Lead a Normal Life

It’s nice here with a view of trees.

Eating with a spoon?

They don’t give you knives?

‘Spect you watch those trees.

Blowing in the breeze,

We want to see you lead a normal life.

-“Lead A Normal Life” (Peter Gabriel)

And with that, I lowered my arms and waited for the cheers to stop as I rested.

When you are a superhero, you know that there are going to be moments when you have to make decisions that will affect a lot of people. You will have to do things that no one else will have to choose. That was my fate.

I had to choose.

And now, it was all over.

In my final fight with my mortal enemy, The Neutronomo (such a dumb name), I had to use all my powers to stop him, banish him to the home he should have never left (The Ionization – again, another dumb name), and pay the price.

That was the last thing I would ever do as a superhero.

Now, as I said, the cheers and the rest I found were forthcoming as soon as things were safe. I noted that the press had filmed the entire thing, as did most of the crowd (will we ever get rid of those damn smartphones?) I could barely move after all of that effort, but I heard the laughter and praise that surrounded me. I felt very little when I was lifted up in the air and paraded around the square. And I must have dozed off when the president contacted me and I could not even lift my head to respond to him. I was well into a long-deserved sleep.

*

I should continue, shouldn’t I?

Sorry, doc.

Well, it was not a long sleep. I woke up in an ambulance as two paramedics tried to do what they could with the wounds that were already healing. One of them, a woman who was full of tears and laughter – interesting combination – was just stunned by what was happening under my uniform. The material was stitching itself up over all the cuts and scrapes (I could feel it on my back, legs, and shoulders), and the last of the healing factor was taking over.

I was human again.

“You are a true hero!”

Again, the same woman, covered with tears and shaking with joy and giggles, was staring at me. Her partner seemed occupied with trying to get the IV back in (it naturally fell out of the injection point), but he was happy, too. They both let their true selves show.

“Please, Marlene… Even he has to rest. Not everyone has saved world and remained in one piece.”

I laughed a bit, knowing that he was right, but that it was also all over. I simply closed my eyes again, and I could not stop the tears.

*

This is a part of it, right? I have to share everything before we can move on?

Okay, I will.

I know that only a few people knew that if I used my powers again, it would all be over. The problem was that the general public did not know anything about my particular…condition.

It was while I was in hospital that I got the phone call that would make this clear for the entire world.

I was just surprised by the caller.

“Red!”

Yeah, they still called me that. Redman was all over the press and what could I say about it, since the uniform had a big “R” on it and the colours spoke for themselves (I will explain the “R” again for the record: Reclaimer; a strange message I never explained properly).

Oh, the phone call…

“Dennis…?”

“Ah, you remember us mere mortals! That was a sensational move on your part.” I could hear the noises of his office in the background. It sounded like they were extra busy that day…all due to me. All of it fell on my back.

And he knew it.

“Dennis, you know the deal now. That was it, the last one. I’m a civilian now.”

“So you say.” He was turning a page in what sounded like a very heavy folder. “And if you say it, and the notes you gave me are accurate, I have to believe you.” More shuffling in the background. More of me waiting in the room for him to get to the point (old story there). “And if you are a civilian, you will have to get back to a normal life. We will smooth your path for you, just like we covered for you when you had your little change.”

I knew that my powers were gone, but the temptation to try a psychic blast was overwhelming.

“Dennis…”

“I know, I know… We have a relationship, and you still trust me. But this is not going to be pretty. And we need to keep your reputation spotless, right, Red?”

Again, the temptation was strong.

“Get some rest. You need it.”

I sat with the phone in my hand, hearing the people outside the shuttered windows celebrating in the street and the various staff members in the hallway enjoying themselves (I swear that was a bottle of champagne being opened). I wondered what would happen next and I could feel that Dennis was about to exact a very particular revenge against me. And I was right.

*

I’m wasting your recording equipment, I think.

I’ll breeze through the rest of it and get to the part I mentioned; the one that brought me here.

After that stay in the hospital, I did appear on television and online, with too many interviews and talk shows and podcasters asking the same question in different ways: what are you going to do next? I tried to be open to all the questions, but in my mind I was thinking about all the mundane things I never had to worry about: a job; home; wife and kids, etc. All those endorsements would not last once the rest of the world realized that my big performance was the last one. That would be it.

And that is what bothers me even now.

No one believed me.

I confessed to anyone who would listen, including the president and several of those celebrities whose names I cannot recall now, that I could no longer be counted on to save the world. And they all thought that it was some great joke.

I was the joke.

I was the one who became the punchline.

*

Okay, I know, I’m avoiding it.

It was at a park and I was still being recognized by people after a year of recovery and safety. I was living as quietly as I could and had found what I thought was a place where I could get some peace and maybe only deal with the occasional delivery of groceries and letters. But that was not to be.

Yes, even as I think of it, it is such a cliché.

A little girl and her cat up in a tree.

Well, what did they expect from me? I’d fly up and then float down with a fluffy victim?

All I could do was climb.

All I could do was hope that the branch would hold.

And it didn’t.

When I woke up, there was no fanfare or happy faces around me as I dealt with one of the worst headaches – sorry, concussions – anyone ever had. I mean, after being a hero, it was very hard to be a clown.

And that waiting room…

I had not seen the inside of one since I got my powers and I just gaped. Gunshot wounds, broken limbs, stabbings, beatings; parents, children and old people who were barely hanging on… I stood by a window and just stared until I felt like I was intruding on something private…

And I ran.

*

Dennis was right. He did have one more act of revenge up his sleeve.

This place was fine for me, but I did not know that it would be something permanent. There was a brief phone call, a lot of laughter, and then a request to fill in some forms and not mention things to anyone. Right, thanks Dennis, like I had anyone in mind when the press picked up my little accident and destroyed my life. I was grateful that they did not dig any further into where I went and that this is still listed as a private hospital.

Private hospital? Ha, ha.

I cannot ever be released and my body still has a lot to teach science. The Redman still has a role.

And I will say it.

Some prisons are almost like paradise.

And believe me, doc. You don’t ever want to be a hero. You don’t ever want to have that in your head.

Thanks for the talk.