‘Kryptonite’

“Superman, you say?” Vassily mumbled, musing over the name which we all assumed he must have heard of. “And you say he has special powers . . you mean of thinking?”

“No Vass, he can leap over a building in a single bound and stuff like that. Get it?” Suzie said.

“In fact, no. I don’t get it. I too perhaps can leap over a building in a single bound . . like I can climb a building in a single elevator. I just don’t know what is a bound.”

“It’s a jump . . he can fly.”

“Ah, so no, I can’t do that.”

It was strange, but as we went on to define Superman’s powers a look of annoyance began to flash in the Russian’s black eyes.

The Missing Slate’s Story of the Week this week is “Kryptonite”, another of my Russian stories, like “The Literary Life of Russian Airports,” which they previously published and “Literary Theft” in Drunken Boat. Now the only completed story left is “Death in Omsk”, a story which will be sold to the highest bidder (sold), preferably a Russian billionaire but cash-strapped litmag editors can also throw in their lots.