I was not born special. The event of my birth was as normal as any other child, a run of the mill baby with run of the mill parents in a house far too cramped and a head far too big for my neck. Yet despite the absolute mundaneness of my birth, my parents loved me as if the world had become anchored around my existence. For them I think it really did.

The house in which I was raised was only special to us, and only because it was ours. To any passerby, any wandering eye on the sidewalk who glared into the windows, they would read our lives as nothing but simple. As a mother who cooked and a father who worked. A child with a sensible amount of curiosity and another who died young. But that wasn't notable, that was just life. That was my life.

But of course, somewhere along the way, I thought the world had begun to revolve around me too. Convinced so by how much love my parents showed me. I must be special if they thought so, my parents were never wrong. And in this rare, stupid instance, it turned out I was right.

I had realized quickly as a child that I could move things. Not move from place to place, but between places. I'd put something behind my back and poof, gone. Then with my other I'd reach into the apparent void and just like that, it'd be back again.

A superpower? Hardly. Hell, it was hardly even of any convenience. I had only ever used it as a party trick. A simple display of harmless fun to entertain guests. Well, at least that was until I understood where it all led to.

It was Jackson's thing, a party I guess you could call it. Not enough people to be considered a party I'd thought, but he was turning twenty-one and those few of us there were making a big show of it. Finally he asked me, as he always did when he introduced me to others, if I could show them my "superpower". I obliged, starting with a candle, then a book, a handful of marbles, simple stuff. Sometimes it'd come back odd, candles used, marbles scuffed, minor things that I couldn't explain.

But it didn't seem to be enough, not for Jackson.

"Ok, ok! Now do me!" The room shut up at his eagerness.

"Have uh...have you tried it on a person Harry-" A concerned voice spoke up from the back of the room. But Jackson insisted.

"What? If not even better! I'll be the first." Jackson continued. Everything you've ever put in comes back right?"

I was hesitant, scared, but eager to know where it all went. So, he positioned himself behind me. The small crowd of friend's leaned in as if to notice any imperfection. Any clue of how my oddity worked. But nothing. The moment my hand touched him he simply faded from our existence.

The crowd ooe'd but I trembled knowing the power I now held. If I decided to do nothing he would be gone forever. My hands shook. Instantly I pulled him back, reaching into the void behind my back and yanking. What came through the other side though was something different. Much older, grayed hair and circular wrinkles around his eyes. A pair of wire framed glasses he did not previously have.

"I...I...send me back. God please send me back." An audible gasp blew through the room at this older mans desperate pleas. His eyes shot between us as if we were nothing more than distant strangers. But I knew it was him.

"Jackson? What was on the other side- where did you go?" I stuttered the words out.

"Paradise, hell, purgatory, does it matter?! Send me back! Please god what sort of cruel dream!" He dropped to his knees in a desperate plea. Rather than wait for my reply he gripped my hand and dove at my back, dissapearing once again.

Instantly I yanked back, feeling around the void for his shape, but gripping nothing. Nothing came. Nobody in the room moved, they all just stared at one another in disbelief as I struggled. I put my hands behind my back and yanked, and yanked, and yanked, my heart pulsing in my chest.

"Jackson! Jack!" I yelled, pulling one last desperate time. And this time something did come from the other side. A person, child, smooth skinned and wide eyed, no older than five. He looked like Jackson, in an odd way; something deep in his eyes.

"Jackson?" I questioned in a whisper.

And the child shook its head up and down.

Then and there I knew, it was true I was not born special, I was born cursed.

"Hey, you should try it with me." The words were slurred, Alex had obviously been hitting the punchbowl tonight. The noise of the party dipped a little before rising. No one was paying attention to us.

"Not the best way to try and get over a breakup," I said, keeping my tone light, I didn't want to destroy the party spirit.

"Oh, come on, it will be a laugh. Just put me behind your back and pull me out."

"What if you can't breathe back there? What if there's a time dilation? What if I pull out a dead body?" I said, grasping for reasons not to do this. There had to be a reason I never did it with living, breathing creatures. Even if I couldn't fully remember, I knew it had to be bad. I hadn't done it since my sixth birthday.

Alex stepped closer, eyes locking with mine. There was a deep sort of despair there, that threatened to reach out and absorb everything within its radius. I took a deep breath but before I could speak, Alex smiled.

"Just put me behind your back and pull me out." The words were the same, but the sound was layered, as if multiple people spoke at once. My hands reached for Alex without my conscious thought. It was their superpower, the ability to mesmerize someone, to make them do what they wanted. It was also the reason for their most recent breakup.

"Don't make me do this."

"It will be fine, come on. Don't you want everyone to have a good time?" Alex said in their usual voice as my hands closed around their arm and passed them behind my back. Instantly moving my empty hands to the front of my body and then backwards again, I pulled Alex from behind me.

"What—"

The person who stood in front of me was older; dishevelled in a way I had never known Alex to be.

"Send me back! How dare you take me from my destiny." The voice was different too, and my heart sank. I had never been able to confirm what I suspected about my power, until now.

"Let me put you behind me. You should go back." I said, reaching out and guiding the stranger around. They vanished and I took a breath. Reaching behind again, I tried to envision the Alex I knew. Pulled them in front of me, and ducked. The sword whistled over my head, taking a few hairs with it. The person who looked like a young version of Alex gabbled something in a language that vaguely resembled French.

"Sorry, sorry," I said, any French I had ever known flying out of my head. Shoving them behind me, I reached again.

"What the hell man? Where am I? Oh, a party. Groovy, man. Groovy." I tried to snag this version of Alex but they wandered off, their psychedelic clothes matching with the aesthetic of the party. Damn. Hands going back, I pulled again.

