Robert sits in the corner of the kitchen playing with his Hot Wheels. His mother is on the phone. She is arguing with someone. Robert is only half paying attention. She is arguing and her voice is getting louder and he wishes she would stop. Today is Robert’s birthday. Robert’s mother promised him that they would go to the park so he could go down the big slide as many times as he wanted. Robert is wearing his super-hero t-shirt that his mother made a couple weeks ago. It has a big red ‘R’ in the middle of a circle. Robert is also wearing his super-hero mask that ties in the back and has eye-holes so no one can figure out his secret identity. Robert’s mask is purple, his favourite colour. It has small ears like the Batman that is on Nickelodeon sometimes. The kind that has big cartoon words spinning around the screen when Batman and Robin beat up the bad guys. Robert’s mother is upset. He can tell. He has a sense for these kinds of things. He knows when people are in trouble. That’s part of what his special power is. Robert keeps playing with his Hot Wheels. He got five Hot Wheels because today is his birthday. He normally gets one every once in a while, but since today is special, he gets five, because that’s how old he is. He drives them around the floor, making roads in the pattern. One of them is the bad guy’s car, three of them are unmarked police cars, and the one with the fins on it is Robert’s car. The car he’s going to get once the city realises that they need his help to catch these bad guys. The car they’re going to give him with fins and grappling hooks and a radio and speakers on the outside of the car so he can play music that people can dance to. The light streaming in through the kitchen window flickers, and Robert looks up. He gets ready for action, because something is about to happen. He can feel it. He squints and sees that it’s just a flock of birds out on the roof of the apartment building taking flight. He watches the shapes move. When it’s just light again, Robert sits and listens. His mother is off the phone. She’s crying. Robert gets up, walks over, and hugs her leg with all his super-hero strength. Robert’s mother peels him off, crouches down, and hugs him back. She’s smiling, and Robert’s smiling too. He thinks, It’s a good thing I was here.