My name is Brian, and I want to tell you about when my life took a turn for the better. I guess we should begin with how my life was before. I'm your average high school senior. I'm on the short side, 5'7, and a little pudgy. My brown hair always looks messy, no matter what I do with it. I'm pretty strong, but I've never been very good at sports. If you haven't guessed already, I got bullied . . . a lot.
The one thing I was above average in, was intelligence. I excelled at all my classes and often was bored with the material being taught. It wasn't uncommon for me to be finished with the course work months ahead of everyone else. I used my spare time reading as much as I could. I loved learning new things, absorbing as much as I could.
It was this passion that changed my life. News of a new book store that only dealt in old books reached me and I decided to go check it out. The inside was like any old book store you can imagine, and I loved it. I explored it for hours, finding books I planned to take home. I was glad I had taken my school bag when I went because I didn't have to walk home with an arm full of books.
But it wasn't a dusty old book that changed my life. On the way back from the store, I saw a guy mugging an old man. The guy was bigger than me and had a knife. Normally, like most of our species, I would have changed direction. Getting involved would likely have just gotten me killed, or mugged right along with the old man.
Something was different this time. Maybe it was that I have just turned 18. Maybe because the old man was just so . . . old. Why would anyone attack someone that looked so frail already. I wasn't much of a fighter, but I found myself walking up behind the guy anyway. I cringed at what might happen to my new/old books, but I swung the bag as hard as I could, aiming for the back of the man's head.
I'm not sure who was more surprised, the old man or me. I looked down at the unconscious man and sighed in relief. "Come on, before he comes to." I put hand on his back and started walking. His walk was a little slow, but I didn't rush him since the attacker was still out cold.
When we were around a corner, the old man stopped and looked at me. "That was very brave young man. You didn't have to stop to help me." Before I could say anything, he touched me on the forehead, light exploding behind my eyes.
By the time my vision cleared, I was sitting against the wall, breathing hard. The old man was still standing there leaning on his cane. "I have been looking for someone to pass that on to for a while. I was about to use it to save myself before you stepped in. I hope you have as much fun with it as I did."
The old man's laugh was soft as he started to walk away. I was very confused and got to my feet. "What was that? Pass on what?" He didn't stop walking or turn to face me while talking. "Just snap your fingers and find out young man."
Blinking was all I could do at the unexpected response. What did he mean snap my fingers. How would that explain the light and his strange words. Deciding to try it out before asking further, I snapped my fingers. At first, I thought nothing had happened. It was the silence that gave it away.
The next thing to catch my attention was a bird flying by. Well, not flying so much as frozen in mid-air, wings spread out. Another snap and the bird started moving again, flying on as if nothing had happened. I stared at my hand for a moment and then looked up to ask more questions.
