The March wind rattled the windows of his row home, and howled down the back alleyway as Ronald stepped into the kitchen. He grabbed a bowl, filled it with potato chips, and headed back towards the living room. He sat in the sofa, popped the top of his soda can, and turned on the TV with the remote just as the announcer said, "With mutant powers far beyond normal humans..." "Did you start your homework, Ronald?", his Mother called from the basement. She was working hard doing the laundry. "Yes, Mom!", Ronald called back. "...Together they form The Mutant League of Justice!", the TV announcer continued. Ronald Ospicks loved superheroes. They filled his mind as he walked to and from school everyday. The city streets were often congested in the mornings during rush hour. Drivers would blow their horns at cars double parked, and at the diesel buses waiting for a running passenger. Ronald would imagine how quickly Spiderman could swing down the street. The past winter had been very cold and everyone was grateful warmer weather had arrived. The smell of tar furnaces filled the air, and Ronald saw roofers, with their ladders and tar paper, working on the cracked roofs of homes in the afternoons, but he never paid much attention. He would run home, start his homework, and turn on the TV at four o'clock to watch more amazing adventures of his favorite superheroes. His family would share stories of the day at the dinner table, and after dessert it was time for the News. His parents wanted to listen carefully, so Ronald would go upstairs with his little brother and sister, put them on the floor with their coloring books and say to each of them, "Color this one". Then he would finish his homework at his desk. After his studies the younger children would often be downstairs and he could look through his treasured box of comic books. Once he let his little brother look through the box until he started ripping out the pictures he liked best. Since then it had become a private ritual. Sometimes the children stayed upstairs, so Ronald would go quietly downstairs and watch some of the News with his parents. Once a woman was reporting on an earthquake in a distant country. Ronald thought to himself If only The Amazing Spiderman were there he could shoot his webs and stop the buildings from falling on innocent people! The next day reporters showed the difficult search for survivors that had taken place during the night. If only Dare Devil were there he could hear where the survivors were through the darkness, Ronald thought. Another time he watched a news story about a ship that had capsized during a storm at sea. The TV screen showed Coast Guard helicopters rescuing former passengers who were now being tossed by the sea. Where is Aquaman!? Ronald thought. His vast number of underwater friends could really help! Towards the end of March Ronald woke up late for school because of watching a late night TV special about, you guessed it, Superheroes. Running to school he saw one of his mom's friends, Mrs. Kidleweed, at the window of her three story corner home. Spring had arrived and she was tending her flower boxes on the second floor. "A little late today, aren't you, Ronnie?", she called. Ronald simply waved as he tried to make it to school before the late bell rang. That morning Ronald wished The Flash were there to carry him to school with super speed! This is how Ronald looked at life. He studied all the powers of all the superheroes, and when catastrophe struck he would always wonder where they were. In April, just before Spring Break, the teacher played a video to his sixth grade class about D-Day during World War II. The teacher asked the class if there was any way casualties might have been reduced. Ronald raised his hand enthusiastically and said, "Megaman could have used his X-buster on the big guns!" The kindhearted teacher simply said "Thank you, Ronald", while the class laughed and laughed - but Ronald just didn't understand. That day he felt too confused to run home. He walked slowly, taking in all the calming sights, sounds and smells of Springtime in the city. Down alleyways he could see the cherry blossoms of backyard trees, and smell hidden tulips and daffodils. As he approached the home of his Mother's friend he saw Mr. Kidleweed doing some work on their third floor window. He was across the street and, walking closer, he saw that Mr. Kidleweed was straining to balance a brand new air conditioner on the windowsill. The Kidleweeds' home was right above a stop for the Route 16 bus, and there were usually a few people waiting there. Ronald usually didn't pay much attention, but Mr. Kidleweed was struggling so much that, for some reason, today he looked closely. A bus must have just left the stop because there was only one person waiting. He had a book bag on his back and looked like a high school student. Ronald's attention was broken by a call from Mr. Kidleweed, "Hello there, Ronald!". As Ronald looked towards the window he saw Mr. Kidleweed raise his arm to wave hello."Whoa!!", yelled Mr. Kidleweed and Ronald couldn't believe what he saw. The new air conditioner had slipped from Mr. Kidleweed's grip, and tumbled out the window. A horrible feeling shot through Ronald as he realized the waiting student was directly below the window. He raised his hands to his mouth and screamed, "Lookout!". Then two things happened: The air conditioner power cord tangled in the radiator inside the window, and abruptly stopped it from falling to the ground. It dangled four feet below Mr. Kidleweed, while the student just stood looking for the bus. It was then that Ronald saw the earphones of a portable radio below the student's cap - he couldn't hear Ronald! In that split second Ronald realized that Superman wasn't going to fly down and save the student. He understood that the Hulk wasn't going to catch the air conditioner, or that Batman was going to stop its fall with a super gadget. At that moment he realized that he, Ronald Ospicks, was the only one who could help - no one else was going to be there. He ran across the street and pushed the teenager out of the way just as the cord of the air conditioner snapped. If came crashing down to the sidewalk, missing the stunned student and Ronald by inches. The outline was a little fuzzy as Ronald opened his eyes. "Are you alright?", asked the Policeman. Ronald had been knocked unconscious when his head hit the sidewalk. Mrs. Kidleweed had called the Police as Mr. Kidleweed ran downstairs to see if anyone had been injured. The student, while dazed from his tackle, was not hurt but, for a short time, everyone was worried about Ronald. They all clapped their hands when they saw him come to. The Policeman stayed with Ronald when the ambulance took him to the hospital. Other than a lump on his head the Doctor said he would be fine. "They are probably going to give you some kind of medal", the Policeman said as he drove Ronald home, just in time for dinner. The next evening, after supper, Ronald was not at his desk finishing his homework, and his little brother and sister did not color in their coloring books. That evening everyone was in front of the television set to watch the News. One story was about a real superhero - Ronald Ospicks! |
| Super Ronald a Short Story by Jude Keenan July 2003 |