Chapter 1 - The Beginning
The complete first chapter. Joe, this is mainly for you. If you're not Joe, and you read this, please give me some feedback - I have yet to read it all the way through, but I think the comments you guys leave will really help. To any and all, thank you for your time.
The Begninning
“See, now don’t you see how to get the derivative of the function cosine of x? It’s easy…”
“He still reminds me of Snape,” said Joe.
I chuckled. “He does a little.”
“Hey man.” Andrew was tapping my shoulder.
I turned to look him in the face. “What?”
“I still don’t know how to get the stupid derivative of that function.”
“Well, start by…”
“Class, it’s like when you go upside-down on a swing-set.”
“You can go upside-down on a swing-set?!” asked Andrew flabbergasted. He shifted out of our conversation and quickly into another with the professor.
“You’ve never heard that? Your mothers never told you not to go upside-down when you were children? A silence swept over the room while Andrew shook his head. “You know, the myth that you turn inside-out if you go upside-down on a swing-set?
“Do you really?” asked Andrew.
“I don’t know,” the professor said. “You’ll have to go out and try it and let me know.”
“Oh, we will!” Andrew shouted. He turned to me and said, “We are so doing that after class.”
I turned and looked at Joe, who broke a smirk. I put my hand to my forehead, because I most certainly knew what we were going to do after class.
We walked down the hallway, the three of us making a line impeding the flow of students on the other side of the hallway. “So, you really want to try it? Right now?” I asked.
“Well,” Joe answered, “I don’t have work today.” He turned to Andrew and broke a stupid smile.
“So now you want to do this too?!” I was upset by the overwhelming stupidity I felt I was dealing with. “Come one guys, he said it was a myth. It’s a fable, a story, a fairytale.”
“What about those guys on the Discovery Channel? Those guys test myths all the time and find that some of the are true.”
Joe turned back to Andrew to complement him on his supporting argument. “That was deep, man.”
I laughed. “You two are incredible, you know that?” They smiled. “Alright. So where are we going to find a swing set?”
“We’ll go use the one across from the athletics fields. You know, the old rusted one with the once useable swimming pool.”
“Yeah, good call buddy,” said Joe to Andrew. “I completely forgot about that one.”
I stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked at Andrew. “Were you thinking about that throughout class?
“Yeah. How’d you know?”
“Because you stopped asking me questions.”
Joe laughed. “That’s good reasoning, Chuck.
“We’re going to a sketchy playground to do sketchy stuff? You guys are brilliant,” I reasoned.
We approached the swing set in the so-called sketchy playground, rusted and creaking in the autumn breeze. The metal chains with the black rubber seats looked desolate in the warm, fall weather. Leaves that had fallen from the trees coated the ground, giving a rustle to our step. The gloom of the surroundings had seeped into my bones. “Are you guys sure you want to do this now?”
“I’ve been looking forward to this all day,” said Andrew.
“Yeah, I’m not going to lie,” confessed Joe, “I have been too.”
“What if you really do turn inside out? You’ll most certainly die…”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?” asked Joe.
“Well, I kind of do,” said Andrew.
“I don’t quite believe it, but I doubt anything good can come of this, whether it be falling off a swing, injury, or trespassing,” I said.
“Well, there’s only one way to find out then, huh?” said Joe.
“I guess,” said Andrew, timidly.
“Alright then,” I said. “Lets do this thing.”
“Alright!” said Joe.
“Alright,” said Andrew, just as cautiously as before.
We approached the swing set, standing side by side one another, cold in fear, and frozen in thought. “Andrew began to pale, while Joe began running his hands together, in anxious anticipation.
“Okay guys. Lets go one at a time. That way, if anything happens, the other two will be right here to help.” Andrew and Joe quickly agreed. “Good.”
I looked at both of them, my eyes examining each of their states of thought. I knew the answer, but I asked the question anyway. “Who wants to go f…”
“I do,” answered Joe immediately.
“Alright,” I answered, as Joe mounted the middle swing, and began his flight. We gave him a push start, and as he went higher and higher, Andrew and I just stood back to watch his impending fate. Higher and higher, until the frame for which he was anchored around was no longer the highest aspect of the swing set. Several minutes passed, as Andrew and I just stared at Joe.
“Guys,” he yelled, “I can’t go any higher. It’s impossible.”
We walked closer to his active swing, analyzing the situation. “I think we need to do this manually,” I stated.
“What do you mean?” asked Joe.
“Stop swinging,” I called to him. “Andrew, help me up here.” Andrew walked across the leaves to give me a boost on a swing. I stood upon it, and swung myself near the swing on my right until I could unlatch it from the crossbeam. “Andrew, do the same from the other side.”
“Okay,” Andrew called, as he mounted the swing one over from the one I stood on, and swung himself to the same swing I was working on.
“Unlatch the swing from the crossbeam,” I ordered.
“Why are we doing this?” he asked.
“You’ll see,” I responded.
“But what’s the purpose?”
“Don’t ask so many questions. You’ll see soon enough.”
We unlatched the swing while Joe slowed the swing he was on and eventually jumped off.
“Chuck, what’s this for?” asked Joe.
“Joe and Andrew, undo another swing, alright? I need one more.”
“Okay,” they replied in near unison. I took one of the ends of the swing I held in my hand, and hooked it on the chain link directly above the seat of the swing Joe had just gotten off of. As I finished doing so, Joe and Andrew handed me the other swing, and I did the same to the other side. “Watch this,” I told them. I threw the two swings I had just latched over the crossbeam, one by one. “Joe, get back on the swing.”
