smacked his alarm clock quiet, accidently knocking it on the floor with a thud. Looks like it will be one of those Mondays I guess, he thought to himself while rising from his half slumber. As he took the first steps of the new week, he walked to the bathroom. Once there, he stared at the person looking back in the mirror. Unsatisfied, John followed his usual morning routine. It started with a boiling hot shower - in the hopes it would help him wake up - then the long process of putting on a business suit. After that it was a short walk to his kitchen, in which he made coffee with a strainer, not like any of those fancy Keurig’s from those as seen on TV ads. Finally he would eat dull cereal while watching the morning news, FOX 29 News Philadelphia. 
***
“In a recent act of heroism an 18 year old boy rushes to the scene of an accident as he watched a car slide into a river. This young man immediately sprung into action, jumping and swimming to the rescue of a mother and a five year old girl…”
***
Incredible, I don’t think I could ever do something that fearless, pondered John as he munched his way through his usual bland corn flakes. Once finished, he set his bowl in the sink, grabbed his coat, and walked out the door. It was about a half hour commute across city to his dull job as a financial advisor assistant. Numbers, numbers, numbers, that's all he looked at and thought of all day. John would sit in a creaky office chair for eight miserable hours as he did everything he could to help his boss with clients, managing accounts or other assorted tasks. His boss always said, “Keep this up and one day you will take over my job and inherit all my clients.” Yeah right, likely story John would think to himself after conversations like this, Why would he give a company to someone like me? I can’t help people, not anymore. Sadly, John went back to his boring reality. He continued sluggishly through his work, relentless amounts of scanning, filing, and high level math. As the hours drew by and the work day came to a close, John say goodnight to his boss and walked out.
***
Just think, only four more days until the weekend, John said to himself as he began his walk home. As he walked he decided to take a different route home. He walked through a nice neighborhood. Since it was the “scenic route,” he did not walk it often. The sunset was beautiful, a mixture of blues, purples, and a fire red. Entranced with its beauty, John continued walking. A few blocks later, the red in the sky seemed to be very vibrant, almost as if it was moving. Then, there was a thunderous BANG. Shocked, John realized that the sunset was a house fire! Without thinking John ran a few blocks and was at the scene. Desperately looking around, he was the only one in sight. The fire raged on and he could hear the cry of a woman. He dialed 911 and burst out the location of the fire. There was no chance the fire department would reach her in time! He pounded his shoulder into the door, just as he did back when he played football; it shattered to pieces. Noticing a staircase on his right, he flew up them going two or three at a time. John could hear the cries of the woman yet again, it was coming from a bedroom. Thrusting open the door, John saw her paralyzed with fear, slowly backing away from a wall of flames. Quickly, John picked her up and brought her out the door and down the stairs. Running with her in his arms, they burst out the door and into the safety that was outside. Sirens blared in the distance, getting ever closer with each passing second. A minute later an ambulance and two engines were on the scene. With the woman in the hands of a trained paramedic, John, with adrenaline pumping, continued his walk home, knowing that he saved the woman's life. Finally had done what he always wanted to, be someone's hero. 
***
*Beep beep beep*
It was Tuesday, the day after he became an unknown hero. John was wide awake, and jumped out of bed, filled with energy and excited to feel alive for the first time in years. He started his morning ritual. With a smile on John's face he looked in the mirror, this time the man looking back at him was confident and proud. With a warm shower and a pep in his step John suited up and went to get some coffee and his favorite morning meal, cereal. With a click John turned on his favorite morning show, the news station.
***
“This morning we have yet another shocking story of a person who ran into a burning building, saving the one female occupant who was trapped by flamed. The house fire started late afternoon and as the fire department arrived, the only danger was the fire; the woman was already saved. We do not know who this individual who saved the woman is, but what we do know is that he or she is a hero.”