The Superhero Chronicles: Birth of Moonlight

by Josh Kilen

  When they got home, Billy went straight to his room. He told his parents that he needed to rest, but really he had some thinking to do.

  What was happening? He changed his Mom somehow, and it was obvious that he could feel other people's emotions. But how?

  “It must have been the truck chemicals," he thought. In fact, now that he was away from all those weird emotions and feelings, it was much easier to think.

  "Okay," he told himself, "So, it seems like you can sense people's emotions and feelings, but not their thoughts. You can feel them at a distance, but you can't change them at a distance. And if you do change them, you have to be careful about how you do it. I don't know if Mom will ever be the same." And at that thought, Billy started to cry a little.

  He realized that he was still really tired, laid down, and fell into a fitful sleep.

  When Billy woke up, his Mom was busy in the hall. Billy knew this because he could feel the calm, happy dedication that had now become the hallmark of his Mother's emotions. Billy took a deep breath as he raised himself from his bead, the burns all over his body were healing but still hurt when he moved.

  As terrible as this new power seemed, it was still pretty cool to have a power. He desperately wanted to tell someone about it, to confide in someone about what's going on. He couldn't tell his Mom or Dad because then they would find out what he did to Mom and he would be in big trouble. He had to find a way to fix Mom before anyone found out.

  Just then Billy felt concern and excitement followed by a soft knock on his door.

  Chapter 5

  "Ya, come in." Billy said as he laid down.

  Grace poked her head in, then ran over to Billy and threw her arms around him. He felt her concern wash over him.

  "Owww, watch it!" Billy said as her arms dug into his burns.

  "Oh, I'm sorry. I was just so worried, about you." she said shyly and stared at the floor. The emotion changed from concern to something else, but Billy didn't know what it was exactly.

  "Ya, well, I'm okay. I, um, I have something cool to tell you." Grace nodded, curious.

  Billy started slowly, "This is going to sound crazy, I even think that I’m nuts, but somehow that accident changed me. I’m able to read people’s emotions and I can change them too."

  Grace looked at Billy like she didn't quite believe him, "What do you mean?"

  Billy closed his eyes and he felt her curiosity but under that was a lot of fear, "Like right now, you are curious but you are also very scared. I can't read minds or anything, so I don't know why you are scared but I just know that you are."

  "That's incredible!" Grace yelled out, then quickly covered her mouth. "That's amazing Billy, and you can change minds too?"

  "Ya, but I don't want to, I'm not sure how to control it yet." and Billy told her about his Mom and how she didn't care anymore.

  "So you told your Mom not to worry about you, and now she doesn't? Wow, I mean I'm sorry but, Wow! What else can you do?"

  "I don't know Grace, this is all pretty new. I'm not even sure I want this ability."

  She looked at him like he was crazy, "Of course you want this ability, think of all the people you can help if you're able to push people's emotions one way or the other. Jasper will never get bullied again."

  Billy shook his head, "I told you, I just can't do that anymore, I can't push people. I just don't know if I can control it."

  Grace smiled easily, "That's why you practice silly."

  For the next few weeks, as Billy healed, he and Grace practiced using his abilities. They found some very curious things. They found that squirrels, dogs, and cats have feelings. But for some reason, no matter how hard he tried, Billy couldn't change their emotions. Grace said they were probably speaking different brain languages.

  They also found that Billy could sense emotions from at least a house length away, but as he healed up from the accident and kept practicing, his range increased.

  They started to go on walks after Billy was feeling better and began to practice pushing. Billy was reluctant at first. "I just don't want to hurt you, Grace, or anyone for that matter. It's just too dangerous."

  Grace got a very serious look on her face, "Look here Billy, you aren't going to hurt me. I know you’ll be gentle and I’ll be fine. You gotta do this. If you can control your power then you can be sure not to have another accident, right?" Billy had to agree.

  Grace would try to feel some emotions, like being scared or happy, but they were never genuine and so always seemed a little fuzzy in Billy's brain.

  He said, "I guess they have to be real emotions for it to work."

