Control

Summer sat on the dock, her arms wrapped around her knees as she looked over the lake, wondering how she had ended up there.

She could feel the subtle drops of rain beginning to fall on her head. She wondered whether the weather seemed to watch over her, waiting for the bad days to strike before pouring down upon her. It was as if the droplets were reminding her that in her darkest moment, nature empathised with her.

Summer hugged her knees closer to her body before she wiped away her long, dark-cherry hair from her eyes. Looking down at her hand, she glanced at the dirt and rubble etched into her skin. Feeling that same rubble across her cheek, she tried to use the back of her hand to remove it.

But there was no use. It was on there now, a physical reminder of what she had done.

She took another breath and looked over the lake. Her eyes, an almost green hazel, were focused on the little droplets scattered across the body of water. It was almost hypnotising to the young woman, allowing her mind to wander away from her previous struggles. It was as if everything that had happened in the last half an hour had happened to someone else.

Someone else with superpowers.

Summer took another breath in before a subtle frown appeared on her face. Her therapist had told her to breathe in when she struggled. At this, she scoffed, wondering how many people she had seen with the power to manipulate sound waves. Her breathing had never been a problem after years of learning to control her abilities.

It was something much more sinister.

Summer closed her eyes as she felt her fists shaking once again. The frustration felt like a growing bubble inside her. She wanted nothing more but to scream, but even that had consequences that the others could not imagine. Her natural response could hurt others, potentially even kill them.

But it was killing her.

She felt a tear run down her cheek, instantly hidden from the rain pouring from the sky. She tried to channel her anger and frustration into that tear, hoping that it would simply leak out of her. But after a few minutes, she felt it return inside of her. It was a part of her. It had always been.

Summer felt something tugging on her sleeve. Dragged back to her reality and the consequences shortly behind, she stared at a young boy with short hair. His eyes, a deep blue, were locked with hers. At first, Summer felt judgement coming washing over her. She was so used to seeing the judgement of everyone around her that it was hard for her to see anything else.

But then, after a few seconds, her gaze softened as she realised that the child was giving her a look of curiosity. Summer was stunned before she watched the child hold out its hand. Wiping away the tears that had begun to well up in her eyes, Summer reached out and took hold of the flower as she glanced over it.

It was a Sunflower, more petite than she had seen before but just as beautiful. She looked over each of the petals, allowing the back of her finger to graze against it. Feeling a smile begin to force its way upon her face, she looked back at the young boy, who was now pointing to something just above her heart.

Looking down, Summer smiled at the emblem threaded into her leather jacket. The one that many people in the city had come to recognise. The Growing Sun had been coined by some journalist looking to make his mark in the news. She had ignored it for many months, simply wanting to do some good with her abilities. But over time, she had grown to accept the name, even cherishing it when the name had been cheered by others. It had become a part of her identity.

Nodding her head in thanks, she took another breath before turning around. At once, the sound of the world came back to her. Sirens and screams stacked ups each other. At the front, police had cordoned off the dock. Crowds of civilians and news crews had gathered to see what had happened. Summer looked at the security, all of which were pointing weapons at her. Beyond them, Summer could see a crying woman trying to push through the blockade. Summer could tell that the boy's mother, scared for her child, had managed to wander past the blockade to see his favourite superhero.

Looking down at the fearless child before her, being able to brave the noise and the uncertainty, she allowed that smile to come more naturally. Nodding her head in a word of thanks, she motioned for the boy to return to his mother. As he turned and ran back over to his mother, Summer pocketed the flower before she stood up.

Hearing the click of every rifle in the area, Summer looked down at her unclenched hand before her eyes returned to the police. She knew that within seconds she could dismantle their weapons with sonic vibrations. She could even fine-tune her sound manipulation to heat their blood and make them burn from the inside.

But then she thought of the young boy, and suddenly the thought of innocent casualties began to overwhelm her. Shaking her head ever so softly, Summer focused on her abilities as she began to rise into the air. The crowd gasped once again as she rose higher and higher. Orders for her to come down and surrender were soon lost to the wind. Summer was not worried; the police knew that their weapons would not affect her. By the time the bullets reached her, they would be nothing more than particles in the wind.

Focusing on the horizon, Summer breathed a sigh as she began floating through the towering apartment buildings. Her eyes were focused on a single building with a large hole carved out. As Summer recalled, when she had put a hole in the place, they called home with splintered drywall, and leaking pipes surrounded the blast radius.

Landing amongst the rubble, Summer focused on the outline of her handiwork and not the man sitting in the chair cradling his head in his hand. He appeared to have several cuts and bruises over his body, and his clothes were slightly torn and covered in dirt. However, despite his dishevelled appearance, the man seemed relatively calm.

Taking a few steps forward, Summer found the words caught in her throat. With each step she took, moments of the argument were illuminated within her memories. The initial confrontation, the fury from the fight, the loss of control of her powers and the shame before she fled from her destruction.

As she grew closer, the man raised his head to face her. He had many minor cuts across his bald head, but his brown eyes were red from the current tears staining his cheek. Looking at the defeated man before her, she had to fight back, her sadness slowly rising inside her.

“Bruce, I’m so-”

“It was my fault.”

Summer stopped in her place, watching as her husband slowly raised from his seat, taking a few steps forward before collapsing in her arms. She could feel his tears staining her shoulder.

At first stunned, Summer wrapped her hands around him and held him in the embrace, “I’m pretty sure you didn’t blast a hole into our home.”

“I kept pushing you. I shouldn’t have.” His voice quivered.

“I shouldn’t have brought it up in the first place.” Summer retorted.

“Well, I-”

“We’re both at fault," Summer concluded as Bruce fell silent, eventually nodding his head into her shoulder.

Summer could barely feel the wind against her back or the sirens coming from below. All she could feel was the subtle shakes in his head before they broke the embrace, looking at each other as their reasons for shouting at one another seemed to disappear into the air. Nothing mattered except the love they had for each other.

“I know it’s been hard, and I know I…we…." Bruce corrected as Summer caught a glimpse of the look she was giving him from the reflection in his eyes, “…but I also know that there isn’t a single place I’d rather be.”

“Right here? In the rubble of our home?” Summer raised an eyebrow.

“We can always rebuild or look for another place. What’s important is what we have here right now. I don’t ever want to lose that. I know there are things that I'm still learning. Maybe I'll never learn everything. But I promised you that I would never stop trying. I intend to keep that promise.”

Summer was speechless. Also, she could muster a nod of her head before she embraced her husband once again, happy that he was there and always there. As much as they drove each other crazy, nobody else understood them. They were open books only to each other.

Summer chuckled after a while, causing Bruce to raise an eyebrow as she said, “What are we going to do about this place.”

“I’ll file an insurance claim tomorrow. I’ll tell them I was cooking bacon again, and I left the gas on.”

Summer laughed as she shook her head, “You can’t keep using that excuse.”

Bruce shrugged as a smile crept over his face, “Well, maybe this is the excuse we need to finally move out into the country.”

“And get all those rescue dogs?” Summer asked wide-eyed.

Bruce laughed and nodded his head before embracing Summer. Feeling his body against hers, the Growing Sun melted into the hug, resting her head on his shoulder as she clutched the chaos around her.

She realised there was no place she would rather be.