A Day With Superman

Chapter 2

I still can't believe that he saved my life. He has always been my hero and he is someone that I aspire to. While others are questioning his motives, I know that I am one of the people who will always think that he is a good man no matter where he came from.

There is a knock on the door and as I looked at the peephole, I saw a man with glasses wearing a blue button up shirt. Who is he?

"Who is it?"

"It's someone you met last night. You asked me if you can spend a day and here I am."

It's him! But why is he here looking like that? Why does it matter? I want to know my childhood hero and I am very lucky to meet him.  I opened the door quickly.

"Hi. Come in and thank you for accepting my invitation. I am sorry if I ask you to come here, it's just, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity for me to meet my hero. I could not thank you enough for the help. I am talking too much now, right? I'm going to shut up now. Oh goodness, why can't I shut up? Please sit. Do you want anything to drink? Do you want some coffee, tea, juice, or water? What about breakfast? Did you eat breakfast? I am a magnificent egg fryer. I can actually make decent sunny side up eggs. Seriously, I have to shut up now. Anyway, is that your alter ego? Don't worry; your secret is safe with me. But if you don't want to say who you are, that is also fine by me. I am just so happy that you will spend time with me."

"Hello, miss?"

"I'm Trixie. It's nice to meet you Mr. Superman."

"Call me Clark. Clark Kent."

"Oh my God, you're the Clark Kent. You trusted me with your alter ego. You work in the Daily Planet!"

"That's right. Don't worry about me Trixie. So how are you doing?"

"I was terrified last night, I am not going to lie about that. But because you saved me, that horrifying experience is fading and I am so happy that our world has someone like you."

I felt like crying but I have to hold back my tears of joy. I wanted to hug him so bad, but no. I have to keep myself in check. I would not want him to see me as a crazy lady. After all, he trusted me with his alter ego.

"I am glad that you're alright. Those guys are rough."

"Yeah. You know, you have always been my hero? I've always wanted to meet you and spend a day with you. I am so happy that you accepted my invitation and trusted me."

"Thank you for considering me as your hero although I make a lot of mistakes and bad choices."

"Isn't what it means to be a hero? You have to make choices even though it hurts you because you can't sometimes do it? It's about making choices and you cannot always be right."

I can see the sadness in his eyes but he still manages to smile. I know he tried, but you cannot please everyone and they will sometimes make you feel bad just because they have high hopes for you. They expect him to be perfect—a god, but he isn't a god, he's just someone who chose humanity in spite of all of his abilities and powers. He used his powers to save mankind, even though sometimes we don't deserve it.

"You're very powerful, and pretty much can do everything. To us people, you're a god and you can save us. Do you hold back?" I asked 

"People think, that because I have all these abilities, I can save everyone or I can do everything. But what they don't know is, I am just a farmer from Smallville, raised by the two of the most humble people I know. Just imagine if a power hungry person or a selfish person is the one who found me. Will I be the same or will I be different? And yes, I have to hold back because I feel like; I would break everything around me. I want to bring hope and be the symbol of hope in this world. I want Hope to mean something."

"Do you feel lonely or sad? As an alien, why do you always want to help us even though others fear you?"

"Yes, I do feel lonely and sad, also, I feel alienated because I know this is not the world where I'm supposed to be. I'm supposed to be in Krypton, with my own kind but this is my fate and I love my human parents. They loved me and nurtured me although they know that this is not my world.  However, this is where I was found and raised with the morals and values that most humans have. But like any human beings, I also make mistakes, make bad choices, I have fears, and I also know how to love. My abilities will not always define how I feel on the inside. It's just my physical strength. I sometimes wish that everything is simple or easy, but all I can do is to accept who I am and to try to do what I think is right."

"I am glad that you accepted who you are. That's normal human behavior you know? We conform because we want to be accepted. We want to be loved and we don't want to be ostracized. You are alien by blood, but deep inside, you understand us even though people did not bother to understand you just because you're not one of us. You're just someone with super abilities that can be used as an advantage. But for me, you are one of us. You feel the same way like the most of us; you feel normal human emotions and I admire you for that. You are always ready to risk your life for us even though this is not where you're from. "

He smiled and I hope that I made sense. It is what I felt about him the whole time and I am glad that I get to say it to him for the last time. I will not hold him because he has more things to do. He has a world to save. One day or just few hours is what I need and I am very grateful that I was given an opportunity to spend a day a moment with him.

"I know you have things to do and I will not hold you here."

"I thought you wanted a day with me." He wondered.

"I do, but all I really wanted is to tell you how I feel about you and how you saved my life and how you give me hope. Thank you for granting my request to spend a day with you and it really is a pleasure. You saved my life more than you know."

"I made it my duty to save people who are in dire need for help and that's all I did. You don't need to thank me. I just want you to be safe and well and I am happy that you are kind enough to invite me and to tell me such flattering things and thanking me. I appreciate that."

"You are doing a great job saving people and saving the world. But I have something to tell you. You see, I have grade four glioblastoma or brain tumor and I already accepted my fate. I don't have much longer in this world, but I am blissful that I get to know you before I go. I get to meet the hero that I look up to for most of my life and I get to know the deeper part of Clark Kent or Superman. Just keep what you're doing and don't give up on us. In this cruel world, there are still people who chose to be good. Last night, I almost gave up and I just acknowledged that something bad might happen because I am dying anyway. Then you came, saved me, and flew me high on the sky. Although my days are counted, you still gave me hope that there will be a Superman who will do his best to keep us all safe."

He stroked my cheek and gave me a warm embrace. I cried on his shoulders and sobbed uncontrollably. He kept stroking my back and he held me tighter in his arms. This is the person that some people misunderstood. This is the alien who showed goodness even in bad times. There are more superheroes out there, including our world finest military and I am grateful for them as well. But for now, the normal Clark Kent is here trying to calm me down. I know that I accepted that I have no future in this world, but I am still hoping for a better place for us. He suddenly whispered to my ears, "I won't give up. As long as there are good in this world, I will be their hope. Thank you. You also saved my life."