The Ups and Downs of Being Super

by Katrina Kahler

  “What can I get for you kids, now?” Mr. T asked.

  “I’ll have another shake, a triple burger and a mega order of fries.” I grinned.

  Mr. T smiled. “Long practice or are you excited because Starlight City now has a superhero?”

  “A little of both,” I replied.

  “I’ll just have fries and onion rings,” Jason said. “Don’t want to ruin my dinner.”

  “Chilly dog for me with extra onions!” Tim beamed. “I’m starving as well.”

  Mr. T. smiled. “I guess you don’t have a date tonight.”

  “If he keeps eating like that he’s never going to have a date!” Jason chuckled.

  Mr. T. turned to Krista. “And for you?”

  “Just a salad and a glass of water,” Krista said. “I need to watch the calories.”

  Mr. T. took our order and walked off.

  I turned to Krista. “Krista, your weight is fine. You look great!”

  Krista looked away from me. “Yeah well, I felt a little slow on the field today. Watching you, I was in awe. You moved so fast like you were a totally different speed to me.” She sighed. “Maybe Wendi’s right. Maybe I do need to shed a few pounds.”

  Now, this was a side-effect of being super that I hadn’t thought about. I hadn’t considered that my performance might make my friends feel bad. Wow, this super stuff could be super complicated. I put my hand on Krista’s shoulder and looked her in the eyes. “Krista, you’re perfect just how you are!”

  “Do you two need to get a room?” Tim kidded.

  I shot Tim a look. He dropped back in his seat. “Sorry, bad time to make a joke.” He gulped. He looked at Krista. “But she’s right, you know. You look good.”

  Jason nodded in agreement. “Yeah, Krista, Wendi is just jealous of you, cause you’re so naturally pretty.”

  Krista smiled, her face blushed a deep shade of pink. “Thanks, guys… you guys are the best friends a girl could have.”

  “Want to share my fries?” I asked.

  “Deal!” she replied, the broad smile returning to her face.

  A few minutes later, the food arrived at our table. Never had food that smelled or looked so good. I guess it was due to my new super senses. Plus, my stomach hadn’t stopped quietly rumbling. I could see that using my super strength was demanding. I dove into the food, eating as fast as I could, while still trying to have some manners.

  “I’m impressed,” Tim said, watching me eat a triple-decker hamburger in a few bites.

  “I’ve never seen you eat like this.” Jason frowned, a curious expression on his face. “And I’ve known you forever.”

  “Must be low blood sugar from practice!” I told him. I picked up the shake. My instinct was to guzzle it down in one gulp. But I had to fight that instinct back. Instead, I took a small sip. My taste buds jumped for joy, and it took all my willpower to put the shake back down on the table. Breathe in between bites and gulps, I reminded myself. Being super doesn’t mean being a super hog. My stomach still craved more food. I had an urge to open my mouth and eat all the fries with one gulp. But no, I could control this. I had to control this.

  Reaching over, I grabbed one fry only and popped it into my mouth. I savored the flavor and the texture. Sure, I was hungry but no need to rush into quenching this hunger. I was a Strong woman mentally and physically. I finished my snack at a leisurely pace, enjoying both my friends and my food.

  Yes, I could do this super thing. At least I was pretty sure I could do this super thing. I just needed to be careful. I could be careful. All I had to remember was to breathe and think before I leaped.

  Cat in tree…

  After our rest stop at Mr. T.’s, Jason and I walked home. By then, Jason was practically bursting at the seams.

  “Too bad you missed that supergirl! She was awesome!” He was shaking his head in amazement.

  I nodded. “I’m sure she was…but why are you so happy about it?”

  Jason stopped walking and looked at me. “I thought you knew me better than anybody.”

  “I thought so too,” I said. I stopped to think for a moment. My eyes popped. “Oh, you’re happy that Starlight City has a superhero just like in the comics!” I replied quickly.

  Jason grinned. “Yep! It’s so good! The way she took care of those three Hanson Brothers like that. Wow! My dad tells me those Hansons are nasty dudes.”

