" Alfred T. Slipper was a janitor. Most of the time (often, in fact) they treated him with disdain. They had no idea of the astonishing acts of heroism, the blinding light, contained within his outward humdrum disguise.

Only Alfred's parakeet, Dolores, knew who he was and what he could do. "

― Kate DiCamillo , Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures