I Got the Power
I wish I had a Special Power. I'm not talking about an Unusual Ability, even though being able to vomit on command would have its uses. I mean Special Power. By "Special", I mean the kind of thing that you couldn't really tell too many people about, lest the general public form a mob and try to kill you, like they tried to do with Drew Barrymore in Firestarter, or what those numb-nuts kids should have done with Carrie. I'm talking about a make-people-shit-themselves-with-fear kind of Special Power, though that wouldn't necessarily be my goal if I had such a power. (And frankly, simply having the power to make people shit themselves would be pretty special in its own right...)
People with Special Powers like Carrie had really ought to have better proms
When I think of Special Powers, I usually narrow the field down to four, which are:
Telekenisis
Mindreading
Mental Telepathy
Ability to Fly
That's not to say that there aren't other very special powers out there to have, but you have to frame the discussion, right? Let's take them one at a time...
Telekinesis, in my version, is simply the ability to physically move things using only your thought processes. To have unlimited telekinesis would really remove many of the challenges from life, and so I wouldn't want that. Think about it. I could be an NBA star, right? I could shoot any shot, and it would always go in. I would shoot 100%. And I could certainly propel myself so high into the air that I could do a double-somersault, throw-the-ball-off-the-backboard jam. And believe me, I would be a badass pitcher, too, with a 120 MPH fastball and a curveball that would make PlayStation look stupid. Sidd Finch, move over.
I could move money out of cash registers into my pocket (but I probably wouldn't). I could lift skirts (but I probably wouldn't). I could mow my lawn without ever leaving my house (No question). It would all be too easy. Perhaps a limited telekinesis would have more appeal, but I usually reject this Special Power, on the basis that it just doesn't capture my imagination the way some other powers do.
Now, mindreading might seem like a good idea, and in some situations it would certainly come in handy, like in rock, paper, scissors. But do you really want to know what people are thinking about things all the time? Especially about you? Remember, you don't have any other Special Powers with which to give these people their comeuppance if you don't like what they think. It is my belief that you need to have some blinders on in order to function properly in this world. And what if you couldn't turn off the power? What if other people's thoughts are as boring and disjointed as mine are? Plus, you would forever lose the ability to come down on your spouse or friends with the comeback "What am I, a mindreader?" Because you would be, and when you will have forgotten some important detail, it will be your fault. I'll pass.
Mental telepathy is a different deal altogether, though. Life would be pretty easy if you could make people think whatever you wanted them to think. There would be no plausible reason for you to not be wealthy and have a lot of friends and romantic suitors, unless you were a sadist and got off on your own misery, but even then, you could make people really dislike you if that was your game. Again, though, how much fun would life be if you had this ability. It might be nice for a day, but for a lifetime? And again, this isn't something I sit around and fantasize about. Hell, half the time I wouldn't know what to make people think anyway.
Like this, but without an explosive strapped on my back...
Which leaves flying. Yes, technically you could give yourself the ability to fly if you had strong powers of telekinesis, but for the purposes of this discussion, we will ignore that. The true appeal of flying is that it doesn't make the world a creation of your Special Power. You can't change the way people think, you can't move anything but your own body, and even then, it's not effortless. Like all creatures, you have to work a little bit to fly. And, since you don't want people to see you flying, lest they try to kill you or shoot you or report you to the DOD, you probably fly in remote areas, or at night. (Watch out for those power lines!)
And that's all you do. You fly. You swoop down from a hilltop, glide over a small pond, look out over the horizon. You get perspective. You feel the breeze buffet you as you pass by a thermal-riding Redtail Hawk. That's all you do. Your life doesn't really get any easier, though you might save on gas. You just fly.
Growing up, and even today, I never really think about what it must be like to read minds, or move things with my brain power.
But I have always wanted to fly.
1:27:11 PM 
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