It was a beautiful day in the park. The sun was warm on our shoulders. There were clouds in the sky, but no chance of rain. People flew kites. Kids played with dogs. Someone pushed a pram around the lake. A couple sat on a park bench holding hands.
But we were there for entirely different reasons; we wanted to see if I had superpowers. A day had passed since our aborted rescue of the kids from Ravana's lair. Dan had climbed out of bed embarrassed, though grateful to be alive. Brodie looked stressed but determined. She took charge, ordering us big breakfasts from room service, which we ate like starving people. Finally, Brodie told us to shower because we had a lot of work to do.
'Like what?' Dan asked.
'We're taking a drive to a park,' she said. 'To test Axel's powers.'
Three hours later, we were in a large parkland area on the outskirts of the city. After wandering around, we finally found a secluded patch surrounded by trees. A rock, about the size of a football, sat in the middle. It looked like the perfect target upon which to practice. We sat around it in a tight circle.
'Try moving the rock,' Brodie suggested. 'Focus on it. Get a sense of its size, weight, and dimensions.'
'Okay,' I said.
'Now try to lift it.'
I stared at the rock, willing it to rise up off the ground. I imagined myself under it, lifting it off the grass, into the air, and high above the trees. Unfortunately, it did nothing, and just sat there like a rock.
'Really focus on it, Axel,' Dan said.
'I am.'
'Imagine you're surrounding the rock. Trying to lift it.'
'Yeah, I am.'
'You're making it rise—'
'Yep,' I said, getting annoyed. 'That's what I'm trying to do.'
'Be the rock,' Dan urged, his eyes wide. 'Be the rock.'
'I am a rock,' I told him, frustrated. 'I'm lumpy and bored, and nothing's happening. It won't move.'
'You need to concentrate on it longer,' Brodie said. 'Really get into it.'
Get into it? How do you get into a rock?
'This makes no sense,' I complained. 'Why do I need to focus now? Last night I could deflect bullets with ease.'
Neither of them had an answer.
'Maybe you need a smaller rock,' Dan suggested.
'Maybe.'
My eyes searched the field for a smaller boulder, but instead, I found myself staring at the sky. The weather was changing again. More rain was on the way. The breeze was tossing the trees around more ferociously with every passing second. I focused on one of the trees. If I could make the branches stop moving—
They stopped.
It was an eerie sensation. All the other trees were still moving in the wind. My tree was stationary. In fact, the longer I looked at it, the more I could see a kind of cocoon around the branches, like a transparent bubble surrounding them.
I pointed. 'Can you see that?' I asked.
They couldn't see the cocoon, but they could see the branches weren't moving.
'How are you doing it?' Dan asked.
I let out a deep breath. 'I don't know,' I said. 'I was looking at the branches and sort of willed them to stop moving.'
'And they did,' Brodie said.
I nodded.
'Try lifting the stone now,' Dan said.
I gave it another attempt, but it still wouldn't move. I even tried lifting it with my hands to make sure it wasn't cemented into the ground. No. It was just a plain ordinary uncooperative rock. Holding it tightly, I focused on the rock until my head hurt, and still—nothing.
Brodie frowned. 'Axel,' she said. 'I've got an idea. Try the trees again. Make the branches move.'
'That's right,' Dan said, nodding. 'You could be a new type of superhero. You might be Tree-man.'
'Tree-man?' I repeated.
I hoped not. Dropping the rock, I turned my attention to the trees again, this time focusing on making the branches move. I was on a roll now, and I didn't want it to stop.
Except it did. The trees ignored me completely. They moved in the breeze, but no different to any other trees around them. 'Okay,' I said, sighing. 'This is no fun.'
Come on, I thought. Just move in the breeze.
Wait a minute.
This time I focused on the wind in the branches, and the effect was instantaneous. The branches pushed away from us, gently at first, but then I concentrated harder. This time, boughs cracked and broke, and branches snapped free and flew out of sight.
'Holy—' Dan begins.
'It's the air!' I said. 'I can control air!'
I turned back to the rock. This time I didn't think about moving the rock; I focused on making the air do the work. The boulder trembled, shook, and lifted off the ground. A final mental push sent it flying at high speed into the nearby bushes.
'That's amazing,' Brodie said, thoughtfully. 'Air is powerful. Think of hurricanes. Tornados. They can slam pieces of straw into timber like nails.'
'And knock down houses,' Dan said. 'Flatten towns.'
'And lift things,' I said. 'They can make things airborne. Carry things away.'
'You're not thinking…' Brodie's voice trailed away to nothing.
I gathered the air around me.
A moment later, I was flying.