“Your coffee is getting cold.”
“Thanks.” He picked it up, sipped it. “I had the strangest dream. I was Superman’s son. They named me Superman, Jr. and made me dress in the red and blue suit. I had to wear it to school. The cape was always in the way.”
She started laughing. “That is pretty weird. Could you fly?”
“That was the thing. I didn’t have any of the powers. I was just a regular human. But I still had to wear the suit. My mother was the same mom I have now, only she was a real jerk. Your father works very hard. The least you can do is honor him by wearing the suit. It was awful. I wasn’t super at all.”
She leaned to kiss him, smiling. “Well, I think you’re super.”
That evening they grilled out in the apartment’s rooftop garden, the lights of the Chicago skyscrapers gradually coming on as the sky darkened into sunset. It was getting colder, so for once they had the place to themselves.
Again and again, he found himself irresistibly drawn to the ledge. He looked down on the cars and taxis rolling down Michigan Avenue, so near and yet so far.
Intriguing character sketch. Fathoms deep.
I think that feeling most people get to jump when they are someplace high has a name, but a quick Google search doesn’t reveal it.
On the other hand, what if some people really had the ability to fly but were too scared of falling to ever test it?
Cognitive Dissonance. Or ‘high-place phenomenon’ as it’s called by the Florida State University psychology department
http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/17124/1/Why-Do-You-Get-the-Urge-to-Jump-to-Your-Death.html
Good story. I’d like to be a fly on the wall if he ever visits a therapist.
I have a friend whose dad won’t allow her near an edge because she used to have that feeling.
I wonder if the dream was to tell him not to go near the edge.
Guess he’s suffering from some form of schizophrenia. Nice bit of character development here, J Hardy.
I imagine his father will swoop up and and catch him if he jumps!
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