Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 62262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62262 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 311(@200wpm)___ 249(@250wpm)___ 208(@300wpm)
“You sure I won’t bug you if I’m in there?”
“It’ll be fine.”
“Awesome. I’ll be right back with the food. Any requests for your burrito?”
“I’d like mine with brown rice and black beans, if that’s an option. Mild salsa. No sour cream or cheese. Extra veggies, if they have any.” He looked like he was fighting the urge to criticize my order. I started to pull my wallet from my back pocket as I asked, “Will ten dollars cover it?”
“I’ve got this.”
“You don’t have to.”
“I know. I want to.”
“But—”
He cut me off with, “Just let me do something nice for you, Anderson. Geez.”
“Okay, fine.”
He accompanied me to the office and tossed what he’d been reading onto the small, brown sofa before grabbing his denim jacket. After he left to get dinner, curiosity compelled me to pick up the report and scan the synopsis.
It turned out to be a twenty-year-old collection of case studies on individuals whose powers manifested later in life, instead of appearing during puberty, which was most common. Given what he’d told me about his lack of powers despite having a superhero parent, I could see why he’d be interested in that.
Sam returned about twenty minutes later with two burritos that were thicker than my arm. As he handed mine over, he asked, “Are you on a diet?”
“No. I just try to eat healthy.”
“Same. But what’s life without extra cheese?” I didn’t have an answer for that.
I only made it through about a third of the burrito before admitting defeat. After wrapping up the leftovers, I gestured at the document beside Sam and asked, “Interesting report?”
“Kind of.”
“Are you wondering if you still might manifest powers at some point?”
He looked up at me with a spark of amusement in his blue-green eyes. “So, you took a peek at my reading material while I was gone.”
“I was curious.”
Sam wiped his mouth with a paper napkin and sat back. “I’m reading this because it’s educational, not because I’m hoping my powers magically appear one day.”
“It is technically possible, though. You obviously have the genetic predisposition for it, since your mom was a superhero. There are documented cases of powers emerging later in life, usually because they were triggered by some sort of traumatic event.”
“Right, but even if I did have dormant powers, who’s to say they’d be any good? I’m not going to chuck myself off a cliff, just to find out I have the power to shrink my head to the size of a peanut or some shit.”
“What if it was something great though, like flight? Not that I’m advocating throwing yourself off a cliff.”
“It doesn’t matter. I wanted powers desperately when I was in my teens, but I’m thirty-one now. After all these years, I’ve learned to accept that this is all I’m ever going to be.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being a regular guy. Besides, a lot of powers are absolute shit.”
“You never did tell me what you can do,” Sam said, “but that sounds like you’re speaking from experience.”
“I have the power to summon animals.”
“That’s so cool!”
“It really isn’t.”
“Sure it is. I’d give anything to talk to animals!”
“I can’t talk to them. All I can do is call them to me. Once they arrive, they run amok and do whatever they want.”
He still looked fascinated. “You’re calling them, though. It’s like talking to them.”
“Not exactly. It’s more like emitting a signal only they can hear.”
“Does it work on all types of animals?”
“As far as I know.”
“Cats and dogs?”
“Definitely.”
“Insects?”
“No, thank god.”
Sam and I both shuddered. “Yeah, that’d be super gross,” he said. “So, just land mammals, or sea mammals, too?”
I frowned at that. “I don’t know. I’ve never gone to the beach and tried to get attacked by sea lions.”
“Oh yeah, don’t do that. Those things weigh a ton, and they’d squish you. Does it work on fish?”
“No idea.”
“Birds?”
“Sadly, yes.”
“Do you get to pick what you call, or do all the animals who hear your literal bat signal come running?”
“I have to have a specific type of animal in mind. The other day, I was out for an early morning run and happened to catch a glimpse of a raccoon off in the distance. I had no intention of calling it, but somehow, I triggered my power by accident. Next thing I knew, every raccoon within several square blocks came running. It was all I could do to stay ahead of them.”
He raised a brow. “What would’ve happened if they’d caught up to you?”
“They would have climbed all over me, looking for whatever it was they thought I was offering them.”
“Is it like, a mating thing? Do you release a scent, or a pheromone?”
“No! Gross.”
“What’s your range?”
“My range?”
“Yeah, can you attract animals that are a mile away?”
“I have no idea, and again, I’m not attracting them. I’m calling them. There’s a difference.”