A Momma Bear
by A Bad Attitude
Copyright© 2026 by A Bad Attitude
Drama Story: A mostly true story of a man caught trying to rob a house.
Tags: Crime
Chapter 1
The young father rose from his chair laughing as he turned off his black and white television set. It was after 11pm (CST) and he needed to get to sleep. Maybe after watching that comedian, Jonathan Winters, tell Carson about coming home from WW2, he will be able to sleep. He enjoyed watching late night television, particularly the Tonight Show. Carson was a vet and so was his sidekick, Ed McMahon (Heeere’s Johnny!). Carson served in the Navy, McMahon was a Marine pilot who had flown 85 combat missions over Korea, all in a single engine Cessna! He was a ‘spotter’ for the artillery and had been awarded six Air Medals. Imagine flying over North Korea in an OE-1 (an unarmed observer aircraft)! If you were shot down and survived, all you have is a .38 pistol to defend yourself! Ed McMahon retired from the Marine Corps Reserve as a Colonel in 1966.
He walked down the hall, stopping for a moment to look into his sons’ bedroom, both boys ages 8 and 10 were sleeping soundly in their separate beds. In his room he saw his wife, she was sound asleep and he tried his best not to wake her as he slipped into bed next to her. In minutes he was asleep. It was 2am when she woke him up!
“Joe, somebody is trying to get in the back door!”
“Shhh, Rose. Stay here. I’ll check it out.”
He got out of bed, picked up the Remington pump shotgun in the corner of the room, and crept down the hall and out the front door. Rose waited until she heard him exit the house then got out of bed and walked down the hall. She looked into the boys’ room. They were sound asleep as she eased their door shut. She went into the living room and took the .30-30 Winchester rifle off the gun rack. She chambered a round, then walked back down the hall into the kitchen. Whoever was trying to get into the house would have to pass by her to get to the boys. That was not going to happen.
Chapter 2: The encounter
Joe crept around the house until he was at the back corner. He saw a man trying to force open the back door leading into the kitchen. He raised the shotgun and yelled for the man not to move. The would-be robber was stardled, but did not reach for the pistol in his belt because he saw the shotgun pointed at him.
“Back away from the door!” yelled Joe. The man raised both hands and backed up. His wife opened the back door. The boys were standing behind their mother.
“Rose! Call the Sheriff!”
“Already have Joe. Said they would be here in about 10 minutes.” She stood in the doorway and looked at the man standing in her backyard. He saw her and began to speak.
“You folks don’t want no problems with me. I don’t want to go back to jail so why don’t you just let me walk away before the sheriff gets here.”
“Not going to happen,” said Joe.
“Then I’ll tell you what will happen. I’ll go back to jail and in two maybe three years, they’ll let me out. I’ll come back here and kill your whole family and burn your house down. I’ll...”
He never finished what he was about to say. The Winchester barked once, then again. The would-be robber was dead! Joe walked over to his wife and took the rifle from her trembling hands. He handed her the shotgun saying, “Take the boys and go back inside. If anybody asks, you were in the room with the kids and never came outside. Understand?”
She nodded that she understood and ushered the boys back into their room, shutting the door. They sat on the bed and heard the siren of the police car arriving. Joe had leaned the rifle against the house and waved at the Sheriff deputies as they got out of the car. He knew them both.
“What happened, Joe?” questioned one of the deputies.
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