  This gave Grace an idea.

  She ran over to a tall, narrow fence post and climbed up. Billy immediately felt her fear, "Grace, come down!" But she just stood on top, swaying back and forth.

  She looked down at him and said, "Make me not scared, but go easy. Like gently touching with your fingers but in my brain or something."

  Billy concentrated very hard and tried to go easy at the same time. He massaged the fear, but that didn't work. If anything Grace looked even more afraid.

  She yelled out, "Billy, whatever you are doing stop. I'm really scared now!"

  Billy backed off and tried to increase her confidence. Again, it only slightly worked and brought her back to her previous fear level. Billy tried it again but her fear wouldn't budge, so Billy tried speaking, "Grace, it's OK, you don't have to be afraid." He spoke softly, but nothing happened.

  Then Grace looked in his eyes.

  Suddenly Billy felt a connection, "Grace, you are just on a pole, stop being afraid of this." And almost instantly he felt the fear reduce to almost nothing.

  This was incredible!

  Grace smiled and jumped off the pole with ease. "That was great, but what if you changed me for good? We have to test." And she marched Billy off to a tall concrete wall. Grace was naturally afraid of heights so this was a real challenge.

  She climbed up to the top of the wall and looked over the edge. A crippling fear gripped Billy’s mind and he fell down into a ball, shaking and screaming. Grace back peddled and moved away from the edge, running down the embankment to see if Billy was okay.

  She found him, curled in a ball, whimpering.

  When Billy finally came to, he realized that this was not his finest moment. He shakily picked himself up, but Grace had to come over and help him up, "What happened Billy?"

  Billy shook his head, "I don't know, it was like all the fear you had went right into my brain and it was too much. It felt like my head was going to bust open."

  Grace gave him a slap on the arm, "Hey, one more thing to keep in mind. At least you know right? So just don't get around someone with really strong emotions. Do you think there’s a way to block it?"

  Billy shook his head, "Not that I know of, at least it didn't feel that way. I think I need to lie down." He and Grace walked slowly back to the house.

  As they were about to turn a corner into an alley, there was a loud scream. They peeked around the corner to see Rick and his goons picking on a little kid. As Billy and Grace spied on them, he felt a storm of rage and fury building up from far away.

  Then Rick began to glow bright red.

  Grace gasped. "Billy, what's going on?" she asked.

  "I'm not sure," he said through the pain. The anger and fury made him shake and now it was difficult to even keep his eyes open.

  They looked again and Rick was lifting the little kid in the air like it was nothing. He was shouting something, it sounded pretty nasty, and then he threw the kid down the alley. Rick must have thrown him the length of two houses as the kid came skidding to a stop, right in front of Grace and Billy.

  Grace immediately went to help and Billy tried to stop her but it was too late, Rick and his goons had already spotted her. They began to walk quickly toward them, Billy almost passing out from the strong emotions.

  Chapter 6

  Rick didn't need to run. His prey
was within sight, and his goon squad was right behind him. Billy fought back in his head against the intense feelings of anger and fury that threatened to overwhelm him, but it was too much.

  Billy fell toward the ground but Grace caught him just in time. Billy turned his head toward his would-be attackers, looking them in the eyes, and mustered up enough inside him to yell out, "You are not interested in us, you are happy and content with who you are." Billy felt the changes take place in each of the goon's heads. But not in Rick's. The anger and fury lessened but it was not gone.

  Rick's goon friends stopped in their tracks and then walked away, all smiles and whistles.

  Rick stopped and shook his head, then he stared at Billy with even greater anger. The strong emotions began to overwhelm Billy's head again, and he told Grace they needed to go. Grabbing their new friend, they made their way out into traffic and across the street.

  Billy glanced behind. He saw that Rick couldn't follow them fast enough.

  They ran all the way to Billy's parent's house. Out of breath, but his head feeling much better, Billy thanked Grace for catching him.

  "No... problem... any...time," she said between breaths. Looking down at the kid, "You okay there?"

