I need a hero

Ten would be even better

 “Tell me about the heroes, granny.”

“The heroes, child?”

“Yes, granny, the heroes who saved the school.”

“Oh, The Heroes. Well it happened after The March, you see.”

“The March?”

“Yes, the whole village got together and marched down the street, placards and heads held high. I was there, and my mum, and my little brother, and lots of other people. School kids, parents, grandparents, villagers, people from near and far, people who just wanted to keep the school alive and the village too. For the future, you see. There was even the oldest inhabitant of the village, a lady of 99 years of age, and babies, future school children, in their prams.”

“99 years old? But you’re 99 years old granny! How old’s your mum?!”

“Oh, she’s long gone, my dear. But the school’s still there. You see, after that, everything began to change. People began to notice. The Powers That Be realised that we weren’t some insignificant place on the road to nowhere, but a community with the heart and stomach of a king.”

“A king?”

“History, dear. Queen Elizabeth the First seeing off an invasion that would have destroyed the future of her land.”

“Oh, her. But what’s that got to do with The Heroes?”

“Well, they listened, you see. They were all heroes, in their way; those that marched, those that wrote, those that shouted, those that found out things. But The Heroes, The Ten, listened. And here’s the heroic bit; they changed their minds.”

“That doesn’t sound very heroic. I was hoping for dragons, and princesses, and knights in shining armour.”

“Don’t you believe it, kid. You have to be wearing metaphorical armour to change your mind. Hardest thing in the world, that. Especially when people are watching. But they did it; they listened; they saw the community needed the school for it’s future, and the school had a future anyway. They said we should stay, and they are The Ten Heroes.”

“What would have happened if they hadn’t changed their minds, granny?”

“Oh, my dear, we are never told what would have happened. But my guess is they would have been The Ten Villains, and your parents would have moved away along with others, the village would have died slowly and painfully, and we would barely remember The March, except as an echo of a song – it’s not about the money, it’s about the education, and the future generations.”

“The Ten Villains! That doesn’t sound very nice.”

“No, it wouldn’t have been. Which is why you need all the small heroes; to help the big heroes change their minds.”

“Tell me about your mum, granny.”

“My mum? Dear me. Never stopped fighting, my mum, not till The Heroes said the school could stay. Right pain in the neck to live with, though....”