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Sammy and her sister come home from school.  Stephanie quickly disappears up the stairs to her room.  Sammy pokes around in the refrigerator, looking for something to eat.  Her mom enters the kitchen and informs her that the pudding is for dessert, so hands off.  For the past few days, Mom has been dealing with grunts, moans, eye rolls and heavy sighs as the primary means of communication from Sammy, so she is somewhat startled when a fully formed sentence passes her daughter's lips. 

"I can fly."

Sammy's mom is silent for a moment, then she smiles slightly, "Wow.  I don't know what to say.  where should I begin?"

Sammy emerges from the depths of the fridge with an apple and cheese.  "Want some?"

She sits down at the table.  "I can fly.  I don't know what else I might be able to do.  Do you have any ideas how I might try to find out?  I don't know who else to ask."

Sammy's mom puts a hand on her daughter's shoulder.  "I can show you, at least what I can do."

Sammy and her mom make arrangements to go to a secluded spot after dinner and practice.  In the car, on the way to the park, mom tries to give Sammy the basics for flying.  Once out of the car and in the park the two woman find a spot that's away from other people.  "I haven't done this since before you guys were born."  mom says, holding her hands out at her sides.  Air begins to flow up around her, tossing her hair, and she slowly lifts off the ground.  She hovers for a moment, getting used to the feeling again.  Sammy is sure she's never seen her mother look so beautiful.  A moment later she shoots into the night sky, up over the tress and then begins to fly around in circles.  "Come up here and try it."

Sammy was able to skip into the air when she reacted to the threat at the party, but this time she tries to do it like she sees her mother doing it.  She closes her eyes, extends her arms, and tries to focus on what it feels like to fly.

Once airborne, she loops around.  The turns aren't as smooth or as graceful as her mother's, but she gets the job done.

"Told ya I could fly!  Now what?"

Sam's mother smiles, "Now we go somewhere really private.  Let me know if you have trouble keeping up."  With that she sets off North, towards Chicago.  A few minutes later they're past the city and headed out over the lake.  some lights ahead draw her mother down, and Sam follows.  They land on an island near a small dock.  "God I missed that."  she says as she leads Sam into some nearby woods.

She gathers up some empty cans and finds a log to put them on.  "First, let's see if you can hit things."  She says, turning towards the log and throwing up her hand.  An unseen force seems to strike one of the cans, sending it flying.  "You just have to focus and try to push the can.

OOC: Will Save DC 12

Sammy feels silly.  She stares at the cans.  "Knock one down.  Right."  She wrinkles up her nose, points at a can, and "pokes" it with her finger.


OOC:  will roll

will 2 (1d20=13) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=642584)

Sam can feel the air curl around her, then race towards the can and toss it across the ground.

"Nice Sammy, that was excellent.  Now, let's see if you can do this.  Relax and bring the wind up around you, like your own personal hurricane."  Sam's mom steps back, and Sammy watches as the air begins to swirl around her.  "Like this.  You try it honey."

OOC: Will Save 12

"Uh, okay, I'll try."

Sammy tries to imagine a hurricane swirling around her, around and around and around...

#2: will 2 (1d20=2) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=642596)

"Maybe another time.  It just takes practice is all."  Sam's mom let's the winds die off around her.  "Patience, it took me a while to figure it out too.  I'm sorry I told you the way I did.  I just didn' know a better way.  I'm sorry."

"It was hard to hear.  All the bad stuff that's happened at school is somehow connected to somebody with powers."

Sammy sinks down into the grass.  "Did something bad happen to you?  Is that why you don't use them?  I mean," she gestures at the cans, at her mother, and makes a swirly motion with her hands, "you seem happy to be able to use them right now.  I heard you say you missed this.  Did somebody get hurt?"


OOC: I'm calling it a night.  See ya.

Sam's mom sits down near her.  "It was a boy.  I was pretty young, and my home life wasn't good.  I had just started to discover my powers and I was worried I would end up in a dead end town with a life I didn't want.  Gary was a rebel, and when I found out he had powers too I felt I had someone I could open up to.  We started off robbing banks.  No one got hurt, beause we could rob a bank with no one around.  Things went okay for a while, then we linked up with some other people.  Gang mentality kicked in, I let things get out of hand.  When things turned really bad I realized I had to get out.  I ran, and they chased.  I managed to findhelp, and they got me out.  I testified, and the government set me up with a new identity.  This isn't how I wanted it to come out."  She puts her face in her hands, "Nothing ever seems to come out the way I want."

Sammy looks a little stunned at these revelations.  Mom used to be a criminal?  No wonder she doesn't want anybody to know.  I wouldn't either!

After a moment, she tentatively  reaches over and gives her mom a hug. 

"It's okay, mom.  Like you always say, everybody makes mistakes, its what you do afterwards that matters.  Not everything came out wrong, did it?  I mean, it took you a couple of tries, but you got me, right?  Don't worry.  I won't tell anybody, not Daddy, not Steffi, nobody.  I did some stuff already, but nobody knew who did it, and I won't do anymore.  I'll try to keep it a se..."   

She suddenly remembers every syllable of the conversation she had with the counselor, and starts to feel a little sick.

 " Uh oh."

"Honey.  I don't want you to feel that you can't use your powers.  They're something you have to reconcile in your life, they're part of you and always will be.  So, remember to be careful.  Just, be careful is all I ask."

"Uh, yeah.  About that.  The careful part.  Nobody saw me do the thing I did, but somebody knows.  I told a school crisis counselor.  I was afraid, things were getting weirder and weirder, and they all involved kids with powers, and you were acting strange too, wanting me to keep a big secret from Dad... oh Mom, I'm sorry!  I'm so sorry!"

"Honey, it's okay.  It's confidential right, so that's fine.  If you feel it helps, then talking to a counselor could be good."

"Yes."  Sammy calms down as she remembers that the conversation was indeed confidential. "I forgot that part.  I thought that I'd made things worse.  I guess Steffi was right when she called me a drama queen."

"I'm sorry things didn't go like you wanted them to go.  Was there ever anything you wanted to do with your powers but didn't?  Or anything else you wanted to do but couldn't?"

"I stopped thinking about that a long time ago.  The days of me using my powers are pretty much behind me.  I'll help you with yours, but I think I'm happy just being me at this point."

We can end this here -- it seems like a good place to stop.  Let's just assume that Kim Jameson spends some time over the next few weeks trying to teach Samantha how to use her powers.