Super Boy

I was going to get a new Buzz Light-year toy today, but Daddy said I couldn’t. I understood. Now was not a time for toys because everyone was sad. Even daddy. I’d never seen Daddy sad before. Daddy was always superman. When I was four I drew a picture of him in a blue suit with a red cape and titled it “Super Daddy,” and he said that if he was super daddy then I was his super son. But I don’t feel super, at least not right now. 

Only a little while ago daddy had said to me my big sister Rachel had died because she crashed her car. If daddy was superman and I was his super son, then how come we couldn’t bring her back to life? And my other big sister Natalie was in England with her boy friend. How was she going to get back to Manhattan? And I was supposed to have my birthday party in two weeks. I was turning six. But nobody cared anymore. I wasn’t even sure if I cared. How could I turn six now, when everyone was so sad and mommy and daddy were hugging and crying? I knew what I had to do. I had to use my super powers to stop time and wait until everyone was happy again, and then I would let myself turn six. Normally I would leave it up to daddy to handle something like this but watching him shake like that, I was starting to think daddy was broken.

I walked into the kitchen and sat down on the floor by the table. If daddy wasn’t going to do anything than it was up to me. I was like batman or Spiderman. Everyone needed me to use my powers to make things better. And fast, because through the wall between the kitchen and living room it sounded like mommy was dying too. My plan was simple, but I knew I couldn’t do it without Bally. He was my stuffed basketball pillow and my best friend. 

I quickly jumped up and ran for the stairs. I wasn’t supposed to run in the house, especially up the stairs, but no one seemed to notice. Step one was to stop time. Step two would be to find Rachel and tell her it was time to come back to life, because if she stayed dead any longer I knew things would only get worse. She must’ve died by accident, I thought, because mommy and daddy had just bought her a new computer for her high school graduation and she had seemed so excited to use it. I remembered what mommy had told me when I had accidentally spilled my split pea soup on the tiled floor. Accidents happen Jacky, and that’s okay as long as you fix them. Why don’t you run and get us some paper towels and I’ll help you clean up, okay baby? Well I didn’t have mommy to help me fix the accident this time, but that was okay. I was only five and a half when I spilled my soup. Now I was five and three quarters. I could do it by myself. I grabbed Bally and ran back down the stairs. I hoped everyone was still too distracted to realize I was running in the house.

I quickly went back into the kitchen and climbed onto the table. There was no rule about standing on the table, but I had a feeling mommy wouldn’t like it if she knew. As I lifted Bally up I saw the light blue stain on his tag. I remembered that from my fifth birthday party...

 “Better run faster Jacky!” Rachel said. I only heard her, didn’t see her. I was hiding behind the couch. It was the perfect place to pop out from. “The evil zombies are coming for you!”

“Ah!” I screamed, as she came behind me and started tickling me. “I was going to scare you stupid!” I didn’t want to laugh, but I couldn’t stop. 

“Don’t use potty words with me Mister.” She said and tickled faster. “You better close your eyes Jacky if you don’t want to watch me tear you apart with my tickle powers!” 

“Stop!” I said, laughing even harder. “Rachy you have to stop!”

She raised one of her eyebrows. “I have to, do I?”

 “Yes, because I’m stopping time.” 

“Stopping time, huh?” She smiled and lifted me up into the air. “Then how come I’m still moving buddy?” 

“Because you’re playing unfair.”

“Maybe. Or maybe you can’t stop time Jacky.”

I struggled out of her grip and fell to the floor, knocking over my cup of blue Gatorade and spilling it on Bally. I quickly picked him up and ran away from her laughing. “Yes I can!” I yelled. 

I picked Bally up above my head. This was my plan, to stop time. Rachel couldn’t stay dead forever. I’d miss her too much. And I knew she’d miss me too. That’s why the second part of my plan would work, because Rachel would want to come back to life. She would want to help me fix everything so everyone would be happy and I could turn six. Maybe we could play the evil zombie chase game again like we did at my last birthday.

As hard and fast as I could I chucked Bally at the big white and red clock hanging right next to the window on the kitchen wall. I smiled as it fell off its hook and crashed onto the tiled floor. The fall had to of broken it. It couldn’t keep ticking if it was broken. My plan was working. I climbed down off the table to check and make sure just as daddy came running into the kitchen.

“What happened?” He shouted, “Jack, are you okay?” 

I looked up at him. He was my daddy, but at the same time he wasn’t. Daddy’s eyes were usually white with blue in the middle, but his were all red. His cheeks were fatter than usual and all wet. I knew it was because he had been crying about Rachel, but it looked like more than crying. His whole body looked wrong. 

Suddenly I felt myself start crying too. It was from seeing daddy look like that. I didn’t want to cry. Super heroes didn’t cry, not when there were people who needed saving. But I couldn’t stop. Daddy looked so sad. And nothing was making sense. I was in the kitchen with daddy. Mommy was crying in the living room. Natalie was in England. But where was Rachel?

I sat down on the floor and curled into a ball. I heard mommy groan again from the den. 

“I think mommy’s dying.” I said.

Daddy sat down next to me and put his arms around me. He was so sweaty. “What happened in here Jack?” His voice was shaking. I didn’t want to tell him the whole story because I knew I had broken rules by running in the house and standing on the table, so I kept it short. 

“I’m stopping time Daddy.”

He sighed and I felt him squeeze me tighter. “You can’t stop time Jacky.” 

I thought of Rachel lifting me in the air at my fifth birthday party, both of us laughing. You better close your eyes Jacky. I hadn’t listened to her. How could I have? I’d been laughing to hard. But now, sitting in daddy’s arms next to the broken clock, I felt more alone than ever. And it might have been too late, but I finally did. 

Excepting things was easier in the dark. “I know Daddy.”