  “Can’t imagine your dad saying, dudes,” I said in return.

  Jason shook his head. “Well no, not in those exact words. But they are bad guys! Bad to the bone, he says. He also says they’re not to be messed with. According to him, they aren't very bright, but that makes them even more dangerous.”

  “Yeah, I can see that,” I nodded in agreement. That was something that had stood out clearly.

  “But here’s the amazing thing. This girl, this super strong girl, took them out like they were nothing. And she ripped the doors off the car like they were toy doors.”

  “Well remember, Wendi thinks this is all some sort of reality show trick or a commercial.” I looked at him, trying to be convincing.

  Jason shook his head again. “Nope. No way my dad would be involved with anything like that. This girl is legit!” He looked up into space. “I wonder if she has a boyfriend?”

  I nudged him (extra gently) to move forward. “Come on, let’s get home.”

  “Yeah okay,” he said, moving again. “Why would a girl like that ever be interested in me anyhow?”

  “Because you’re smart and caring!” I answered sincerely.

  He smiled at me. “Thanks. But smart and caring isn’t cool. How about way, way handsome?”

  I shrugged. “You’re okay. Though you may want to work on your modesty some,” I teased.

  Before Jason could say another word, I heard a muffled sobbing from across the street. Turning towards the sound, I saw our little neighbor, a cute blond seven-year-old, named Felipe, sitting on his porch steps crying. I pointed him out to Jason.

  “Now that’s not normal. Felipe’s the happiest kid I know!” Jason said, a look of concern crossing his face.

  I started across the street. “Come on, let’s go see what’s wrong.” Hearing Felipe sobbing like that broke my heart. I had to fight back the urge to move at super speed to see what was bothering him so much.

  Felipe saw us coming and wiped his tears. He didn’t want us to know that he’d been crying. I guess boys are macho from a really early age.

  “What’s going on Felipe?” I asked, bending down to him.

  He glanced at me and shook his head. I gave him an encouraging smile, and he spoke. “I’m worried.” His sad face was streaked with tears.

  “About what?” Jason asked.

  Without taking his tear soaked eyes off us, he pointed to a big oak tree in the yard. “My cat, Bella is stuck up in the tree. Way up in the tree. And she’s too scared to come down. My mom called the fire department, but they can't come yet. I'm so scared she’ll fall before they get here.”

  Jason smiled and tried to comfort him. “Don’t worry, Felipe. Cats hardly ever fall, and even if they do, they land on their feet.”

  “Yeah, but hardly ever isn’t never,” Felipe said. “Plus, landing on their feet doesn’t mean it wouldn’t really hurt!” he added. Felipe was a sharp kid. I had to admit that he had a point.

  Looking over at the tree, I noticed it was big and thick and covered with leaves. The tree had to be over a hundred years old. Using my supervision to zero in, I saw Bella the cat, sitting on one of the upper outer branches. How had she managed to get herself way up there? I probably could have leaped up to grab her but no way I could do that without giving myself away.

  Part of me wanted to wait and let the fire department handle it. But a bigger part of me said that helping a crying seven-year-old was just as important as stopping a gang of crazy robbers. This might have even been more important. I mean, come on, what’s better than making a little kid happy?

  I starte
d walking towards the tree. “Don’t worry, Felipe, I will get the cat down for you!” I said confidently.

  “You will?” Felipe and Jason both said at once. I’m not sure which one of them sounded more amazed.

  Felipe stood up to follow me. Jason followed Felipe.

  “How?” Felipe asked.

  “Yeah, how?” Jason asked.

  I reached the base of the tree and looked up. “I’ve been studying trees….” I said.

  “You have?” Felipe asked.

  “When?” Jason added.

  I looked at both boys. “I like to read about different things on the internet sometimes. Usually on my phone,” I replied vaguely.

  “Oh, she means when she’s in the bathroom, trying to get out of class!” Felipe concluded.

  Yep, like I said, Felipe was a sharp kid.

  Jason looked up, shading his eyes from the sun. “That cat has to be at least twenty feet up. How are you going to get her down?”