  The little kid smiled, "Thanks to you guys, I thought that bully was going to kill me or something. Man, wait until my friends hear about this!" and he ran down the sidewalk.

  Grace looked over at Billy, "Do you think that will be a problem?"

  Billy considered it, "No, he's just a little kid, no one is going to take him seriously. I'm more concerned about Rick."

  Grace nodded, "Maybe you aren't the only one with super powers? Rick saw you though, I think you should watch your back from now on. He doesn’t seem the type to let things go. This could get messy.” She looked down at her watch and Billy felt her get anxious, “Hey, Billy, thanks for a great day but I really got to get home for dinner." She waited there a little awkwardly.

  Billy didn't understand why she was acting weird, "Umm, ya, thanks again for helping and everything. See you tomorrow?"

  Grace looked a little disappointed, "Sure, tomorrow. See ya. Hope you feel better."

  As she turned to walk away, Billy felt anger coming from her and he couldn't figure out why, "I wish I could read minds instead," he said to himself.

  As Billy walked into his house, his Mom was baking cookies and smiling to her herself. "Hi there honey," she said, "would you like a cookie?"

  Billy was covered in sweat and he looked like he was sick but his Mom didn't seem to notice, "Not right now Mom, I'm not feeling too well."

  His Mom kept smiling, "All right sweetie, they'll be here if you want them." And she went back to her baking.

  Billy shook his head. His Mom didn't seem to notice that he wasn’t feeling good, she still wasn't worried about him. He had to do something about this.

  He looked his Mom in the eyes. He used his powers to look at her feelings and they felt like an ocean his mind, with different colors representing different emotions. In his mind's eye he saw some calm spots in the "Ocean of Emotion" and tried to change them. "Mom, it's okay if you are worried about me. I'm not always okay." He saw the calm areas start to ripple with movement as his Mom became agitated.

  She looked at him and said, "I know honey, but I'm not worried about you, you are usually okay." She went back to baking, smiling away, and the ocean became calm again. Billy frowned and went back upstairs. Maybe it would take a long time, but he vowed to himself that he would fix his Mom, no matter what it took.

  Back in his room, Billy went over every thing that had happened. He had these amazing strange powers and so far he hadn’t been very careful with them. In fact he had caused more harm than good. Who knows if his Mom was ever going to get better? He would try to fix her but he didn't know if he could, or if it was even possible.

  The only bright spot was that he had helped the little kid in the alley. He stopped the bullies but who knows how long it would be before they struck again, and he didn't know if the changes he made in Rick’s goons were permanent.

  “I'm going to learn to use my powers for good," he vowed to himself. Though he had no idea how.

  Billy heard a the door close downstairs and went down to see who was there. As he made his way down the stairs, he heard his Grandpa's voice. His Grandpa had been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and he was in pain all the time. Billy could feel his pain from the stairs and decided to help.

  Billy ran down and gave his Grandpa a great big hug. He felt a surge of pain run through his Grandpa and Billy back off. Looking right at his Grandpa, he said, "I hope you are feeling better today, in fact you look like you are feeling better." Instantly he could sense that his Grandpa's mood improved and the pain lessened. Billy smiled, this was what he needed to do.

  The rest of the day went normally, but as his Grandpa and Grandma were leaving, Billy could feel his Grandpa's pain come back and his mood dip again. It seems that small changes didn't stick, but big changes were there for good, or at least very hard to change back. He improved his Grandpa's mood again before he left.

  The next day Billy was ready to go back to school. His Mom made a lunch for him and his Dad made a big deal about him being ready to go back.

  Billy looked at him, "Dad, I'll be fine. I should get back to school." His Dad nodded and drove to the school.

  The day went pretty smoothly until the end. Billy was late to his last class. When he turned the corner, he saw Rick and his goons picking on Jasper again.

  Billy had enough.

  He walked up to them and called out, "Hey, stop that!"

  Rick and his gang looked up, Rick smiled, "Now you're going to get it."

  Billy stood his ground waiting for the fight to come.

  Chapter 7

  Jasper was laying on the ground, whimpering, while Rick got up and stalked toward Billy, goons following.

