Powers

Intro

There were special children in the world. Ones who got shunned, who were often locked up in basements because the normal people are scared of us. Why, I never understood, after all, most of our powers were gentle. And yet, we were cast outs. Sent off to a remote corner of the world "just incase we'd hurt someone" but as far as I knew, I've never met one of us with a rotten mind. Prejudice had poisoned minds, from the peers of the world. Not all, but some. It made it nearly impossible for us to grow up with a normal life without being caught.
However, from the moment we are born, we are known. Unless, of course, our parents would dye our hair. Hair would sprout from our heads in the colours coordinated with our powers. But not one power was exactly the same. Not one was based around the same logic. Which made us so feared.
I was born with green hair. Plants were my gift. I could sprout trees from my hands from the time I was two. My parents kept me hidden well. My hair always was dyed a dirty blond. We were never supposed to cut our hair. It was the source of our powers. As a child, I wanted people to know who I was. A few times, I nearly outed who I was.
"Look what I can do" I had smiled to my best friend. I put my stubby little finger to the ground, growing a nearly seven foot tree before our eyes. A spruce tree because they are my favourite.
"Jack, stop! You'll get in trouble! My mommy told me about people like you, you'll be taken away. I can't let you be taken away!" She screamed. She grabbed my hands, forcing them away from the ground and into my chest.
"Okay" I agreed. I didn't want to get taken away from her. She was my best friend. That day I went home and took my daddy's shaver. I brought it around the bottom of my hair. It hurt the more I cut, but I didn't want it. I didn't want to be different. I cut and cut. The green burned through the dye, showing. I screamed, wanting it all to be gone. I shaved until all that was left was the green on top. Until my mom found me. A stupid little six year old standing in the bathroom with half his hair cut off. The hair that had one rule. Never cut.
"Sean!" She yelled. She rushed up to my side. She kneeled down, taking the shaver from my hands. She looked at my hair which had turned the dirty blond where it had been cut. "What did you do?" Tears filler her eyes. Watching her cry made me want to cry too.
"I don't wanna be different, mommy. I wanna be normal, so I don't have to be taken away" I cried.
"Oh sweetie, you're perfect the way you are! Who else could sprout me a bouquet of flowers from this floor right now, and say love you mommy? Certainly not anyone normal"
But I found out after I had cut my hair, my powers weren't the same. I couldn't grow a large tree on command, only one about my size. Anything large was impossible. Anytime I wanted to grow something, I needed to be touching something natural. I regretted cutting my hair since.
A month or so after, I had made another friend. His name was Mark. My momma invited him over. We played in the backyard.
"How do you have so many trees?" He asked. I shrugged.
"Momma buys a lot of them." I responded. With an absent mind, I accidentally wrapped my hand around one, growing a ring of branches where I had touched. I pulled my hand away, shocked. I looked at Mark, who seemed to be in the same mind set.
"You have powers too?" He screamed.
"Shush! No ones supposed to know!" I whisper yelled.
"Sorry! It's just, I have powers too!" He lifted his palms up, forming a fountain of water from them. It was pretty. "I can water your pretty trees" a smile stretched on his face. His chubby little cheeks puffed up in the cutest way I've ever seen.
"You're right" I kneeled down to touch the ground. Mark began watering the area I was about to touch. I poked the ground, then suddenly was pushed back. I slammed my eyes shut, fearful of what just happened.
"Whoah!" Mark exclaimed. I opened my eyes to see a tree at least fifty to sixty feet tall. I'd never made one that tall. Maybe he was the key to my faulty powers.
"Boys?" My momma cried out. Little had I known, our neighbour had saw us growing the tree.
The next week, we were on a bus, watching everything I had ever known shrink behind us. I only had Mark from that day on. Even if the island was pretty awesome, I still miss home, every single day.