The Awakening by Michael Carroll Read Free Book Online

I’ve been wondering about all day. The speed that bus came around the corner…I went back there this afternoon, just to have a look. There’s no way any normal person could have run that fast.”
    “Well, obviously I did.”
    “But you’re not a normal person, are you, Dan? You’re a superhuman.”
    Danny laughed. “Are you nuts?”
    “You lucky—! I’d give anything to be a superhuman!”
    “I’m not a superhuman!”
    “OK, OK,” Colin said. After a few seconds, he said, “So, was that the first time?”
    “The first time what?”
    “You know what I’m asking. Has anything like that ever happened before?”
    “No. Of course not. It was a fluke.”
    “What did your parents say?”
    “Ah, you know the way parents are. My mother kept focusing on the wrong things. Like asking what Susie was doing in the middle of the road and why I hadn’t just come straight home from school—that sort of thing.”
    “What about your dad?”
    “He just said, ‘Well done!’”
    “That’s it? You saved a little girl’s life and he just said, ‘Well done!’?”
    “What else would he say?”
    Colin carefully considered his response. “He could have asked you what I asked you. If you were a superhuman.”
    Danny paused. “Well, he didn’t ask me that.”
    “ I’m asking.”
    “I know.”
    “And?”
    “And I keep telling you! I’m not a superhuman, OK? Just leave it!” Danny walked away. “I’m going home. Thanks for the party.”
    Colin hesitated for a second, then went after him. “Wait, wait!”
    Without turning around or slowing down, Danny said, “What?”
    “Just tell me the truth. Please. I swear I won’t say anything to anyone else! I just have to know. If you don’t tell me, then I’m going to be wondering about it for the rest of my life.”
    “There’s nothing to tell.”
    “Nothing to tell me . I’m supposed to be your best friend!”
    Danny stopped walking. His shoulders sagged.
    “Swear that you won’t tell anyone?”
    “I swear.”
    “Especially not Brian, OK?”
    “I promise!”
    Danny took a deep breath and looked away. “It started happening a couple of months ago. Like, I’d be listening to a song on the radio and all of a sudden it would slow way down, like it was being played at the wrong speed. I went out on my bike on Saturday morning and cycled all the way around the park. It usually takes me a quarter of an hour, right? I did it in under five minutes. But it didn’t feel like I was moving any faster, more like everything else had slowed down. Things…things are changing. Inside me.” Danny swallowed. “It’s…it’s kind of freaking me out a bit. It’s like I’ve got no control over it. I mean, I could run home now and be there before you can blink. Or it might not work at all.”
    The two friends stared at each other.
    “So it’s true,” Colin said. “You’re a superhuman.”
    “It’s looking like that.” A smile slowly grew on Danny’s face. “I really shouldn’t have told you.”
    “God, you are so lucky! You know what I’d do if I was you? I’d join the athletics team. I’d win first place every time! It would be great!”
    Danny shook his head. “Nah.”
    “Seriously,” Colin said. “You should do it. You could be the next…” He paused. “Who’s a good runner?”
    “I’d rather be a soccer player.”
    “You could do that, then! You could try out for Man United! They’d snap you up in a second!”
    Danny grinned. “Or I could even try out for one of the good teams.”
    “So, show me! Do something!”
    “It might not work.”
    “Give it a go anyway.”
    Danny looked up and down the street. There was no one around. “Watch this!” He reached down to the ground and picked up a small white stone. He handed it to Colin. “You’ll recognize that stone again, right?”
    Colin turned it over in his hands. “Sure. I suppose.”
    “Now throw it.”
    “Where?”
    “Down the road.”
    “OK.” Colin reached back his arm and