So, I’ll start this little story off with when I realized I had “superpowers,” as I called them when I was a kid.

I was six years old. A cute six year old, I might add: I had about four and a half inches of blond hair, and the cutest dimples anyone’s ever seen. Back then, when light hit my eyes just right, they would look like a rainbow. My parents even thought about changing my name when they found out about this, but, much to my relief, they didn’t.

But I’m not flashing back nine years to tell you how cute I was. I’m flashing back to tell you about my parents, what happened, and when I got my powers. So, I’ll just cut to the chase.

It was the day of my Aunt Flower’s wedding. My parents were not happy with me right then. I had just come inside out lovely three-floor home with mud all over my pretty little purple sundress. My mom, Zelda, quickly changed me into a similar sundress, only this one had black and white flowers on it, while my dad, Miles, took the dirty dress and put it into the washer.

There were only four people left in het Smiles clan: My family, and Aunt Flower. Everyone else changed their names, moved, or died. But back then, it was just the three of us: Mom, Dad, and Riley. We were happy right where we were, and we didn’t want anybody to change that.

But that wasn’t out decision. On our way to the wedding, my parents got distracted. Dad took his eyes off the road, Mom stared at me as if I was a freak, and suddenly...Nothing. It was all black.
Apparently, I was knocked out by the hit, and when I came to, I was in the emergency room, with cuts, bruises, and a slightly fractured collarbone. A nurse- her name was Jade- was standing next to my bed, checking to make sure my heart was still beating. She saw my eyes open, and, with a smile, said, “Hi, sweetie. How ya feeling?”

I sat up as if nothing hurt-everything hurt- and said, “I...I don’t know.”

Jade put down the clipboard she held, and sat down on the chair next to the beeping machines. “Want to know what happened?” she asked.

I nodded, and she told me the story of what happened.

When my parents had gotten distracted, and turned to look at me, the car swerved towards the edge of the countryside that we had to drive through to get to my aunt’s wedding, and the car went flying off the edge. It hit a huge ledge, and killed my parents. I was lucky enough to be alive, and to only have minor injuries. But there was one thing that I was confused about.

“Who called the police?” I asked.

Jade shrugged. “They wouldn’t tell us there name, sweetie.”

Suddenly, a heavy thought popped into my mind. “Where am I going to go when I’ve recovered?”



Again, Jade shrugged. “I don’t know, honey. The doctors might contact the government and put you into child services.”



“But, I don’t want to live in child services. I want to live with you, Jade.” I said.



This obviously took her by surprise, because Jade looked at me as if I was covered in dirt. Then, she slowly started to smile. “I think we can arrange that, sweetie.”



So, after six weeks of recovery and therapy, Jade drove me back to my old home, where we collected about four suitcases of my things: Clothes, jewelry, toys, shoes, and dolls. My toys and dolls had to fit into one suitcase, which meant that I had to leave some behind. But Jade¸ being the nice person that she is, bought me a giant teddy bear to make up for it.

We drove to her house, which happened to be about ten minutes away from my old house, and Jade showed me my new room. It was huge, with a queen sized bed, a dresser with eight drawers, two bookcases, and a walk in closet. Jade lived alone, so she didn’t mind giving me the biggest room in her house. Now, I call her my mother, and she calls me her daughter. We look enough alike for people to believe that we’re biologically related.

So, that’s the story of my parents. Let’s move onto the fun stuff. Also know as my powers.

I was seven, so I was a third grader. And I was happier than ever, with my new mom and new friends. (At the time, I only knew Star; Milky doesn’t come in until fifth grade.) Everybody thought I was weird, because I didn’t wear the latest fashion trends, I didn’t wear the cutest shoes, and I didn’t wear skirts.

So, one day, I woke up and felt funny. Like, the tingling feeling you get when your foot’s about to fall asleep. I told Jade about it, and she checked my temperature. It was almost 150 degrees over the regular human body temperature. She immediately sent me to bed, and about an hour later, she came in to check my heart beat. It was 1.4 times faster than it should have been.

She asked me if I was feeling okay, and I told her that I only felt that tingly thing that I told her about earlier. So, totally confused about what was happening to her non-biological daughter, she called her boss to see if we could come in for an exam of my organs.

Half an hour later, I was lying down in a hospital bed, the same one that I had been in the day my parents were killed. Mr. Porpelli, Jade’s boss, was looking at x-rays that they took of my lungs, ribs, and heart. Jade sat in the same chair as she did the year before, looking around nervously, as if she were the leading lady in a Broadway musical, and the curtains were about to go up.

“Mom,” I had said, “don’t worry. Whatever it is, I’m sure it won’t be too serious.” I always heard my mother say that to people who were deathly ill, and yet they always did turn out O.K.

Jade smiled at me, and her nerves seemed to calm down for a second. Then Mr. Porpelli came in and said, “You might want to come see this.”

With my mother’s help, I got out of my bed and walked to where the x-rays were displayed. It showed these two big ovals, with my ribs surrounding them like an unclosed cage.

Mr. Porpelli turned to me. “You see these two giant ovals here?” he said, pointing. “Those are your lungs. They’re bigger than they should be, so we’re going to perform a MRI scan tomorrow.”

I just looked at him. “Why?” I asked.

“So we can see if there’s anything wrong with your lungs, sweetie.” Jade answered.

I looked at my mom, nodded, and let her lead me back to my bed.
“How about you get some sleep, honey.” She said, tucking the thin sheets under my chin.

I nodded, feeling exhausted, and the second I closed my eyes, I was out like a light.