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Submitted into Contest #48 in response to: Write about someone who has a superpower.... view prompt

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Fantasy

Living in a big city is boring, you either try your hardest to fit in or insist on being different, the line between is thin and almost confusing.

I consider myself to be a very gullible and easy to impress person, and typically a small display of talent can turn me into a devoting fan; however i listened to the same very popular song four times in a row and i couldn't decide if i liked it or not, the lyrics were generic but the voice was average, almost boring average.

I got tickets to her concert by mistake, they were sent to my house on a shipping error, there was no name or info. on the envelope and the concert was that night, i had only heard that one song, but i figured live music makes everything better.

The tickets were front row and the arena was almost full, there's a buzz before a concert starts that makes everything more intense, the lights went down and the crowd was moving in unison, it would appear we were all in a simulation vibrating with some emotion that was borderline fear and excitement, when she appeared on stage, people reach the highest screaming volume of the night, i got caught on the feeling for a moment, until i really saw her, she was in pants and a sweatshirt, no makeup or crazy hair, no heels or backup dancers, i thought it was a style choice, although very uncommon for a performing artist, but nevertheless valid.

She started singing a very unimpressive tune, and then again it didn't seem to me like this vas a trained or at least commercial type of voice, it resembled the type of singing you do when you're alone in your room with earpieces on and no care for who hears you or not.

I caught a conversation from some girls around me and they seem to be comparing her voice to angels, they even mentioned it was amazing she was able to display such amazing singing talent given the very difficult level of dancing she was doing, i stopped at this, because i hadn't taken my eyes of her since the beginning of the concert and she never left that spot on stage that she started at, she didn't even sway a little, she was very much still in her spot singing and sometimes cryptically smiling.

I tried to convince myself for a minute that i was being overly critical and entitled about the performance, but at some point i realized i was definitely not attending the same concert as everyone else, she was still in her spot singing out of tune, and at one point people around me even mentioned a change of wardrobe that absolutely never happened.

I got scared, because i was the only person amongst almost thirty thousand people that was in a way different dimension, i was still looking intently at her and at the screens trying to find out where my eyes were deceiving me.

In the midst of my anxiety attack, she saw me, i could see the Cheshire cat grin disappear slowly, she focused her eyes on me and i could see some battling going on, her stare was cold but very determined, the more she focused on it the more people cheered, they even mentioned fireworks happening but i could only see the very normal girl standing on an empty stage.

The concert ended abruptly at that moment, but then again, people were talking about a two hours long setlist, in reality there was only a half an hour of her standing on stage, i started to make my way back home slowly following the flow of people, when a woman announced all first row fans got an exclusive backstage meeting pass, i was led to a line of excited girls and boys on the verge of tears, i felt a little guilty for being there given that i was not a fan, and given that i had no idea what this concert was about, i started to convince myself that this was definitely a conceptual art type of performance, probably a critique of popular artist and the extravagant concerts being currently offered, most likely her fans were very well informed about it and just went with it.

"Backstage" was really just a very badly lit room with empty walls, my turn came very quickly, and i found myself sitting in front of this enigmatic girl, she looked at me and asked right away:

-Can you see me?

The question didn't surprise me as much, i replied with a strong yes.

She then asked me to describe what i saw.

I described her exactly as i saw her, hair in a very achievable bun, no makeup, black sweatshirt, blue pants, and what appears to be black slippers, i could see her go pale at my description, and i understood this was definitely not how she expected to be seen, i understood then that either she managed to drugged all thirty thousand people successfully or someone managed to drugged me successfully; she was very silent for a while, probably deciding what to say or do.

I was also deliberating what to do with this experience, i could always go home and pretend nothing happened, but before doing that i really needed some answers, preferably logical or at least reasonable.

The answer i got however, was very much not logical, she proceeded to explain to me how she discovered at age six, that she had the ability to convince people of whatever she wanted to, she discovered later on that "hypnosis" was a more accurate term although she didn't require any password or trick, later on in her teen years she realized there was no limit as to how many people could she hypnotized at once, and she also realized people genuinely believed they experienced whatever she put in their minds.

She explained in detail how she struggled with moral for a while given the fact that her ability was only growing strong, she tried to use it only for very desperate and all around no harming for anyone reasons, but there was always a need to mischief in her.

She also discovered at a very young age, her lack of artistic natural talent; along with that, she discovered a tendency to being invisible, which drove her crazy for a while, and while she was struggling with being the most normal possible she started struggling with a need of feeling superior as well.

She never told anyone about her ability because she didn't want that to be the reason she wasn't intolerably normal, when she turned seventeen she made the decision, to shine a little, she started with her family, she "casually" sang in front of them, her mom was baffled at this considering she never showed any signs of relevant talent so far, she was happy with the attention, but it then started to grow very fast.

She didn't take into consideration that given that she was making her family and acquaintances believe she had this major hidden talent, they would then make her sing to every person they ever knew, which then led to social network fame, and that's how she discovered that even through video or audio she could still decide whatever she wanted people to hear.

At this point she made a plan, it wasn't about how much could she get away with, but it was about how far could she actually go, so while i was seeing this normal girl, people all over the world were seeing a well enhanced version of herself, with a heavily produced and planned show, there were no negative critiques because the experience was designed to be enjoyed, which led to automatic success.

She then revealed, that there were no expenses because everything was fabricated and transmitted mind to mind, she also did it to staff and producers, and everybody was making a living of this literal idea.

I was dumbfounded at how much this sounded like a lie, but also how much it sounded like it was truth, this was literally a recipe for world domination, and this girl was exclusively using it to feel validated by the masses, also there is no way of determining if this was ethically correct or not, people were getting what they were paying for in a way, but also, how can someone be one hundred percent sure she wasn't going to start using this amazing ability to do harm?

I understood that this was a secret she was relieved to share but also weary of what i could do with this information, i couldn't possibly convince someone about it, and even if i did she could get them back in a second, however the fact that i knew could become a threat, but she was in a way harmless, i could se the battle inside of her and the need to be guided or at least be known.

Ironically we left the most important question for the end, and this was definitely the question that could base our potential friendship:

Why isn't working on me?

June 28, 2020 19:40

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RBE | Illustrated Short Stories | 2024-06

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