Unpowered

“Who the hell is distributing powers?! Did he just miss me or ignore me? Am I that small?! I accept I am not so tall but...”

“Aaaaaanishh! Help me move the fridge!” shouted Anish’s mother from downstairs.

“Coming!” replied Anish, frustrated.

I could have gotten a better power—not even a better power… just any power. I hope everyone in my class gets a worse one, Anish murmured on the way downstairs.

“What power did you get, little brother?” asked his elder sister in a sarcastic tone. “Licking your elbow?”

And here comes the good-for-nothing… thought Anish at the sight of his sister. “What did you get this year?”

“Night vision, like a cat.”

“Useless,” said Anish under his breath.

“What did you get?” asked his elder sister mischievously.

“Um... I

... yes, I um...”

“Anishhhhh!” called his mother again.

Both of the siblings hurried toward the kitchen. Anish helped his mother move the fridge. The entire time, he could not help thinking how perfect it would have been if he had just gotten super strength.

“And what power did you get?” asked his mother this time.

Anish could not stop himself from muttering, “Nothing.”

His sister chuckled. “I remember what power you got last year: throwing seeds using your palms. It would have been some power if you were able to throw some special seeds, but fortunately for me, they were completely normal seeds.”

Anish could not bear this humiliation anymore and walked away.

“How many plants were you able to grow?” his sister called after him, her tone incredibly annoying.

In his room, Anish found even looking out of the window difficult. He could see the neighbor’s kid playing in the yard with a fireball. In an hour or two, Sid would come over and ask him what power he got, and this year, he would have to give the same reply.

Sid is nice to me. We always have fun with his superpowers. I wonder when I will get mine, thought Anish sadly. Why does this happen to me each and every year? Is there something wrong with me?

Now Anish was literally shouting, though he failed to realize it.

“No, kid,” said a man standing right behind him.

Anish got totally frightened, crashed back onto his bed, and let out a scream. The man was wearing something around his eyes that closely resembled a terrifying mask. For a minute, Anish just stared at him with frightful eyes. Nobody said a word.

Suddenly, Anish’s mother hurried into the room. She asked in worry, “What made you scream, dear?”

“There is a man behind the door,” muffled Anish, stuffing his face into a pillow.

When his mother turned to see who was there, she found empty air. “Nobody is there, dear. I think you should rest a bit.”

When Anish pulled his face out of the pillow to take a look, he couldn’t see anyone either. He thought maybe his mom was right. But as soon as his mother left the room, the man became visible again.

This time, Anish was not surprised. He calmly warned, “YOU leave, or I will be forced to call the cops.”

“Try once,” replied the man.

“What do you want?”

“I don’t want anything for myself, kid. I have come here to tell you about your powers…”

“Have I any powers?!” replied Anish, getting interested at once.

Then, suddenly, the man disappeared. Anish could hear faint, crackling voices: “Oww, the projector! Mister, the projector’s lost its signal again!”

“What is happening here? Is this all a joke?” complained Anish to the empty room.

“Coming,” came a muffled voice from the other side, probably belonging to that mysterious man.

Then, the mystery man appeared once more. “Hey there, pleased to see you back.”

“What nonsense are you doing? Joking around, eh?” Anish snapped. “I know you are Rishav, trying to fool me again. Where have you hidden the projector?!”

“What are you talking about? Kid, I am Mr. Chrono. Mr. Chrono myself… hello! Wait!”

He could not even complete his sentence before Anish turned and left the room.

Anish grew more and more miserable as he lay on the living room floor, submerged in deep thought. He had almost dozed off when there was a sudden knock at the door.

Sid had come to visit.

In the blink of an eye, curiosity brought Anish to his feet. He sprinted to the door, opening it to find Sid standing there with a happy face.

Then, suddenly, Sid disappeared into thin air.

Anish immediately assumed that Sid had gotten the power of teleportation, but a moment later, Sid’s floating voice explained that he had actually gotten the power to turn invisible. Anish felt a pang of disappointment—he thought teleportation was way better than invisibility—but it was still better to have something rather than nothing.

The two boys were fooling around with the power in Anish’s room when, without warning, Anish fell to the floor. He began moaning in pain, violently grasping his own ears as if a deafeningly loud sound was tearing through his skull.

A second later, he fainted on the spot, completely lifeless.