“Uhhhh, oh, okay buddy.” There was a great hesitation in his voice.
“Andrew, grab this one, I’ll grab the other one.” Andrew and I grabbed the two ends. “Joe, in order to do this, you need to stay mounted on the swing, alright? Do your best.”
“You got it buddy,” he said, somewhat reassured.
“Alright, Andrew,” I said, “I need you to pull about as hard as me, and keep Joe level.”
“Okay,” Andrew said. We began to pull him up. The swings acted as a quite successful pulley, and we pulled Joe up very slowly, as he was a rather big guy.
“Chuck, do you want me to help pull myself up using the crossbeam?” asked Joe.
“If you think you can do it without falling off.”
“I’ll give it a swing…”
“Ha, ha, ha,” laughed Andrew sarcastically.
“You’re a funny guy, Joe,” I said. We continued to pull, Joe helping a little bit until we had nearly reached the apex of his journey. “Are you sure you want to do this, Joe?” I asked.
“Hey guys, the worst that’ll happen is that I might fall. It’s no biggie. Let her rip, and I’ll see you on the other side.”
“Okay, Joe,” I called. I looked at Andrew, and Andrew returned the glance. “The worst that’ll happen is that he’ll fall,” I tried to reassure Andrew. Andrew nodded, and we gave the final tug. What happened next, even science can’t explain.
Joe cleared the crossbeam, falling horribly to the ground with a sickening thud. Andrew and I dropped the swings and kneeled beside him, who had most definitely had the wind knocked out of him.
“Don’t try this at home, kids,” Said Joe, winded and dazed.
“Are you alright man?” I asked. I would have settled for a movement of his feet, just to make sure he was really all right.
“Yeah,” he said, groaning as he began to get up. Andrew and I picked leaves off him as he rose.
“That really looked horrific,” I said. “You sure you’re all right?”
“Yeah,” he said, “I’m fine. I mean hell, you’re asking more questions then Andrew is.”
“Okay, if you’re going to make fun of me, then I’ll take it you’re fine.” He smiled.
“Was it fun?” Andrew asked.
“As a matter of fact, it was. It really was. There was growing tension of whether or not anything would happen, and then the fall was pretty funny.”
“So…” I began, “do you feel any more inside-out then when you began?”
“You’re funny, Chuck.”
“Alright,” Andre said, “it’s my turn.”
“What?!” I asked, shocked.
“I want to try.”
“You sure you want to do that? You saw how horrific it looked when Joe fell, and no offense, you’re a bigger kid than Joe. And the saying goes…”
“Yes, do,” replied Andrew.
“I’m not kidding man,” added Joe, “the landing’s going to hurt a bit.”
“We’ve had worse crashes on the railings on the stairs in school. I want to do this.” He ran hopped on the swing Joe had just ‘gotten off of’ like a little kid. “Can someone push me to get me started?”
“Sure, said Joe, finishing dusting himself off.”
“Make sure it’s a great big push,” Andrew said. “I want this thing flying.”
“Alright, but you’d better not show me up on this. Chuck’ll make fun of me.” He turned and broke a smirk at me.
I returned a smile. “No offense, Andrew, but I think if Joe can’t, you can’t either. I’m going to side with Joe on this one.”
“Fine, I’ll show you both then.’ Andrew was getting pumped. “Come on Joe, do it up.”
Joe cracked his neck, and then his knuckles, as if he were going up to bat in the bottom half of the ninth inning. “Ready, Andy?”
“Hell yeah!”
Joe placed both his hands on Andrew’s back, moved back a step, and then threw his weight into it. I stood there with my jaw down to my knees. The swing looked like a rag doll on a string, and wound around the crossbeam three times, until Andrew and his yell for help went flying forward head first in the air, except he kept going. He went straight over the fence on the far side of the playground, and then made a u-turn back towards us. He came back and stopped directly on the other side of the crossbeam, looking down at us.
“Thanks for the push, Joe!” yelled Andrew.
“Hey Andrew,” I said, somewhat sensibly. “Do you mind coming down and telling us what the hell just happened?”
“Huh?” he said.
Joe pointed. “You’re in the air, buddy.”
“Holy crap!” cried Andrew. “How do I do that?!”
“Stop doing whatever you’re doing.” I figured that was the rational thing to say, regarding this completely irrational situation.
Joe started laughing. “Some people get stuck on trees. Others get stuck on towers or on buildings. Andrew gets stuck in mid-air. I began laughing, too.
“It’s not funny guys,” he said. “I’m really confused.”
“Well, you just flew that way and went in half a circle. What did you do to do that?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Andrew replied.
“You must have done something,” I said. It couldn’t have just happened.”
“I don’t know about that, Chuck,” answered Joe. “The whole swing thing kind of just happened.”
I put my hand to my forehead. How was I to respond to that? I mean, here was Andrew, who I thought was a pretty down to earth kid, floating ten feet or so in the air.
“I’m going to go figure this out,” answered Andrew, as he began to drift at an angle, and then started doing other maneuvers.
“Joe?” I called.
“Yeah,” Joe replied.
I had completely forgot that Joe was the one that pushed Andrew, who was most definitely heavier then Joe, around the swing set three times. “How the hell did you manage to push Andrew around the swing-set three times?!”
“Ummm..”
