I take the suit for a test drive

It had been a long day at school and now I was finally home and relaxing. The house was empty and quiet, allowing me to move around and do whatever I wanted. This was how I found myself stood there in the middle of my parent's bedroom. It was quite large, with lots of floor space between the edges of the bed and the items of furniture that stood around the sides, against the walls.

Right in front of me, stood a simple wardrobe. Inside this harmless piece of furniture, lay the answer to the identity of one of the world's greatest heroes. That hero is Superman, or as I like to call him, Dad.

I took a step closer to the wardrobe and reached out to grasp the handle and as I did so, a green light started to move down the back of it. The light seemed to be scanning my hand, just like you see in those spy movies, where the secret agent is going into the organisation's headquarters and they need to put their palm on a glass plate by the door.

To my surprise, the scan actually worked. I heard the door click open. I had never been allowed to look in this wardrobe before and my Dad had always stopped me opening it before. Today, my curiosity had got the better of me. I had been daydreaming at school what it would be like to wear the Superman suit and I then decided that when I got home, I would try and get one of Dad's spares, on.

I pulled the door towards me and the contents of the wardrobe lay bare in front of me. These were the uniform of the most famous person in Earth history, well that is if you don't count God or Jesus. I took one of the suits down from the rail and felt the silky, smooth material against my skin. I had longed for the day to put one on and now, I was going to. The one thing that was absolutely forbidden by Dad and I was going to break it. If I was caught, I'd be 100 before parole would be considered.

I pulled my shirt and trousers off and slid the skintight suit over my body. It fitted snuggly over every curve that covered my figure. I zipped up the back and pulled the cape around my back, letting the material fall to the floor, the very edge just touching the carpet. I could almost feel power running through my veins, even though I didn't actually have powers of my own. This was something that had got to me so much since I learned that Dad was Superman.

My parents had always been careful to prevent me finding out about Dad's alter-ego, but one day, I had walked in on them chatting in their room after Dad had got back from one of his missions. He hadn't changed back into civilian clothes yet. Mum and Dad tried to pass it off that he was going out to a fancy dress party, but he was covered in soot and grime from a large forest fire and I had just been watching it on the news. I wasn't so easily fooled.

I turned to face one of the mirrors in the room and almost stumbled over as I looked at the reflection staring back at me. I looked so much like my Dad, more than I had ever and it made me so happy. I looked like Superman and so wished I could actually be him. Although I didn't have powers, I had always been an active child, so I had good muscle tone and the suit really helped to show it. My friends at school would be so jealous of me right now, but as had been drummed into me after I had discovered the truth, I was not allowed to share the secret, under pain of death, not with anyone.

This meant that life was sometimes lonely, because I wanted to share so much and be proud of my Dad in public, but I couldn't. I just had to smile secretly every time I heard someone in school praising Superman and then grit my teeth every time someone said something horrible about him.

I heard a car pull up outside the house and my parents get out, chatting to each other. Great! They were early and if they caught me, as mentioned before, I was dead. This was where I moved faster than I had ever done before. If you put me at the start line of an olympic track, I reckon I'd have beaten Usain Bolt himself, to the end. I rushed through to my room, where I tore the cape off and the boots, stuffing them under my bed. I rushed to grab my clothes, which I had forgotten in my haste and pulled them on, just as the front door below, opened. I checked to see if you see the costume through my white shirt, but thankfully it was thick enough to hide it.

"We're back Jason," Mum called out.

(Please excuse my spellings of some words. I do realise that I am American, but my parents moved over to England when I was younger and I have grown up spelling like the Brits do, much to the chagrin of some of my relatives back home. Mom to my American readers.)

"I'm coming," I called back.

I thudded down the stairs and came face to face with my Dad at the bottom. He took one look at me and nodded. He then stretched out his hand and used two fingers to part my shirt slightly. He'd seen the costume! Of course, he had his x-ray vision. He'd must have scanned the house as they approached, checking I was in. I always forgot about his x-ray vision. It meant lying about doing or not doing something, was very difficult. Before I had learned the secret, I had often wondered how he knew so much and why I never got away with those sort of things.

I waited for him to explode at me, but he just dropped his hand and winked knowingly.

"You ready to go?" my Mum said to my Dad, as she came back down the hallway from the kitchen.

"Sure," he said. "You go out to the car. I just need to have a quick word with Jason. I'll only be a sec," Dad said to the suspicious look Mum was giving him. He responded with a look that said, "I'll tell you later."

Dad waited for Mum to go back out to the car and then he turned to me. I had forgotten that they were going out to a work do this evening. Why hadn't I just waited until later, when I knew they'd be back late?

"You shouldn't have gone into my wardrobe without asking," Dad said. His tone was not one of anger, but there was a slight tinge of disappointment in there. His cardinal rule had been broken, but there also seemed to be a tone of expectancy, as though he knew it was going to happen one day.

"I know," I said. "I just wanted to feel what it is like. I don't like not having powers and I feel great wearing it."

"I hope you get your powers, I really do. However, until then, you really shouldn't go into my wardrobe and take one of my suits out. What if you'd gone walking around the house and someone peeked in at the window? What would they think? Your mother wouldn't be a fan of it either. She doesn't like the idea of you going and doing what I do. She doesn't like it much when I do it either. When you get your powers, we'll get you your own costume. Go and take that one off and put it on my bed for when I get back. We'll talk more about it tomorrow. Don't be too late getting to bed."

He leant forward to give me a kiss on the head and ruffle my hair, like he always does. Part of my teenage brain hated this, but the other part liked the affection I got from my parents. I had friends at school who had really difficult home lives, with parents at each other's necks and I appreciated the calm and loving house I lived in.

Just as Dad turned to walk out of the door, I felt a strange sensation flood over me. The world began to spin and my limbs seemed to be under control from something completely different to my own brain. I began to shake uncontrollably as I fell to the ground, a pain spreading over my body from head to toe. It intensified with every second I was conscious. That was when relief hit me, but only because a blackness had enveloped me and I remember no more from what happened.

The last thing I heard as I drifted into a state of unconscious, was my Dad calling out to me, a panic filling his voice, like I had never heard. I tried to pull myself out of the blackness, but it was to no avail. I slipped deeper down and that was where I remained until some time later.

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