The Gift

It's funny the things your brain remembers. Little things that are pointless, well beyond the point of being useful. Like the way my father used to like his tea, or the way I used to climb the staircase two stairs at a time, just because I could. But, sometimes, a walk down memory lane can uncover a gem. Like today. I find myself, ten years old, walking into my fathers' lab. I must have asked him a million times, 'What is the sphere for, Dad?" His only answer was, "It's a gift, little Dora."  Right now, I'm sitting on the floor in that same lab, still able to feel his presence here. It's been 7 years since my father went missing. Mum and Cailyn, my little sister, don't want to talk about it anymore. They've 'moved on', and they keep telling me to move on as well. They keep reminding me that he isn't coming back and it's not healthy to keep the memories so fresh. But, they don't know that I still go to his lab every day.  I have a very strong connection with my father, but I'll get to that in a minute. Right now, you're wondering who on earth I am. My name is Pandora, but everyone calls me Dora. I'm 17, the eldest of two girls, and I have a very dangerous secret. Want to hear about it? ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ When Dad disappeared, I was a wreck. I knew that he had been taken to the Island. Sorry, back story needed. Okay, the country that I live in, Kigellica, has outlawed all superpowers and even the research into superpowers. All superpowered people were rounded up and transported to a specially designed detention centre on an island. They were all divided up and are kept in specially designed buildings for each power group, and inside each building, the powerful ones are kept in stasis.  People with water powers are kept in a room with warm temperatures, and they only get liquids in the form of rehydration tablets, to prevent any of them from using their powers. People with fire powers are kept in a metal room, with a metal grate floor over a large pool of water, and they are constantly cold, to prevent them from using body heat to make a fire. Yes, the government is that cruel. And those are only two of 19 power groups. All the people caught researching into superpowers are also on the island, and they are kept in solitary cells, and they are given medication to keep them dazed, so they don't think about superpowers anymore. I know all of this, because the government always shows us photos from inside the detention centre. This is designed to reassure the population that the 'superpower problem' is under control.  That's where I would be too, if anybody found out about me. Now comes the part about the connection with my father. My grandfather was superpowered, and he was transported to the island. My father believed that the only way to save his father and the rest of the superpowered people was to give everyone a superpower. He went out with friends one night, accidentally got drunk, and spilled every secret but one. He didn't tell anyone where his lab was. I'm the only other person in the world that knew and still knows the location of his lab.  Dad never came back home that night. We heard about his drunken confession through our neighbours. He was arrested instantly by nearby police and taken into custody. His 'trial' was an hour later and within four hours of him uttering a word, he was on a transport headed for the island. Cailyn and I have never been back to school since. The other kids were scared of us. Because of Dad, Mum, Cailyn and I had to go through months of testing to prove that we did not have superpowers.  Fast forward six months. After we were finally released from the testing centre, we were allowed to go home. Mum and Cailyn went into the house and started to clean the dust and cobwebs off everything. I still couldn't believe that my father was gone, so I slipped away to his lab. He'd been running a test or something, but all the power was still on. I walked up to the sphere, and stared into the swirling colours. I didn't know at the time what the colours meant, but it was mesmerising. I started to cry, unable to accept that my father was gone forever, and I rested my hand on the sphere.  Just as my hand touched the sphere, the test must have finished. An orange swirl of light formed under my hand and shot out of the sphere. The light crept along my arm and I was almost instantly enveloped in orange light. There was a burning sensation as it crept along my skin and then, when I was fully enveloped, the burning sensation increased. I clenched all my muscles, to ease the burning, but that made it worse.  I ended up passing out from the burning sensation. When I woke up, I'd collapsed next to the sphere and the sun had already gone down. I hurried out and went home, knowing my mother would be worried. I didn't tell her what had happened with the sphere. We ate a quiet dinner and went to bed early. I was lying on my back in bed, staring at my hand, when the orange light started to swirl on the back of my hand. I quickly climbed under the covers, to hide the light, and kept watching the swirl. The orange light grew brighter and started to pulse. When the pulsing stopped, my fingertips started to flicker. Yes, my fingertips were on fire.  Watching the flames on my fingers made me sleepy, and the next thing I remember is waking up in the morning, still curled up under the covers. The flames had disappeared, and I almost believed that I'd imagined it. Then the swirling started again. I grabbed a pair of gloves out of my drawer, thankful it was winter, and tried to calm myself down. I knew from things that I'd heard my father say that powers were connected to your emotions, so I hoped that calming my emotions down would kept my new power under control.  After another quiet meal, Cailyn and I got ready for school. Yeah, I said we haven't been back to school since Dad disappeared, but hang with me. We went to school that day, and Mum didn't even have to leave the school property. The first kids to see us started screaming hysterically. I remember thinking 'the government was doing a good job conditioning these kids to be scared of us superpowered people'. The principal of the school gave Mum books for Cailyn and I to go through at home, and then we were escorted off the property.  When we got home, Mum and Cailyn were in tears. I grabbed a bottle of water, an apple and a packet of chips and left them to their tears. I wanted to try out my new power, and I only knew one safe place. I walked quickly up the path to Dad's lab, and then turned to check if I was being followed. Satisfied that I was completely alone, I walked into the lab and felt instantly safe and happy. I put my food on the table and tore off my gloves. The orange swirl began again as soon as the air touched my skin. This time, the swirl was on both my hands. I decided to experiment, so I got a pile of blank paper and balled up a few pieces. I put the paper on the ground and sat down in front of them. I aimed my palm at one ball of paper and willed the paper to burst into flames. My fingers just flickered, as if to mock my self-believed control.  I grabbed one of the balls in my hand and as soon as my fingers touched it, it burst into flames.  I spent the rest of the day learning how to use and control my new power. I hadn't put the heater on in the lab, but I wasn't cold. I think back now and I know that the flame power flowing through me was what kept me warm all day. It's what kept me warm every day through winter, spring, autumn, and made me really hot in summer every year for the next 7 years.  Now we're up to now, so I'll let you follow along the next path of my adventure, if you want. I'm about to head back home for another quiet meal.