copse
[kops]
- a thicket of small trees or bushes; a small wood.
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“Okay,
we’re here, so what do you want?” Chris asked.
He was in an understandably bad mood.
He and his friends, Nickie and Jeff, had been called out into the middle
of a small wooded area at the edge of town by the fourth member of their little
group of friends. None of them were
particularly happy about it.
Matt,
the one who had put out the call, stood in the middle of the trees and looked
at each of the other three. “I, uh, I
wanted to show you guys something.”
“What? What could be so important that we had to
come all the way out here?”
“Well,
it’s jus that, I, uh, I have super powers.”
The
other three stared blankly at Matt. They
let out a collective groan.
“This
had better not be like the time you thought you were a prophet because of that
food dream you had.” Said Nickie. She
rubbed the bridge of her nose, the action causing her thick glasses to be
pushed out of their precarious alignment.
“Or when
you thought you could talk to animals because you got your dog to follow basic
commands.” Jeff said.
“It’s
not, I swear.” Matt said. “I can prove
it too. It’s why I asked you guys to
come out here.”
“Okay,
fine.” Chris said through a heavy sigh.
“Let’s get this over with.
Matt
reached behind his back and pulled out a plastic recorder style flute, the kind
that every elementary school kid learns to play and then immediately
forgets. He placed it to his lips and
started playing. Matt was not musically
inclined, and the notes were screechy and badly out of tune. His friends winced and held their ears
against the offending sound.
Then
they saw something. A look of intense
concentration crossed Matt’s face. A
faint green glow emerged from his hands and enveloped the instrument. Then the really weird stuff happened. All the grass in a ten foot radius stood
straight and rigid. The nearby trees and
bushes stopped moving. Then everything
began shaking and trembling in ways that could not be explained by any kind of
wind. They shook and bent in time with
Matt’s horrible music. It was erratic
and jerky, but the plants were clearly moving at Matt’s behest.
When he
stopped playing, he flopped onto the ground.
He looked like he had just run ten miles at top speed. His clothes were drenched with sweat, his
face was red, and he was gasping for every breath of air he could.
“That…that
is not easy.” He gasped.
“How…what…huh?”
Nickie stammered, unable to put together a coherent sentence.
“I
know. Not very impressive right now, but
still.”
“Were…were
you actually controlling the plants with a flute?” Jeff asked, wide eyed with
amazement.
“Uh,
kind of? I mean, I don’t think the flute
is what’s letting me do that.”
“What do
you mean?” Chris asked.
“Well,
you know how in games and stories and stuff, magic can be done without a staff
or a wand or something, but it’s a lot easier with one? It’s like that. I’m the one doing whatever it is I do, but
the music just makes it easier.”
The
other three looked at each other, then at their still recovering friend. “How did this happen? Could you always do this?” Nickie asked.
“I don’t
know. I definitely couldn’t do this a
few days ago. It just kind of happened.”
“People
do not just suddenly gain the ability to control plants.” Chris said.
“I did.”
“Guys,
guys, I think we’re missing the real questions here.” Jeff said. The others looked at him. “If we ask how this happened, we’ll run
around in circles. There’s no way any of
us will be able to figure something like this out. What we should be asking is how we can
capitalize on it.”
“What?”
Matt asked.
“You can
make so much money with this power.” Jeff said.
“We are
not turning Matt into some kind of side show.” Nickie said with crossed arms.
“Side
show? No way. He’ll be a star. We’re talking millions here.”
“He can
help so many people though. He can be a
hero.”
“You
want him to run around in spandex beating up bad guys? And you think my idea is bad.”
“No! He can, like, help grow forests and
farmland. He can rescue people that are
trapped. He can do all kinds of stuff
with medicinal plants.”
“Uh,
don’t I get a say in this?” Matt asked.
His only
response was a cold glare from both Nickie and Jeff. He sighed and lay on the grass. They would get tired of arguing soon
enough. Until then, Matt was going to
take a quick nap.
*********************************
If you could choose what power (along with its necessary auxiliary powers), what would it be? And what would you do with said power(s) when you had them? Would be a hero? A villain? Would you become rich and famous? Or would you just spend your time messing with people and playing around?
