“Man rarely knows his own power!” the old man told Ron, who was listening, half-awake.

This man had turned up in the orphanage at midnight, and had insisted on talking to him. Ron did not know how he had entered and why he wanted to speak to him out of all the 500 boys in the orphanage. But the old man was in a hurry, so without any questions, Ron listened quietly to whatever the old man told him.

“I’m afraid you expect too much from me, kind sir,” Ron said looking up to the old man. The old man looked at him with a grim smile, his chin now resting on top of the staff of golden wood.

“The power that you seek had been banished years ago,” the old man said. The voice was unlike anyone’s Ron had ever heard, muted and light as if it had never been used.

“Power? I’m afraid you are mistaken, sir, I seek no such power that you talk of,” Ron said, totally perplexed.

The old man looked at him, such that his green eyes started to produce a golden light. He looked at the moon from the open window of the room and then to the 14-year-old Ron. The old man stood up and went towards the window shifting his gaze towards the moon.

“It’s time you learn who you really are, Ron. You are a hero of the Twenty-Second Century. You need to stop this generation’s misuse of everything. Remember Ron, everything is limited. And once the resources run out, there will be no life on earth.

“Now, to test if you have real power or not, you can start by getting that water jug over here,” the old man said, pointing towards the jug placed on the table at the end of the room. “But the twist is, you cannot move.”

“But how in the world is that possible?” puzzled Ron asked.

“Look, a little brain activity and the object you desire flies smoothly through the air and into your hands. You don’t have to move a muscle,” the old man said.

Ron still couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but decided to give it a go. After all, what was to be lost? Ron focused at the water jug with all his might. It didn’t work. He tried again and again. After several tries, suddenly, the jug lifted in the air.

“I got it, I got it,” Ron said excitedly, removing all his focus from the jug, resulting in it falling and breaking to a hundred pieces. The old man took out his time cloth and threw it over the jug. He chanted some words and the jug transformed into its original shape and place, with no sign that it was ever broken.

“Remember, do not remove your concentration when using this power. This power is called Telekinesis. Promise me you will never misuse your power or it will be snatched,” the old man explained.

Ron promised. Soon after, the old man disappeared into thin air, leaving his time cloth behind. Excited about the time cloth and the power he discovered, Ron tried to levitate the water jug and this time, he could easily do it. Ron was excited.

With his new-found powers, Ron decided to dedicate his power to save the world.

Published in Dawn, Young World, February 12th, 2022