I smiled as innocently and big as I could. I had noticed that moms could never refuse the power of love. “I was hungry.”
“Then I expect you to finish your plate.” She meant business, but she still came over and lifted me off the counter and gently set me down. “I hate when you do that. It scares me.”
“Don’t be scared,” I said. “I’ve already fought a war against two sides, and I don’t even have a scratch.”
Mom smiled and knelt down next to me. “Well, it’s time to fight another war, Felix.”
I stood as straight as I could and poked my chest out as far as I could manage. I saluted my mom like a good soldier and said, “I’m ready for my mission.”
“Your mission is against the evil and vile menace who seeks to take over the world by conquering home after home through little boys and their messy fathers.”
I didn’t understand everything my mom said, but I did get that there was a bad guy that I had to fight. “Who is the enemy?”
She looked around the kitchen and leaned in closer. I looked around too. I didn’t see anyone, but she looked worried. It might have been an invisible enemy or one that was too fast to be seen. Maybe it was right in front of me and I didn’t understand.
“Your enemy,” she whispered, “is Dr. Clutter.”
He sounded evil, or at least my mom thought he was. “Where is Dr. Clutter?”
She leaned in even closer and grabbed my shoulders. “He’s all around us.”
I gasped and turned around, but I didn’t see anyone.
“I’m afraid that Sergeant Patches, General Spooner, and all of their troops are under his control.”
“Patches?” I asked completely shocked. Patches was my usual seven-piece block creation that I made all the time. He couldn’t betray me.
“Oh yes,” she said. “Dr. Clutter has all your toys working for evil, and the only way to save them is to put them up nice and neat where they belong.”
Then there seemed to be a catch and I got the feeling that Mom was trying to trick me. “You want me to clean up?”
If Dr. Clutter was so evil, then why was Mom smiling so much? “It’s the only way to defeat him,” she said.
Then I was very suspicious. “Are you sure?” I didn’t want to tell Mom that I thought she was trying to trick me, but cleaning up seemed like something that only she would want. The fate of the world depending on whether or not I could be tidy was a bit of a stretch of my imagination.
“What’s the matter?” she asked. “Don’t you like it when I clean your room and it’s nice and neat?”
Finding all my toys and clothes was easier when I knew where everything was, but it didn’t bother me. “I like it, but I don’t mind when it’s dirty. I can live in it.”
“But I can’t, Felix.” Mom grabbed my shoulders and her eyes grew as big as half dollars. “Dr. Clutter is diabolical!” I thought she might be teasing me, but then something terrible began to happen. She put her hand on her chest and gasped. “He’s killing me, Felix. It’s becoming harder to breathe…”
She fell on the kitchen floor and was shaking and coughing.
“Mom?” I had never been so scared in my long six years of life. If there was ever a time to be a hero, that was it. Mom was getting weaker by the second.
“Felix, you have to clean up your toys or else I might not make it!”
Mom was so sick. I could tell that she didn’t have a lot of time. She was losing color in her face. “I’ll do it.”
“Hurry, Felix! You only have until dinner time.”
“Dinner?” Mom always made dinner at seven. It was five thirty. I had mountains of clothes in my room. I had cities of toys all over the floor from my room to the kitchen. I had a monster under my bed! It took me days to clean my room. “That’s not enough time. I’m not fast enough.”
“Follow me.” Mom sighed and struggled with all her might to stand up on her feet. She could barely walk, but she pulled something from deep inside of her to help guide me to the laundry room.
My mom opened up the dryer and pulled out my favorite red blanket. “What are you doing?”
“This isn’t an ordinary blanket, Felix. This is your superhero cape.”
“My superhero cape?”
Mom began to look sad. “You don’t believe me?”
I shrugged my shoulders. I had that blanket my entire life. It hadn’t made me any different from anyone else so far.
“Felix, you have to believe in something if you want it to be real. This cape has already given me enough strength to go in the kitchen and fix dinner by the time your father comes home. If you believe in this cape, it will grant you super speed.”
