accepting reality (San Chonino's Writers' Challenge)
His name wasn't very important. Avery, if you will.
Avery rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked out at the fuchsia sky as he stretched the aches out of his neck and shoulders. What would aliens think, he wondered. What would they think if they visited the planet Mons.
In a world full of superheroes, Avery was the only ordinary man.
Most people on Mons had a few superpowers and one fatal flaw each. Avery was different. Avery was zero for two. His abilities and flaws weren’t even on the scale. He’d kind of gotten used to it though. By age 10 he’d given up on the idea of ever holding a job. By age 16 he’d already had three documentaries and two feature length movies done about his bravery and his tragedy. By age 18, the government had constructed an entire social safety net just for him, so he could have some measure of independence, as they called it.
He stepped out onto the apartment balcony and let the smell of fruit blossoms and grass fill him. The Intellecto-Perfecto clan had solved the pollution problem ages ago and designed this ideal eco-city on this ideal planet. The gleaming city was looking a bit nicer since the Rapeedo-Neato clan had taken over garbage collection and other city works. The sky was a ballet of jetting, anti-gravitating and jumping bodies, all on their way to work.
Gosh, he was hungry. Uh-oh, he’d let that thought slip out.
“Hi sweetie! Can I fix you breakfast?”
It was Anita Codependo from next door. She had deftly picked up his stray needy thought and phased through their adjoining wall to fulfill it, all in one swift maneuver. These were family traits and her fatal flaw was “boundaries”. Privacy and knowing when it’s time to leave were concepts foreign to her.
So he said, “Thanks, Anita. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
After a great breakfast and some pleasant chit-chat, Avery convinced Anita that he’d be alright for the rest of the day. Before she left, she even fed his cat, Toonces, who was usually pretty good at looking after himself anyway.
Avery went out for a jog, carefully choosing a path where he knew he wouldn’t be getting in anyone’s way. He decided to pay a visit to the cinema. He needed the company. They were showing newsreels of last week's olympics. The main feature was the weekly Friday Heroes’ Deathmatch.
Deathmatch! For one day a week, all bets were off. For one day a week, there were no rules. For one day a week, the clans aligned themselves along two continuums: chaotic-neutral-ordered and evil-neutral-good. Last Friday, it was the chaotic-neutrals and the chaotic-goods against the neutral-evils and the ordered-evils. Irresistible forces collided against immovable leviathans. Worlds were torn asunder and remade. Space-time itself became polluted with paradoxes, then fixed with spit, rubber bands and duct tape. There was never any harm done at the end of it all, thanks to the Redo-Undo clan.
Avery enjoyed himself.
The walk back to his apartment was pleasant. Avery decided he’d catch an early snooze before he continued with his day. He lay down on the sofa and cuddled under a blanket, his cat purring at his feet.
All-in-all, once you got used to it, Avery thought, it really wasn’t so bad being extra-ordinarily ordinary. As he scratched himself, he decided that purpose, destiny and self-actualization were all really overrated. I’m glad there’s no Mann clan. He lay down and he smiled dreamily as he drifted off for his nap.
A blood-curdling scream woke Clark and simultaneously wiped the relaxed smile off his face. “What is it, Lois,” he groaned.
“On CNN, Clark! Lex has kidnapped the President and is threatening to sell him to Bin Laden.”
“Not again,” sighed Clark, shaking his head. “Not again.”