"Well, aren't you the bold boy. I daresay I haven't been groped like that since I was a young'un." I blinked at a person who was old enough to be my grandparent. They fluttered their lashes at me, fanning themself with their hand.

"Back you go," I said, and pushed them behind me. Pausing, I tried to think. Reaching blindly wasn't working, all I was doing was pulling alternate versions of Alex from across parallel realities. Or their reincarnations from this reality. I wasn't exactly sure, but either wasn't ideal. So where had I sent my Alex? What reality were they inhabiting?

The answer that came to mind—driven by my memories— broke my heart. If I was pulling them from parallel realities, the reality my Alex would have ended up in... I closed my eyes, reached behind me and my hands closed on an arm. Pulling them in front, I dared a peek.

Tears coated Alex's face, and more horrifying than that, was the knife in their hand.

"Alex? Where did you go?" I asked, a little afraid of the answer. They stared at me, crying silently.

"I went... I went...Back." They said, their face crumpling. I pulled them into a hug, trying not to cry as the knife clattered to the floor. A few people looked our way and I waved them away.

"I realized. Are you... Were they...?" I asked, unable to finish the questions.

"No. They were still... they were still..." Alex gasped, their breath coming in gasps. I rubbed their back in circular motions.

"All right, all right. Breathe. Just breathe." I knew beneath the shirt that covered them there were terrible scars. Scars inflicted by the people they'd just seen, the people they'd just been sent back to. The horrible people that I'd stolen Alex away from when I was six years old.

The memory of that day finally unfolded fully in my head. I'd suppressed a large amount; hadn't wanted to deal with it. There I was, playing with my newly discovered power, and I had the bright idea of reaching for my imaginary best friend. I thought at the time that I made things appear, not just stole them from elsewhere. When Alex had appeared in my hands, bloody, their back a mess of old wounds and new, I thought my power had hurt them during the process. They had never talked about their past, but I pieced it together through what they screamed out during their nightmares.

They were the reason I had never touched another living thing. I was afraid, afraid of what had just happened. That I would send that living being back to a horrible place or take them from paradise. In my arms, Alex stilled, their breathing starting to go back to normal.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I would never have done it if—"

"If I hadn't forced you. I'd forgotten too. When I appeared in that room... The memories came back." They said, voice hoarse from weeping. Breaking free of my embrace they looked at me, their eyes still wet. "Thank you for finding me again."

I smiled, wiping their cheek as gently as I could.

"I will always find you. You're my best friend. Remember?" I said, and they nodded, trying to smile.

"Now, I don't want to overwhelm you, but while I was looking, I found a rather interesting version. They wandered off before I could send them back. So, I guess the question is, where would you go if you were feeling groovy?" Before Alex could respond, there was a shout from the punchbowl.

"Man, this punch is wicked, man. So gnarly!"

Wiping the remnants of tears from their cheeks, Alex managed a tiny smile. As we turned towards the beverage table, they leaned into me. I knew they needed my support, so I wrapped my arm around their waist.

"I think," They paused. "I might be at the punch. If I was feeling groovy."

I laughed, and as a small chuckle escaped Alex, we made our way over to the punchbowl.

———————

Visit r/Mel_Rose_Writes for more stories!

“You mean … I’ve been sending objects to the future?”

Alex had returned looking quite ragged, and nearly passed out. We had urgently asked everyone else to leave while I attended to him.

“Yes!” Alex replied, “and after you sent me, I’ve been in contact with others. Or … will be in contact with them … oh, it’s all so confusing. But I’ve got to go back!”

“Wha, what? … What for?”

“There’s been a terrible plague, which has wiped out most of humanity. A few scientists have quarantined with their families, but most of the masses have died off… but it can be stopped! We happen to be at just the right time to…”

A loud knocking on the door interrupted Alex mid-sentence.

“I’ll go get it,” I said.

“No! There’s no time, let me get on your computer.”

“It’s upstairs, who the h-“

The knocked repeated, so hard the floor shook beneath me.

“Who the hell is that!?” I said, following him upstairs.

“You’re not the only one who can facilitate time travel. Now close the door.”

He began frantically typing at the keyboard.

“You were only gone for like, 30 seconds. How long were you there?”

“Three hours. They gave me instructions on how to avoid the plague altogether, but they also warned me that …”

THUD CRASH

The entire house shook as my front door was kicked in. Boots thudded on the ground as the intruders began searching the house.

Alex whispered intently, “Lock the door!”

I turned the lock as quietly as I could, my heart pounding. Someone was coming up the stairs.

Alex was frantically scrolling through a large PDF of a patent filed by Monsanto, looking for just the right page.

The door handle jerked suddenly and I jumped back instinctively.

“UP HERE, BOYS,” shouted the man just beyond the door, “HE MUST BE HERE.”

The next couple seconds happened in a blur. Alex snapped a picture on his phone of a molecule on screen, then urged “Send me back, Now!!”

The door crashed open and the intruder spotted Alex immediately. This tank of a man came right for him, but it was too late. With a swish of my arm, Alex was swept right back to the future he visited moments ago, and then the world went dark.

——————-

Suddenly, Alex and I were back in my house, breathing heavy, adrenaline coursing through our veins, but safe. The doors were all perfectly in tact.

“What … the … hell just happened?!?” I asked. “The doors… they were kicked in, and know they’re fine! How did you get back? I didn’t pull you back, just suddenly we were back here.”

“Well… technically, it never happened.”

I stared blankly at him. “Of course it happened, we just survived that shit, what do you mean?”

“The scientists developed a cure once they had some more information about how the virus was made. The plague was accidental at first, but some other powerful survivors wanted to keep the world… culled. So they sent henchman after me once they traced my time leap.”

I sat there silently.

“So, in essence, while it did happen, because we were successful, none of it will happen.”

“You’re giving me a headache,” I replied.

