In case you're confused, I'm that guy Jason.
Literally some dude that got lost looking for the bathroom.
pfp: masterpiece by @shoujomahouu
cover: my Minecraft
My neighbor was leaving for vacation and said, "Hey, hold down the fort while I'm gone."
I did not know this was a figure of speech.
I am a samurai.
A fort is a fort.
I made a perimeter map.
I checked the fence line twice a day, at dawn and at dusk.
I memorized the delivery truck's schedule.
I identified the enemy. It was a raccoon.
We engaged three times. I will not say who won.
On the fourth night, a storm came.
A fort is weakest in a storm.
So I stood watch on his porch from 9 PM to 2 AM, in the rain.
His security camera saw me.
His wife, who had not left yet, called my phone. "What are you doing?"
"Holding down the fort," I said.
There was a long silence.
"Do you... want a flashlight?"
She brought me a flashlight and a thermos of coffee.
She did not laugh.
She said, "The fort thanks you."
When my neighbor came home, I handed him a full report.
Fence secure. Deliveries normal. Raccoon situation ongoing.
He read the whole report standing in his driveway.
Then he straightened his back, looked me in the eye, and said:
"Well held, soldier."
Now, whenever anyone on our street goes on vacation, they come to me first.
They say the words formally, like a transfer of command.
"The fort is yours."
I accept.
I have held down eleven forts.
Last week, I found a badge in my mailbox.
The neighborhood had made it for me.
It says FORT COMMANDER.
I did not ask for this rank.
I will not give it back.
I wear it on patrol.