“I think you got really powerful,” I reasoned. “If Andrew can fly, then you have superhuman strength.”
He gave me an empty look. “Are you calling me weak?”
“No,” I justified, “I’m calling you wicked strong.”
“Oh,” he said and then paused for a moment. “Give me a hug, buddy.”
“Umm, hold on, Joe.” I handed him a pebble from the ground. “Do me a favor and throw this for me.”
“Okay” I dropped it in his hand, and then gripped it and launched it. I saw it leave my visibility rather quickly, as if had been shot out of a gun.
“Well, I doubt we’ll be seeing that again, Joe.”
“I think you’re right.” He flexed. “I don’t feel any stronger, but that pebble is gone, just as Andrew was when I pushed him.” He thought a moment. “So what are you waiting for, man? Get on the swing and get your superpower.”
“I don’t think I want one. I like being normal.” I looked at him, and I thought about what I had just said. “I didn’t mean it like that Joe, I mean I don’t want to be different.”
“I know how you meant it.”
“Do you really?”
“Yeah, I do. Now get on the swing.”
I sighed.
“Look Chuck. We’re a team. You, Andrew, and I. We’re the three musketeers. It’s all or nothing. And besides, I’m going to need you to help me take care of Andy. Think about it. Andy in air is twice as dangerous as Andy on land. Please?”
Just as I began to think, I heard a thud and looked at where it came from. Andrew had just flown into the slide, and was lying in the leaves.
Joe looked me after looking at Andrew. “We need you, man. You’re the leader.”
I walked around the swing and sat down. “You going give me a push?”
Joe smiled. “You be the man, Chuck.” He performed his neck and knuckle cracking, and sent me skywards. Around and around I went, seeing the scenery, and then again upside-down, for a total of seven times. As soon as the swing ceased to clear the crossbeam, Joe helped slow me down, decelerating my two hundred pounds like it was nothing, until the swing was left to a mere rocking. I stumble off the swing, took a few steps on the leaves, and fell face first as the leaves spun around me.
“You okay, man?” he asked.
I remained face down, trying to gather my orientation again. “Yeah,” I responded, “I’m fine.”
As Joe began to pick me up, Andrew flew in and landed beside us. “This whole flying thing is pretty cool, I could get used to this.
“Yeah, I could get used to the whole ‘I can pick or move anything I want’ thing, too,” replied Joe.
I dusted myself off when Andrew asked, “So, did you do it yet?”
“No Andrew,” I said, “I just fell because the ground moved.”
Andrew, without missing a beat, says,” Well, it could have. I wasn’t on it.
I looked at Andrew from the ground with an ‘I’m going to kill you’ look.
Andrew smiled back. “How was it? Did you like it? What’s your power?”
“Holy crap, man,” cried Joe. “Let the guy get back on his feet and back in this world.”
I finished brushing myself off, and I didn’t even think of the possible power I may have acquired. “I don’t feel any different,” I started.
“Shake my hand,” Joe suggested. I shook his hand, as firmly as I could. “Well, you’re certainly not any stronger,” he said with a smirk.
“Why thanks Joe,” I said sarcastically.
“Jump up and down,” tried Andrew. “Maybe you can fly!”
“I can’t fly,” I responded.
“You never know until you’ve tried…” He looked at me hopefully.
I sighed, and jumped up and down much to the pleasure of Joe and Andrew.
They laughed at me. “Alright,” said Andrew, “so maybe you can’t.”
“Maybe you didn’t get a power because you didn’t want one,” thought Joe aloud.
“You didn’t want a power?!” asked Andrew, shocked at the idea. “Why wouldn’t you want a superpower?”
“I don’t know…” I shrugged off the question.
Joe saw my discomfort. “So what now, buddy?” Joe asked me.
“Let’s put him on the swing again,” suggested Andrew to Joe.
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
“Then what are you talking about?”
“What are we going to do with these powers?”
Joe looked at me. I looked at Joe. Joe looked at Andrew. Andrew looked at Joe. I looked at Andrew. Andrew looked at me. “I’ve got it!” exclaimed Andrew.
“Took you long enough.” I jeered.
“Shut up,” he Andrew whined.
“What have you got?” we asked.
“I can fly you guys to places, and Joe can do the bad guy fighting,” said Andrew.
“Okay… Seems like you’ve really thought this out,” said Joe.
“Hey man, I tried,” claimed Andrew.
“What about Chuck?” Joe asked Andrew.
“Enough,” I started. “How the hell...”
Andrew and Joe looked at one another, and then at me.
“How the hell did we get those powers? Or rather, how the hell did you get those powers?”
Andrew and Joe looked at one another. “You tell him,” said Joe.
“No, you tell him,” said Andrew.
“No buddy, you tell him,” said Joe.
“Will someone just tell me?!”
“Alright,” said Andrew, “I’ll give you the down-low.”
“You’ll probably mess up the details, bud,” said Joe. “I’ll tell him.”
“No man, I’ll get them right,” Andrew insisted. “I’ll tell him.”
“No, you won’t,” Joe exclaimed. “I’ll tell him.”
“Arrrggg! One of you just freaking tell me. I’m getting rather angry now…”
“Okay, okay. Remember when you brought us to your house last weekend?”
“Yes,” I replied hesitantly.
“Well, remember when you took us to the place where you work? That warehouse building?”
“Yes,” I repeated with similar hesitancy.
“Well that,” explained Andrew, “is how we got the powers.
