Tad takes of his helmet as he makes his way up the stairs to the second floor of their building. He digs in his pocket for his house key as he nears Apartment 12E.  The smell of food wafting under the door tells him mom got home early. He says nothing as he comes in. Dropping the helmet on the floor and tossing his board onto the couch. He makes his way to the small kitchen/dinner area of his home. "Hi mom" he says as he begins to set the table for the two of them. "You didn't leave your mess in the doorway again did you?"  She asks without looking away from the stove. He says nothing. She turns setting the pot she had been watching on the table.  "Put the board and helmet in your room when were done here please" She says as they both sit down.  Tad nods as mom lifts the lid on a pot of leftovers. The corn bread muffins are new. He can see the empty mix box on the counter next to the sink. Dinner goes like it always does. Mom asking about his day. She even asked about homework and Tad had to remind her that school was out for a three day weekend.  She responds by telling him to make sure he has his homework done Monday night. Things are fine until he mentions Dave and Eddie.          

"They went WHERE!?" she says. And then it goes all downhill. "Hey I only stood in the doorway, the smell from the place was bad enough to..." Tad never finished his sentence, the look of cold ice coming from his mother was enough to silence the teenager. They only had each other, and she had been real lenient compared to some other moms in the neighborhood. Right about now he felt really small. Like he had hurt his mom worse than he ever had. She just got up and walked into the living room. She deliberately sits on the couch next to the skate board. Tad waits for a few minutes at the table. He puts the dishes in the sink,then makes his way into the living room. Silently he takes his board and helmet and goes to his small room. He lays on his bed staring up at the ceiling. Listening to the TV from the other room. He falls asleep to the sound of the Tonight Show music coming through the apartment walls.

The sun coming up on Monday morning finds Tadoka shivering in the cold air. He had taken refuge in the alley behind the Boys&Girls club. He had gone there for help before remembering he was not himself. Sleeping in the dumpster had at least kept the rain off. Pushing the lid up seems to take more than it had to lift last night. Looking he can see his arm and hand are back to their normal size! He shivers as he digs his clothes out of his gym bag and dresses leaning against the building. He makes his way out of the alley.  A police car sits in front of the building. Breathing a sigh of relief he starts to walk toward the car.

As he exits the alley, two men in black suits and dark glasses stop him. "Hello Tad." One of them says. A creepy feeling crawls up his his neck.    "I don't know you" he says as he backs up a step or two. The first man steps forward a step. His companion stays blocking the alley exit and the view of the cruiser. "That's OK I know you. Well your mother anyway. Your what 16 now? You know your mother reported you missing. So want to tell us what happened yesterday?"          Tadoka looked at the men. Neither had any distinguishing look. They could have been carbon copies of any TV or movie bad cop. The man at the alley opening reached into his coat and drew out what looked like a syringe. In a moment of panic, Tadoka turns and skates back down the alley.     The two men give chase and Tad just kicks to pick up speed. Turning as the alley splits. Breaking from the alley he makes his way toward the nearest school. It's not his school but at least he can hide in a crowd.

Awesome fiction.  Love the details.

"How does one go about finding a super hero? I know there are some here in town, have been seeing them on tv for a long time". Tadoka thinks to himself. The places they show up are not always places a young kid wants to frequent. There was a picture in the paper of one who looked like a tank. "I have no idea where to even begin looking for that. How do you hide that? Maybe he's not always a tank. Like I'm not always  tall."Tadoka sits on a park bench finishing off an apple when he  hears some gasping and pointing. Looking around he sees some of the joggers and passers-by pointing and looking up.  It's that Thunderbolt guy. Maybe by following him I can find help. Dropping whats left of his lunch Tadoka grabs his bag and skate boards after the flying figure. Unfortunately losing him after a few turns.