5. Sage

As a paramedic, sometimes you rush to a rain-soaked street to save lives. And sometimes you sit on a bench in a school gym, where you have snacks and soda while handing out the occasional plaster and cool pack. These jobs could be either violently boring or stressful, when grandpa gets a little bit too excited about his grandson scoring a goal.

Ben was alone on the bench. One of his colleagues was on a bathroom break and the other two were making rounds to show visibility. He shoved his hands into his pockets and felt a fortune cookie. Slightly bewildered, he opened it and read Sage.

Is this cookie declaring me a herb right now?!

Ben was confused but shoved the cookie back into his pocket when he noticed two kids walking up to him. The younger one’s hand was bleeding. Judging from the same blond hair and freckles, they seemed to be brothers. Ben stood up and had the younger one sit down.

“Hi, I’m Ben. Can I look at your hand?”
The child nodded and said: “I’m Henry and this is my brother Nick.”
“Henry’s glass fell down, and he tried to pick up the shards with his hands,” Nick explained.
“No problem. Let’s have a look,” Ben said, putting on gloves and getting out the disinfectant.
“It doesn’t even hurt. “It’s only bleeding”, Henry chimed in proudly.
Ben warned him of the cold spray and wiped it off after about a minute. The cut wasn’t deep, so he only put a plaster with dinosaurs on the cut. Excited, Henry jumped up and ran in the direction of his parents to show them his cool plaster. Nick stayed, which made one last thing easier for Ben.
“Did he have a tetanus shot in the past 10 years?”
“Yeah, he’s got one and since he’s under 10, he should be good.

Ben nodded and started packing everything back while Nick still lingered.

“How did you end up doing this?”, Nick asked, pointing awkwardly to the equipment.
Ben shrugged his shoulders. “One thing leads to another. You need a first-aid certificate to get your diver’s licence, then you volunteer in school to be part of some extracurricular activity and, before you know it, it pays the bills.”
“It is that easy, huh? Don’t get me wrong, what you’re doing is great, but I also heard that you have really irregular insane hours? Would you even manage to go to the gym?”
“I don’t know. If it mattered to me I’d work at the gym, I suppose. Can’t miss gym because of work when it’s your work, right? And if you like going there for yourself, you might as well see if you like helping out others there.”
This seemed to hit a nerve and you could suddenly see Nick already imagining a career as a personal trainer.

As Nick said goodbye and walked off, he said: “You know, you’re pretty wise for someone who doesn’t look that old.” Then it hit Ben and he mentally facepalmed himself:

Wise! Like a sage, not the plant!