Joe laughed incessantly. “You didn’t just leave out the details buddy, you left out the entire story!”
I stood there somewhat cross as Joe continued to laugh at Andrew. “Shut up,” Andrew told Joe.
Joe saw the irritated look on my face and began to regain a semblance of composure. He took a deep breath in, gave me the straightest face I have ever seen, and then started laughing again. I crossed my arms against my chest and he finished his fake laugh abruptly, in which he succeeded to annoy me further than he and Andrew already had. A smirk stayed on his face as he said “Chuck, calm down. I’ll give you the whole story.” He looked at Andrew as he said the word ‘whole’ just to rub it in, and Andrew flipped him off.
“Hey!” I yelled. “The story please?”
“We went to your house last weekend, and you took us to the warehouse where you work…”
“This sounds like my story,” Andrew taunted.
Joe shrugged him off and continued seamlessly. “…and that’s where it all happened. You showed us around the place after hours, but while your bosses were still in. When you went to talk to your superiors, we ‘went to the bathroom’.” He took out his hands and made the motions with his fingers when he said the quotes. “Well, we meant to anyway, but Andrew here and his wandering mind had other plans.”
“Hey, don’t blame this on me!” yelled Andrew argumentatively. “You…”
“Hey buddy,” Joe said coolly, “you had your chance to tell the story. Let me tell Chuck what he wants to hear.
“Thanks Joe,” I smirked. “Continue.” My arms fell to my sides.
“Okay. So I was in the bathroom, and when I came out after doing my business, because you know, it didn’t come out well so I…”
“Joe!” I interrupted.
“Yeah buddy?”
“Too much information.”
“Oh, sorry,” Joe said as Andrew cackled in the background. Anyhow, I came out of the bathroom and Andrew was yelling about some cool something he found. So I went over to where he was yelling, which was quite creepy by the way with all the lights out. But anyhow…”
“Sorry about that, Joe. You’re right,” I said.
“It’s okay buddy,” he said jokingly. “But anyhow,” he continued, “I found Andrew floating by the sink with a beaker in hand. He was yelling because and said he had grabbed a drink of water from the sink. So then he went on to tell me that the water tasted rather funny, and that he was feeling lightheaded. Very lightheaded. By the time I had gotten to him, he was two feet off the ground. Literally. I helped him down, and after some coaxing by Andrew, had a little of the ‘water’ myself. I mean, after all, the worst thing that could happen is that I could fly. Or in Andrew’s case, float.” He laughed.
Andrew confirmed the story, but insisted that he was actually flying before Joe showed up, even though he had issues just floating there.
“You looked like you could use all the help you could get,” Joe said, jeering Andrew. Andrew shrugged it off, putting his claim of flying to rest, and Joe continued where he left off once again. “Anyhow, so Andrew looked like he could use any help he could get, and I figured that flying wouldn’t be such a hindrance, so I did it up.”
“You drank the water and you could fly?!” I asked somewhat taken back.
“Yeah,” he said nonchalantly. “Why?”
“Well, I used to drink the water… a lot,” I said. “Up to a liter’s worth a day. But one day, one of the guys saw me filling it up at the sink in the back just like you did, and told me never to do that. He told me the water wasn’t really water, and he gave me a bottle of water for the rest of the day. The last thing he said to me that day was never to drink the water from there again; he told me to bring my own water and don’t ask any questions.”
“How long have you been working there?” Andrew asked sarcastically.
“So you’ve consumed it before?” asked Joe curiously.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I was drinking about a liter of it a day for about a month.”
“Then you probably have some super power, too,” reasoned Andrew excitedly. “We can come together and be the ‘Three Musketeers’.”
“That already exists you idiot,” said Joe bluntly. “There’s even a movie with that title.”
Andrew went silent as he thought about the movie. Joe laughed at his trance, while I wondered how much of the water I had actually drank.
It hit me like a slap in the face that it was my fault that all this had happened. “I’m sorry guys,” I admitted. “It’s my fault you guys are like that. I’m really…”
“Hey buddy,” said Joe, “it’s not your fault. It’s no one’s fault.” He waited in a minute in thought. “Actually, you know what? It’s Andrew’s fault.”
I smiled, but I knew it was my fault. I never should have brought them there. People ask where I work, and I tell them I work in a warehouse, and seeing as I’m only a college student, no one really believes me. They think its some joke and I really work at McDonalds. Joe and Andrew are my closest buddies, so I figured if ever being questioned, they’d be living proof I don’t work in some fast-food joint. In any case, I have made a mess of the normality of my friends, and now it’s time for me to worry about their well-being.
“The story ends today,” concluded Joe. “We needed to find a way to reveal these to you without causing you to fall over and die of a heart-attack. We had been thinking about it for the entire week, and thankfully the professor made mention of the swing thing.”
“Nice rhyme,” chimed Andrew.
“Thanks buddy,” said Joe appreciatively. He turned to me. You’re not mad, are you Chuck?”
I thought for a moment. Why would be mad? They wanted to tell me, just not in an outward way. I chuckled to myself. “No, I’m not mad.”
“Phew,” said Andrew. But at least now you know why Joe broke so many things at your house.”
Joe laughed. “Yeah. I didn’t adjust to the strength yet. As Chuck would say, ‘my bad’.”
We all laughed. We walked out of the playground, that dreary autumn day, closer to one another than we though humanly possible. But we shared a bond that could not be broken. We were all unique, whether it be strength, or flight, or some other thing, but one thing was for certain, the endeavors and struggles yet of this chummy trio were yet to come.
