[ WP ] - A old man tells the story of his superpower , and the reason he never used it .

I learned at a young age that I was gifted. I'm not talking the good grades kind of gifted either; I'm talking super gifted. I was 7 when I first learned of my gift, or, at least, that's the first time I can remember using my gift. My momma was sick with something special that a doctor could n't fix. I remember my paw took to drinking'cause, at the time, we was gon' lose her. He could n't cope. How could he? I remember sitting at the edge of the bed looking at momma. She was sleeping. Her breathing was funny, kind of shaky. I remember feeling scared, the kind of scared that makes you angry. I was full of fear and I did n't know what to do. I could n't lose my momma, I mean she was my momma! No boy ever deserves to lose his momma, and I was n't'bout to lose mine. I leaned over the bed, placed my hand on her head and began to breathe. I did n't know what I was doing, but it felt natural, instinctive really. I could feel a power surge through me. It was like a shot of adrenaline soared through my body and into momma's! She jolted like she had been hooked up to one of them medical boxes, the ones where the doc says `` clear!'' She was alive, and not only was she alive but now she was healthy. It was like she had been reborn. A pure soul put on this earth with no malice inside. Whatever I did to her, it saved her. But, whatever I did to her also drained me. It was like that time I had fallen out of that tree and landed square on my back. Pain was all up my body, almost like death himself was giving me a bear hug and did n't want to let go. I had never been in so much pain. I learned I had a power to save people. I was scared of the draw backs. But any time my momma got sick, I was there to make her better. And every time I did the pain got worse and worse. Every time I saved her I was that much closer to meeting my maker. It grew closer and closer until one day I got a call from Paw. Momma died in her sleep. There was no signs of illness, nothing out of the ordinary. She just passed on... gently in her sleep. I never used my gift after that. Not because of the pain that came with it, but because there was no one else left I needed to save. I only ever want momma safe, and I did that. But even with this gift I learned that sometimes you ca n't escape death. Sometimes it's your time and you ca n't be saved. I saved momma for as long as I could, that's all I needed.
