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Someone Who Cares

Stars countless stars all streaking towards me. Thats what I saw as the alien artifact dissolved on my tongue. There was a tingling sensation all over my body. I looked around and felt OK; in fact I felt better than OK. I had never felt this good in my life. There was a surge of.of.something coursing through every part of me. Im not sure how I realized this, but there was something different about my very cells something alien yet wonderfully comfortable and familiar. I just relaxed for a moment, for thats what the artifact was persuading me to do. I didnt feel hot or cold; I could easily breathe; my vision was good; and I didnt feel dizzy or in pain. So, this is what it wanted, but why? Wait a minute.was I referring to the artifact as if it was some kind ofliving creature? I looked around the house and everything was normal. When I noticed my reflection in the hallway mirror, I panicked. I was covered in a white skin of some kind. I looked like some creepy, otherworldly, faceless mannequin. Before I could start screaming for help and struggling to escape this weird coating, the memories of sunny days at the park with cookies flooded my mind. OK, I addressed my reflection, youre not going to hurt me. But what are you? I spent the next several minutes walking around in the armor, occasionally looking at my hands or feet to make sure they were still there. Now what? A sense of unease began to rise within me. The artifact somehow knew I was getting uncomfortable; the stars appeared and receded. I pulled it out of my mouth and stared at it. I put the artifact in my mouth again and the weird coating came back, along with the feeling of power. It transformed itself back into the disc right when I wanted it to. This was actually pretty neat.

OK, OK! Im coming! Maggie yanked open the door. I walked right in. You gotta see this! This is incredible! Just promise you wont freak out! Is Trent home? How about Jack? Im sorry, but youre the only one I trust. Promise that this will be our secret for now? I mean, sure itll get out but-

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Maggie put her hand on my mouth. Shut up. With her hand still on my mouth, she moved me to the couch. Sit down. Im going to take my hand off your mouth. Are you ready to start talking like a normal person? I nodded yes. I found this two days ago. I pulled the alien artifact out of my pocket. What is it? I have no idea; but I know that it didnt come from earth. Its probably not even from our solar system. Mitchhave you been reading Jacks Captain Incredible comics again? Watch.this is the best partpromise not to freak out? Before she could respond, I got up and put the disc in my mouth. Ta-daa! Mitch! Oh my God! What happened to you? I quickly got out of my alien suit. Hey! Whoa! Its OK. See? What the hell is that!? Like I saidno idea. But its totally safe and actually pretty neat. Mitch! Safe.you dont even know what it is. Cmonlets go. She started pushing me out the door. What!? Im getting you checked out at Community General. No! Wait! I squirmed away from her. Theres another reason why I came. Maybe I should have you checked out at Saint Albans? Trust me.Im not crazy.this situation is crazy.but Im not. She sighed. Give me one good reason why I shouldnt be worried about you. I pulled her down to the cellar. I can give you a few hundred. Maggie and Trents basement was clean, well lit, and organized. In one corner was Trents gym. Ever since college he had been trying to get me to build my body. I never felt that really was my cup of tea. That was about to change. I put the alien artifact in my mouth. This thing makes me feel different I cant describe it. Its not awell.human feeling. Mitch.this is really kind of weird.

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Youre telling me? Im the one wearing an alien disc the size of a quarter. I walked over to Trents weights. I picked up a 100 pound weight; to me it was as light as a paperweight. Wowyeahthats what I thought. Whats the matter, whats going on? Watch this. I put two one hundred pound weights on the bar and picked it up with one hand. Two hundred pounds and it feels more like ten. OK. I put two more weights on. I grabbed the bar with both hands. Four hundred poundsdefinitely not a problem. Mitch? Six hundred pounds.still not a problem. Mitch! Eight Hundred poundsugh! Now thats a little bit of a challenge. Mitchstop! Youre gonna hurt yourself. One thousand pounds. Whew! This is a little heavy, but I can definitely manage. This is- Beautiful. Now what? Go out and make the world a better place? Trent and Jack will be home in about an hour, weve got to put everything back to normal. I chuckled. That ironic.everything back to normal. I could see Maggie struggling to get one of the weights off. Here, let me do it. No, Ive got it. No, dont worry about it. You just get your side-The weight dropped and hit my foot. Oh my God! Mitch! Are you OK? Wow! Im fine. No really I didnt feel a thing. I took a hammer off the wall above the work bench. Lets see what this thing can do. I put it in her hand. Now let me have it.

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No. This is crazy. I just lifted one thousand pounds and had a one hundred pound weight fall on my foot and Im fine. Now let me have it. Mitch! I cant. Do you remember that time when I crashed your slumber party? Boy, that was hilarious! I wasnt happy about that. How about the time I told on you when you snuck off to see jerk-face? His name was Todd! Well, I think he answered to jerk face as well. Especially when he dumped you. Mitch Just trying to get you in the mood. Maggie swung the hammer with all of her strength. She hit me square on the forehead, but I didnt feel a thing. There - are you happy? Yes. Are you? You little! She hit me several more times. We both broke out into that kind of childish laughter that grownups are supposed to leave behind. This is totally crazy. Yeah.it is.

I sat there, in my car, in the outer parking lot of Chesters Supermarket for a few minutes. This really was crazy. I was about to put on a white suit of alien armor and walk through the Grunge. I was never really shy growing up, but then again, I was never the exhibitionist type either. But it wouldnt be me who would be patrolling the streets looking for crime it would be what was my name? In all the excitement of the past few days, it never occurred to me that I needed a name. Captain Power? Nah, too corny. Super Knight? Well, not really. The Cosmic Avenger nope that just wouldnt come out right either. How about the Steel Crusader? That didnt sound right either. Maybe as the night wore on, I would figure out who I was supposed to be. When I walked up and down the streets, I did get a lot of stares and the occasional comment (some of them were stupid and some were just rude). After about two hours, I thought about turning back. I also thought about how much time I would spend in a run down place that I didnt even live in. I heard no more like felt a pinging somewhere deep in my brain. There was some sort of distress two blocks over. The artifact was somehow honing in on bad vibes. I raced in the direction of

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the chaos, my adrenaline pumping, wild scenarios running through my head. When I got there, two men were negotiating with an older gent at gun point. They were a bit stunned as I ran up to them. I decided to be optimistic and play it cool. After all, maybe they would be too freaked out to do anything but run. OK, guys. Lets call it a night. What the #@$@! The taller mugger looked at me cockeyed. Its too early for tricks or treats whitey. His partner turned his gun on me. Well, this was going to be tougher than I thought. They fired several shots, but the bullets meant nothing to me. They might as well have been snowflakes. I grabbed one in each hand and lifted them off the ground. Look. Go home and re-think your career choices; OK? I threw them on the cold sidewalk. They ran and didnt look back. I turned to the elderly man. Are you alright? Y-yes. Who are you? Someone who cares.

When I got back to my car, the window on the front passenger side was completely shattered. This really was going to be tougher than I thought.

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2014 Benjamin F. Kaye