Page 123 of The Moment We Know

“Obsidian is believed to have very strong energy. It helps heal those who’ve been hurt, by pulling bad energy out of them and absorbing it.”

“It does?”

“It does. Which makes it really good for anyone who’s feeling … sad. Or worried. Or scared. But that’s not all. It also helps protect you against being hurt in the future, by blocking bad energy and acting like a shield against it.”

Jacob’s eyes were locked on the crystal, as he imagined it doing all of those things. He felt bad for thinking it was an ugly black rock at first, and as Lauren put it back in his hand, he couldn’t believe how glad he was that it wasn’t the blue one.

“So, what do you think about your crystal now?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “It’s pretty cool, huh?”

He wrapped his fingers around it. “I like it a lot.”

“See? I was right when I said you’d change your mind, wasn’t I?” Then, as if it was no big deal, she added, “But, what can I say? Always being right is one of my super powers.”

Jacob blinked at her. “It is?”

“Of course.”

“How many do you have?”

Lauren looked thoughtful for a long moment before answering. “Four.”

“Four? What are they?”

“Well, helping kids feel better is one of them, as your dad may have told you,” she answered, and when Jacob nodded, she continued. “Another one is always being right. The third one is making the world’s best chocolate chip cookies, and number four is being able to do this.”

He watched as her eyes rolled around, then became crossed for several seconds, before slowly un-crossing. When she was done, Jacob frowned, unsure if Lauren was teasing him, because a few of those super powers didn’t really seem like super powers, not even the cool thing her eyes just did.

“No, wait, make that five,” she quickly corrected herself. “I can also read minds.”

“You … can?”

“Yes. You were just thinking a few of those aren’t really super powers, weren’t you?”

Jacob’s eyes widened to the size of silver dollars, literally struck speechless at having his mind read.

“Well, they are.” Lauren gave him a quick smile, before leaning forward. “You see, super powers don’t just belong to super heroes like Superman or Spiderman. They also belong to regular people like you and me, and they can be anything, even something you wouldn’t think was a super power … like making the world’s best chocolate chip cookies and crossing your eyes.”

“Oh.”

“So, can you think of a super power you might have?”

He thought for a moment, then shook his head, disappointed. “No.”

“Well, everybody has at least one, and it’s usually something they like to do and are good at, so what’s something you like to do?”

“Draw,” he answered quickly, without hesitation.

Lauren’s mouth fell open. “No way. Really?”

He nodded, her reaction taking him by surprise.

“That’s …” she trailed off and took a deep breath, releasing it in a soft whistle. “That’s one of the best super powers to have.”

“It is?”

“Oh, yeah. You’re so lucky.”

“I am?”

---