“Let’s grab a beer and forget that never happened,” Alex said.

“Agreed,” I replied.

When you've been a few feet away from the eternal void, you'd do anything to escape the well of inky blackness that threatens to make you as insignificant as the things that never happened, the things that were nothing more than wishes in the back of imaginative minds. That's where I went for what felt like a lifetime, hung in space above that gaping hole in the universe that threatened to suck me in and slosh me around like water in a toilet bowl. I was suspended long enough that I finally made peace with it. When I did, I grasped that the meaning of life was whatever was in front of me. In the blackness, I could see universes stacked upon universes, dragons fighting knights, and romances sweep in for a summer before dying on autumn's first breezes. I saw life.

When Jake pulled me back into the party, it was like being thrust back into the prison of Earth and all its mortal fallacies. There was the youth following the rhythm of their bodies, the smell of beer hanging in the air, and gossip floating in whispers about things that didn't matter. Never mattered. I begged Jake to send me back at once, screaming in my surprisingly hoarse voice that I didn't want to be here anymore. The crowd turned to look at me, their faces agape with a shock I'd never remembered seeing before. There were cries of "is that you Drew?" and "you look old?". Of course, I was old. How could I possibly be young? Who would want to be?

I couldn't fault them for their lack of understanding. Life was a spectrum of knowledge, and only towards the natural end did you understand the necessity of death, that there was a special quality to rest. You'd seen the cycles of life and had come to understand that everything that's happening now has happened before in a different form. In this way it all became boring. The void was never boring because it always contained something new, and it did this by being nothing at all.

Jake put me behind his back again. I smiled.

r/StoriesToThinkAbout

"Are you sure? This isn't our scene. Wouldn't you much rather play Mario Kart in your parents basement?" I exclaim while my knee moves as quickly as my heart is beating. I feel myself sink deeper in the passenger seat of Darren's Accord. "Dude, just chill. Don't you think we're too old to be doing that every weekend. Just breathe a bit, maybe have a few beers. We'll have a good time." "You know my parents don't usually let me out, I don't wanna disobey them the first chance I get." "Listen Howe, all will be fine. If you follow my lead you might even enjoy yourself. Speaking of which, Tommy told me Jess Hernandez is gonna come through."

We make our way inside Tommy's house party. I make sure to take with me a stick of gum and some confidence (girls like that). The noise of the loud music and yelling was disorienting at first but after Darren and I met up with Tommy things felt all chill. I clocked Jess hanging with her friends near the drinks. As we settled in my mind see-sawed on whether I should go over there and start up some conversation. Darren noticed my internal struggle and my googly gaze at her direction. "Before your eyes pop out their sockets go talk to her. Dont knock yourself yet, how about you give her a conversation starter." "How do you propose I do that?" "Do the thing." As Darren flexes his eyebrows a couple times. "Are you crazy?! I can't, my parents said-." "Enough of that bull shit. Your hanging with the boys now. I say if you wanna chance to talk to Jess, you need to impress." "Okay, fine." I concede. Darren winks at me and smiles.

"Hey everyone check this out!" Yells Tommy. The room goes quiet as all eyes now stare directly at me and my friends. Darren tosses an empty beer bottle at me, I catch it surprisingly gracefully and I try super hard to concentrate as I "do the thing". In my hands the beer bottle disappears. Everyone roars. I look around, I see Jess. She's smiling and in disbelief. "You guys wanna see something really cool?" Darren steps up and whispers to me, "Make me disappear." I hesitate but as the party chants, "Do It!" I have no choice. I whisper to Darren, "Are you sure." He assures me all is fine. So I set Darren up infront of me, I put my hands on each of his shoulders. I drown out the noise around me, I close my eyes and lower my head, my arms shaking, my head feels compression. I raise my head to my own amazement Darren is no more. He's gone.

Everyone now holds their breath before I bring Darren back into physical reality. As he phases and reappears Darren doesn't look like Darren. He's back but he's frail, wrinkly, and old. He screams in fright. The party forms into a tighter circle. Darren falls as his knees give out, his body drops to the floor before I'm able to get a grip on him. I freak out, I feel my body go cold, I'm frozen like a statue. Tommy helps him up. The look on Darren's face haunts me, his words even more so: "What did you do to me. What took you so long? Why did you wait so long." The breath in my lungs disappear as quickly as he did, words on the edge of my tongue fail to my lips. Terrified I remain still. Some of my peers begin to turn on me, shoving me. Tommy yells at them to stop but maybe I deserve it. Darren out of breath asks me to turn him back. I don't know how. "If I try to make you disappear and reappear again how do I know you won't come back worse?" I've never used my powers on a living organism. I shouldn't have agreed to be a stupid party trick. "Please Howe, at least try." Tommy pleads. I look at old Darren and I can't in good conscience send him back knowing he may not return.

I need fresh air. I decide to try to leave the house. I pass Jess and I feel her stare at me in distraught. I can't handle the pressure surrounding me. Finally, I escape, alone outside I let out tears of stress. Tommy sends everyone home. As every scared and disappointed person retreat, they whisper things about me as if I can't hear them as they pass by. "He's a freak." "Howe just killed his own friend." "Best party ever." Finally, I go back inside. I see Darren and Tommy sitting on the living room couch. Darren pleads to me once more, "I need you to make me myself again Howe. I trust you. Please." "Focus on bringing him back the way he was before. You can do it." Tommy reassures me. Tommy holds Darren up as he is between my hands again. I close my eyes tight and deeply breathe through my nose. I lift my head as the light in the room can be felt through my eyelids. I feel Darren go. I begin to pray as I attempt to bring back my friend. My eyes welling up with tears, I squeeze as much of my powers out of me as I can. Tommy stays as silent as a mouse. My heart beats out of my chest. I yell and open my eyes, chills run down my spine. Between my hands something begins to reappear.

