SUPERMOG!
(A Snippets Book)
David Elvar
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2010 David Elvar
Smashwords Edition License Notes
Thank you for downloading this free e-book. It may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes provided it remains in its complete and original form, and that the author and Smashwords are given full acknowledgement.
~oOo~
Hi. My name is Shadwell. And I’m a cat.
Like most cats, I have whiskers, paws and a tail. I also have a friend, and that friend’s name is Finbar. He, too, has whiskers, paws and a tail. He also has a secret. That secret is that sometimes, he stops being a mild-mannered moggy and turns into—
—SUPERMOG!
No, he’s not a superhero, people just think he’s one, and all because he likes fish pie.
Let me explain. There was this one time we were walking down the road together. We were chatting about humans and why they get so cross about us cats leaving half-chewed mice on their beds when Finbar suddenly stopped, his nose twitching.
‘Are you sniffing what I’m sniffing?’ he asked.
I sniffed. ‘I think so,’ I replied. ‘Fish pie.’
We looked up. Sure enough, the old lady who lives on the top floor of our apartment block was just placing a steaming dish out on her window-ledge to cool. Now, remember me saying Finbar likes fish pie? Well, quick as a flash, he turned into—
—SUPERMOG!
Well, sort of. What he actually did was pull his disguise out and put it on. It’s not much of a disguise, just a mask to hide his face and a cape to hide his stripy fur, but it stops him being recognised, and that’s important when you’re trying to steal fish pie. The trouble is, it also makes him look like a superhero, and that’s important when people think you’re saving them from certain disaster.
‘Right,’ he said, ‘follow me.’
I followed him, up and along the wall round the garden. There was a child’s seesaw in this garden. I didn’t think much of it at the time but little did I know it would help Finbar end up being a superhero again.
We got to the end of the garden. The young lady who lives on the ground floor was there, hanging some huge socks out on the washing-line.
‘Hello, Shadwell,’ she called out when she saw us. ‘Hello, Supermog.’
We didn’t answer. We had things to do. But as I glanced her way, I saw her washing-basket propped on one end of the seesaw. I didn’t think much of it at the time but little did I know it would help Finbar end up being a superhero again.
We jumped up onto the porch above the back door. The middle-aged lady who lives on the middle floor was there, leaning out to clean her windows.
‘Hello, Shadwell,’ she called out when she saw us. ‘Hello, Supermog.’
We didn’t answer. We had things to do. But as I glanced her way, I saw the bucket she was using was balanced just a little too close to the edge of the window-ledge. I didn’t think much of it at the time but little did I know it would help Finbar end up being a superhero again.
‘Okay,’ Finbar whispered, ‘I’m the one with the disguise so I’ll take it from here.’
He wrapped his paws round the drainpipe and started to climb. And as he climbed, I looked up and saw the top of the drainpipe, how loose it was, how it was even in danger of breaking away from the wall. I didn’t think much of it at the time but little did I know it would help Finbar end up being a superhero again.
Everything seemed to happen all at once then. The lady who’d been cleaning her windows knocked her bucket. It started to fall. She grabbed at it. And as she did, she leaned too far and was suddenly in danger of falling out with it.
‘Help!’ she cried. ‘Save me!’
But Finbar just said—
‘Uh?’
—and leaned back to see what was happening. And yes, you’ve guessed it: the drainpipe gave way.
I’d seen it all before but I still watched. I watched him cling on as the drainpipe fell away from the wall like a tree someone had just chopped down. I watched it get halfway and Finbar deciding to let go. I watched as—
‘MRO-O-OW!’
—Finbar went one way, the drainpipe the other. He—
PLOP!
—landed in one of the huge socks the young lady had been hanging out. The drainpipe—
BANG!
—landed on the end of the seesaw. The other end—
TWANG!
—jumped up, sending the washing-basket flying up to—
CLUNK!
—knock the bucket back in, taking the middle-aged lady with it. She was saved.
She scrambled up and leaned out of her window again. But Finbar was nowhere to be seen.
‘Just like a true superhero!’ she cried. ‘Saves someone and doesn’t wait around to be thanked. But wherever you, Supermog, whoever you are, thank you.’
From a Finbar-shaped sock somewhere below, a muffled and slightly annoyed voice replied, ‘Don’t mention it.’
So Supermog had done it again. I jumped down from the porch and went to check on him. He was still in the sock. In fact, he didn’t seem to be able to get out of the sock.
‘Do you need any help?’ I asked.
‘Never mind that,’ he grumbled. ‘Is that fish pie still there?’
I looked up at the old lady’s window. And as I looked, I saw her taking the not-quite-so steaming dish off the window-ledge.
‘Er…probably best you don’t ask,’ I told him.
‘Curses!’ he said. ‘Foiled again! But one day, I’ll get that fish pie. You’ll see!’
‘Yes,’ I agreed carefully, ‘I’m sure you will…one day…’
~oOo~
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