The Line of Fire

1 - Hazard

"I don't want a mate."

Shocked, Ms. Taylor scrambles for her clipboard, almost dropping it in her haste. Quickly, she scribbles down the first thing I've said in seventeen years, emerald eyes, wide and glistening.

"Wha...what makes you say...that?" She barely gets through her sentence, the shock still overriding her system. My mouth tilts upwards at her stutters. After years and years of blabbing onto me about her sons and her ex-husband, it's somewhat funny that she can't find the words to express herself now.

Throwing the worn alphabet block marked with an 'A' between my hands, I stare indifferently at the Rapunzel-length strand of crimson hair blocks the sight of my left eye. "I don't want a mother," I say next and this time, I explain. "A mother is a burden and an annoyance. They claim they know what's best for you; speech therapy, hospitalization. But in the end, they just need an excuse to distance themselves as far as possible from their child."

Ms. Taylor frowns at my statements even though I didn't mean it as any kind of offense towards her. I was sure she was an amazing mother to her own kids but I speak from my own experience. "And..." she seems hesitant to ask her next question and I'm certain I already know what it is.

"How does that make me feel?" Her mouth drops as if she can't believe that I've actually been listening to her for the past years. "I tune in from time to time. As for how it makes me feel, it makes me mad. Mad enough to do this." I can feel the transformation as my eyes change from pitch black to a fiery gold. Ms. Taylor stares at my outstretched palm with fascination, gazing almost longing at the electricity crackling between my fingers and the flames licking my fingers. As quickly as I start, I stop, retreating back into myself. Realizing this is the end of our conversation, Ms. Taylor slouches defeatedly.