Superhero or Ghost

Some call me a ghost. Some don’t believe in me at all. Me? I call myself ‘Time Man’

Yeah, okay I get it not the greatest name in the world but all of the good names are taken. Besides what else could I call myself? Oh right, you don’t know anything else about me. 

My name is Kyle Vase. My superpower is time manipulation. I can freeze time. Cool right? When I first discovered my powers I thought I had died. I knocked a glass of water off the table and went to catch it but it stopped. It just floated there. I was confused. I looked around and saw that everything was frozen around me. I stood up and walked over to where my mom was in the kitchen. She was mid-slice cutting some brownies. 

“Mom?” I asked. She didn’t respond. I looked back at the TV and I could see something fuzzy around the screen. I walked over and touched it. It felt weird like being shocked but not hurt. “Whoa,” I continued to walk through the house and outside where my Dad was mowing the lawn. I know I should have been the one doing it but I was seventeen at the time.

The one thing that took me a minute to realize was how quiet it was. The lawn mower wasn’t making a sound unless my Dad didn’t have it turned on. I made my way over to him and waved my hand in front of his face. No reaction. 

The neighbor Ted was taking out a trash bag and putting it in the bin. The bad was in the air. I walked over and put my hand on it and pushed. The bad started to move down. I kept pushing it until it was on the ground. I backed up and bumped into something. I turned to see it was a bird mid-flight. I grabbed it and held it in my hands. Just then everything went back to normal. The bird started to flutter in my hands, the garbage bag hit the ground and Ted said something I can’t remember. 

“Kyle!” My Mom shouted from the house. My Dad stopped the lawn mower and looked at the front door. He started to walk towards the house when he looked back and saw me on the sidewalk.

“When did you get there?” He asked. 

“Uhm… Just now?” I didn’t know how to answer that. 

My Mom opened the front door and looked at my Dad. “Steve, Kyle is gone, he…” She stopped and looked over at me. “What the hell? You were just in the kitchen. I heard the glass break and you were just, gone.” She said.

I just shrugged and said. “I was out here.” I looked over at Ted who had one hand on his hip and the other scratching his head as he looked at the bag of garbage.

I went to school the next day and when up to my friends and told them what happened. Emma was the only one to believe me. Bill and Phil just laughed at me. 

We went to our math class and listened to the teacher. She was going on and on about something, I don’t know. Math wasn’t my greatest subject. Well, I wasn’t really good at any subject to be honest. I sat there bored, tapping my pencil on the desk when it happened again. Time froze. I looked back at Phil and Bill to see if they froze as well. They did. I got up and went over to them. I pushed their desks together then I took Phil’s finger and put it in Bill’s nose. Then took Bill's hand and put it on Phil's head. I burst into laughter. Then I looked at the teacher and walked up to her. I ripped open her shirt exposing her bra. 

Okay I know that was a douche thing to do. I was seventeen with the power to stop time. Who wouldn’t have done something like that.

I sat back in my chair and waited. It wasn’t an instant thing for the time to go back but I wasn’t sure on how to use my powers just yet. I snapped my fingers and it just happened. Everything happened at once. Bill slapped Phils head and they freaked out as they noticed Phils finger. Everyone laughed at them and the teacher. She quickly closed her shirt. 

The next few days I practiced my powers. No one knew except for my friends that I told. One day I was sitting at the park and saw an older couple walking. A dog had come loose from the leash of a woman walking him. The dog was big and was running straight towards the couple. I watched the dog run and knocked over the older lady. I was quick to snap and freeze time. I ran over and was able to help the woman from falling. I moved her so she would be back on her feet. I stepped back to watch. 

The lady was able to stay on her feet. The dog walker ran over to check on her. Both of them were visibly confused. They looked at me and I snapped. I was in a panic and ran away. As I was running, I saw a car accident that was just about to happen. I jumped into action and opened the door of the car that was just about to be hit. I pulled the driver out and put them on the sidewalk. I went to the other car and looked at the brakes. I went and grabbed a large rock and placed it on the pedal. 

Before I snapped back and unfroze time I thought to myself.

 Is this really going to work? What would happen when they just see a rock appear out of nowhere?

I came up with a secondary idea. I opened the car door, grabbed the rock, tossed it over my shoulder, and pulled the e-brake. 

I ran back over to the sidewalk. I snapped and unfroze time. The car was able to stop before hitting the other car. The driver I pulled out stood up and looked at his car while scratching his head. The driver of the first car got out  and ran to the the other car and saw it was empty. 

I walked away from the scene and went home. I sat in my room in silence. I worked on a class project and when I finished I turned on the news. They were doing a report on the near acident. They were saying a ghost saved everyone. 

From that day forward I decided to use my powers for good, as long as they just think its a ghost.

I spent the next few years using my abilities. Stopping bank robberies. Saving people from falling. There was also one time where there was a maniac inside an office building holding them hostage. I went in and pulled him out, cuffed him, and handed him over to the cops. 

After years of doing this, there wer only a few times that someone caught on. Including one where a CCTV footage shows me standing in one spot then in a split second it shows me across the street. There was a whole series of YouTube videos and podcasts trying to debunk or come to a conclusion on the phenomena. 

The day came when I decided to come out and tell everyone. I was the superhero. They mocked me. I was angry and snapped. They froze and I walked away. I wandered around and looked at everything around me. Something about this time it looked different. The trees greener. The sky was open and beautiful. Then I saw her. The prettiest woman I had ever seen. She was looking right at me. I smiled. Then she smiled back. I went pale. She raised her arms up and yelled “Wait!” 

I snapped again. Time went back to normal and she stopped. She was frozen now. I snapped again and she was able to move. We began to talk and get to know each other. We started to fall in love. What would have been over a decade for us was only a second for everyone else.

She explained to me that a few years ago there was solar storm that apparently affected both her and me. She was frozen and I was the only one who could help her. She was diagnosed with cancer. We learned that when she was frozen the cancer stopped spreading. But when wasn’t frozen, she was dying. 

We decided to spend whatever time we had together until she was gone. 

The moral of the story is it doesn’t matter if you can control time. You still need to find it to spend on the things that really matter. 

Im writing this as I as well am in my final moments. The next snap will be my last.

*Snap*