The Journey Begins

It was a long walk down the hall, past the lockers, and out the door of their school, Chad seemingly in a daze, before Andy finally burst. “So are you going to make me play twenty questions or what?”

They went another block down the sidewalk, before Andy tried to pry it out of him again.

“You can trust me, you gotta tell me.”

Chad’s footsteps paused, glancing at his pal sheepishly.

“Promise not to laugh?”

Andy nodded. 

He took a deep breath, brandished a fist, and announced loudly: “I’m going to be a superhero!”

Deadpan stare. “A superhero? A super hero? You mean with powers and stuff?” He waited, but no punch line came. “You’re serious, aren’t you?” Brows furrowed, hand pressed to his forehead. “Yeeesh...” Then exclaimed with exasperation: “Don’t you realize how impossible that is?!?! Especially in this day and age…”

With a flourish, he motioned to the street of pedestrians passing to-and-fro, many using extraordinary abilities. Businessman carrying a suitcase, whose legs stretched past several cars. Friends flying home together, doing loop-de-loops to show off. Chad got his point. The world was full of powered people. What made him any different?

As they entered the restaurant and ordered, Andy pointed behind the counter. An aproned teen grilled patties from the flames flowing out of his hands. “See what powers gets you? A dead-end job at your favorite fast food joint. To make it BIG-time, you’ve got to show them something special.” Settling into their seats, Andy eyed him warily.

“You do have powers, don’t you?”

Chad smiled mischievously. Watching him eat fry after fry, Andy began to fidget.

 “Of course I have powers,” he finally said, swallowing a bite. “Born with ‘em, actually. But watch out, they can be a little bit… shocking!”