  Putting my hand on the tree, I told them both. "It's a little-known fact that if you hit a tree in the right spot, the tree will vibrate just enough to shake its branches. I can make the branches shake, so Bella drops from the tree.”

  Felipe gulped.

  I touched Felipe gently on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, when she drops I’ll catch her before she hits the ground. She’ll be fine, I promise!”

  Jason stood there, arms crossed, eyes squinting. “So you’re going to make a giant tree shake and then catch a falling cat?” His eyebrows were raised in disbelief.

  “Yep,” I answered.

  He leaned in and whispered to me. “You know, even if you somehow manage to shake a big, thick, sturdy tree like this, it would still be tough to catch a falling cat from that height.”

  I nodded. “Don’t worry I can do this,” I assured him.

  “You do realize that even if you manage to catch this cat, this cat is going to be very scared and lash out with its sharp claws!”

  I nodded again. “I’m aware of that.” I looked at Felipe’s hopeful face. “But it’s a risk I am willing to take.”

  Jason stared at me for a moment or two. He sighed. “If you actually think you can do this then I believe you. What can I do to help?”

  “You and Felipe stand back by the house, so I have room to move,” I replied.

  “Okay,” Jason agreed. He hesitated for a moment before ushering Felipe back to the porch.

  I looked at the tree. I looked up at Bella. I knew shaking the tree wouldn't be the problem. The trick would be rocking the tree just enough so I didn't knock the tree out of its roots. Plus, I wanted Bella to drop but not go flying. This would take some knowledge of physics and a lot of luck.

  I slowly approached the tree. I looked up at Bella. Yes, she was still way up there. I peeked back over my shoulder at Felipe and Jason. Felipe was biting his nails, and Jason had his arm around him. That was sweet. I told myself to concentrate. I could do this. I just worried that hitting the tree would cause a lot of damage. Then, like a lightning bolt, the answer flashed into my head. I didn’t need to hit this tree. I just needed to puff a bit of super breath upwards, into the tree. I could direct that force much more easily.

  First, I puffed a breath into my hand, just to make sure I didn’t have super bad breath. After all, I wanted to knock Bella from the tree, not knock her dead. My breath smelled of salt and French fries. I smirked. No way that would be dangerous.

  Next, I put on the show for Jason and Felipe. I very, very gently tapped the tree while looking upwards. But then I inhaled and then exhaled up towards Bella. The force of my breath knocked some leaves flying and jarred a surprised Bella up and over the tree. She went flying towards the house, paws clawing away in fear and shock.

  I shot past the tree, hoping Felipe and Jason were paying more attention to the now flying cat, rather than me. Positioning myself between the tree and the house, I stood right beneath the falling Bella. Reaching up, I caught Bella with two hands. I breathed in, making sure I closed my hands softly. Bella scratched and clawed through my clothes. I couldn’t blame her; she was scared and in shock. I cradled her in my arms.

  “Calm down, Bella,” I whispered. “You’re fine now.”

  Bella suddenly stopped struggling. She started to purr. Nestling her head under my arm, she fell asleep with what appeared to be a contented smile on her face. She then began to snore.

  Jason and Felipe rushed over to me.

  “Thank you! Thank you!” Felipe said, hugging me.

  “It was nothing, I told him.” I handed him his sleeping cat. “I guess the experience tired her out. She’ll be fine in a couple of hours!”

  “Thank you! Thank you so much!” Felipe repeated. “I’d better get Bella back into her bed, so she’s nice and safe.” He turned and headed into his house, happily humming all the way.

  “That was amazing!” Jason said with an astonished look on his face.

  “Ah, it was nothing,” I insisted.

  The Big Reveal…

  Jason looked at me, his face flushed with color. I could hear his heart racing. “Seriously! That was incredible!”

  I shrugged. “Ah, just luck…”

  Jason shook his head in denial. “No way! Those were some crazy skills. How the heck did you know that about trees? And how in the multiverse did you catch a falling cat?” Jason noticed my sleeves had rips in them from Bella’s claws. “Oh, that had to really hurt.”

