“It’s not like it used to be, dad. People are proud of their engineered genes these days.”

“Being tall or purple isn’t the same as being able to do shit. Having powers scares people. Trust me, I know.”

His father used his hands to compress the sunlight into a small ball of light between them. Andrew looked at his father and realized that he was further advanced than his father. He didn’t have to do his father’s extravagant hand movements to achieve the same effect. He decided his father must’ve repressed his abilities to hide for notice. Damn. He’d been hoping his father would teach him more advanced techniques rather than the fumbling self-teaching he had been managing.

” I guess I was hoping you would teach me all those fancy magical tricks I’ve heard all the stories about, dad.”

“Your grandmother tried to teach me a couple of times, but I wasn’t interested. It was just too dangerous. You only had to do one thing once in the hue and cry would be up and, if you’re lucky, escape and be able to hide somewhere else. I don’t know how many times your grandmother had to move in her life, and it wasn’t just because she didn’t get older. A lot of the time, it was because she did something accidentally that made it obvious she had power.”

His father stood up and looked down at him, a frown on his face.

“I can’t stop you fooling around with that stuff, but you won’t do it under my roof, do you understand?”

“Yes, dad. I understand.”

“I want your word. No magic in this house.”

Andrew shrugged. “Ok, dad. I give you my word. No magic in the house.”

“Good.”

His father gave him a sharp look and then left the room. However, all was not lost. On Friday afternoon, when his father normally went to the pub for drinks with the boys from work, his mother took him into their room and pulled out a box she kept in the back of the bottom drawer of her dresser.

“This was left to you by your grandmother. Your father thought I had thrown it out when we went through her things. I showed them to my father, but he and his fellow soldiers had never really received much training in power techniques. I could do some simple things, but I think I lack the right genes to do much. Your father can’t do much either, but I think with him, it’s more a matter of not wanting rather than not being able to. Take the box and hide it in your room somewhere.”

He took the box and smiled at his mother.

“Thanks, mum!”

He hid the box under his bed and refrained from the incredibly strong temptation to go through it right then! He had told his dad he wouldn’t do stuff at home, and he wouldn’t. There was no opportunity over the weekend, but Monday afternoon after school, he grabbed the box and went out behind the garage. It was still on their property, but it wasn’t technically under his dad’s roof.