Dust.

What?! No!No! Take me back! Take me back! Josh started to scream frantically, his body movement jerky and twitchy. The music stopped, everyone look horrified, at him, his hair, beard and nails overgrown, they suit his was wearing just a minute ago, shabby.

His breath on your face as he grabbed you, screaming and spitting was awful. His teeth yellowed, what was happening?

Before you could react at all Pamela's Husband grabbed Josh and pulled him from you, Josh had his grip so tight on your arm he scrached you as he was pulled away.

Josh looked and sounded like a mad man, yet you couldn't respond, you couldn't process it what had happened? You don't understand, it was literally just a second. You just stand there while the man tried to calm Josh and stop him.

He became violent starting to attack his friends, he knew who they were as he pleaded to be let go, to be able to return, calling his friends by their names. Is was a scary sight some of the women started to take the kids out of the room.

The party was ruined, everything had turned to chaos and you just stood there. You hearded faintly when Jeremy said, that Josh looked thinner, loke he hadn't eaten in a while. You never stopped to think about where the things you made dissappear went.

None of them ever looked older, even the foods... you didn't understand you could. You were immobilized, tears rolling out of your eyes as the evens unfolded around you. Eventually Mark came to you.

• What's happening man? He asked, clearly scared.

-I...I...don't know.

-What do you mean what did you do Alex?

-What did I... I don't know.

Mark's look turned from scared to angry, with him in front of you, you couldn't see the couch where they where still trying to hold Josh, but you could hear him trashing around and mumbling that he needed to go back.

-Alex?! What do we do? He won't stop! Screamed Jeremy as he tried to help Pamela's husband.

You looked around everyone else was gone. You couldn't explain, but before you could even say anything Josh came hurling towards you, pushing Mark out of the way, he did so with such violence Mark fell and hit his head. You couldn't see if he was okay, because Josh was immediately on top of you on the floor shaking you, drooling and screaming that he had to go back that he couldn't be here. Say incoherent things about how once you go you can't come back...you can't .... you can't come back... he didn't want to be back, he had to go, that he was in pain, the pain would only stop if he went back.

Someone must have called the police because you heard sirens outside and saw the blue and red lights reflected on the window.

Something pulled you focus back to Josh, a sharp and piercing pain, he was slawing you chest with his overgrown nails.

Jeremy pulled him away from you and you could see Mark on the floor a blood pool starting to form around his head, Pamela's husband beside him. Your chest wasn't much better and Jeremy struggled with Josh as the police arrived.

You vision was blurry, but you could see two of the police officers pinning Josh down on the floor and subduing him, the last things you saw before you passed out where a paramedic injecting something on Joshes neck and another comming to you.

You woke up on hospital two days later, you chest hurt and you felt like you couldn't breathe. Not even 5 minutes passed before two officers walked in and started asking questions, what had happened to Josh? what drugs had he used? You friends kidly told them you did something to him. And you had, but yoy couldn't expect them to belive you.

You didn't have a reply you didn't know. The cops said thaf Josh was having all of the symptoms of withdraw and that he might not survive, so they needed to know what drug you had given to him Because they found nothing on the tox screen.

You told them you hadn't given him any drug, that you didn't know what had happened. They started to go ove your "friends" statements... you head felt heavy, your vision go blurry again and the sounds seemed faint.. distant.

You passed out the nurse said, the cops where very mad, but what did they expect...

A few months passed you never saw your friend again, the cops had to clear you has they couldn't prove you had done anything to Josh, just another case closed without and explanation. You had to get a restraining order from Josh. Every now and then he appeared on you door. Seemingly normal, but with that look, that same look from that day asking to be sent back, that he had nothing left in this world, his wife left, he couldn't see his kids, he lost his job and his friends wouldn't come near him...thay he didn't mean for Mark to die, but that he needed to go back, that he was in pain, that he felt empty and no one would miss him.

You hadn't seen him in a while, but you knew he was there... standing outside facing the house. Waiting for a change to go back. You even thought about letting him, but you didn't know what might happen if he did... what was on the otherside.

You promised to never use your power again, not even for small objects, as you look at yourself in the mirror with the scars on your chest...

The end

"What are you doing?! Send me back!"

"Wait, what? Why? Where did you go? How long have you been gone? What happened?!"

I'd been pulling my little trick for years. Sending things away, then yanking them back. This was the first time I'd done a person or living thing, though, and the man I pulled back was not the same one I'd sent away.

His clothes were completely different. Instead of the casual jeans and t-shirt ensemble he'd left with, he came back wearing an outfit that put any cosplayer to shame. Mail hauberk, plate armor in places, a sword that looked terrifyingly functional. And all of it had clearly seen use, if the smell had not already given that away. The outfit may look amazing but he smelled like he'd just come out of a gym workout.

And his clothes weren't the only change. Gone was the youth from his face and eyes. Now a mature young man looked back at me, with a fire, intensity, fear, and focus that he had previously lacked.

"It's been nearly ten years! Why did you call me back now? You have to send me back! They need me!"

"Ten years? It was fifteen seconds! And who needs you?!"

"EVERYONE!"

He's getting more and more frantic, grabbing at me now.

"You have to send me back. It's the middle of the battle, and I'm just gone. What will happen to the army? They're there because of me, they'll route if I'm thought to have perished. Not to mention, who else can stand against Praethor? This sword wasn't easy to find, and there are precious few like it in the world. Now send me back!"

The information was a jumble of confusion and nonsense. It meant nothing to me. But his last words were given in such a commanding tone and with a tense grip on the sword that I simply did as commanded, reached back, and sent him away.

