THE MOMENT
As far as Saturdays went, this one was pretty perfect. John was in the park relaxing on a bench, under the shade of large oak tree, and a cool breeze was blowing. He was babysitting the daughter of a close friend and she was playing with some toy figures in the sand box. Electra was five years old with short blond hair and bright blue eyes, and she was a very outgoing child. John was nearby and glanced at her regularly while he enjoyed being in nature. He was sitting alone, which unintentionally encouraged strangers to interrupt his precious downtime.
"I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude...," a middle-aged woman smiled as she put herself directly in front of him. ".. are you Mr. Majesty?" she asked with a giddy grin. John sensed it would be a lengthy conversation and he flitted his eyes toward Electra to see how she was doing. The woman noticed his eyes darting to the girl, then back to her.
"Is that your daughter!?" she asked without waiting for him to answer the first question. It had to have been him; Mr. Majesty was a handsome, recognizable hero, and she had occasionally dreamed about meeting him. "Hi, my name's Katherine, by the way," she introduced herself and offered her hand.
"I am He," John nodded with a nod, then shook his head. "But, she's not my daughter. I'm just babysitting," he said. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Katherine," he added with a hint of formality, hoping that'd be enough for her to move on. Instead, she sat next to him on the park bench.
"Is there a Super babysitting service I could sign up for!?" she asked. "My boys would absolutely love to have you sit them for an afternoon," she giggled. John was dividing his attention between Katherine and Electra, and Kathy started paying more attention to the girl too. The girl was happily yapping away to someone, but there were no other kids with her in the sandbox.
"No," John shook his head. "Family friend," he said. He didn't want to explain any more than he had to, not to a total stranger. She had no reason to know that Electra was the daughter of his arch nemesis, Lightning Strike. John regularly helped out taking Electra every other weekend to give the old villain some peace. As he answered her, Electra erupted in a fit of giggles. Then, the girl looked over at John without getting up and yelled.
"10 more minutes!"
"Okay," John nodded, but Katherine was puzzled when Electra started talking to herself again.
"She's adorable..., imaginary friend?" she asked.
"Huh?" John gave her an intentionally confused look. He didn't dislike people, but he was trying to have a normal day off.
"She seems to be talking to someone that isn't there...," Katherine said. "Does she have an imaginary friend?"
"No," John, again, shook his head with a neutral, cold expression. "She's learning how to Whisper," he said. "It's hard for her to do it mentally so far, but she can do it by talking. I suppose she is, technically, talking to someone who isn't here; they're at home."
"OH, right...," Katherine giggled. Maybe she finally caught his tone, possibly grew embarrassed, or perhaps she was actually out of small talk. In any case, she stood up with a broad grin. "Have a good day, Mr. Majesty," she waved as she walked away.
"Be safe, Katherine," he gave her a heroic smile and wave.
"AND ROYALTY SAYS WE NEED TO BRING HER SOME ICE CREAM!" Electra shouted in his direction before continuing to play in the sand. John smiled and relaxed again. He had to admit it. As nice as it seemed so far, Saturdays were always improved by ice cream.