The Begninning
“See, now don’t you see how to get the derivative of the function cosine of x? It’s easy…”
“He still reminds me of Snape,” said Joe.
I chuckled. “He does a little.”
“Hey man.” Andrew was tapping my shoulder.
I turned to look him in the face. “What?”
“I still don’t know how to get the stupid derivative of that function.”
“Well, start by…”
“Class, it’s like when you go upside-down on a swing-set.”
“You can go upside-down on a swing-set?!” asked Andrew flabbergasted. He shifted out of our conversation and quickly into another with the professor.
“You’ve never heard that? Your mothers never told you not to go upside-down when you were children? A silence swept over the room while Andrew shook his head. “You know, the myth that you turn inside-out if you go upside-down on a swing-set?
“Do you really?” asked Andrew.
“I don’t know,” the professor said. “You’ll have to go out and try it and let me know.”
“Oh, we will!” Andrew shouted. He turned to me and said, “We are so doing that after class.”
I turned and looked at Joe, who broke a smirk. I put my hand to my forehead, because I most certainly knew what we were going to do after class.
We walked down the hallway, the three of us making a line impeding the flow of students on the other side of the hallway. “So, you really want to try it? Right now?” I asked.
“Well,” Joe answered, “I don’t have work today.” He turned to Andrew and broke a stupid smile.
“So now you want to do this too?!” I was upset by the overwhelming stupidity I felt I was dealing with. “Come one guys, he said it was a myth. It’s a fable, a story, a fairytale.”
“What about those guys on the Discovery Channel? Those guys test myths all the time and find that some of the are true.”
Joe turned back to Andrew to complement him on his supporting argument. “That was deep, man.”
I laughed. “You two are incredible, you know that?” They smiled. “Alright. So where are we going to find a swing set?”
“We’ll go use the one across from the athletics fields. You know, the old rusted one with the once useable swimming pool.”
“Yeah, good call buddy,” said Joe to Andrew. “I completely forgot about that one.”
I stopped in the middle of the hallway and looked at Andrew. “Were you thinking about that throughout class?
“Yeah. How’d you know?”
“Because you stopped asking me questions.”
Joe laughed. “That’s good reasoning, Chuck.
“We’re going to a sketchy playground to do sketchy stuff? You guys are brilliant,” I reasoned.
We approached the swing set in the so-called sketchy playground, rusted and creaking in the autumn breeze. The metal chains with the black rubber seats looked desolate in the warm, fall weather. Leaves that had fallen from the trees coated the ground, giving a rustle to our step. The gloom of the surroundings had seeped into my bones. “Are you guys sure you want to do this now?”
“I’ve been looking forward to this all day,” said Andrew.
“Yeah, I’m not going to lie,” confessed Joe, “I have been too.”
“What if you really do turn inside out? You’ll most certainly die…”
“You don’t really believe that, do you?” asked Joe.
“Well, I kind of do,” said Andrew.
“I don’t quite believe it, but I doubt anything good can come of this, whether it be falling off a swing, injury, or trespassing,” I said.
“Well, there’s only one way to find out then, huh?” said Joe.
“I guess,” said Andrew, timidly.
“Alright then,” I said. “Lets do this thing.”
“Alright!” said Joe.
“Alright,” said Andrew, just as cautiously as before.
We approached the swing set, standing side by side one another, cold in fear, and frozen in thought. “Andrew began to pale, while Joe began running his hands together, in anxious anticipation.
“Okay guys. Lets go one at a time. That way, if anything happens, the other two will be right here to help.” Andrew and Joe quickly agreed. “Good.”
I looked at both of them, my eyes examining each of their states of thought. I knew the answer, but I asked the question anyway. “Who wants to go f…”
“I do,” answered Joe immediately.
“Alright,” I answered, as Joe mounted the middle swing, and began his flight. We gave him a push start, and as he went higher and higher, Andrew and I just stood back to watch his impending fate. Higher and higher, until the frame for which he was anchored around was no longer the highest aspect of the swing set. Several minutes passed, as Andrew and I just stared at Joe.
“Guys,” he yelled, “I can’t go any higher. It’s impossible.”
We walked closer to his active swing, analyzing the situation. “I think we need to do this manually,” I stated.
“What do you mean?” asked Joe.
“Stop swinging,” I called to him. “Andrew, help me up here.” Andrew walked across the leaves to give me a boost on a swing. I stood upon it, and swung myself near the swing on my right until I could unlatch it from the crossbeam. “Andrew, do the same from the other side.”
“Okay,” Andrew called, as he mounted the swing one over from the one I stood on, and swung himself to the same swing I was working on.
“Unlatch the swing from the crossbeam,” I ordered.
“Why are we doing this?” he asked.
“You’ll see,” I responded.
“But what’s the purpose?”
“Don’t ask so many questions. You’ll see soon enough.”
We unlatched the swing while Joe slowed the swing he was on and eventually jumped off.
“Chuck, what’s this for?” asked Joe.
“Joe and Andrew, undo another swing, alright? I need one more.”
“Okay,” they replied in near unison. I took one of the ends of the swing I held in my hand, and hooked it on the chain link directly above the seat of the swing Joe had just gotten off of. As I finished doing so, Joe and Andrew handed me the other swing, and I did the same to the other side. “Watch this,” I told them. I threw the two swings I had just latched over the crossbeam, one by one. “Joe, get back on the swing.”
