Superheroes Don't Exist - Short Story

            Train tracks laid down on the floor of the worn down ground in the putrid outskirts of a city where nothing really happened, a boy played along the tracks holding two balloons and a plastic toy that he bought at the nearest toy store. The toy was an action figure of some superhero of the time. He wasn’t sure which superhero it was, but judging by the cape was made from a worn cloth, the superhero’s name didn’t really matter that much.

            The boy had no idea about the dirt in his hair when they found him in the middle of the road. A pair of larger bulkier people with pale skin bent over to observe the poor creature. The only reason that they stopped was because of the two balloons that were flying over his head that were headed towards them: one red, one blue.

            They started asking him several questions about where he lived and why he was on the side of the tracks, but the boy simply stared at them with a glare of nothingness. The pale lady turned to the paler man, asking what they should do. The pale man pulled out his white cell phone from his pocket and started dialing some number. Once he started to dial and the ruckus permeated the surrounding air, the boy immediately turned his attention to the device in the pale man’s hand, as if he was discovering technology for the first time.

            It wasn’t until after the pale man got off the phone that the sounds of the train started to blare in their ears. The pale man told the pale lady to get the boy and put him in the car. When placed inside, the boy felt around the walls of this pod, all leather and funny when they made that squeaky sound with the two balloons. The pale couple sat on the hood of their car, observing the train passing by.

            Instantly, a sloshy sound vibrated in the air, followed by a dash of red goo splashing upon the pale man’s new shoes. The two balloons fled from the scene into the dark and starless night, knowing the conflict about to arise. When the pale man looked to the source, he found the fallen boy who was in his car earlier, his face almost non-existent, a piece of raw meat torn several ways from existence never to breathe, let alone stand up, again. Following the screams of the pale lady, the red and blue lights approached the train from the other side, the police officers all looking at each other trying to entertain themselves with the local radio station as the train passed.

            Then the train passed.