  Billy braced himself as he opened his mind to the raging emotions coming from Rick, but his goon squad felt dulled and unresponsive, like they were doing this against their will.

  Billy looked right at the group and said, "You don't need to do this, you feel like you don't want to, you feel loyal to ME."

  The goons stopped, looked at Rick, then at Billy, and smiled at Billy.

  Rick turned around and yelled at his former minions, "What are you doing! Come on!"

  One of the bullies, Tom, said, "No, we don't have to do what you say anymore. Billy's our friend now."

  Billy felt the rage in Rick start to mount, threatening to overwhelm Billy's mind. How was Rick able to avoid his commands?

  Rick turned to Billy and pointed a finger, "You’re gonna pay for this. Better watch your back." He turned and stormed away. Billy felt a cold hatred surrounding him.

  Mr. Davis walked up behind Billy, "What's going on here Billy?"

  Billy turned and saw a strange look on Mr. Davis' face, "Ummm, nothing. We were all just helping Jasper." And Billy walked over to Jasper and helped him up off the ground.

  Mr. Davis didn’t seem convinced, "Okay, well, get to class. Now. And don’t let me catch you in the halls after class again." He said in his sternest voice.

  Billy and the former Goons nodded their heads, Jasper responded weakly, "Sorry for the trouble Sir."

  They picked up Jasper and moved slowly towards class. Mrs. Jenkins was waiting for them at the door and she did not look happy. Billy looked her in the eye and said, "You look like you’re happier today Mrs. Jenkins."

  Instantly her face lightened, and the frown turned quickly into a smile, "Why yes Billy, I do feel pretty good. Now you boys get in here, and sit down, we need to start class."

  Billy grinned as he walked past, maybe school wouldn’t be so bad after all.

  During the next several weeks Billy used his powers sparingly. Small pushes to only the worst teachers, making them much nicer. Life couldn’t have been better.

  Rick didn’t bother Billy, or anyone else for that matte
r. He sulked through the halls, giving everyone angry glances, but he wasn’t a bully anymore. Billy felt the cold hatred growing, but never like the pure rage he knew Rick was capable of. After a few weeks, Billy didn’t even see Rick anymore. Rumor had it that Rick had dropped out of school.

  After everything that happened, Billy was very happy that things were working out so well. He didn’t get picked on, bullying in the school had stopped all together, the teachers and students were all happy. Life was great.

  One day Billy came home from school, and his Mom and Dad were sitting at the kitchen table. Billy felt a tension around them that surprised him. His Mom looked over and he felt genuine worry for the first time in weeks.

  Billy had slowly been making changes in her, a little bit every day, and this was the first time that he'd seen any difference. This meant that the changes might not be permanent! Maybe he could fix his Mom! He smiled and his positive mood affected his parents, but only slightly. “Something must be really wrong," he thought.

  His Dad looked at him and said, "Billy, we need to tell you something. Sit down over here, between Mom and I."

  Billy sat down hesitantly, wishing once again that he could read minds too. Just knowing what they were feeling without knowing what they were thinking was maddening. His Mom reached over and took his hand, trying to give him a reassuring look.

  Billy’s Dad said, "Son, we have some news, and it’s a very good thing, but it means some change." Billy was worried, parents only talk like this when it’s bad news. His Dad continued "Well, I got a promotion in my job, which is a really good thing for us, but it also means that we have to move. And not a close move. We’ll be moving far away."

  Billy’s mind was in turmoil, he asked, "How far? When? What about Grandpa? I was just starting to like school and everything... you can’t be serious?!?"

  His Dad merely nodded at him, "Yes Son, we’re serious. And we have to leave within a week."

  "Where do we have to go?" Billy asked.

  "We’re heading to a small fishing village in northern Alaska so I can study the indigenous people and take some samples of their soil and plants. It’s a great opportunity but it does mean we’ll be isolated for a while. I know this is hard but I’m sure we can make it work. And don’t worry about Grandpa, Grandma will take good care of him." Billy’s Dad looked hopeful.