“Help someone, please help!” My ears pick up the cry from miles away, and I use the voice to pinpoint exactly where the trouble is located. I arrived in less than 3 seconds with the power of teleportation, which I was so graciously gifted. The child was nearly drowning as it seems she got caught in a rapid current while paddleboarding. She’s holding on to a thin branch that will most likely snap soon.  I teleport next to her and ask her to reach for my hand, but her arm doesn’t reach. She lets go of the branch, and the current jerks her into a boulder, knocking her unconscious. And she begins to sink, like a rock being thrown into the middle of a pond. I replace my teleportation power with speed and replace my super hearing with underwater breathing. I dive into the water with super speed, easily grabbing the blonde girl by the arm before she hits the rocky bottom. I bring her out of the water and lay her on a patch of grass. I replace my underwater power with my phasing power and my speed with water manipulation. I slid my hand gently into the girl’s throat, grasping the water that was blocking her airway. She gasps, and her eyes are red; she trembles and looks at me. She’s no more than ten years old.   

“Thank you so much, I lost my mom because I thought I could do it by myself, but then I fell and-“ I covered her mouth, if she said another word, I was afraid she would go unconscious again. I am pushed back with arms around my neck and a force weighing me down to the floor. But it wasn’t any sort of danger; the girl was hugging me. She was crying, not crying but sobbing. I carry her and replace my phasing power for flight, and fly the girl to the front of the river entrance and wait for her mother to arrive. When the girl spots her mom, they both run to each other with open arms. Tears were running down both of their faces. No sad tears, and they were not angry tears. They were a mix of happiness and relief tears. I smiled, and I have not smiled in a long time. I fly away and let them enjoy their moment together, and I hear another cry for help.   

“Someone please help!” I replace my water manipulation, or at least I try. I do not feel the tingly sensation of my teleportation running through my veins. There’s nothing, I feel nothing. I try again, and there it is; it finally comes to me. I feel the power flow to my fingertips, then to the tips of my toes. Why did it feel like I almost lost it? I look at my hands in confusion as to why my power didn’t replace as soon as I had the thought, like it usually does. I ignore the situation, though; there is something else at hand. I teleport to the sound of the dreadful cry. Once you hear the words help all day, every day, it gets exhausting. I pinpoint the problem: a man is on the ledge of a bridge, and his friend is calling to him to get down. I float in front of the man on the ledge carefully, ever so carefully. As I look at his face, I feel as if I am not looking at a man at all. I see myself in his tired, red, puffy eyes. I see myself looking into the reflection of my bathroom mirror every night before I brush my teeth. And then for the first time, I actually see the man’s face. His clothes were dirty, and he had a bruise under his right eye. I reach out my hand for him, but I don’t force it; I don’t say a word to him. And yet, he grabs my hand, and I float him back to the surface next to his friend. I walk away, I don’t fly, I walk. The man I saved calls out for me, but I don’t turn around; I look straight ahead without hesitation.   

 I have walked for approximately three hours now, with no sense of direction. I encounter a ledge of my own, the sun is setting, and the sky is painted with the most beautiful colors. I close my eyes and just as I lie back,  
“Help, help , oh goodness, please help me!” I groan and pinch myself, trying to force myself to get up and save my tenth person today. But I don’t, I stay down on the ground.    

“Please help..” Nothing. I don’t feel the need to help; I don’t feel the need to care. I open my eyes and look at the ombre sky, and I feel…I don’t know what I feel. I have never experienced this feeling before. Instead of power flowing through my veins, I feel the realization coming to me. Do I want to save people because it makes me happy? Or because it feels like it’s what I should do? But the deeper question that made me rethink everything came to me. Do I truly give to people, or do they simply take from me? Do I give myself time and effort, or do they take that away from me because they know I am capable of almost anything? Something tickles the side of my cheeks; it’s warm, and when it reaches the corner of my mouth, it’s salty. I run my hand across my cheek and feel the warm wetness of my tears. Not sad or angry tears, but happiness and relief.