by Libbylawrence
Mr. Julius Leiber leaned forward across the breakfast table in his small but comfortable kitchen and began to butter a piece of toast. As a small pat of butter dropped dangerously close to his lap, his wife Mary smiled affectionately and passed him a napkin.
Looking up, he grinned sheepishly and said, “Thanks, honey. I almost ruined the sweater you gave me for our anniversary! Guess I wasn’t paying attention!”
An attractive young woman in jeans and a jacket entered and gave Mr. Leiber a quick kiss on the cheek as she hurried toward the door. “Imagine that! Daddy was daydreaming! Shocking!” she said with a smile.
Mr. Leiber laughed good-naturedly at his daughter’s teasing. He was the object of a lot of kindly teasing, and he relished these exchanges with his beloved wife and daughter.
“Now, Janet, are you trying to trying to suggest that your father is… uh… a bit of a wool-gatherer?” he said.
Janet smiled back and replied, “And we wouldn’t have you any other way. Neither would your customers down at the bookstore!”
Mr. Leiber stood up abruptly and said, “Oh, my! I’m running late. I’d better step on it! Sure would be nice to be able to stay here and have a nice long breakfast, and then turn back time and get to work early, too! That would be a fancy super-power, wouldn’t it? A hero like that could be called Timekeeper!”
Mrs. Leiber adjusted her husband’s sweater as she kissed him goodbye. “Have a nice day, dear. Don’t forget your lunch!” she said, handing him a brown bag.
Mr. Leiber nodded as he took the bag and softly said, “Or Minute Master… maybe?”
As he departed, Mrs. Leiber smiled knowingly out the window. “Julius and his super-heroes… how he loves them,” she said as she glanced down at the paper he had been reading. The headline announced another startling adventure by the Justice League of America, this time helping the heroes of an Earth-like planet called Angor, whose world had been taken over by super-villains. (*) “I think he spends more time in his imagination making up hero stories than he does doing inventory at the store!” she mused aloud as she turned back to do the dishes.
[(*) Editor’s note: See Justice League of America: World of Evil.]