WHIZ!BAM!POW!

BOOK TWO - FRANK

TYLER WEAVER From a story by Tyler Weaver & Paul Klein Cover art by Blair Campbell

2012-13 TYLER WEAVER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Book Two FRANK

Our special knock is the rhythm of the first song we danced. I remember it like the first time. When that red door the one that made us fall in love with the place opens, shell be behind it. Tears will well up in her eyes. Shell embrace me. Her face, moist from the tears, will press against mine. Ill feel her warmth. Shell wipe the grime from my face with her tearsoaked hands. Sammy will come downstairs, a blanket in hand. Mommy, whos that? hell ask, rubbing his eyes. Left one first, just slightly. Hes a lefty, like his dad. She wont need to say anything. Just a smile and a nod will do. Sammy will stare at me a moment, then hell recognize me. Hell drop his blanket and rush to the door, embracing me on the doorstep. Well laugh as he damn near knocks his beautiful mother over. I pull away just long enough to open my jacket and give him the gift I brought him, the gift Ive kept these months, my chance to come home. His eyes will light up when I give it to him. Hell take in the cover. Hell run his small hand over it. His mother will ruffle his hair. Shell return my smile. Well be a family again. Youll see. Tonight. Tonights the night.

Frank pulls apart his workstation an easel pieced together from an oil barrel, a stack of bricks and an abandoned board filled with gouges and gashes from the infamous (and longsince departed) knife-thrower Pagliacci the Magnificent with military precision. He taps his foot to the music emanating from his only companion. Dried ink globules cover the speaker screen and form a crusty glue around its leprous dials. Wet snow warps the hand-painted sign above his slice of the world, an airman standing in salute next to the come-one-come-all proclamation:

JUST $2 TO BECOME A SUPERHERO BY THE CREATOR OF THE SKY PHANTOM!!!!!

Hes proud of that sign, even though he knows he missed a spot when he covered up the Pagliacci hyperbole. Hes going to get to that. Someday. The music stops. Three beeps.

 WE INTERRUPT THIS BROADCAST TO BRING YOU A SPECIAL NEWS BULLETIN: CHILDREN ALL OVER THE COUNTRY ARE REELING FROM A CHRISTMAS DISASTER AS THEIR HERO, THE SENTINEL, SEEMINGLY PERISHED MIDWAY THROUGH TODAYS EPISODE OF THE ADVENTURES OF THE SENTINEL. THE SHOWS SPONSOR, KLEIN POWS CEREAL, IMMEDIATELY STOPPED THE BROADCAST. THEY HAVE YET TO COMMENT. MORE AT THE TOP OF THE HOUR. WE RETURN YOU NOW TO THE BEAUTIFUL VOCALS OF MARIE

Static. He smacks the side of the radio. His hand throbs. Have to hit the damn thing harder every time. The swing sounds return. Shine On. A rolled-up comic book drops from inside his jacket onto the dirty, snow-caked floor of the boardwalk. He picks it up and admires the cover, a testosterone-fueled power fantasy lit by strobes. The Sky Phantom strafes a mechanized dinosaur, machine guns blasting the enemy planes to smithereens. Sammys going to love it.

He glares at the corner of the comic book. A masked marvel bursts out of chains: and introducing THE SENTINEL! Frank tightens his grip around the edge of the comic. His hand turns purple. He rips the costumed interloper from the cover and hurls it into the air. The wind catches the amputation and whips it past the carcasses of seasonally abandoned amusements. Frank smiles and laughs, tapping his foot to the music. A quarter fast. He kicks over the empty tin can. It bounces off the dolly and rolls down the boardwalk. Flying now, you prick. He hears her excited whispers before he sees her: an infectious smile bubbling over like the red curls cascading from her head. One arm entwined in the boys, she plays with the gleaming silver chain around her neck. The boy stuffs his hands deeper into his pockets. He tries to play it cool. Nice jacket. Oh, I love this song! This should be our song!

To be continued.