  He reached for my arm. Without thinking, I let him check it. He rolled back my ragged sleeve. It felt so nice to have Jason care about me like this. “Your sleeves are ripped to shreds…”

  “Yep, cat claws will do that,” I said proudly, still not getting it.

  “But…but…your arms… they’re perfectly smooth. Not a cut or scratch on them!”

  That’s when I got it. I pulled my arm quickly away. “Just lucky again, I guess.” My heart was hammering. Did he suspect something?

  Jason’s mouth dropped open. “OMG!”

  “OMG, what?” I coaxed, my stomach churning anxiously.

  “You are her!” Jason said, his face a mask of shock.

  “Her who?”

  Jason pointed at me and started ambling backward. Not out of fear, but out of amazement. “You’re the super strong girl!”

  I laughed. “Don’t be so silly!”

  Jason kept walking backward and going over the events in his mind. “It all makes sense…first, you have the amazing lacrosse practice, Lori plows into you and gets annihilated. Then you disappear when the supergirl comes out… you come back when she disappears…then you eat a super amount of food.” He was piecing it all together, one event at a time. This was not supposed to happen!

  “Jason, you're ridiculous," I giggled nervously. "You've been reading too many comics!”

  He stopped walking and stood stock still in the middle of the road, locked in thought. “My best friend is super!” he exclaimed loudly. “This is soo cool.”

  I shook my head. “Jason, I wish I was super, but I'm not...” Before I could complete the sentence, I spotted a car speeding down the road directly in Jason’s path.

  The driver, a kid not much older than Jason and I, had his eyes downcast, probably looking at his phone rather than the road. No way could I let Jason pay for the driver’s mistake.

  Suddenly, Jason heard the car rushing towards him. He turned to the car and froze in his tracks. I leaped through the air and landed between Jason and the oncoming car. I held Jason back with my left arm and extended my right towards the speeding vehicle. By then the driver had seen us and jammed on the brakes. The car started skidding to a stop, but it was still going way too fast. I leaned forward with my right arm and jammed it into the hood of the car, forcing the car to a dead stop. The airbag popped out. My hand left an impression in the hood of the car. The car attempted to push forward, but I didn't allow it to budge.

  “Put the car in park!” I ordered the driver, who stared at me, his mouth open wide in ter
ror.

  I felt the car stop trying to resist me.

  I then reached over and pulled the handprint impression out of the metal of the car. All the while, Jason stood there, stunned with disbelief. “Jason get across the street!” I told him, my voice full of authority.

  “Right!” he said, and without hesitating, did as he was told.

  I walked up to the driver. He sat there rigid and speechless. The airbag had deflated, but he didn't move an inch. He looked up at me. “I…I don’t know what happened…. I just looked away for a second…”

  “Yeah, that was way dangerous!” I told him.

  He lowered his head. “I know. I’ll never look at my phone while I’m driving again.” He shivered with fear. His face was ghostly white. “Are you two alright?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, we got lucky!”

  The kid shook his head. “I have no idea how I ever stopped the car in time. You sure you guys are okay?”

  “Yes, we’re fine,” I nodded.

  “Wonder why the airbag went off?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “Probably just some sort of safety precaution.”

  He frowned with confusion and then agreed, “Yes, probably a safety precaution!”

  “We won’t tell anybody this happened if you don’t tell anybody this happened.” I stared directly at him.

  He looked up at me, his face filling with relief. “Believe me…I don’t want anybody to know I screwed up like this. My parents would have a massive fit!”

  “You promise you’ll keep your eyes on the road from now on?” I asked. I made it sound like a question, but it was more of an order.

  He nodded. “Oh, I do promise! I never ever want to be scared like that again.”

  I trusted him. I had certainly made an impression. “Okay, just be careful. There are a lot of small kids in this neighborhood!”

  “Right, got it!” he agreed, nodding his head, his face still a pasty white.

  He waited for me to join Jason on the other side of the street. Then he started up the car and drove off, giving us both a small wave.