“Super speed?” Could it really be possible? Would believing in my simple, ordinary cape really give me powers to stop the bad guys and save my mom’s life from the terrible Dr. Clutter?
Mom unfolded the blanket and shook it open. As she began to raise it above my head, it became bigger than I had ever seen it before. It hovered over me, and I felt something. I felt its power trying to connect inside of me like a lost puppy finding its way home. And when it fell on my shoulders and rested on my back, I realized that the power was always there. I just hadn’t realized it before. I was tingling all over my body from the warmth of my blanket.
No—not a blanket—my superhero cape!
Then Mom took two of the corners and tied it safely around my neck. I looked into her eyes and knew that she was proud of me and that she believed that I could save her life. “You’ll be done before you know it,” she said.
Yes, I could save Mom! I could defeat Dr. Clutter, and I could do it before dinner was done and Dad came home.
I spread my arms as if they were wings and began to run. I didn’t notice that I was running any faster than usual at the time, but I believed in the power of the cape as much as I could. I started in the kitchen first. Patches and Spooner were strong allies, so they had to be even worse enemies. I couldn’t believe I didn’t notice their betrayal before. Suddenly it was all so clear. Mom wasn’t safe walking into the kitchen with block body parts spread all across the kitchen floor. She could fall and break her head open if she slipped on one block. Dr. Clutter was an evil mastermind, but my good was stronger than his bad any day of the week!
I grabbed the dustpan and broom from the closet and swept them all up to make sure that I didn’t miss one tricky little piece of bad guy. Then I ran and emptied them into my block bucket and made sure to close the lid.
Spooner and his army were next. I should have seen Spooner’s wicked ways sooner. His men had begun disappearing one by one. They probably found out about his turn to the dark side and began to abandon his leadership. Spooner’s remaining troops were excellent at blending in and hid behind pillows on the couch and under the coffee table, but I found every single one of them and dumped them into my toy chest.
I put all the Play-Doh back into its cups, tossed the stuffed animals on my bed, and placed all my dirty clothes in the bathroom. I had never worked so hard in my life. I thought I wasn’t gonna be able to save Mom in time. By the time I was done hanging up my clothes, I collapsed on the floor in the living room. I thought I had failed.
“Felix!”
I closed my eyes and slammed my hands on my face. Dr. Clutter had won!
“Felix…” She lightly kicked me in my arm to get my attention.
I opened my eyes and saw that she wasn’t sick or hurt or dying at all. She was smiling. “You did a very good job, Felix.”
“Really?” I jumped up on my feet. I had barely finished, but there was no possible way that I finished on time.
“It is dinner time, and your father just walked through the door.” She patted me on my head. “You saved the day, Felix.”
No way would I have been able to clean up everything that fast before. It had to be my cape! I had to believe that it gave me super powers! “Wow!” I yelled excited.
Mom laughed. “Go and wash up, Felix. I made chicken a
nd rice, and you get to have cookies and ice cream for dessert!”
I got to eat my favorite meal and have ice cream and cookies? Being a superhero was awesome!
I hurried, washed my hands, and ran to the dining room where Mom had sat down our food to eat. Dad was sitting in his chair at the head of the table, already eating his humongous plate.
He looked at me funny. “What are you wearing that blanket for, Felix?”
I raised my head up and smiled proudly. “You see Dad, I’m a superhero.”
He chuckled and asked, “A superhero?”
I felt bad that he didn’t believe me and had made fun of me. Then I remembered something. I didn’t believe in the cape’s power and that’s why I didn’t have any powers before. I would just have to show Dad just like Mom showed me.
“And what’s your name?” he asked.
I hadn’t thought about that yet. I wanted it to be something great that people would remember forever, but I also wanted to remind people and myself that I would always be innocent and that I would always believe and that I would never grow up.
I smiled as soon as I figured it out. “My name is Superkid.”
