Being a Superhero

A superhero is someone with superpowers. When I was young, I always dreamed of being a superhero. My superpower would be reading people’s minds, both in the present and into the future. I mean can you imagine being able to know what someone is thinking even before they say it? Or knowing ahead of time what someone is going to do before they do it? I know you’re thinking wait a minute, I would rather have a bionic eye or be a super fast runner. Yes, that would be cool, you could win every race and you could run to help someone as soon as they got hurt. However to be able to read someone’s mind would allow you to know things before everyone else. For example, you would be able to prepare yourself for change and you would know if someone was lying to you. You would know if you were going to pass or fail in school, but you’d even know the answers ahead of time to prepare you for anything. Whether it be something amazing like a proposal or something devastating like losing a friend. It seems simple enough, but you could even predict the lottery with a superpower of reading minds.

One day, when I was in my late twenties I woke up from a terrible operation I had to have right after I graduated from university. I woke up and knew that I was going to be okay. I know that sounds silly and doesn’t mean I could read the doctor’s mind, but I just knew the operation was successful. Later that same week I was going for an afternoon walk and bumped into my neighbour. He was and older man in his early seventies. My family had known him for years and he was the nicest man. Oddly enough, he said to me, twenty years from now when you’re older and wiser like me, I’ll be dead and gone, but you’ll remember me. You’ll remember that I told you to love with all of your heart; you‘ll remember that I told you you’d have one son who would need all of your love and care. You‘ll remember that I told you never to leave your first love and no matter what work hard for everything you want. Lastly, he said don‘t forget me when I’m gone, you’ll hear from me one more time. I thought to myself, how strange, but I was polite and said thank you. Then I walked back home, where my parents were waiting for me. I mean they always worried about me and today was no different.

About ten years later I had married a wonderful man. We had difficult times, but always managed to get through them together. As upset as I would get at him sometimes, I decided to be the bigger person and forgive him. I think it was because that man’s voice was in the back of my mind, to never leave. We eventually had our first and only child, a beautiful, little boy. I couldn’t help but remember that old man and what he said to me that day, years ago. He was right, I had a little boy and strangely enough he was to be my only child. So I spent the next years being the best mom I could be. I couldn’t shake the thought of this man and what he said to me that day. It was almost like it haunted me. One day when I dropped by my parents’ house with my son, who had just turned two, I decided to go for a walk down their street, like old times. Little did I know, that old man had passed away that same year. My mom told me there was a phone call for me from the old man‘s lawyer to call him ASAP. So my mom was playing with my son that day and I called. The lawyer told me to meet with him right away. So I went over and he told me to sit down. He asked if I remembered the man down the street. He said he was his long time friend and the nicest man you could ever meet. He then told me that the man died with no one by his side, his wife had been gone for years and he was alone. He only has one son, but the son was never around and left his father, because he wanted his independence. So the man decided to leave everything to the young girl down the street. I knew it was you, he said. I was shocked. I just sat there and asked why. The lawyer friend said, because he knew you were kind just like him, he knew you would always think of others before yourself. He knew you would be like the daughter he always wanted. So little did anyone know, but this man was extremely wealthy. He didn’t flaunt it or brag; he never wanted anything from anyone. Then the lawyer paused. I noticed a tear in his eye, so I asked if he was okay. He said everyone should be like his old friend. He had superpowers of the best kind. He could read your mind. He knew if you were having a bad day or if you just needed a hug. He didn’t want anything from anyone, but his son never appreciated him. The lawyer then said okay that’s enough of that. Let‘s get to business. The old man down the street left everything to you. I was shocked, I didn’t know if I heard him correctly, so I just sat there dumbfounded. So he repeated himself and said everything, which includes his home, his butler, his Mercedes and his millions. I just sat there and cried. I didn’t know what to say. I then said I wish I could’ve thanked him. He was in my mind all of my adult life.

I then left the office and hurried back home to see my dad, my mom and my son. I cried, I couldn’t stop crying, but then I realized I had to stop, because I remembered everything the man had told me and for the rest of my life I lived like a queen. I always knew how lucky I was and how thankful I was to know that man with the most important superpower of being kind.