A mundane ability suddenly becomes a superpower. Write about someone or something affected by this.

Posted in Middle School on Oct 25, 2022

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✍️ 26 stories

“The Power of Ordinary” by Thom With An H

Submitted to Contest #106

Shane wasn’t like most super heroes. He didn’t come from a far away planet or get bitten by a radioactive spider. In truth, he was the last person you would expect to save the world, but in his own little way he did just that. The Parker’s, Mary Louise and Peter, had long since given up hope of having a child when Mary found out she was pregnant. The news, however, was as welcome as it was shocking. It was probably for this reason that they seemed to be the only two people not disappointed when Shane was born with an extra c...

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“This Tide Lifts Us All” by Charlene 🧙‍♀️✨ Boyce

Submitted to Contest #106

It was early enough that the dust still glittered in the last rays of sunset through the windows. We picked out a good table, off to the side, sheltered by the bathroom wall. We could stash our stuff in the corner when the time came for dancing, and not worry that some buzzkill would steal our warm jackets. Danny was acting weird about his new pants because he thought they were blue-green and I'd made the mistake of calling them turquoise. I hoped that more people would arrive soon to distract him. So far there was only us and what l...

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“Front Seat” by Kendall Defoe

Submitted to Contest #106

This began on a Tuesday; must have been a Tuesday. The only reason why I know this is because of the sick kid. If I had not seen it with my own eyes, I would have ignored the signs. Five years on this route and not once did I ever pay attention to a passenger until some mother took her son out of a stroller and let her little brat get sick all over another passenger who was just trying to get to work. You may wonder why I noticed this one passenger. Mr. D., I called him. He looked a little like David-something-or-other (that actor in those m...

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“Untethered ” by Anne Perry

Submitted to Contest #106

The first time it happened, Camilla was completely caught off guard. She had been wandering in the rose garden at the Dallas arboretum, captivated by the fragrance and beauty of over 200 hybrid tea roses of 16 varieties, and when she got to a particularly delicate peach rose, she felt a tingle in her feet. She looked down to see that she was literally off the ground—by about five inches. It didn’t prevent her from walking gingerly on the air, and she had perfect balance despite the absence of earthy contact. Of course, she had to bend over a...

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“Robot Arms” by Alejandra Mora

Submitted to Contest #106

It had been a long arduous process to get to this day. Calvin couldn’t believe it, but he was finally going to get his robot arms. He sat with his parents at the doctor’s office, and they were discussing the new state of the art prosthetic arms available to him. Calvin’s mother smiled and whispered, “Looks like you're going to be a superhero after all.”**When Calvin was 9 he received his first set of prosthetic arms. As a kid he thought robot arms would give him special superpowers. His parents had taken him several times to a prosthetist to...

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“MORE THAN WORDS” by Brenda Wilkins

Submitted to Contest #106

My name is Destiny. There is nothing special about me. My older sister, Antia, is beautiful. People constantly talk about how pretty she is. She has won every beauty contest she's ever been a part of and her picture is in several magazines. There are modeling agencies fighting over the privilege of having her as their client. My younger brother, Tye, is a genius at the age 13. He completely skipped the sixth grade. They have not made a standardized test yet that he can not pass with one hundred percent in ...

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“Close Proximity” by Sue Rau

Submitted to Contest #106

Nancy gazed through the porthole at the receding network of runways. That was close. If the MI6 director had failed to win over his French counterpart… Shuddering, she sank back against the headrest. “First visit to Paris, Mademoiselle?” Her seatmate’s gaze scarcely intersected with hers as he continued to polish his glasses. Not again. All week, the French contingent had patronized her with equally dismissive g...

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“First Sight” by Amelia Ward

Submitted to Contest #106

I walked down the street as I dreaded having to go to school. My phone rang, telling me about the steps that lay ahead. I knew this route by heart but it was always nice to have my phone tell me how far steps, crosswalks, etc. were and if there were any hazards that weren’t normally there. “There is a set of five stairs approximately five feet in front of you,” my phone chimed in its robotic voice. I walked around five feet and felt for the edge of the stairs with my foot. As soon as I found it and located the handrail wi...

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“My Stellar Smeller” by Ramona Scarborough

Submitted to Contest #106

Stellar Smeller I’ve been a model citizen … until now. There is a chance I may end up in jail and my marriage teeters on shaky ground. This fiasco started over almost a year ago. One morning, I stumbled into the kitchen and couldn’t smell the coffee or anything else. I sniffed cut-up onions. My eyes watered, but no strong pungent aroma. As months passed, I couldn’t tell if my deodorant was working, or if my tennis shoes smelled like funky mushrooms. “Pamela,” my husband,...

