The Invisible Man

Invisibility wasn't what he had imagined.

He'd become invisible during the night, while he slept. That's why he didn't realize it until the following morning, when he stood bleary-eyed in front of the bathroom mirror and saw a toothbrush swaying back and forth over the invisible air.

He was stunned, excited—not terrified or confused. He smiled. He knew it because he felt his face crinkle with a transparent smile.

Now that he was invisible, he ran out into the street, giddy with joy. He amused himself tripping distracted passersby who couldn't see him; he entertained himself pissing on the park trees with his invisible stream; he ran into the corner ice cream shop and turned off the lights without anyone catching him; he scrambled the price tags on products at the supermarket and snuck onto three public buses without paying. He was dying of laughter, covering his mouth to stifle his cackles.

He had an incredible day—he wasn't himself, he was the happiest invisible man in the world!

But, now that I think back on it… it wasn't the first time he'd become invisible. As a boy it had happened to him once and he'd frightened his mother, who managed with some luck to land a blow on his head with a broom. After that, once he'd recovered his visibility, they took him to the clinic to get stitches… From that day on his mother took to hitting him with the broom. "Let's see if you feel this invisible broom," she'd tell him.

But in this new period of adult invisibility, now with more use of reason, he began to think about what to do with his implausible gift. He could become famous and they'd pay him to appear in TV commercials—well, when he could be seen—or he could be an anonymous hero and deliver justice where others cannot. His identity would remain hidden behind a pseudonym, just as Batman or Superman had done quite successfully. And in some way he'd be famous, but a less corrupting fame and in service of a nobler end. Yes… he liked that better!!!

And so Arturo spent the rest of his days beneath the ethereal suit of the Invisible Man. Doing good as the most anonymous superhero who ever existed, because you can't be more anonymous than when you're invisible.

The bad part was that at the end of the day he always felt the sad emptiness that comes when one is ignored, but those were the occupational hazards and he knew it.

The day he died, no one missed the Invisible Man, not because he was invisible, but because nobody cared enough… at the end of the day, they'd ignored Crazy Arturo, the neighborhood Invisible Man, all his life.