What’s the craziest thing that’s ever happened to you? Go on, close your eyes and think about it. Perhaps it was winning a few thousand dollars at the pokies. Maybe it was getting a huge promotion at work and following it overseas. Those are all nice-people crazy things. Respectable crazy. Regular crazy. Mine’s a little different. The craziest thing that’s ever happened to me was discovering I had superpowers while running for council elections.
I remember it like it was yesterday, because it was. I had just left Cherry Energy Solutions, a local business that has always supported my campaign efforts. I had a brilliant discussion with the team there about the benefits of solar power and how I could implement more clean, renewable energy in our area. I stepped out of the store and onto the footpath, turning back to throw up a wave at the team, when I heard the sound of skidding tyres. A scream. Time seemed to slow down as I whipped around, searching wildly for the source of the commotion only to spot a car that had veered off the road and was careening right towards me. There was no time to think, no time to do anything. As though on instinct, I flung my hand out. The car stopped.
In the stores around me, the commercial LED lighting flickered out. A dozen different phones lit up, their owners bewildered by the lack of notification that appeared on the screen. Even the occupants of the car stared at me from behind the windscreen, their eyes wide and their chests heaving with fear. I glanced down at my own hand. It was glowing. A circular orange swirled like the rings of Saturn beneath the surface of the skin on my right hand. When had it appeared? With a shaky finger, I reached out to touch it. It didn’t hurt. It wasn’t even hot. But when I went home, after I had laughed off the adrenaline for the sake of onlookers, and helped police clear the area, the swirl was still there.