“Uhhhh, oh, okay buddy.” There was a great hesitation in his voice.
“Andrew, grab this one, I’ll grab the other one.” Andrew and I grabbed the two ends. “Joe, in order to do this, you need to stay mounted on the swing, alright? Do your best.”
“You got it buddy,” he said, somewhat reassured.
“Alright, Andrew,” I said, “I need you to pull about as hard as me, and keep Joe level.”
“Okay,” Andrew said. We began to pull him up. The swings acted as a quite successful pulley, and we pulled Joe up very slowly, as he was a rather big guy.
“Chuck, do you want me to help pull myself up using the crossbeam?” asked Joe.
“If you think you can do it without falling off.”
“I’ll give it a swing…”
“Ha, ha, ha,” laughed Andrew sarcastically.
“You’re a funny guy, Joe,” I said. We continued to pull, Joe helping a little bit until we had nearly reached the apex of his journey. “Are you sure you want to do this, Joe?” I asked.
“Hey guys, the worst that’ll happen is that I might fall. It’s no biggie. Let her rip, and I’ll see you on the other side.”
“Okay, Joe,” I called. I looked at Andrew, and Andrew returned the glance. “The worst that’ll happen is that he’ll fall,” I tried to reassure Andrew. Andrew nodded, and we gave the final tug. What happened next, even science can’t explain.
Joe cleared the crossbeam, falling horribly to the ground with a sickening thud. Andrew and I dropped the swings and kneeled beside him, who had most definitely had the wind knocked out of him.
“Don’t try this at home, kids,” Said Joe, winded and dazed.
“Are you alright man?” I asked. I would have settled for a movement of his feet, just to make sure he was really all right.
“Yeah,” he said, groaning as he began to get up. Andrew and I picked leaves off him as he rose.
“That really looked horrific,” I said. “You sure you’re all right?”
“Yeah,” he said, “I’m fine. I mean hell, you’re asking more questions then Andrew is.”
“Okay, if you’re going to make fun of me, then I’ll take it you’re fine.” He smiled.
“Was it fun?” Andrew asked.
“As a matter of fact, it was. It really was. There was growing tension of whether or not anything would happen, and then the fall was pretty funny.”
“So…” I began, “do you feel any more inside-out then when you began?”
“You’re funny, Chuck.”
“Alright,” Andre said, “it’s my turn.”
“What?!” I asked, shocked.
“I want to try.”
“You sure you want to do that? You saw how horrific it looked when Joe fell, and no offense, you’re a bigger kid than Joe. And the saying goes…”
“Yes, do,” replied Andrew.
“I’m not kidding man,” added Joe, “the landing’s going to hurt a bit.”
“We’ve had worse crashes on the railings on the stairs in school. I want to do this.” He ran hopped on the swing Joe had just ‘gotten off of’ like a little kid. “Can someone push me to get me started?”
“Sure, said Joe, finishing dusting himself off.”
“Make sure it’s a great big push,” Andrew said. “I want this thing flying.”
“Alright, but you’d better not show me up on this. Chuck’ll make fun of me.” He turned and broke a smirk at me.
I returned a smile. “No offense, Andrew, but I think if Joe can’t, you can’t either. I’m going to side with Joe on this one.”
“Fine, I’ll show you both then.’ Andrew was getting pumped. “Come on Joe, do it up.”
Joe cracked his neck, and then his knuckles, as if he were going up to bat in the bottom half of the ninth inning. “Ready, Andy?”
“Hell yeah!”
Joe placed both his hands on Andrew’s back, moved back a step, and then threw his weight into it. I stood there with my jaw down to my knees. The swing looked like a rag doll on a string, and wound around the crossbeam three times, until Andrew and his yell for help went flying forward head first in the air, except he kept going. He went straight over the fence on the far side of the playground, and then made a u-turn back towards us. He came back and stopped directly on the other side of the crossbeam, looking down at us.
“Thanks for the push, Joe!” yelled Andrew.
“Hey Andrew,” I said, somewhat sensibly. “Do you mind coming down and telling us what the hell just happened?”
“Huh?” he said.
Joe pointed. “You’re in the air, buddy.”
“Holy crap!” cried Andrew. “How do I do that?!”
“Stop doing whatever you’re doing.” I figured that was the rational thing to say, regarding this completely irrational situation.
Joe started laughing. “Some people get stuck on trees. Others get stuck on towers or on buildings. Andrew gets stuck in mid-air. I began laughing, too.
“It’s not funny guys,” he said. “I’m really confused.”
“Well, you just flew that way and went in half a circle. What did you do to do that?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Andrew replied.
“You must have done something,” I said. It couldn’t have just happened.”
“I don’t know about that, Chuck,” answered Joe. “The whole swing thing kind of just happened.”
I put my hand to my forehead. How was I to respond to that? I mean, here was Andrew, who I thought was a pretty down to earth kid, floating ten feet or so in the air.
“I’m going to go figure this out,” answered Andrew, as he began to drift at an angle, and then started doing other maneuvers.
“Joe?” I called.
“Yeah,” Joe replied.
I had completely forgot that Joe was the one that pushed Andrew, who was most definitely heavier then Joe, around the swing set three times. “How the hell did you manage to push Andrew around the swing-set three times?!”
“Ummm..”
“I think you got really powerful,” I reasoned. “If Andrew can fly, then you have superhuman strength.”
He gave me an empty look. “Are you calling me weak?”
