Super Hero Therapy: Session 1

SJ Shoemaker
Word Count: 1162
6/29/2021

W:       Doc, good you’re here.

D:        I must confess, William, when I said my door was always open that was a slight exaggeration. While I am always happy to take walk-ups, I cannot have people barging into my office unannounced. What if another client had been here?

W:       I don’t have time to wait, I need pills. Sleeping pills.

D:        Sit, please. Let’s chat.

W:       Can’t we just skip that and—

D:        I am not in the habit of writing prescriptions without due cause.

W:       Knew this was a waste of time. I’ll get them somewhere else.

D:        As you please. Your insurance will be billed either way for this impromptu visit. But, since you already came all this way, why don’t we catch up.

W:       And then can I have the pills?

D:        The possibility remains on the table.

W:       *Sighs* *sits*

BEAT

D:        You know how this works, William. You speak. I listen.

SHORT BEAT

D:        William—

W:       How do you humans manage to sleep at night?

D:        “You humans”? Are you not included in that nomenclature?

W:       Not anymore, since the… accident.

D:        Genetic modification is apparent, yes. How else would one explain the feats of strength and impermeability?

W:       And laser vision.

D:        Among other things, yes. But your physiology remains distinctly human. Does it not?

W:       No, doc, I’m a God damn super—

D:        Human. You are a super-human.

W:       Fine, I’ll give you that one. *deep breath* Let me rephrase: How does anyone manage to sleep at night? How do you sleep at night?

D:        With both eyes closed, typically.

W:       How?

BEAT

D:        Elaborate.

W:       The world is a mess. Everyone knows it. Everyone sees it, constantly. And no does anything about it. Why?

D:        Why do you think?

W:       I don’t know. God, it’s overwhelming. I need to sleep.

D:        The state of the World keeps you up at night?

W:       No. The state of the world not keeping everyone up at night keeps me up at night.

D:        How long has it been since our last session? Must be close to two years now, right?

W:       I’ve been a little busy, doc.

D:        Indeed. I saw you on the news just the other day. Quite the traveler. Mars, was it?

W:       Titan. Stupid space worms.

D:        And does your long space flight have anything to do with your sleeping problem? I imagine countless hours alone in cold silence would give a man time to think.

W:       No. I mean, kinda. I…

D:        Many astronauts after an Earth orbit report feeling incredibly small and disillusioned with the political squabbles that most people endure on a daily basis.

W:       It wasn’t the space, doc. It was… the worms.

D:        Expand on that thought. How so?

W:       People always say—not always. You know what I mean. Sometimes people, like on the street shake my hand—like at the ceremony last week. You saw it?

D:        Yes.

W:       Right, there, like that. The President gives me a pin or whatever and says how brave I was from stopping those worms from destroying that moon. If I hadn’t been there, orbital drift, atmospheric debris, changing tides. Whatever. But why?

D:        Why would those catastrophes happen?

W:       Why is that brave?

D:        Surely you can see why. Who else could have—

W:       That’s ‘cause no one else can fly! No one else can breathe in space or punch hard enough to shatter a mountain. Does having those traits somehow make me inherently brave!?

D:        Of course not. Choosing to use those traits, however, to prevent catastrophe despite no one persuading you to do so…

W:       The worms did the persuading!

D:        Spoken like a man with a sympathetic conscience.

W:       Then I’m the only one!

LONG BEAT

D:        Would you care to elaborate?

BEAT

D:        I cannot help you unless you talk to me.

W:       *sighs* I’m the only one who could have stopped them. That’s my job!

D:        Not your job, William, we talked about this.

W:       My duty. My conscience, fine. Call it what you like. If I didn’t, no one else would have. When big monsters pop up and threaten humanity, I punch them. Really hard.

D:        And that’s a problem?

W:       No. I want to–not, want to punch them. I want to help. And I’m good at it. I don’t mind helping. It’s just… It’s easy and straight forward. There’s no thought process there. I don’t have to convince myself to do it. And when I’m in the middle of it, I don’t have to contemplate whether I’m spending my time wisely. I just punch. That’s all I do. I just punch.

D:        But when you return to Earth, that simplicity vanishes.

W:       Yes! Space worms, those are easy. I face them head on and punch until they stop moving. But when I get home… If I disarm another country’s nuclear warheads, am I promoting world piece or causing an international incident.  If I put out a flaming building, am I doing a good deed or am I destroying trust in the local fire department. If I let it burn, am I teaching people to help themselves or being neglectful. Everywhere I turn, there are so problems. And no matter what I do, beyond public perception, I can’t be everywhere at once. Facing any problem head on means turning your back on a thousand more. Helping anyone means declaring thousands more to be undeserving. Sorry, I couldn’t save your child from an accident, I was pulling this man out of a collapsing building and felt he was more important.

D:        William, you are being unfair to yourself. Just because you have the strength to do anything doesn’t mean you must do everything. We each must learn to trust our fellow man, that everyone will do their part and help as heroically as you when the moment arises.

W:       Then where are they?

D:        You are disappointed by how self-involved most people are.

W:       It doesn’t take superstrength or freeze breathe to help someone out of a burning building, and yet no one ever does.

D:        No one? Were you not just complaining about stepping on the fire department’s toes, metaphorically? Have you never seen a person dive back into the flames to save a child or pet?

W:       Fine, I was being hyperbolic. But it sure feels like when anyone can help, no special skills required, no one does.

D:        A fair observation. Most any man could claim they did not help when they could, countless times over. Every one of us could and should learn to be more sympathetic. However, *scribbles*

W:       What are you doing?

D:        *tears slip from pad* Don’t discount the un-super heroes alongside the rest of us. There should be more, but there are not none. Get some sleep, William. We will need you again. Of that, I have no doubt. But we will survive an evening or two without you.