After watching Matilda as a child, I came to the conclusion that I had a superpower, it was just a secret, even from me, but I was going to figure out what it was.

My first thought was that I must be able to fly. Go big or go home, right? Well, I should’ve gone home. I quickly learnt that my flying abilities consisted of me just plummeting headfirst to the ground. If only I wasn’t so confident in my abilities, I might’ve fashioned something to catch me. But no matter, my weeks spent stuck in bed with broken bones allowed me time to work at discovering my actual superpower.

I was bedridden, but my parents decided they would help me find my superpower, as they didn’t approve of my methods. And so I got a fish because my parents suggested that I may be able to talk to animals. And I could. Only, I was never sure whether or not the animals understood what I was saying.

My next attempt at discovering my secret superpower was simply staring intently at objects, waiting for them to move, as Matilda had been able to do. I stared at everything- cups, chairs, books, and then eventually people. And people flinched. It was so cool. But not cool enough. I knew that my superpower had to do more than make people extremely uncomfortable.

Invisibility. I decided to try it out. It was a mistake. I’ll leave it at that.

It was only when I momentarily ceased my ongoing search for my secret superpower that I just happened across it. One evening, my mother announced that we’d be having something special for dinner as I yelled “PIZZA”, to which she replied “Yes Rosie, it’s like you’ve read my mind”. That’s when I realized that I could read minds. And boy did I ever. I got really close to people’s heads so I could hear their thoughts loud and clear; mostly a lot of “go away”s and “get off of me”s. And life was good until the day came when I realized I could no longer read minds (as I was unable to correctly guess my birthday present).

And so the search continues…