Frank Caine was awoken by a strange popping sound his still hazy brain could not explain. 'Pop-pop-pop'. Almost sounded like someone cracking their knuckles, but that was impossible, as he lived alone.
Sounds like... no, that cannot be!
It was a silly idea, but, as he went into the kitchen, the impossible idea turned out very possible. The necktie hovering over the chair was proof that he was there. The Invisible Superman, his own personal creation, was right there in his kitchen. A comic book about an invisible character is quite challenging, so he had to come up with a few tricks to let his readers know the hero was there. His trademark cracking of the knuckles fit quite nicely into a bubble. When he wanted to make his presence noticed, Superman would put on a tie. Right now he was wearing one of Frank's ties, but it was OK – he didn't like that particular one at all – a gift from his ex sister in law.
They've known each other for two years so the conversation went smooth. Although the Invisible Superman was his creation, his child, if you want, there was nothing deferential in his tone, they talked like brothers or best buddies.
The IS had no idea why or how he had come to life, but since he was there he intended to make the most of it. Frank tried to explain that in a regular American city there's little need for a Superman, visible or not. At least not on a daily basis – no trains about to derail, bombs planted by mad scientists or earthquakes. To put it simply – not much saving to do!
The Invisible Superman wouldn't give up.
'Still, people must have problems'.
'Yes, but not exactly up your alley... like, I have a problem with my neighbor downstairs. She's always complaining the music's too loud and you know I need something to listen to when I work.'
'Maybe I can help.'
'Yeah, right'.
To his credit, the hero did try. He took off his tie and went downstairs. He rang the bell, hoping to spook the old lady if he did it enough times.
I should have warned him.
The moment the old bitch opened the door the most annoying dog in the world crept up behind her and started to bark at the invisible intruder. Then he started biting on air until his little pointy fangs managed to grab the Invisible Superman's ankle. He gave out a muffled yelp, shook the beast off and limped upstairs leaving a trail of invisible blood.
The Invisible Superman was mortified of this unexpected defeat at the fangs of a mongrel. It didn't bode well for his career in the real world.
Over the next few days the two had fun with plenty of childish pranks, like emptying the pepper shaker in the soup bowl who of a fat man who was slurping noisily in a restaurant or rearranging the books at the library by moving a stack of erotic novels on the gardening shelf.
But none of it made him happy and reading the new installment Frank was working on didn't help at all.
It was an episode in which the Invisible Superman got to save a young girl from her kidnappers who were planning to have her eaten alive by a giant snake. As cruelty to animals is frowned upon, the hero left the snake tied in a bow before fleeing with the girl in his arms.
The Invisible Superman got so depressed he went into the kitchen and downed a whole bottle of wine, then cried himself to sleep. In case you're wondering, superheroes get hangovers, too!
After that incident, the Invisible Superman decided he'd rather live on his own in the attic and only visit Frank from time to time. He spent his time wandering the streets, trying to accomplish his mission as best he could – helping little girls getting their cats down from trees or holding doors open for women with too many shopping bags. One time he even interrupted a robbery by sneaking up on the guy and grabbing the gun from his hand. All the papers mentioned the amazing moment when the gun flew from the robber's hand straight into a bucket of ice behind the bar.
If you ever happen to witness some random miracle, just thank the Invisible Superman. I'm sure he'll appreciate it.
This story was written for the # twentyfourhourshortstory challenge, hosted by @mctiller. If you want to know more about this contest, check it out here!