Beyond the Pages

The world watched in silence as they witnessed their beloved hero collapse to the ground. Chunks of the earth were sent flying in all directions, including towards the cameraman who was recording the terrifying scene from above. Anxious parents covered the eyes of their tearful children after imagining a glimpse of what their lives would be like without Dark Iris, their city's hero. The monstrosity that stood towering over the hero was the embodiment of every citizen's worst nightmare. The incorporeal entity that hovered beyond the city had one distinctive feature that would leave anyone who dared lay their eyes on it eternal despair, its unforgettable face. The creature had no eyes or nose, just deep dark holes that led to complete darkness. The being opened its mouth, unveiling hundreds of tiny gleaming white fangs. Masses of debris and dirt swarmed towards the monster's body as it gradually inched closer to Dark Iris. As the monster grew stronger, the strength of the winds intensified until the camera crew could no longer record the commotion from a close distance. On the TV screens in each home across the city, a glimpse of a small but powerful ray of light could be seen coming from Dark Iris until the evil overpowered her final flickers of light. 

I flipped the page, frantically hoping that this wasn’t the end. Instead, the devil heard my prayers and my fingers met the back cover of the book. I wiped a few tears away and sighed. I turned towards my bookshelf and used my pointer finger to run it across the spines of the hundreds of superhero comic books I had until I found an empty space. I stared at the book one last time before slipping it inside. 

It was Saturday evening and I had spent most of my day reading the newest edition of my favorite comic book series, The Power Within: Tales of Dark Iris. Finishing the series with such a dark ending left me with a feeling of emptiness that could only be filled with, you know it, another comic. I had turned 13 a few days ago and was well aware of my mother’s disappointment when she had asked me what I had wanted.

I remember her sighing at my response, saying, “It’s a bit troubling to know that you still enjoy reading those superhero stories. I wish you could find a normal hobby like the children your age.”

At this point, I was used to dealing with similar responses, and this wasn’t only limited to my mother. My younger sister, classmates, and teachers all seem to have a hard time understanding how people other than children could enjoy the world of superheroes. Despite this, I have grown my collection ever since I got my first superhero comic at 5 years old. I’m proud to say that my collection has reached 253, and was soon to be 254.

I sprung off my bed and dashed into the kitchen, where I found my mother covered in chicken fettuccine alfredo stains on her apron, humming the tune to “Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison. When she noticed me standing there, she finished whisking the cream in her skillet and stared at me in shock. She rubbed her palms down on a clean part of her apron and smiled as she settled her hands on my shoulder. 

“Eli! It’s been a while since you’ve come without me having to call you downstairs,” she said beaming. 

“Yeah, I guess I got a little bored,” I started. I paused for a bit and mumbled, “Can I get another comic please?”

The sparkle in my mother’s eyes faded away quickly and was followed with disappointment. She lowered her eyelids and let out a long sigh, one that I was all too familiar with. She held the top of her head with her hand as if her thoughts were too heavy to have her neck support the weight all alone. 

“We’ve talked about this already,” she started.

“Yes, I know, but –”

She shot me a glare and continued, “Heroes only end up like your father. Do you want me to remind you about what he did again? Or did you already forget?”

I flinched at hearing that phrase, your father. He was a stranger to me, nothing more than a thought, nothing less. The idea that my father was a human being who was once a part of my life was a difficult concept to grasp. Every time I tried to picture his existence, it only resulted in the creation of a false reality. It was like I was reaching out my hand to find the answer, but instead, the only thing I felt was my skin as I desperately tried to find something that wasn’t emptiness. The only thing I knew about him was how he had left us. Ever since he left, my family has never been the same. My family and I barely talked and family dinners were a thing of the past. For years, I have tried countlessly to convince myself that he would come back to his family and that everything would be okay.

There was no such thing as pure good and absolute evil. The world is a mess of various shades of gray morality. I believe that there are two types of people in this world. The ones who have a deep and strong desire to be a hero, and the ones who wished they had a hero, someone who they could depend on to save them. There have been many times in my life where I yearned for a form of an abnormal power or ability, whether it was to teach the class rascals a lesson or to get out of taking a test I didn’t study for. 

Each time I flipped the pages of a comic, I could feel myself getting closer to what being a superhero would feel like. The comics I read gave a look into what it was like behind the mask, revealing that these superhumans shared more similarities with us than differences. A sense of satisfaction could be felt each time I was able to relate to these characters who accomplished deeds that I could only ever dream of doing. Being able to immerse myself into a fantasy world where god-like individuals in astonishing costumes with extraordinary powers overcame the impossible allowed me to take a break from the dull and ordinary life I was in.

I turned away from my mother and dragged my feet across the floor as I shuffled across the kitchen tiles towards the stairs. Normally, I would have gotten another superhero comic series myself, but I wasn’t able to earn any extra cash because I was grounded at the moment. I was fresh out of luck.

As my foot made contact with the first step of the stairs, I heard a voice from behind me, stretching out my name with a hint of amusement until my name no longer sounded like a word. I turned my head around and to my surprise was greeted by my younger sister, Zuri, grinning from ear to ear. Her hands were behind her back, and her skirt swayed side to side as she danced around questioningly. 

“Do you need something?” I asked. We had never really talked to each other besides her calling me down to eat dinner. 

She rolled her eyes and said, “I have something for you, close your eyes.” 

I did as told and waited for Zuri’s surprise by turning my palms over towards the ceiling. Since she was always making slime I expected to feel some cold and gooey substance in the next few seconds. I prepared myself by making sure the sides of my palms were close together to avoid any slime from slipping through. 

