Life wasn't interesting if it was normal right? Everyone strives for something more, something extraordinary that will set them apart from others. But who really wants to be different? Humans strive to fit in, to be part of a group, and when the opportunity to become different pops up, they reside back into their groups. It's where they feel safe, they know the routine and they know their lives will never be in danger as long as they keep to this routine.
I was different, and I was scared. Being different was never easy, and when you knew how different you were from the rest of the world it gave you something to think about. Like why had it happened to me of all people, why I was so unlucky to be blessed with a life far from ordinary?
"You okay, mom?" I peeked into her room, where she lay on her bed motionless. Her eyes shifted over to me; she nodded, allowing me to step inside the room. "I'm going to go shopping. Do you need anything?"
"No…" She replied, her voice sounder weaker than it had the day before. She had been sick all her life, but she normally only had short patches of sickness and then she'd be fine. She'd been sick for months now, and it had gotten to the point where she could no longer move. Her muscles were growing weaker by the day, and soon enough she wouldn't be able to move her body at all. They had requested she be moved to a Hospital, but she had said she wished to die at home rather than in a hospital bed away from her family.
"I promise I'll be back quickly." I made sure she had enough blankets around her before gently closing the door behind me. I shook my head, sighing as I headed outside. I walked down the sidewalk, phone in hand as I texted a few friends. I wasn't in the mood to deal with people at the moment; sometimes my mother's condition had a heavy effect on me, too. It was tiring, not to mention heart-wrenching, when you had to watch someone you loved slowly die.
As I reached the front of the grocery store, I heard loud shouting; there was a scene up ahead. A woman was fighting for her purse with a man much larger than her. He quickly snatched it away, running off in my direction. He breezed by me without a second thought, the woman racing after him and shouting incoherent words. I stopped walking, closing my eyes and zoning in on his footsteps. I tapped my foot against the ground, and listened as the woman let out a gasp of surprise.
The sidewalk beneath the man's foot rose momentarily, to the point it caused him to trip and fall flat on his face. I glanced back; watching as the woman stomped forward, giving the man a good kick before stealing back her purse. The man continued to roll on the ground in pain, complaining of a twisted ankle and a sore forehead. I laughed to myself as I entered the store; I could've done much worse to him that was for sure.
My powers, my little burden as I liked to call them, was that I had a certain amount of control over nature. I could move water with just a push of my hand, I could make the earth move with a kick of my foot, just a simple breath of air could knock down trees; certainly not something anyone had ever been born with before. But I had been, and I hadn't known why. I didn't know where these newfound powers had come from, and I hadn't bothered speaking to my parents about them. They had their own problems to deal with.
I knew I was alone from day one when I discovered them. I had been about twelve or so, and I had been with a good friend of mine at school. We were on the playground, looking at the pond and feeding the ducks under teacher supervision. A bully wandered over, scaring away the ducks and stealing the food from our hands. I remember feeling angry, so angry I just wished he'd drown; the water from behind him rose when I held out my hands to stop him from stepping near me. It splashed down on him with such force he fell to the ground.
No one could figure out what happened, even I didn't know what had happened until I spent all night alone trying to recreate the situation. I sat out by the lake behind our house, hidden in the woods as I willed the water to move again. I created small splashes, but nothing mirroring the large wave that had crashed down upon the bully. I accidentally stomped on the dock from frustration, to which it cracked under my footing.
I had always been warned to never step foot on it without adult supervision around, but I never had been a good listener it seems. I let out a cry of surprise as I fell into the cold lake that was much too deep for my twelve year old self to stand it. I sunk straight down, having never been taught to swim by either parents, and thrashed in the water until I couldn't breathe anymore. My vision was getting blurry when a miraculous thing happened.
It felt as though my body was being engulfed by a force stronger than my own; water began to pool around my arms and legs, and I slowly rose to the surface. As I took a breath of fresh air the water threw me back onto the ground, which I landed on roughly. I was still alive though, and ever since that day I'd go back and try to control the water.
Slowly I learned my limits, and what I could and couldn't do. I learned what it meant to have a secret that no one could know, unless I wanted to be deemed a freak of nature. I knew what it meant to not be an ordinary kid anymore. But I didn't know if that was what I had wanted.
I was washing the dishes in the kitchen when I heard a knock on the door. My father had a late meeting tonight, and my mother was already sleeping so I was forced to answer. A man in a suit stood there, kind smile on his face as he entered my home. I watched him warily.
"I'm Agent Coulson. We have a proposition for you."
