Date: Sat, 6 May 2023 06:19:17 -0700 From: Juxepe Albi Subject: Seeing Sparks - Chapter 1 - Advent of the Sparks, or Pubertal Magick Chapter 1 - Advent of the Sparks, or Pubertal Magick Today was my birthday, my thirteenth birthday; and I had peed the bed! I couldn't believe it; I hadn't peed the bed since I was five, when I had drunk eight sodas watching a Superman movie marathon on TV. My boxer-briefs were glued to my thighs and my whole bed was wet where I'd been lying on my stomach. Then I realized----Shit! It had happened! My cousin Richard, a year older than I was, kept telling me that one of these days, while I was hunching the bed to bring myself to a dry orgasm, this would happen; and it would make a mess in the bed. Only this time, there hadn't been any hunching----not that was intentional, anyway. But there had been something that was even scarier. When I suddenly realized what had happened, I had snapped my fingers and a light spray of sparks had flashed. What the...? I snapped them again. This time it looked like the flashes of one of those sparklers that we bought on the Fourth of July! I told myself it was static electricity in the air. What else could it be? I had stripped off my underwear to get into the shower, admiring my rather over-sized wiener, when I looked at myself in the mirror. On an impulse, I snapped my fingers again, producing the same flash of sparks, and... What was up with my eyes!? My hazel eyes had momentarily glowed a brilliant blue, like they were lit from the back! Yipes! I must be hallucinating! I sat on the toilet seat and drew a deep breath. Get a grip! I told myself. "Karlie! Breakfast is ready!" my mother called. I jumped into the shower, turning on the cold water only. Maybe that would wake me up; obviously, I was still asleep. The cold water struck me like ice; and I quickly opened the hot water faucet. "Karl Erik Olavin! Your breakfast is ready; and you're going to be late for school," Mother shouted. I quickly made my bed, so that my mother wouldn't see the mess----it would be all right until after school. Even though I was already five-eleven-and-a-half, there was an older six-foot-one jerk, Butch Akers, who bullied younger boys, on the morning bus. When he passed my seat, he thumped me on the back of my head; and a flash of hate passed through me. I heard him cry out, and turned to see him lying in the middle of the aisle holding his head in both hands. We were at the next stop, where my friend, Sal, would be boarding. The bus driver came back to see what had happened to Butch, who, by now, was acting as though nothing at all had happened to him. "What was that all about?" Sal asked. "Don't know," I replied. I was not prepared to believe that I had caused the jerk's fall. "Did he thump you again?" Sal continued. "He will do the same to me when he runs past us, just watch." "Yeah, he did," I replied. Had I done something to cause him to fall? Sal was right. We had just left the bus, when Butch walked between us from the back and thumped both of us at the same time. I lost it! The next thing I knew, we were walking past Butch, who was lying on the ground holding his head again. I had caused his fall. Now, I was certain! That same feeling of hate had flashed through me; and I had done something to him. But what? Butch and his friends had made a habit of bullying younger boys virtually every day; and Principal Akers, Butch's uncle, made no effort to stop them. As Sal and I passed the Boys' Room, I pulled him inside. "What...?" Sal protested. "I want to show you something," I said. Sal and I had been best friends since kindergarten. We were both avid gamers. He had a PS5 Pro, and I had an Xbox Series X/S 1TB Console; and we spent virtually every afternoon playing on one or the other. We shared our secrets and our fears; but we had not shared what I would have really liked, and wanted to share since we were in grammar school. "So what do you want to show me, already. We'll be late for class," he gritched. "This!" I replied, snapping my fingers "Shit! What was that?" he asked excitedly. "Can you do it again?" I snapped my fingers three times in a row, producing a larger flash each time. "Wow! What's with your eyes? How...," he began, when the tardy bell began to ring. Luckily, our class was in the next room. It was later, just before noon, when I happened to see Butch and two of his friends talking to his uncle, Principal David Akers. Sal and I were standing at our lockers; and the jerk came up behind us and thumped us again. With my peripheral vision, I saw the principal grinning from ear to ear. "Really?" I said out loud to Sal, as I felt hate flash for the four of them. "What did you do?" Sal whispered, as he watched all four of them writhing on the floor holding their heads. "I don't really know how I do that; but I will do it every time they bully us. Now, I realize, for the first time, that it includes Principal Akers; he was grinning as he watched them thump us; and he has never tried to put a stop to it," I informed my friend. "I've never liked Principal Akers. He has it in for those of us who do not play sports," Sal replied. "What happened to Principal Morse, anyway? Principal Akers is a total jerk!" "Well, he just did something that he will be made to regret," I promised. Please consider supporting Nifty with your donation to https://donate.nifty.org/ Funds used to continue these free stories