“No,” I justified, “I’m calling you wicked strong.”
“Oh,” he said and then paused for a moment. “Give me a hug, buddy.”
“Umm, hold on, Joe.” I handed him a pebble from the ground. “Do me a favor and throw this for me.”
“Okay” I dropped it in his hand, and then gripped it and launched it. I saw it leave my visibility rather quickly, as if had been shot out of a gun.
“Well, I doubt we’ll be seeing that again, Joe.”
“I think you’re right.” He flexed. “I don’t feel any stronger, but that pebble is gone, just as Andrew was when I pushed him.” He thought a moment. “So what are you waiting for, man? Get on the swing and get your superpower.”
“I don’t think I want one. I like being normal.” I looked at him, and I thought about what I had just said. “I didn’t mean it like that Joe, I mean I don’t want to be different.”
“I know how you meant it.”
“Do you really?”
“Yeah, I do. Now get on the swing.”
I sighed.
“Look Chuck. We’re a team. You, Andrew, and I. We’re the three musketeers. It’s all or nothing. And besides, I’m going to need you to help me take care of Andy. Think about it. Andy in air is twice as dangerous as Andy on land. Please?”
Just as I began to think, I heard a thud and looked at where it came from. Andrew had just flown into the slide, and was lying in the leaves.
Joe looked me after looking at Andrew. “We need you, man. You’re the leader.”
I walked around the swing and sat down. “You going give me a push?”
Joe smiled. “You be the man, Chuck.” He performed his neck and knuckle cracking, and sent me skywards. Around and around I went, seeing the scenery, and then again upside-down, for a total of seven times. As soon as the swing ceased to clear the crossbeam, Joe helped slow me down, decelerating my two hundred pounds like it was nothing, until the swing was left to a mere rocking. I stumble off the swing, took a few steps on the leaves, and fell face first as the leaves spun around me.
“You okay, man?” he asked.
I remained face down, trying to gather my orientation again. “Yeah,” I responded, “I’m fine.”
As Joe began to pick me up, Andrew flew in and landed beside us. “This whole flying thing is pretty cool, I could get used to this.
“Yeah, I could get used to the whole ‘I can pick or move anything I want’ thing, too,” replied Joe.
I dusted myself off when Andrew asked, “So, did you do it yet?”
“No Andrew,” I said, “I just fell because the ground moved.”
Andrew, without missing a beat, says,” Well, it could have. I wasn’t on it.
I looked at Andrew from the ground with an ‘I’m going to kill you’ look.
Andrew smiled back. “How was it? Did you like it? What’s your power?”
“Holy crap, man,” cried Joe. “Let the guy get back on his feet and back in this world.”
I finished brushing myself off, and I didn’t even think of the possible power I may have acquired. “I don’t feel any different,” I started.
“Shake my hand,” Joe suggested. I shook his hand, as firmly as I could. “Well, you’re certainly not any stronger,” he said with a smirk.
“Why thanks Joe,” I said sarcastically.
“Jump up and down,” tried Andrew. “Maybe you can fly!”
“I can’t fly,” I responded.
“You never know until you’ve tried…” He looked at me hopefully.
I sighed, and jumped up and down much to the pleasure of Joe and Andrew.
They laughed at me. “Alright,” said Andrew, “so maybe you can’t.”
“Maybe you didn’t get a power because you didn’t want one,” thought Joe aloud.
“You didn’t want a power?!” asked Andrew, shocked at the idea. “Why wouldn’t you want a superpower?”
“I don’t know…” I shrugged off the question.
Joe saw my discomfort. “So what now, buddy?” Joe asked me.
“Let’s put him on the swing again,” suggested Andrew to Joe.
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
“Then what are you talking about?”
“What are we going to do with these powers?”
Joe looked at me. I looked at Joe. Joe looked at Andrew. Andrew looked at Joe. I looked at Andrew. Andrew looked at me. “I’ve got it!” exclaimed Andrew.
“Took you long enough.” I jeered.
“Shut up,” he Andrew whined.
“What have you got?” we asked.
“I can fly you guys to places, and Joe can do the bad guy fighting,” said Andrew.
“Okay… Seems like you’ve really thought this out,” said Joe.
“Hey man, I tried,” claimed Andrew.
“What about Chuck?” Joe asked Andrew.
“Enough,” I started. “How the hell...”
Andrew and Joe looked at one another, and then at me.
“How the hell did we get those powers? Or rather, how the hell did you get those powers?”
Andrew and Joe looked at one another. “You tell him,” said Joe.
“No, you tell him,” said Andrew.
“No buddy, you tell him,” said Joe.
“Will someone just tell me?!”
“Alright,” said Andrew, “I’ll give you the down-low.”
“You’ll probably mess up the details, bud,” said Joe. “I’ll tell him.”
“No man, I’ll get them right,” Andrew insisted. “I’ll tell him.”
“No, you won’t,” Joe exclaimed. “I’ll tell him.”
“Arrrggg! One of you just freaking tell me. I’m getting rather angry now…”
“Okay, okay. Remember when you brought us to your house last weekend?”
“Yes,” I replied hesitantly.
“Well, remember when you took us to the place where you work? That warehouse building?”
“Yes,” I repeated with similar hesitancy.
“Well that,” explained Andrew, “is how we got the powers.
Joe laughed incessantly. “You didn’t just leave out the details buddy, you left out the entire story!”