To my surprise, I didn’t feel anything slimy. The object in my hand was rather heavy. As I used my thumbs to poke around, I could feel edges of paper.

“Can I open my eyes now?” I asked, trying to conceal my excitement.

“Yup!” she exclaimed.

I opened my eyes and saw a stack of printed paper bound together with uneven staples laying vertically across the side. The front sheet of paper had the words “ELIJAH: THE WORLD’S GREATEST HERO” marked across the top in thick black letters. Under the title was a drawing of a young boy standing on top of a building with his fist in the air. The boy had black kinky hair and he wore a navy blue suit filled with an orange accent plate across his chest and legs. At the bottom of the page, the words “Bringing together loved ones day by night” were scribbled in smaller print. 

“Zuri... This is incredible. Did you make this all by yourself?” I asked in amazement as I skimmed through the pages. 

“Yeah, I’ve been working on it forever! Do you like it? I know it’s not like the real comics you read all the time but I tried my best,” she responded.

I glanced over at Zuri who was nervously playing with a piece of glittery slime. I crouched down to where our faces were leveled and smiled, “I love it. Thank you so much.”

I gently patted her head before heading upstairs to my room and made myself comfortable on my bed. I could tell that Zuri had spent a lot of time on the comic, for most of her coloring was in between the lines. Furthermore, the detail in each panel was anything but what you would expect from a young child. Although her work was messy and confusing to read, her comic held more value than the rest of my comic collection combined. Never in my life would I have thought that there would be a comic book written about me as a superhero. But here I am, experiencing the unpredictability of life. With a tender and full heart, I flipped to the first page of Zuri’s comic and began reading. 

The name of Clear Point City’s greatest protector was Elijah, also known as my big brother! Although he’s just an average-sized middle schooler, this hero never fails to complete his missions. From fighting bizarre villains from unheard lands to helping children get home safely, he can do all sorts of things! He also had a cute little sister named Zuri, whom he loves very much. Despite his broad knowledge and talent in many fields, he concentrates on a specific type of mission – finding missing citizens and returning them to their loved ones. Elijah’s power is known as “Supernatural Senses”. His normal senses were increased largely at his birth, which plays a large role in helping him find missing people across the big city. 

He woke up today and was welcomed with the sound of his earpiece, signaling that someone has requested an assignment. This was nothing new to Elijah since he could receive up to hundreds on busy days. Except when he read his assignment, he realized that this mission was different from the others. Instead of finding someone else’s missing family member, he was asked to find his own. His dad.

I closed the comic and paused for a second, attempting to process what I had just read. It was inevitable that Zuri knew about our dad who had left us, but I did not expect her to include him in her story. I hesitated but decided to continue reading with curiosity about what Zuri had planned.

Elijah’s dad had left him and his family when he was just a kid. They missed him very much. All his life, the hero had a secret that was slowly eating him away. He missed his dad and wanted him to come back. And today was the day that Elijah had to bring his dad home. 

The hero was confused by this odd request. He tried to figure out who had sent it in the first place but the sender was anonymous. Elijah pondered about whether he should accept the request. But he realized that it was his duty to serve his city and not let his personal feelings prevent him from completing his tasks. 

Elijah closed his eyes and began to search throughout the city using his super senses. He chose to use his powerful sense of hearing to search around the city for anyone mentioning his dad’s name. In Key City, a city located hundreds of miles away, he could hear the voices of men laughing. Elijah ran for miles and miles until he reached his destination. He saw a man who shared similar features as him and whispered, “Dad?”

The men stopped talking and one of them turned around, “Elijah? What are you doing here?”

Elijah smiled, “I’m bringing you home!”

The hero felt thrilled to find his father who was now standing right there in front of him, the man he had been looking for for so long. On the ride home, Elijah tried his best to engage in a conversation with his Dad.

“Do you read comics by any chance?” he asked.

His dad paid no attention to him and mumbled, “No.”

As Elijah tried to come up with more talking points, he had an epiphany. He realized that although he had found his dad, nothing had changed. If his dad wanted to come back to his family, he would have a long time ago. What would happen if he brought his dad home without his family knowing? What if his dad was destined to never return home in the first place? What if bringing his dad home would only make things worse? Was it a risk Elijah was willing to take?

His mother had told Elijah that his dad left his family because he didn’t want them to get caught up with his work as a private investigator. His father, who everyone saw as a hero because he solved crimes and helping victims get justice, put his own status over his family. His mother didn’t support Elijah’s work as the city's superhero because of this reason – she didn’t want him to leave as his father did. Even when his father had resigned, he never bothered to visit his family, let alone give a call. 

The hero understood that the thing missing from his life wasn’t his father, but it was what was right in front of him, his mom and sister. He didn’t need any superpowers to be his family’s hero and bring his family back together. He just needed to be there for them. That night, Elijah planned a trip to the amusement park for his mom and sister. It was a success. The three felt overwhelming emotions of joy, something that they had not felt for a while. THE END.

The last page of the comic was now saturated in my tears. I wept because for so long I had been chasing over the wrong thing. I wept because I didn’t realize how my naive actions were destroying my family. I wept because Zuri had spent hours working on this comic in hopes that her older brother would come to his senses and be by his family’s side. 

There was a knock on the door and before I could answer, Zuri stepped in. I stopped crying and looked at her. We paused for a moment, but then she came running towards me as if she somehow knew that was exactly what I needed at the moment.

I embraced her into a big hug, whispering, “I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry.”

After crying to the point where the tears on the comic had dried up, I pulled away from the embrace and sniffled, "Hey Zuri, how does going to the amusement park sound?”