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“Dopplegangers at the OK Corral” by Bob Faszczewski

Submitted to Contest #106

A good half-dozen years before the famous Shootout at the OK Corral between the Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday and the Claiborne-Clanton Gang in Tombstone, Az., a tale about a far more unusual gunfight in the nearby small town of Tumble Creek took root in local legend. As the story made its way around the Arizona territory, Tumble Creek and its surrounding towns had become “depositories” for the riches accumulated by many who had found ways to profit handsomely ...

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“The Letter” by Tim O'Shea

Submitted to Contest #106

The year 2060… "Sir! The courier is ready to go!" said the guard. The sound of an aircraft at an incredibly low altitude shook the entire building. The guard stopped holding the rifle slung around his shoulder and braced for several seconds in the doorway waiting for the inevitable explosion of a bomb dropping. It did, but it was several city blocks away. The guard breathed a sigh of relief and thanked whoever was looking down on him from above. He took another look at the person in the small room of the basement. He was an old man, know...

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“A Penny Saved...” by John Lindquist

Submitted to Contest #106

Edgar is an ordinary man, who lives an ordinary life in rural Minnesota. At least he did until today. “Lizzy!” he yelled to his wife of fourteen years. “Get down here. The news. Is this real?” Lizzy was just coming out of the bathroom, and hurried downstairs with soapy hands. “What is it?” “Aliens. This can’t be happening. Is this some kind of joke?” “It must be.” replied Lizzy. “Like some kind of modern-day Orson Welles prank.” On the TV, the newscaster was looking in every direction, terrified. Metal...

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“The Secret Legacy” by Lee Kendrick

Submitted to Contest #106

The Secret Legacy Everyone in our little village in Italy seemed to know my uncle Giuseppe. He was a fantastic, professional chef, but not your run-of-the-mill type of chef. Giuseppe is famous for using secret ingredients in his tasty recipes that make people healthier, look younger and live to a hundred or more. He had a restaurant just a short distance from where my parents live. He is retired now and is nearly ninety.It is thanks to my uncle’s secret r...

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“Fire in the Belly” by Patrick Otvos

Submitted to Contest #106

To give you a taste of where I come from, I have to tell you about how I got shot, before I was born. The fact Bradley Nowell, lead singer of Sublime, was my father, I just found it poetic. Honestly, as my mother put it, he was an asshole. She’d told me, after one of his concerts, Nowell had invited her backstage, and this was where I was conceived. What do you expect from a rock star? My mother, Martina, had been around the block once or twice, and she named me Destiny. I can’t tell you how long it took m...

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“Calypso Alone” by Ben Mears

Submitted to Contest #106

Why am I even here? The crisp summer wind dances across my face, its insensate yet delicate fingers dashing through my hair like so many horses in an overgrown field, their powerful legs cutting to and fro yet never breaking a strand. Much like the sea that stretches out to the red horizon before me, the gusts of air coil, crash, and tumble backwards and forwards, over and under, ever reaching yet never finding, ever grasping yet never holding. I take a deep breath through my mouth, the cool air filling my chest and slowing my anxious h...

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A mundane ability suddenly becomes a superpower. Write about someone or something affected by this.

Submissions are closed

✍️ 26 stories

“The Power of Ordinary” by Thom With An H

“This Tide Lifts Us All” by Charlene 🧙‍♀️✨ Boyce

“Front Seat” by Kendall Defoe

“Untethered ” by Anne Perry

“Robot Arms” by Alejandra Mora

“MORE THAN WORDS” by Brenda Wilkins

“Close Proximity” by Sue Rau

“First Sight” by Amelia Ward

“My Stellar Smeller” by Ramona Scarborough

“Dopplegangers at the OK Corral” by Bob Faszczewski

“The Letter” by Tim O'Shea

“A Penny Saved...” by John Lindquist

“The Secret Legacy” by Lee Kendrick

“Fire in the Belly” by Patrick Otvos

“Calypso Alone” by Ben Mears

🌟 Similar prompts

Start or end your story with a character noticing the beauty in something they've seen hundreds of times.

Write about a character who’s known to be a cynic, but secretly romanticizes everything.

Write a story about a character who takes nothing for granted.

Write a story about a character who’s secretly nobility.

Contest #106

Enter our weekly contest!

$250

Prize money

153

Contest entries

206

Stories

Win $250 in our short story competition 🏆

Explore more writing prompt ideas: