After I wiped the rest of the dirt off of the “stone,” we all looked at it more closely. It was perfectly round and had two lines that looked like tracks, one green and one purple, going around it on one circumference, and two identical ones intersecting on another plane. It was otherwise dull grey and feather light — almost weightless.
I put it in my pocket and asked, “How do you two feel?”
“I don’t feel any different,” said Kimberly.
“Me either,” said Mo.
I reminded them, “Neither did I, but I noticed improved sight right away. How about you two?”
Mo said, “Maybe it’s too early. I don’t sense anything different.”
He stared at Kimberly. “Wait, there is… something… Kimberly… you are more beautiful than before…” Then he winked.
I just shook my head.
Kimberly laughed and pushed his shoulder as usual, but he didn’t budge.
She said, “Oh, you’re resisting my touch now, huh handsome?”
Mo laughed. “…Must be my gift.”
So I tried to shove him. He didn’t budge.
Mo said, “Woah… !”
Kimberly said, “That’s not a superpower, you’ve always been stubborn.”
We laughed, then we decided to test for abilities, but before we could…
“You will all increase in senses gradually,” our friend began.
“Okay… THAT’S going to take some getting used to! That voice out of nowhere? Besides, if you’re our friend… *Why* don’t you tell us your name? Why are you invisible? And… Why don’t you show yourself? Are you all powerful and all knowing? And, where…”
“Kimberly! That’s just rude…” I interrupted.
“I have given you gifts so that you can help Josiah. He is going to need you to fulfill my purposes. Having a name for me isn’t going to help; I am who I am and will be. Seeing me would solve your curiosity, but it won’t help you. Neither will knowing if I have any limitations. What you need to know, you will know. What you need to do, you will be able to do.”
“What if we don’t *want* to fulfill your purposes?” Kimberly said, looking around at the sky and wagging her head.
“Kimberly!” I was embarrassed. “After receiving your gift and hearing our friend, you’re still skeptical?”
“Josiah Ezekiel Thompson…” she started, “we don’t know if ‘our friend’ is good or bad. We don’t know if what we just *got* is a gift or a curse. Remember, because of your *gift* you killed somebody and put somebody else in the hospital without even trying. Now you probably have a gang hit out on you.” Her voice trembled. “None of that is good!”
Mo said, “Kimberly, you know it was self defense — we do not know what they may have done to JET if he hadn’t. If it was not for our new friend who helped him, we don’t know what may have happened to our friend — um, I mean JET. That is reason enough for me to trust him.”
“… You know how skeptical I am,” Kimberly said, calming down. “Even though I have disappearing dirt all over and you have a ‘coat of many colors’ now.” We all laughed as she wiped her eyes. “It *is* beyond explanation and *our* friend hasn’t hurt any of us.”
“And it is very cool?” asked Mo.
Kimberly said, “It is VERY cool!”
“Jump a little,” our friend said.
“Ugh!” complained Kimberly
“You’ll get used to him, Kimberly,” I assured her.
Mo said, “On three…”
“A little,” emphasized our friend.
“One… two… three!”
We all jumped at the exact same height, about a foot up, and landed relatively softly.
“Waaaa, how how howww!” Mo said.
We all laughed.
Our friend said, “A little higher.”
We looked at each other, grinning, and jumped again — about three feet this time.
“Oh my GOD!” Kimberly squealed.
“You kids okay?” Mom yelled from inside.
“Oh! Yes, mom, we’re fine,” I said.
She came to the door. “What is so exciting out here!?”
We looked at each other and laughed.
“Three crazy peas in a pod,” mom said as she went back into the house.
“Can we fly? Can we run fast like you, JET? Can we…” Mo started asking.
“You will be able to do what you need to do when you need to do it. You will know what you need to know when you need to know it. Feel free to test your abilities *carefully* and out of the sight of others. And remember: you are always better together than apart, and you have these gifts to help Josiah.”
“Ohhhh, I’m late for gymnastics!” Kimberly said as she gathered her things to leave. “Um.. can I go now?” she asked the sky as she froze in place. “Do I need to ask? Will I hear from you when I’m by myself?”
“You may go about your life as usual. I’ll let you know when you are needed,” said our friend.
“Uh B-Byyyye” she yelled as she began to run home — noticeably faster than before. Just as her mom pulled up to our driveway.
She looked back and yelled, “Woooo!”
We waved as she got in and they pulled away.
“Let’s race!” Mo said with a wide grin on his face.
JET (The Hero) 