Stop Right There

The cash registers dings shut. Linda hands Bernard his change and wishes him a good day before turning to Mrs. Finkleberg and asking if she found everything already. “Actually, I couldn’t find the mustard see--” but she freezes before she can finish. Linda looks on with a perplexed look, as still as her customer. Everyone in the small grocery is stuck in place, except for one boy who walks down an aisle with a small jar in his hand. He walks up to Linda’s conveyor belt and places the jar in front of Mrs. Finkleberg. He smiles at the women and then twirls counter clockwise out the door. “--ds.” Linda points to the jar on the conveyor belt. “Oh my. I must be losing it. Silly me.”

Tyler enjoys helping the people in town. He just hates attention. And while he can’t become invisible, he figures his little trick is handy enough to help him go unnoticed. Yet something bothered Tyler. He couldn’t shake what happened yesterday at the park.

Every Saturday, Tyler would visit the park down the block from his house and twirl clockwise to enjoy a few minutes alone as the other children were frozen in place. He liked seeing them as statues rather than friends. Lenny and Kenny were his favorite to stare at; the twins were like his personal two panel comic strip come to life. But as he stared at the boys on the jungle gym yesterday, he heard a girl laughing. He turned around to see her swinging back in forth. He was taken aback for two reasons: 1) someone wasn’t affected by his power and 2) no one ever used the swings at the park. Tyler hid behind the slide.

The girl let down her feet to stop her momentum. “Hey. Come back!” she called out. “Did you do this?”

Tyler peeked his head out. His brow furrowed, he nodded his head.

“I’ve never seen anything like it.” She went up to Quinta who was seated at the both of the seesaw. Renee remained suspended in the air on the other side, glee painted on her face. “Should I let her down?”

“You can’t touch them!” Tyler rushed out to grab her arm before she pushed Quinta off the seesaw. “I’m… I’m still not sure what will happen.” The girl seemed disappointed, but she accepted his rule. “How are you still moving? I’ve never seen you around before.”

“I just moved in today. I should be helping my parents organize the house, but I’m a kid. I decided to have fun. But I’m getting hungry so I guess I’ll go back. Do you wanna come?”

Tyler shook his head no.

“Ok, then can you let go of my arm, Mr. Don’t-Touch?”

Tyler apologized and backed off her.

“You’re weird. I like you. I guess I’ll be seeing you around.” The girl started to walk away, but froze in place when she got to the gate. Maybe his power was delayed on her, Tyler thought. “My name’s Rosa, by the way,” she said and continued on her way.

Tyler stood in the middle of the park, bewildered. He had enough fun for the day. He twirled to the left and began on his way home. Renee sent Quinta into the air. Lenny tackled Kenny down the slide. Rosa intrigued Tyler.