Riiiiiing! Riiiiiing!
Sally perked her head up upon hearing the all too familiar shrill of the house telephone. She sat still staring at it from across the room, clutching her pencil. She hesitated about going over to answer the call or wait for her mother to beat her to it so she can continue with her maths homework. Multiplication sums this time, as the class were being tested on them tomorrow afternoon right after lunch.
"Darling?" Her mother, Diane called. Leaning herself out of the kitchen doorway to look to see if Sally had heard her. "Would you kindly get that? My hands are quite full."
Indeed they are, Sally thought. Diane was in the middle of fixing up a delicious Shepherd's Pie. She can smell the dissolving beef stock cubes from where she was sitting. Her stomach grumbled just thinking about it. Plenty of mash and lots of gravy poured on top, just the way she liked it.
Sally jumped down from her chair and ran over to the telephone before the ringing ceased. She carefully picked up the receiver and pressed it to her ear. Waiting two seconds before she answered in her polite telephone voice.
"Hello?"
"Hello Sally, it's only Uncle Peter."
Her heart leapt and her face lit up upon hearing her uncle's charming voice. Whether it was being in the same room as him or hearing him talk on the phone, it always brightened up her day.
"Oh! Hello!" Sally responded, her grin widening. "What time will you be home for dinner?"
"I'm afraid I'll be late home again," her uncle said regrettably. "I've got a lot of notes to finish up. Could you tell your mother please?"
This was the second day in a row this week that he was working overtime. This had become the norm for the family for quite a few years.
"Alright Uncle Peter, I will do. Goodbye."
"Goodbye dear." Uncle Peter said before hanging up.
Sally placed the receiver back down and ran to her mother who was getting ready to place the dinner into the oven.
"Uncle Peter's working late again, Mummy."
"Very well," said Diane. Obviously not the first time she responded like that. "Is your homework done yet?"
"I'm halfway there." Sally said confidently.
"Run along and have it finished by the time I dish up."
As Sally resumed her work, her young mind went deep into thought.
Her bachelor uncle had always been a good and kind man, and was highly respected amongst his peers. Ever since Sally's father sadly passed away when she was a baby, Peter had always stuck by Diane (or Dee as he always called her). He let her move into his house and provided for them both. Diane was ever so grateful of her brother for being there for Sally also.
She was a stay-at-home mother and Sally was a bright pupil at school. Her teacher always commented during Parent Meetings about how very mature and well-mannered she was for her age. Diane would always reply with the typical 'she gets it from me' response. But she knew truthfully that Sally was actually imitating her brother's down-to-earth demeanour. But as any other eight year old, Sally always had her childish quirks every now and then.
For Uncle Peter on the other hand... it was an entirely different story. A long complicated story. You see, Sally's uncle was Dr. Peter Brady. A scientist based in Castle Hill Laboratories famously known as The Invisible Man. As bizarre as it sounds, it was well and truly the real deal.
She remembered that day vividly like it had only happened yesterday. In fact, it had only been five months ago. She had wandered into the living room, excited to greet Uncle Peter and ask about his day at the lab and the progress on his current experiments. Then he too would ask how her day at school was. They had done this routine almost religiously. Only that time, the chain was broken. Instead of being greeted by her uncle, she was met with a mysterious figure dressed in his trademark beige trench coat, thick gloves, top hat, sunglasses and another strange addition. Bandages covering his entire face. Deep down, Sally was really spooked by his appearance. But as soon as Uncle Peter's signature charming voice came from the mysterious figure, she relaxed and felt a little better. But what on earth happened to him?
Peter explained that there had been an accident during an experiment he was working on that day. He was testing on guinea pigs to prove how he can make things invisible using light refractions. Somehow in the process of successfully making one guinea pig invisible, there was a sudden leak and he became fully exposed to the rays. It didn't cause any harm to him, but it led him to becoming permanently invisible. As much as he didn't want to, Peter now had to walk around with his bandages on just so everyone will know where he is. He was marked by the British government as Top Secret. The only people to know about Peter Brady's state of invisibility were his fellow colleagues, Diane and now young Sally who was told strictly by Uncle Peter to not tell anybody at school. Then proceeded to show a perplexed yet fascinated Sally his hollowed out head that was covered by his hat. From that day on, Peter had been hard at work on his own personal notes at work and at home. Writing down complex equations in a desperate attempt to find the 'cure' to make him visible again. Those were the only documents he was highly protective of. Over dinner that evening, Peter explained how Crompton, his fellow lab partner and friend had betrayed him. He had managed to knock Peter out whilst completely invisible (his lab clothes were affected in the accident also) and ran off with his notes in an attempt to destroy them. Of course, Crompton was cornered near a railroad and was left disorientated during their fight until the police arrived to arrest him - thankfully, Diane was there to help him out with that one.
Five months on, Sally and Diane had quickly gotten used to Peter's new appearance. All they had to do was to be careful not to bump into him if he were to walk around the house completely invisible. As much as he hated being this way, Peter always kept his head up and continued his daily life as usual. For Diane, he will always be the same caring supportive older brother she wouldn't trade the world for. For her daughter Sally, he will always be that loving father figure and, like he said himself, he will always be the same ol' Uncle Peter.