Superman Don't Come Around Here No More Part One The boy wanders through the day. Daydreaming of superheroes and fallen foes. Of mighty battles in the sky. Dazzling displays of heroism. Colorful costumes and flexing muscles, lightning bolts being thrown and villains falling. The way it should be. Ignoring the ragged ruins of the passing blocks, seeing saviors and angels behind the tired eyes, knowing there is magic all around, sensing the wonder and prepared for anything. Out past the borders of the neighborhood. Beyond the safety zone, as outlined by motherly designs. Lost before he fully realizes. Out on the trail of mysterious connections, leading him through the abandoned Navy Yard, slipping past unmanned gate houses, dirtying knees and scraping the odd bit of exposed flesh. Deep into the unknown. Not really afraid. But aware of the danger. Remembering some quote about the distance between here and there... between cause and effect... between human lives. Realizing in an instant the meaning. (some understandings take time) Knowing the real danger of staying within safe confines -- witnessed in the eyes of uncles and aunts, in easy-chaired formation... a carpeted turbulence. Harmony shaken with the arrival of unknown forces on the other side of the double-pane... on the other side of the curtain. The casual observer -- should there be one -- would at about this time notice a certain swagger and confidence begin to develop in the boy's gait. An airship passes overhead. Moving at a deliberate pace. Nothing the boy can't match -- tagging along, fascinated by the design. More of a boat really, suspended by hundreds of balloons. Giant propellers motioning it forward. Seems there's only one passenger, who must also be acting as pilot (or captain). Speakers are mounted on the vessel's belly and the manic voice at the helm is beckoning to the boy, daring him to follow, but in a way that is more encouraging than anything else. Before long the boy finds himself face to face with a giant wall pieced together with old metal sidings and scraps of wood and barbed wire. The wall stretches to each horizon and the boy can not see over it. But due to the wall's age and the haphazard way it was put together, it does not take long before the boy finds a way through. Scanning the rusted remnants it takes the boy a few moments to realize what he is looking at... ~ ~ ~ Read Part Two Questions? Comments? Send them to Daily_Editor@hotmail.com. Copyright 2001-2008 © Belowthefold.net