Only after, thinking back on things, did it make sense. I didn't just make things vanish, I sent them to another world, with other rules and laws. Other magic and time and power blocs and people. I pulled out some of my favorite trinkets that I had sent away and called back before, noting the subtle changes to them. The fading, a few grass stains. I hadn't realized how my power worked before.

But now I've thrown my best friend into another world, where he apparently formed an army to fight...someone. I isekai'd my friend. And he had to go back. But, it had been a minute between when he was pulled and when he was shoved back. Was that a minute over there as well? Or, if it was the same length as the difference was before, did he just get thrown into the world forty years after his army lost?

So here’s the deal:

My back is a portal. I can put things in and take them out kind of like when a cartoon character pulls something from behind them. Pocket dimension powers are handy, but they aren’t anything crazy.

I don’t know what mine looks like at all so when my friend wanted to check it out I saw it as a win win. When I pulled him back out though, it looked like he’d been in there for weeks and he begged to go back. Eventually he calmed down and a few days later he discussed the world as calmly as he could. While he was calm the experience left him in shambles and while this is recoverable within a few months at a ward so getting a straight answer is next to impossible.

From what I could gather, it was a paradise like living within one’s own imagination even coming equipped with living creatures. In that world Steve was able to live out all of his greatest dreams and desires from the relatively simple like getting a girlfriend to the more complex ones like becoming a hero or running his own business where he sells baked goods. He heard tales from the entities there of the fated hands that can give great gifts and just as easily take them away at their beckon call and he was eventually taken too.

According to him he spend 3 months in there and this world is all he talks about now. I feel bad for Steve and due to court order, I’ll never be able to see him again with me being relocated to make sure psychological well-being is kept

I:

"Hey...where'd you get that?" Danny asked, blinking at me in the light of my Zippo's flickering flame, as I held it against the cigarette he'd handed me.

I was dressed as Superman for Halloween -- which meant that, like the Man of Steel himself, I had no pockets. I'd never told anyone what I could do before, and I don't know why I chose that night at Marty Baker's shitty Halloween party to change that. I could have explained the lighter away. And obviously, I had plenty of good reasons to keep my ability a secret: torches and pitchforks, dissected by the government, et cetera.

Maybe it was the edibles that we'd gotten off Marty's stoner cousin earlier that night. Maybe it was the costume, making me feel like I really was invincible. Or maybe I was just a stupid teenager, like everyone else at the party that night.

"Hammerspace." I said.

"Hammerspace?" Danny asked.

I nodded, flicking my zippo closed, and then paused to take a long drag and exhale. "Yeah. You ever see those old cartoons, where like Bugs Bunny just....he just sorta reaches behind him, and then comes back around holding this big-ass hammer, or some shit?"

Danny paused a moment, as his pleasantly toasted brain processed my question. Then he nodded, slowly.

"Yeah."

I shrugged. "Well, that's where he gets that hammer -- from hammerspace..." I tossed my zippo into the air lightly, caught it, and then moved my hand behind me and released it with a practiced motion. Just like that, it was simply gone. "...and that's where I keep my lighter, so I don't accidentally leave it my pants and have my folks kick my ass for smoking when they find it on laundry day."

Danny looked behind me. He looked on the ground at my feet. He stared at my spandex-wrapped ass for longer than was really comfortable, though the thin, cheap fabric made it clear I didn't have a lighter unless I'd managed to stow it in my prison wallet.

"Dude, stop checking out my butt -- the lighter's in hammerspace, I told you." I said, glancing around nervously at the other costumed attendees scattered around the deck above Marty's back yard.

He finally stopped and look back at me. It was hard to tell what his emotions were, through the haze.

"Holy shit." he said, sounding strangely quiet and sober.

I shrugged again, uncomfortably. I was already realizing what a bad idea it had been to access hammerspace where someone could see, to say nothing of how stupid it was to come right out and tell them about it. Danny was my friend, sure, but not to the extent that I was comfortable putting my life in his hands. I hoped he'd think he was just tripping balls and would drop the subject, or maybe he'd forget what had happened by tomorrow.

"So like...what else do you keep in there?" he asked.

"Nothing." I said, uneasily. "I mean, just like little things. My wallet, tonight. A spare key. And just, I dunno, shit I don't want my parents to find, I guess."

Danny nodded again. "Cool." Then his eyes widened, and he punched me on the shoulder. "Hey!"

"Ow! What the hell, man?" I protested.

"Why the hell was I sweating about carrying those special gummy bears around for hours when you could have just stashed them in hyperspace or whatever?" he demanded.

"Hammerspace! And...I don't know! I mean, look, I don't even really like to talk about this, alright? It's like...it's private, you know? Just drop it." I replied, my mind still too sluggish to formulate a better reply.

He shook his head. "Come on, that's bullshit! You can't just tell me something like this and tell me to drop it. Besides, I tell you my private shit all the time!"

"Pff, no you don't!"

"Yes I do!"

"Like what?" I demanded.

"Like how Marty's cousin sells edibles!" he shot back.

"Dude, that's Marty's private shit -- if anything the fact that you told me that means I shouldn't tell you any private shit about me!" I retorted, jabbing a finger at him.

"Fine! I jack it to cartoons!" he shouted, angrily, lifting his chin and jerking a thumb at his chest.

Danny's face paled, as he recalled where we were. Multiple heads turned in our direction, and I winced, wondering if it would be clear to them that Danny had said that, rather than me.

"So like...we're even now." Danny mumbled, lamely.

Simon sat quietly at the kitchen table. The beer I had given him sat untouched next to him, pooling condensation on the particle board. It was just the three of us - me, Simon, and his roommate Charlie. The rest of the party had quickly cleared out when I pulled Simon back from whatever dimension I had put him in. I guess seeing your host screaming at the top of his lungs was enough to kill your buzz. Either that, or they were all afraid I would do the same thing to them. As if I had done this on purpose.

