The day had begun badly. It was Luke's turn to make breakfast and he'd burnt the bacon and eggs, filling the kitchen with smoke. As if that wasn't bad enough, his stepfather gave him a hard time about his shoes when he came down for breakfast.

"Luke, look at the state of your shoes!" he exclaimed.

"Sorry, sir," Luke mumbled, finding it impossible to call him Dad at a time like this.

Source

"Just look how bright and shiny Bret's shoes are," Headmaster Johnson continued.

As if Luke didn't know...He was the one who'd polished them so well. He'd also polished his own shoes, but somehow they'd become covered with glue. No prizes for guessing who'd pulled that little stunt. Luke knew why his stepdad was in such a bad mood. Luke's mom had been really ill last night - he'd heard her coughing and coughing.

When Luke got to school, his schoolmates were chattering excitedly. They were going on an outing to look at wild flowers, but that's not the only reason they were excited.

"Have you heard?" Luke'd friend Harry asked.

"Heard what?"

"What happened here yesterday. There was a superhero in town - just like in the movies! He saved Miss Lucy. He calls himself 'Mighty Pip-Squeak'!"

"Sound ridiculous," sneered Kyle, who'd just arrived.

Luke smiled. He'd found it amusing to give himself that name.

"And he doesn't do simple, easy stuff, hey!" Harry continued. "Miss Lucy says he saved her life!"

"How do you know so much about all this?" Luke asked.

"Everyone's talking about it! It's even on the radio!"

"Really?"

When he woke this morning, Luke had been almost ready to believe it had all been a dream. Then he'd seen his superhero costume in his wardrobe. To think it had all begun only yesterday. After he'd said the word 'Presto' events had moved so fast...

He'd been about to put on the costume when he'd suddenly found he was already wearing it. He'd barely begun to wonder how he was going to fly like a superhero when he'd found himself rocketing through the window and streaking across the sky! He'd instinctively known Miss Lucy was in some kind of trouble. In addition to his amazing new powers he must have been given a sixth sense too. He'd flown to school and rescued her from being crushed by huge boulders tumbling down the hill and he'd flown home again so fast he'd been invisible.

Then he'd said the magic word "Presto" again and instantly been transformed back into the Luke everyone knew - rumpled school clothes and all.

The red, yellow and green costume was back in his wardrobe, hanging above his green superhero boots. Also there were his yellow cape and black mask. The costume was big enough to fit an adult and Luke realized with a shock he must have been all grownup. He was a superhero and incredibly strong!

"What are you grinning about?" Harry asked.

"Nothing," Luke said, grinning. He loved the feeling of knowing something the others knew nothing about and he loved being a superhero!

Then a frown creased his forehead. How much of a superhero were you if you couldn't even help your own poor sick mom? And he couldn't even make a decent breakfast of bacon and eggs!

To be continued

For Part 1, click here
For Part 2, click here
For Part 3, click here

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