Chapter 4
I was all dressed and ready to go for my first day of first grade. Mom made me a tasty peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch with a chocolate chip cookie, juice, and a celery stick that Dad made her put in there. I didn’t plan on eating it, but I didn’t want to hurt Dad’s feelings. I had a backpack full of every colored crayon in the universe. I had on my new clothes and new shoes that lit up every time I took a step. I wanted to dance in space in those shoes!
The most important thing that I couldn’t leave the house without was my cape. I didn’t need Mom’s help to put it on anymore. I tied it on just right. I struck a pose in the big mirror in my room, and I looked so kick butt! I could take on any bad guy in the world.
“Felix!” Mom called.
“Coming, Mom!” I hurried to the front door where she and Dad were waiting for me.
As soon as Dad saw me, his eyes got really big and he wasn’t happy. “Felix, you cannot wear that!” he said.
I looked down at my feet, feeling embarrassed. I thought I looked cool. Was I wrong? Did I really look so stupid that he had to yell at me?
“Let him have some fun,” Mom told him. “Fun! Do you remember what that was like or was that too long ago?”
My guess was that it was way too long ago. My dad was like a hundred years old. His first pet was probably a dinosaur, and it was probably a T-Rex.
“He’s been playing in that blanket all week,” Dad said. “It’s dirty, it’s sweaty, and he’s too old to take that to school.”
“It’s a cape,” I mumbled.
Mom laughed at Dad. “He’s going to the first grade, not the office.” I could always depend on her to stick up for me. She always believed that I should have fun as long as I was being good.
Dad…well, he cared about other things. “My son will not be the laughingstock of the school. Boys stop playing with their blankies even younger than him. It’s time to grow up.”
I didn’t want to grow up, not if it meant that I had to be like him. “It’s my superhero cape.” Why couldn’t he understand? Why couldn’t he believe in it or me?
“Let me take it, Felix.” Mom bent down and lifted my chin up so she could look at my face. “I’ll wash it for you. You have to take care of it if you want to have more adventures.”
As long as she won and Dad didn’t, I was fine with that. “Okay.” I gave my cape to her so she could wash it and not because my dad thought it was stupid.
Then Mom kissed me on the cheek. “Have a nice day at school.”
Then I wasn’t in Mom’s hands anymore. Dad was taking me to school, which I hated. He would always tighten my seatbelt and make it uncomfortable. I also didn’t like his car. Mom drove a nice blue car. Dad drove a big, black monster, and I always felt so far away from him while he was driving. He probably couldn’t even see me in the back at all. I bet the ninjas could come and take their dust back, and he would never even notice.
He always played this really dumb music that didn’t have any words with really high noises, and there were like a hundred of them. I hated it! Mom talked to me and played music that I liked. I never even saw Dad’s face when he was driving. It was like neither of us was there when we were together.
When we pulled up to my school, it was much bigger than I thought it would be. Many of the kids were way bigger than me too. Some were so huge, I thought they were adults. I wasn’t really afraid of much. I even let my monster live undisturbed under my bed or in my closet, but I was sort of afraid to go into the school.
When Dad stopped the car, he turned around to look at me. I thought he was gonna get out and take me to class, but he seemed like he really wanted me to get out.
“Are you gonna pick me up?” I asked.
“No. The bus will take you home, Felix. Make sure you get on bus number six. Do you know what the number six is?”
I sighed. “I know how to count to ten, Dad. I’m not stupid.”
He smiled. “No. You’re my son, soon to be a man.” He reached over and patted me on the head. Then I figured out how to make my dad proud of me. He wanted me to grow up. That was the only way. “Have a good day, Felix.”
“Bye, Dad.” I wished he would have remembered that I was only six. Maybe his parents let him walk by himself to the classroom and didn’t care if a dinosaur came and bit his head off, but Mom would be mad if I got lost or if a stranger came and took me. It’s not like I had my cape. Without it, I was normal Felix. I wasn’t Superkid. I could barely open the car door and get to the ground safely.
