The Superhero Postman

Woof! Grrr woof! Nero the dishevelled dog stood on the driveway, growling angrily. He was determined not to let the intruder come a single step closer.

“Come on, Nero. It’s me, Ian,” the man in the blue coat coaxed him in a shaky voice, timidly advancing towards the growling guard dog. He had already tried telling Nero to sit, offering him a treat and throwing a stick, but the dog was not fooled. Eventually, he managed to tiptoe up to the letterbox with teeny tiny steps. He shoved the three multi-coloured envelopes in, and immediately turned and ran.

But that was a mistake. Nero lost his patience and ran after him.

Ian’s blue postman’s coat fluttered behind him as he ran, almost like a superhero’s cloak, but Ian was no superhero. He was just the local postman, and he couldn’t run all that fast. When he was a schoolboy, his classmates used to tell him that even a tortoise could outrun him. So Nero caught up with him easily and sunk his teeth into the back of Ian’s trousers, ripping a hole in them and making it quite clear that he was not to put any mail in their letterbox next time, or else…!

“Oh dear, I’m not looking forward to going there on my next round,” Ian sighed unhappily as he returned to the small, cozy post office he managed. Over a soothing cup of tea he shed a few bitter, manly tears.

“Even when I was just a boy, I wanted to be a postman so badly. I drew my own stamps, made cardboard letter boxes for my neighbours, and proudly wore a postman’s uniform and cap every time we dressed up. If only I had known what the job was really…