Every Hero Weeps

The man of steel.

Can stop bullets with his bare hands. Carry planes on his shoulders. Fly faster than the sound of innocent screams.

He saved four people that day, and they peg him a hero. But what he is is a distraction, from the ever-darkening truth that he can’t save everyone. No one mentions the people he killed. The people he missed because he got distracted by another tragedy.

And when he saves no one, they blame him. Because he didn’t hear them from across the world. He hasn’t taken a day off in years, and even the world’s strongest man gets tired.

He hears them in bed, when the lights turn off. He hears weeping and gurgling. He smells burnt skin in the air and the taste of salt on his cheeks. He remembers them all.

And when his chest shudders and the sobs hurt his throat. When the tears feel like burning ice and they roll down his cheeks. When the ghosts that haunt him leave him restless and hopeless.

Who is supposed to save him?