Shadow of the Day: Prologue

Passion. It was something in Gary's life that ceased to exist. He had been married once before, but that ended in divorce. Sure, she had come back to rekindle things but he couldn't see himself giving her another chance, not when she was the one that left him. He did love her, but he knew that if he took her back she could easily do it to him again. He wasn't sure if he wanted to go through the pain twice. It was hard enough the first time.

He had several women come into his life that looked promising, but they all ended the same exact way. The newspaper he received was his priority, and when the girls began to pry into why he had to dash off for no apparent reason, he just couldn't come out and tell them that he had to go save Chicago, one article at a time. They would lock him up in the loony bin for sure.

If it weren't for the paper.

He leaned his head back against the couch cushion, staring down at the Chicago Sun-Times that had arrived thirty minutes ago. He glared at it as if it could feel his frustration. He let out a low, raspy laugh. How could he allow something so small take over his life? The more important question was how could he live with himself if he didn't do anything about the accidents he knew he could help prevent?

Was finding his true love more important than saving people from freak accidents? Having a wife and kids was all he ever really wanted. He didn't want to be Superman, but it was evident that some underlying force had chosen that path for him. It didn't matter what Gary Hobson wanted.

He ran his hands over his bloodshot eyes, smirking at the nuisance that had arrived on his doorstep one idle morning with no warning to allow him to prepare for the drastic changes that were about to take place in his life. He rolled it up tightly in his fists until the fibers of the paper were stretched as far as they would go. He felt the tightness of the document under his fingertips and knew that it was on the verge of ripping. Throwing it hard at the front door of his hotel room, he watched the different sections of the paper scatter near the exit. Metro, world news, and of course, the local category landing on the very top. What a coincidence.

He stood up, glancing down at the main headline.

Construction Crane Collapses on Michigan Avenue, Killing Two and Injuring Dozens

Adrenaline began to pump through his veins as his eyes skimmed through the black font. The pulse in his temples quickened. He never got used to the feeling of nausea that settled in the pit of his stomach when he caught glimpse of a major news story that he could possibly prevent.

He gathered the major details to memory and glanced up at the clock on the wall. The incident occurred at 8:30 AM. His mind clicked into gear and he was out the door, his boots clomping heavy on the sidewalk.

Romance would have to wait. He would never be able to ignore the fact that people needed his help no matter how bad he wanted a family. As long as the paper was left on his doorstep he would be out on the streets of Chicago, helping the naïve and ungrateful that would never realize how close they came to being injured or killed. It was all because of Gary Hobson, a normal guy that received tomorrow's newspaper today.

TBC….