"You look different." I prompted. The guilt-spawned knot in my gut made it difficult to ask direct questions. I was afraid to know the answers; afraid of the truth of what I had done.

"It's been ten years." Simon replied, not meeting my gaze. Charlie spewed beer and started coughing from behind my chair. I leaned forward and scrubbed my face with my hands. It was supposed to be a joke. A party trick. No one was supposed to get hurt.

"I'm so sorry, man."

"You have to send me back." He said with more conviction than I had ever heard from him before. This was a guy who had changed his major three times in the past year. He was never sure of anything. This wasn't the same Simon I had been joking around with an hour ago.

"What? No. You're not thinking clearly." I tried to put my hand on his shoulder, but he shoved it away.

"You don't understand. I need to go back. Please." When he finally looked at me, his eyes were void of the anger I would have expected after something like this. Instead, his gaze was dripping with desperation. The bags under his eyes grew heavier, and the knot in my stomach clenched.

"Dude, do the math. You were gone for, like, 30 seconds before. If that was 10 years, then whatever you're trying to get back to is probably gone now." Charlie said from behind me.

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!" Simon shot up from his chair to stare Charlie down. Simon had never been this confrontational either. Charlie and I locked eyes for a moment. His face had lost all color. I quickly came up to stand between them.

"Okay, man. Let's just talk about this." I said calmly. "I can't send you back without knowing more about what happened."

"This is YOUR power." Simon's hostile attention shifted to me.

"I...I didn't know this would happen. I've never disappeared anything alive before." There was nothing I could say that would be a good enough reason for my recklessness. Simon ran his fingers through his hair and started pacing the kitchen floor.

"I have a family, Ben." It was the first time he had used my name since he had returned, and my heart broke a little. "I have a daughter. She's three."

"I'm sorry, man." Charlie muttered.

"She needs me. She's special." He said with a sigh.

"Of course she is." I tried to put myself in his position.

"No. You don't understand." Simon stopped pacing and looked at me from the other side of the room. His hair was in complete disarray, and tears were streaming down his cheeks. "She's going to save the world. My coming was foretold by the ancient oracle, and her birth was the signal for a new age. Everyone on the planet knows the story, and some don't want it to be true."

"What?" I couldn't quite wrap my head around what he was saying.

"They hunt her. My wife is a powerful warrior. She will protect Nia as long as possible, but I must get back to her. She needs me to teach her our ways. I'm the only one who can." He was becoming more and more desperate as he spoke. My mouth hung open as I tried to process his story.

"Dude, I don't know what happened to you, but I think you're confused." I started. Simon took an abrupt step forward.

"You're not listening to me!" His hands were shaking, with anger or fear I couldn't tell. "You MUST send me back! Now!"

I glanced at Charlie, but he gave me a bewildered shrug. This was crazy. He was obviously crazy. But then again, any time I told people the truth about by 'magic trick', they thought I was crazy too. Whatever Simon had left behind was obviously important to him. I could clearly see his distress, even if I didn't fully understand where it was coming from.

"Okay." I said finally. "What if I send you back one more time?"

"Yes." He said abruptly.

"Dude, are you sure this is a good idea?" Charlie piped up.

"But I'm pulling you back just like before." I continued. "I can't leave you there. Your mom would never forgive me."

"I understand."

"And when you return, I want to know everything."

"Of course." He said too quickly.

"Alright. Stand behind me, like before." I turned around as Simon came closer. Charlie looked like he wanted to object, but for one reason or another, he said nothing as I reached my hand around and shoved Simon back through the portal.

This one got a little weird and might be bad or I might have missed the prompt. My bad. it's what came to mind when I started writing.

A spit take launched three half melted ice cubes hurtling towards the kitchen tile. It was there they slid, dissolving into a puddle of what could be confused with spit. It was Alice’s spit. Alice had participated in the trick before when they were kids and her bunny returned with a soul and mortgage.

Trix was the name of her rabbit, and he was in fact named after the cereal mascot, when she was finally deemed too old for the stuffed toy; her father told her that Trix were for kids. It was loaded and so, not wanting to upset her parents and fulfill their wishes of getting ready to enter adulthood. She gave the bunny to her brother with the mystery spine.

Now, she covers her mouth, wiping the spit that had fallen from her lip based launch pad. This party was being held to honor the retirement/birthday of Matilda Price, the wife and soon to be mother of their General Manager’s child. The Same general Manager who was pulled behind the curtain and into Darren’s spine moments ago.

It would have been easy to close the restaurant for the evening, letting the hard working staff have a party in their workspace, leaving the clean up to a cleaning crew they could hire. Why lose money they could gain on a Friday in the summer? Why hire another cleaning crew when there are already maids working in their apartment. A little overtime won’t kill anyone, Gregor Price had said to his wife.

Opting instead for the general manager’s opulent downtown apartment. A place and time that seemed all too mythical to the staff; now, it is purely supernatural.

Gregor stands there, moments after being pulled behind the back of Darren, like a grandparent sneaking some spare change behind a child’s ear.

Withered, flesh ashen and dry, his eyes sunken and black, he shivers, hand jostled for a standing hold on the back of the couch.

“Gregor.” Matilda’s voice was fried and she nearly fainted as her words were carried off into the ether.

No one was standing behind Darren. None had witnessed the Chakra Abyss that lay inside his spinal column. 

Bones tapped on the side of his flesh that had peeled itself away, his back had become a night sky of blending and bleeding souls; tossed in and out as their chakra ran dry. 

He was born with a cracked heart chakra, one that bled and was infected by a Djinn impersonating his higher self. It fed for years on the emotions of youth, growing powerful enough to turn his body into a dimension of its own. 

The Boy known as Darren grew up believing he was a natural magician, but he was really a drain for a spirit sucker. A living vacuum for souls, trading them in and out of living and non-living things as freely as he’d eat a fruit snack.