I wanted to ask him for his help, but the only thing more terrifying than school was my Dad. He drove away as soon as I closed the door.
I took a deep breath and turned around to face the school. If I focused on the doors, I wouldn’t be focused on how big the building was. It was actually a little smaller than my old school, which made me feel a little better and gave me enough courage to go inside.
The school reminded me of this cartoon I watched on Saturday about animals escaping from their cages in the zoo and having a stampede. Everyone was busy running around, and no one knew where they were going. I didn’t know where I was going! I just moved around with the wave of kids and followed the one that was the closest to my size and hoped that I was going to the right place.
When the boy I was following walked to a classroom, a woman was there to greet him by the door. I didn’t know if she was my teacher, but I didn’t know what else to do or where to go, so I just stood behind him and waited until she sent him inside and got to me.
“Hello. What’s your name?”
“Felix…” I said quietly.
“Felix?” She was confused. I must not have been in her classroom! I felt so stupid! “I don’t remember your name, Felix. Come inside and let me check my list.”
It was better than waiting out in the hallway with the jungle of people animals. Inside, a bunch of other kids my age were sitting quietly at their desks, not saying a word. They all looked as scared as I was.
The teacher picked up a piece of paper from her desk and looked at it. It felt like forever while I waited for her to say something else to me. I didn’t like standing in front of the classroom and having everyone’s eyes on me.
“Well Felix…”
I closed my eyes tight and waited for her to tell me I had the wrong classroom so she could embarrass me and make all of the kids point and laugh at me while I ran away like a little baby. Why didn’t my dad just take me to class?
“It seems that you…are in my class!”
I opened my eyes and sighed. “Really?”
“Yes. Did you just move here?”
“Yeah. We’re not even done unpacking yet.”
“Well, I’m your teacher.” She reminded me a lot of my mom. She didn’t look like her. Her hair was yellow and curly, and her s
kin was white like my dad’s. She had a special niceness about her that made me think of my mom. “You can call me Ms. Hucklebee.”
I smiled back at her. Having a nice teacher who wasn’t dinosaur age would be great. She was still pretty old, but she seemed like she could have fun. “Okay.”
“You can go sit at any table you like, Felix.”
I wanted to pick a nice spot next to someone who looked like a good friend. Finding the perfect seat was half the trouble. I looked for a seat next to someone strong and someone who looked like they could run very far and fast, but I didn’t see any seats like that. A few seats were around the room, but no one looked like they could keep up with me.
Then a girl with brown-colored skin raised her hand. “Felix can sit here, Ms. Hucklebee.”
“Thank you, Kiara.” Ms. Hucklebee nudged me in the back. “You can go sit next to Kiara, Felix.”
I didn’t want to sit next to Kiara. She was a girl! My friends from kindergarten told me that girls had a terrible sickness that could kill any living being, especially boys. The sickness was called cooties. I didn’t want to catch cooties, and I didn’t want to sit next to someone who couldn’t be my friend.
“Go on,” Ms. Hucklebee said.
I frowned, but I sat next to her anyway. She smiled at me so she seemed friendly enough, but I knew better. I couldn’t see Dr. Clutter and all of his evils. Even though I couldn’t see her cooties, I knew they had to be there. Maybe she kept it hidden in her big, fluffy ponytail.
She didn’t say anything to me, but she kept looking at me and then turned away. She was probably thinking about how she could infect me.
I might have had to sit next to her, but I was not gonna drop my guard so she could kill me.
The bell rang soon and then Ms. Hucklebee closed the door and smiled really big. “Welcome to the first grade.”
I hadn’t made up my mind yet on whether or not first grade was a good or bad thing. I didn’t want to grow up. If I kept getting older and smarter and going to the next grade, pretty soon I would graduate all the way into a job. I didn’t want to get so old that I’d forget how to have fun like Dad.
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