[ WP ] The story of a man gaining superpowers and realizing he must use them for good ... at the age of 50 .

*Note, this turned out way longer than I planned and I* maybe *missed a class to finish it. Part two is posted in reply to this post! * 
 
 Every damn day, some peppy go-getter, Errol Flynn college boy approaches me. They always ask the same crap. *What advice do you have for someone about to hit the job market? Any wisdom for a business major? * 
 
 Kid, when you get to be my age, you learn that you are the exact same person you were when you were 22. The only difference is you finally realize whether you are a successful human being, or a bitter fart, like me. You do n't get smarter. You just learn to live with the shit way the world works. 
 
 For as long as I can remember, I've had issues with my mental health. Noting major, just the occasional severe migraine, sometimes I black out, sometimes I go on auto pilot. It was never an issue until the last two years. My wife had just left my ass. My kids decided they hated me. I started coasting, involuntarily, I might add, through my job reading meters. Which I was already in danger of losing to some collection of tin and silicon that apparently does my job better than I do. 
 
 Do n't get me wrong; I'm bitchin', but I do n't need pity. My condition has been afflicting me all my life. I am actually a pretty smart fella. I was a great writer in school. I could just never focus long enough to actually make a profit of my skill. Turns out readin' meters is about all I'm suited for. It only takes three seconds per site. 
 
 Heh. My wife always said I ramble. I got laid off a week ago. Made redundant. A cog that no longer fit in the machine. I do n't even remember the trip home. I do n't remember falling flat on my bed. I do n't remember any of it. I was on auto pilot. My mind was a dying animal, my head was a prison and my body was the euthanizing agent. 
 
 I had a dream. It was n't entirely a dream. I was n't awake and I was n't asleep. I was n't in our world. I was falling, *flying* in some other realm, soaring over endless deserts made of grains of time, and alien towers with impossible geometry. I was surrounded by a strange aura, a living shadow that encapsulated me. It was me and I was it. It lived in my head and outside my body. It was half my soul. It told me it had been there since the start of my life. It told me there were others like it, in both its world and mine. It showed me what I can only describe as a gem. It was of a both shape and colour that I can not possibly explain, nor could have existed. And then I understood everything. 
 
 I woke up. My head *ached* beyond belief, but with each breath I exhaled, the pain went away. Slowly, the anger and frustration and illness I had harboured forever had finally left my body. I felt amazing. It was terrifying. I was not used to feeling renewed and rejuvenated. *I feared this change. * 
 
 As the next few hours passed, I began to... *feel* something. Surrounding my body. The entity from my dream. The Living Shadow. It was me and I was it. It existed and it did not. It was a second consciousness that was not affected by time, nor space. 
 
 I soon discovered it was not *quite* affected by our laws of physics, either. It is taking getting used to, but I can... *I can control it*. I dare not say I am its master, but it seems satisfied to share my intentions. That is the only way I can explain it. It started the day after my dream. I reached to close a cupboard but before my arm had straightened, the cupboard slammed shut. The next time I noticed, I reached for my bottle of whiskey, but the glass had shattered before my hand was even close to reaching it. Over the next day or two, little instances like these kept occurring. 
 
 But finally, a voice in my mind, *my voice, * told me that I was still learning to use my body. Looking back it makes no sense at all, but at the time, I simply understood. I can only compare it to going 49 years without moving your legs only to finally try them out once you're 50. 
 
 I do n't consciously understand all this `` four dimensional being'' business, but I do know that this thing has essentially given me a new muscle. I ca n't explain it any other way than by saying *'' I can move shit with my mind. `` * It's not that simple though. It's not an interaction between my mind and the whiskey bottle. It's an interaction between my will and The Shadow's `` body''. I have to focus not my brainpower, like comic book telekinesis. I have to focus my new limb. Again, see 50 year old legless man analogy. 
 
 I'm getting more and more used to it. Yesterday, I played baseball in the park, at bat and outfield *at the same time*. Today, *I learn to fly. * It's not as hard as it sounds. The only difference between flying and grabbing the whiskey is that this time, I am the bottle. If you hold your body too loosely, you slip out of your own grip. Hold on too tight, and... well I am assuming you explode. 
 
 I start slow and easy. I take hold, and lift myself off the ground. *Slowly, * I say to myself. It is a strange sensation that I have never experienced. Usually, this small scale sort of flight is accompanied by the tight grip of someone's straining arms around your midsection. But right now, I feel serene. Weightless. I straighten my legs and point my arms, palms down, to the ground. I do n't know, it makes sense. It seems to work as I gain a bit of altitude. I do it again with a bit more force and I shot much higher. This is brilliant. Absolutely exhilarating. I decelerate and eventual touch gently to the ground with a sort of rough grace that can really only be experienced by an old timer who can fly. 
 
 I stand on the ground, staring at nothing really in particular. If there is one other thing I have noticed this past week, it is that my inner monologue is a lot more coherent and significant. In fact, it is more of a *dialogue*. Between me and The Shadow, but really it feels like I am the only one talking. It is strange to know yourself through someone else's mind. I wonder if The Shadow has it's own curiosity regarding me and my nature? I find it funny how much - and how little- I have changed. Duality is strange enough. *Discovering* your *own* duality - at age 50- is like being born again. 