“Put me back.” Gregor spoke between coughs of dust and words, He arched over onto the back of the couch. “Put me back!” His voice rose. The crowd, all except for Alice, had a cheeky look of delight crawling over them.

There were murmurs of this being quite the show.

A spectacle to be had. And attempting to scare poor Matilda from taking his fortune. This is the least clever way to announce an elopement I’ve ever seen. Elope? Aren't they already married? That wasn’t official, it was just something that they did as a spectacle, to keep the cooks from hitting on Matilda when she was working by herself as MOD (Manager on Duty)

The ensemble of chatter reaching his mind, digging in and making a home, Gregor could not believe what he was hearing. He knew his staff would gossip; all staff do, especially those in a kitchen, but to do it with unmoving lips and in his own apartment; why, he wouldn’t stand for it.

Gregor screamed as light pierced through the holes in his head, purple and white, the deep soul like chakra that is the 7th. This quelled the distilled chatter to a hum, stopping any pervading thoughts about what might or might not be going on behind the scenes.

If only they’d step behind Darren’s back; they could experience it for themselves.

This is something Alice had only seen once, and was too afraid to witness herself the second time. 

Trix had grown rabid, wanting to work, and wanting only to pay off his debt since he was free. He became a devout born again, wanting to absolve himself of the guilt of his past life. The  only guilty thing that Alice could consider Trix having done was when he, still a plush toy and not animated one worrying about the cost of inflation, was when he wrecked her 31st consecutive tea party in October when she was ten.

It had taken a ton of organization on her behalf to keep all of her toys apart who didn’t get along for a month of different guests and parties; culminating in that special Halloween party where they would all meet again under new names and different disguises to liberate themselves from their disagreements and settle old debts.

Rocking her tumbler onto a nightstand, Marry made her way across the carpeted floor towards her little Brother’s back.

She felt it, that old familiar tune, the one she would hear when his world was open to be explored. That low, enchanting song that seemed to whisper to anyone who would listen. It sounded like captured words in a rainstorm.

Alice kept her eyes down, only looking up when became close enough to stop and glance from the corner of her eye. A single bone-like finger tapped his flesh along the bottom, above where his waist used to begin. It cracked it like a spiderweb, drawing a red crackled line along his peach flesh.

Darren’s jawline clenched, ground his top and bottom teeth together, pressing each type of tooth from molar to incisor onto his opposite hole. He drove the ivory mouth bones into their places, whittling down one another, bits of plaque and gum spilling out of his mouth.

Alice could not move. She covered her reddening face, tears welling as another tendril of spine whipped out from her brother’s back. Lashing towards the far wall; latching onto the vent above the Price family's stainless steel stove.

Fluffy white fur, stained gray from play and naps poked its head from the hole inside her brother. 

Whiskers twisted on a face missing a button black nose, one that was removed in anger once he was discovered to be living; replaced with a single red piece of Trix.

Gregor became Cavity of time, just like Trix the rabbit was; they all would be. So long as Darren’s spine remained untapped.

The party grew eager to witness the origin of their line cooks' cracked pigmentation. Slowly, they called to Alice, but she could not hear.

She was moving towards her Trix, her bunny, her buddy who was calling towards her to enter the world of youth and never leave.

Most get the stereotypical stuff; super strength, super speed, xray vision, flight, the stuff you see in the movies. Some lucky few get them all, a nuclear combination of skills akin to Superman. There are a spectrum of powers, and the list is ever growing.

I landed on the "totally useless" end of the spectrum.

Powers manifest slowly throughout childhood, usually starting around 2, and ripen at 13-14. You can imagine the antics a teenager with xray vision or super speed would get up to, and these antics shape the kind of person they'd become. I wasn't so different, really, just more limited. instead of stealing clothes from the locker rooms, I'd hide things you'd never have noticed before until you didn't have them. Test next period? your calculator and pencils are nowhere to be found. Heading to the library to catch up on some homework? Gee, I wonder your binder is.

It became a party trick, a way to pick up girls. Or, an attempt to pick up girls. Who wants Mr. Disappear when the flying fuckwad is there. Still, i had to try. "mark, do that thing!'' Todd shoved his cup in my chest, spilling some on my shirt. I looked at the stain, and grimaced at him. "shit, my bad man" he smirked "let me get that for you".

Todd had an almost equally useless power, he could evaporate moisture instantly. Like me, he never turned down a chance to show it off, and what better time than at a party surrounded by girls. "thanks" I said half-heartedly. I put his cup behind my back, let go, raised my hands above my head in A true display of showmanship, and the troupe of slightly impaired 17 year old's around me lit up.

"Ha, never gets old!...have you ever done that with a person?''

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W

“Why are you old?” I asked. They were only a second ago, just so much more I don’t know, alive. They now looked as if corporal America had taken their body and beaten them with a bonk it stick. “Send me back” they screamed . The party had grown silent, everyone looking at me, like I was the freak. Even the dude with the superpower to make everything he touched into toenails. “I mean sure but once again why are you so old?” “I aged okay, you did something I don’t know the logistics ,” “Okay, so if you don’t know then why do you want to go back then” “I meet this like really hot person and we are having a baby,” “Eww gross, you sure you want to go back to that. Babies are expensive and you do not look like you can handle another financial burden,” I looked at everyone in the room. Some were nodding and other were rolling their eyes at me. “Listen, I need to go back, my life is there now not here,” “What about your partner? They are still in the bathroom , ya know, what am I supposed to say?” “Tell them, you couldn’t get me back out,” “Wait, you said you met a hot person, so that means your partner isn’t that hot person who you are certainly with,” “ I… no but it’s not cheating” “Works for me,” I said as I pushed them behind me. Then a thought occurred to me … “Damn you look so much older now , how’s the kiddo?”

