Crystal Powers: A New Generation

Chapter 9 - Training Day

Max was sitting in his backyard, staring at the trees as the breeze flowed through the branches. He didn't really have anything else on his mind other than his powers. 

He had always felt a little out of place in comparison to his friends, both personality-wise and regarding his powers. He didn't feel like he really could contribute much, and he felt as though he was simply just...there. What can he even do with talking to animals? It's not like he could save the world by talking to fish.

Max took a deep breath before getting up. It was a sunny day, which meant that animals were going to be out and about. And since they were all going to be out, he knew that this was a good chance to practice his powers. 

He had developed them a while ago, maybe around last winter. It all started when he was just walking to school one day and he saw a dog running across the road, just as a car was coming by, obviously speeding down the road. 

Max panicked and ran to go help the dog. 

"Hey!" he shouted, getting the dog's attention. The dog quickly snapped its head to look at Max then ran with full force towards his direction. When the dog finally landed on the sidewalk, he was panting a little from the sudden running. 

Max got down onto his knees and let the dog sniff his hand before he pets the dog. 

"Now you have to be more careful, okay? Look both ways when you are crossing the street or else you might end up a goner!" Max said, petting the dog's head. 

The dog looked up at him, almost confused. 

"It's not my fault that a squirrel was running! I had to catch up with it!" the dog barked. 

This time, Max was the one that was confused. 

Ever since then, he had the ability to talk to animals of all different kinds. However, it wasn't like it came all the naturally. He had to focus on the animal in order to hear what it said. If he could just hear everything naturally, that would be chaos. 

So here he was, sitting in his backyard, waiting for an animal to come by. 

He was rather strange looking with his two scars on his face, which made him believe that animals were a little afraid to approach him. 

Just then, a bird flew right down next to the bird feeder, which happened to be close by to where Max was. 

Max smiled - this was his chance! He turned ever so cautiously so that he wouldn't scare the bird away. 

The bird was just a robin, but he thought that it was beautiful. 

He breathed in before he spoke, "I need some help." 

The robin looked up at him, "You're talking to me?" it asked.

"Yes, you, the robin that is sitting on our bird feeder," Max said. 

The robin positioned itself before looking at him, "This is rather strange. I've never once have understood what you people have been saying...are you special or something?" it asked again. 

"I do have an ability to talk to any animal, so I guess you can say that I am special...but just between you and me, I don't really feel that way," Max said, his voice fading out near the end. 

The bird twitched its head a little, almost as if to show emotion, "Don't put yourself down, you're plenty special if you can talk to a bird like me. Wasn't there something you needed help with?" said the bird. 

"Well, you see, I am supposed to be working on the powers that I have but I tend to scare animals off," he explained, pointing to the two lines that were on opposite sides of his face near his ears.