By day he was Louis Bernard. By mid-afternoon and weekends he was the super villain the Joker. And by nine o'clock on school nights he was asleep. Louis battled archenemy and best friend Spiderman or Batman on some days almost every Saturday at the park.
Now, he was facing the biggest challenge of his life. Third grader Aqua-man had teamed up with Spiderman because his villain had a tummy ache and had to leave. So, he was double teamed. He wished his minions and younger siblings could join him, but they were in with the flu. He was alone.
The battle commenced. The Joker threw pinecone grenades towards the enemy. Aqua-man pushed them away with some water. While Aqua-man squirted him with water, Spiderman came from behind and tangled him with webs. The Joker fell to the ground, writhing. He squirmed like a fish out of water. "This is not over! I will be back," he announced like he saw on his Sunday morning cartoons.
That is when a short woman interjected and pulled the Joker to his feet.
He melted back into Louis Bernard as his mother grasped his hand and pulled him away from the battle field. "Mom? Can I get ice-cream? Please mom? Please?" one of his friends pleaded. Louis and his mother both heard as he peered up at her questioningly. She smiled softly and nodded once. They walked through the park, hand in hand. They passed the swings and sandbox. He avoided the sandbox ever since he got grounded. He tried to explain that he was just being the Sandman. His mother did not find it a good enough excuse to throw sand.
They approached the ice-cream cart and Louis informed his mom that he wanted, "Only one scoop of vanilla in a waffle cone, please". She relayed the message to the man behind the cart.
Her tires eyes searched for spare change in her purse. Louis spotted a quarter an the ground and bent to grab it. His tiny child finger scratched at it until it lifted. He eagerly held it up to his mother, who thanked him.
When that was done, they took there cones to the nearest oak and sat down. He carried on about this and that and she listened quietly. His face became a sticky mess, though he was pale enough that the white ice-cream blended almost perfectly with his skin tone. After their treat, they had errands to run. Louis turned as dramatically as possible and looked at the open field they used to fight. “Another time, I will see them again. And this time, I will win!” he blurted.
“What, sweetie?” his mother asked.
“Nothing, Mommy”.
And so ends the thrilling adventures of Louis Bernard.