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It was really only a party trick. Finally by either the grace of god or some genetic mutation a person had been gifted a superpower. But it was only good for saving a dying conversation.

Which this corner of the party desperately needed.

“Now watch,” said the would-be-superhero, Evan. He stood in front of an enormous audience of three, all seated on a dingy couch. Behind him people conversed and the music played. The three consisted of a man so deep in sleep that he seemed to be a part of the couch, and two women waiting patiently.

Evan held his drink from the bottom flourishing his left hand around it. He lacked the flare of a true magician, but the two women were watching with at least slight interest.

“And now,” as he spoke he moved the drink behind his back, “it’s gone.” He snapped his now empty hand in front of him showing the front and back to assure of its absence. Both women raised their eyebrows. The one on the left huffed a short laugh. “Wow, some magician. It’s in your waistband. Or your pocket or something.”

Even turned deliberately showing that the drink had truly disappeared. Turning around the cheap magician spoke.

“This is real gen-yoo-ine magic. And now I will bring back my drink… from the great beyond.”

He put his hand behind his back and when he pulled it to his front again, his drink was in his hand.

The woman on the right leaned forward. “Does the worlds corniest magician have any other tricks?”

Damn, toughest crowd around, he thought.

Evan smiled, “Does making other things disappear count?”

The woman both looked unimpressed. Then, from somewhere behind him, a very drunk young man stumbled over, PBR in each hand.

“How ‘bout thish,” he slurred, “I shaw your performance, and how ‘bout you make me vanish, Mr. Magician.” “That would be something Mr. Magician,” the woman on the left mocked.

Evan was worried, but it would be fine right? It’s just making someone disappear from this reality, he thought, not that big of a deal. His ego was a little hurt, and the little liquor he had drank was skewing his decision making, only slightly, though. He really wanted to mess with this kid.

“Alright, sure,” his smile returned. “Now I will make a man vanish into thin air.” He flourished his hands towards the drunk.

“Sho corny,” the drunk replied.

With the little grace Evan took his new stagehands arm and lead him around his back, where he left from sight. To the women on the couch it was as if he walked through an invisible doorway.

“What the fuck,” they said in unison.

Their faces dropped as they stared at Evan. “I told you, it’s real magic.” He laughed and put his had behind his back to retrieve the man.

However when he reached behind his back, the arms he grasped was wrinkly. The guy was young… right? As he thought this he saw the faces of his audience drain of all color. He spun to what should be a young man and took in the sight.

The drunk man had long flowing white hair, with a matching beard that drooped almost to his feet. He now wore a long blue robe faded by time. The parts of his face not hidden by hair were deeply tanned and wrinkled.

His eyes, wide with shock, scanned the room. He settled his eyes on the women. Then, he roared,

“WHAT IS THIS PLACE? WHAT SORCERY HATH YOU HEATHENS USED? DO YOU PULL ME FROM MY STUDIES TO THIS HERETICAL STRUCTURE TO KILL ME? I’D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY YOU HEATHENS OF THE HILLS.”

The women clung to each other. Both of their jaws slack as they stared at the man. Nothing in their lives could have prepared them for this.

Then he spoke again, his voice deep and commanding, “WELL? SPEAK THEN YE WOMAN FOLK! OR DO THEE WISH FOR COMBAT? THEN HAVE AT ME! I FOUGHT WITH THE NORTHERN BARONIES UNDER COMMANDER LEVIT AGAINST THE DE’TWOT! I MYSELF SLAYED THE GREAT STONE BEAST OF THE EASTERN HILLS! COUNTLESS HAVE COME TO FELL ME AND NONE HAVE COME CLOSE! NO FOE SHALL PROSPER AGAINST ME!

Evan was pouring sweat. He was all too aware of the staring eyes of those around them. What the hell… I don’t even know what…

Before he could finish his thought, the man turned to him. His eyes grew wide and he grasped Evans shoulders with ancient and weathered hands.

“You… sorcerer…” he said, barely above a whisper. “I thought you were a dream. The monastery told me I had imagined this place… but you’re here. Was it all a dream? No surely not… no it can’t be. SEND ME BACK! PLEASE YOU MUST SEND ME BACK WIZARD O’ TRANSIT.”

Evan was felt like he had been kicked in the head by a horse. He tried to speak but couldn’t manage anything. The man was tearing up and shaking him. His grip was tightening and his jagged fingernails dug into Evans shoulders.

“PLEASE YOU MUST! PLEASE-

The forgotten sleeping man raised his head (he truly seemed to have been part of the couch). “Chill out man, you’re killing the vibe. Have a beer or something and stop tweakin’ out.” He then laid his head back and seemingly fell asleep.

The man stopped, his jaw agape. He let go of Evan and brushed off his robe.

“You must forgive me, I was pulled from my work. It is imperative that I return to finish it.”

Finally Evan found the words, “Yeah… ok sure. I can do that for you man…”

The old man smiled, “Before that, however, do you have any PBR?

"alright, off you go back in there" and once again his friend disappeared. Flabbergasted "Geez, i wonder what that was all about" he asked the two other party-goers before he took a swig of his beer. Equally gobsmacked, they pondered on the display that had passed as they too took small sips of their beer in between the "don't know"s and "he was acting a bit weird wasn't he"s. "Guess he's fine since he wanted back" he shrugged "and he was a bit rude" and the others agreed. "So uh, what else have you guys been up to?"

"Oh nothing much, been mostly busy with work".

"Yeah, the same, the same".

"You uh.. still work for corpocorp, right?"

"Yeah, same old, same old".

the small talk continued for a while until they ran out of topics and after an awkward look or two, the small grouping dispersed and they went to mingle with the other partiers.

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