I stood there somewhat cross as Joe continued to laugh at Andrew. “Shut up,” Andrew told Joe.
Joe saw the irritated look on my face and began to regain a semblance of composure. He took a deep breath in, gave me the straightest face I have ever seen, and then started laughing again. I crossed my arms against my chest and he finished his fake laugh abruptly, in which he succeeded to annoy me further than he and Andrew already had. A smirk stayed on his face as he said “Chuck, calm down. I’ll give you the whole story.” He looked at Andrew as he said the word ‘whole’ just to rub it in, and Andrew flipped him off.
“Hey!” I yelled. “The story please?”
“We went to your house last weekend, and you took us to the warehouse where you work…”
“This sounds like my story,” Andrew taunted.
Joe shrugged him off and continued seamlessly. “…and that’s where it all happened. You showed us around the place after hours, but while your bosses were still in. When you went to talk to your superiors, we ‘went to the bathroom’.” He took out his hands and made the motions with his fingers when he said the quotes. “Well, we meant to anyway, but Andrew here and his wandering mind had other plans.”
“Hey, don’t blame this on me!” yelled Andrew argumentatively. “You…”
“Hey buddy,” Joe said coolly, “you had your chance to tell the story. Let me tell Chuck what he wants to hear.
“Thanks Joe,” I smirked. “Continue.” My arms fell to my sides.
“Okay. So I was in the bathroom, and when I came out after doing my business, because you know, it didn’t come out well so I…”
“Joe!” I interrupted.
“Yeah buddy?”
“Too much information.”
“Oh, sorry,” Joe said as Andrew cackled in the background. Anyhow, I came out of the bathroom and Andrew was yelling about some cool something he found. So I went over to where he was yelling, which was quite creepy by the way with all the lights out. But anyhow…”
“Sorry about that, Joe. You’re right,” I said.
“It’s okay buddy,” he said jokingly. “But anyhow,” he continued, “I found Andrew floating by the sink with a beaker in hand. He was yelling because and said he had grabbed a drink of water from the sink. So then he went on to tell me that the water tasted rather funny, and that he was feeling lightheaded. Very lightheaded. By the time I had gotten to him, he was two feet off the ground. Literally. I helped him down, and after some coaxing by Andrew, had a little of the ‘water’ myself. I mean, after all, the worst thing that could happen is that I could fly. Or in Andrew’s case, float.” He laughed.
Andrew confirmed the story, but insisted that he was actually flying before Joe showed up, even though he had issues just floating there.
“You looked like you could use all the help you could get,” Joe said, jeering Andrew. Andrew shrugged it off, putting his claim of flying to rest, and Joe continued where he left off once again. “Anyhow, so Andrew looked like he could use any help he could get, and I figured that flying wouldn’t be such a hindrance, so I did it up.”
“You drank the water and you could fly?!” I asked somewhat taken back.
“Yeah,” he said nonchalantly. “Why?”
“Well, I used to drink the water… a lot,” I said. “Up to a liter’s worth a day. But one day, one of the guys saw me filling it up at the sink in the back just like you did, and told me never to do that. He told me the water wasn’t really water, and he gave me a bottle of water for the rest of the day. The last thing he said to me that day was never to drink the water from there again; he told me to bring my own water and don’t ask any questions.”
“How long have you been working there?” Andrew asked sarcastically.
“So you’ve consumed it before?” asked Joe curiously.
“Yeah,” I replied. “I was drinking about a liter of it a day for about a month.”
“Then you probably have some super power, too,” reasoned Andrew excitedly. “We can come together and be the ‘Three Musketeers’.”
“That already exists you idiot,” said Joe bluntly. “There’s even a movie with that title.”
Andrew went silent as he thought about the movie. Joe laughed at his trance, while I wondered how much of the water I had actually drank.
It hit me like a slap in the face that it was my fault that all this had happened. “I’m sorry guys,” I admitted. “It’s my fault you guys are like that. I’m really…”
“Hey buddy,” said Joe, “it’s not your fault. It’s no one’s fault.” He waited in a minute in thought. “Actually, you know what? It’s Andrew’s fault.”
I smiled, but I knew it was my fault. I never should have brought them there. People ask where I work, and I tell them I work in a warehouse, and seeing as I’m only a college student, no one really believes me. They think its some joke and I really work at McDonalds. Joe and Andrew are my closest buddies, so I figured if ever being questioned, they’d be living proof I don’t work in some fast-food joint. In any case, I have made a mess of the normality of my friends, and now it’s time for me to worry about their well-being.
“The story ends today,” concluded Joe. “We needed to find a way to reveal these to you without causing you to fall over and die of a heart-attack. We had been thinking about it for the entire week, and thankfully the professor made mention of the swing thing.”
“Nice rhyme,” chimed Andrew.
“Thanks buddy,” said Joe appreciatively. He turned to me. You’re not mad, are you Chuck?”
I thought for a moment. Why would be mad? They wanted to tell me, just not in an outward way. I chuckled to myself. “No, I’m not mad.”
“Phew,” said Andrew. But at least now you know why Joe broke so many things at your house.”
Joe laughed. “Yeah. I didn’t adjust to the strength yet. As Chuck would say, ‘my bad’.”
We all laughed. We walked out of the playground, that dreary autumn day, closer to one another than we though humanly possible. But we shared a bond that could not be broken. We were all unique, whether it be strength, or flight, or some other thing, but one thing was for certain, the endeavors and struggles yet of this chummy trio were yet to come.