I don’t think I’ll ever get over this teleporting thing.
I don’t just mean “the gift” itself….that alone is overwhelming and unbelievable. Three of my kids can teleport from one spot to another. That’s a sentence that no father ever says ever. But it’s also the act itself that is really hard to believe. You see someone and then you don’t. And then suddenly, you see them somewhere else- re-appearing right before your eyes.
That’s what happened when Haley teleported down from that tree. There she was- right in the middle of us- with all her fingers and toes and smelling like burnt something.
“I did it!” Haley screams. “Whohoo!”
We all make a circle hug around her and jump up and down- shouting and sharing in her excitement.
I have to admit- that was pretty cool. I mean when Craft teleported across the stream, that was pretty awesome too, but if he couldn’t teleport back to us, somebody could have waded over to that little island and rescued him. But in Haley’s case, we would have had to call the fire department to rescue her from that tree! She was so far up, and my dumb idea of her jumping and me catching her could have seriously hurt one of us. Or both. Furthermore, how would we have explained to the firemen how she got up there? There were no branches leading up to that limb she was on. This is a gift that will be very hard to explain to others- let alone believe.
After more seconds of family elation, Hops has to get his point across.
“I want to teleport now!” He screams.
“Well, yeah,” Sage answers back. “Every kid has done it but you! Haha!”
She has to rub it in. Her and Hops- being blood brother and sister- like to razz each other pretty often. It’s just what siblings do.
“Ok! Here I go!” Hops says. He looks over at another big tree about 25 yards away. He squeezes his eyes tight and says, “All I have to do is think about being right next to that tree over there.”
He opens his eyes. He hasn’t moved.
“Dang it!” He yells, stomping his feet and pouting.
“You’re seriously trying to hard, bro,” Craft tells him.
“I want to teleport!!” Hops screams.
‘I know Hops,” Angela hugs and consoles him. “Maybe you, me, and Stouten can’t do it. Maybe we have other gifts.”
Maybe we do, I think to myself. Maybe we have x-ray vision or we can run really fast like The Flash. I’d be cool with either of those powers. But something inside me is telling me that Angela is half right and half wrong. I just feel deep in my bones that this is all our primary gift. But I also feel that we all may have a secondary gift. I have no idea what they may be, and I’m a little freaked out about how I know all this. But the feelings are strong.
“I think we can all do it,” I say out of nowhere. “And I think it’s time for me to try.”
I really need to learn how to shut my mouth when I’m talking. I am not really mentally prepared to try any of this.