Levitation was a big thing in my family. A big deal in our town. It started in the 70s with my uncle Eddie after he watched the movie The Fury. “I bet I can do that…lift people with my mind.”
We all dismissed his claim because, yeah…
But Eddie locked himself in his room for days and days and days and days, only came out to eat, shower, and use the restroom.
Then Thanksgiving arrived and when the whole family gathered around a table full of food, Eddie emerged, sat down, scowled at Grandma Rasmussen and sure as shit…she levitated from her chair, about two feet.
She gasped. I gasped. Everyone gasped.
Eddie clapped once with a jovial exclamation. Grandma dropped back into her chair with a thud.
“I told you I could do it! Now let’s eat.” Eddie lifted his silverware and plopped mashed potatoes onto his plate.
The rest of us stared at him, didn’t move or speak.
Eddie looked at all the faces lingering at him. “What?”
I was the first to break the collective silence. “Eddie. We’re all kinda freaked out here. How the fuck did you do that?”
“Language,” my mother jolted.
“It just takes practice. I can teach any of you to do it.”
And so he did. I was his first student. He continued to teach one-on-one for a time, then took on two at a time, all of his subjects being family members.
He tried to teach some of his friends but they couldn’t do it, no matter how long or how hard they tried. I determined that there was something within our family, something genetically special about us, that instilled these telekinetic gifts.
In about six months, most of my family had the ability to not only lift people in the air but objects as well, some of us could lift items as large as automobiles and boats. And not only lift but move people and things across great distances.
While these gifts could be a source of vast amusement, they could also be a source of major discontent; two of my cousins nearly killed each other in an argument over a girl, flinging knives at each other in the kitchen one day. They both ended up in the hospital.
That’s when Grandma Rasmussen laid down the law – only use your powers for good. To her, that meant using the vacuum or lawnmower, or lifting heavy things while sitting. “No one will use their ability to harm another living being. The end.”
But residing in a small town at the foothills of the smoky mountains, many people became leary of the Rasmussen family and refused to venture anywhere near the Rasmussen compound, nor have much to do with any member of the Rasmussen family.
Sure, there were a few people who weren’t threatened by certain members of my family and they agreed to go into town to run our errands, because the Walhalla populace in general leered and pointed and darted away at the sight of us. Ignorance knows no bounds sometimes.
Then again…there were a few who wished to exploit.
Because one day, I found myself tied to a chair with a gun pointed at my head.
***
“We’re gonna need you to lift that safe into our truck.”
I wanted to laugh but knew I shouldn’t. The muzzle of the gun pressed hard against my right temple. But they couldn’t shoot me in the head or hey, no safe in the truck. Duh.
“I don’t know if I can. It looks awfully heavy,” I lied.
The safe stood a good six feet. Probably housed rifles.
“Bullshit.” Wes Hinkle appeared before me. I went to school with him. Always knew he’d become a dirtbag. I looked up at him. He slapped my left cheek hard enough to make my last molar cut into my flesh. I tasted blood.
I’d been slapped like that before so it was no big deal to me.
“Well…ow,” I said. “What was that for?”
“Because you’re a liar. I saw you lift a car once.”
“Well…okay. What’s so special about this safe?”
“That’s none of your business,” came a voice from behind me. Then Gerry Griffiths stood before me. He was by far the ugliest man I had ever seen.
Gerry grabbed the hair at the back of my head. Now that hurt. Inches from my face, he said, “Just fucking put the safe in the fucking truck, you cunt, then open it.” His breath smelled like deviled eggs. I almost gagged.
“Fine.” Damn, now I was pissed, taken from my home, drugged, tied to this fucking chair, being manipulated by these losers.
He let go, then turned the chair I sat in. I got a better look at where I was. In some kind of wearhouse. The truck parked to my left, safe at my right. Moving the safe would be more than easy. But I wasn’t going to make it easy.
Wes placed the muzzle of the gun on my right thigh. “Get to it or else.”
I rolled my eyes, still extremely agitated. Gerry stood at one side of the truck, waiting.
What these two bozos did not know was that I was my Uncle Eddie’s star pupil. Sure Wes had seen me lift a car once. Had he seen me lift…let’s say…an internal organ?
Fuck these fucking fuckers.
In a flash, the gun lifted, aimed at Gerry, a bullet flew, hitting him in the side of the head. He dropped like a sack of bricks.
Inside Wes, his liver detached from its sinewy inner embrace and burst through his flesh to land at his feet in a gory heap. Blood shot from his mouth. His knees buckled and he flopped to the ground.
Stillness. Silence.
I smiled. No regrets for what I had just done. I felt justified.
***
I told Grandma about what had happened, told her I’d used my powers to harm others, that I’d had no choice. She hugged me, then called a family meeting.
“I must amend my rule. Never use your powers to harm another living being unless they intend to harm you.”
All of a sudden, a chorus of voices erupted, family members bitching about how some people of Walhalla had been threatening to some degree.
“Silence,” Grandma yelled.
And there was silence. A cold, stone look took over her face. “You know what? I’m tired of the people around here.” She stood. “We’re taking over this town.”
The Rasmussen clan stood and cheered.
And so it was, in the 70s, levitation became a big thing in my family. A big deal in our town.
Eddie is no longer with us. Neither is Grandma, nor my mother. I’m the oldest grandchild and I rule the compound, which is now the entire town of Walhalla, thank you very much. And yeah, I still lift heavy things with my mind. And yeah, I occasionally lift internal organs.
[Image Credit : Photo by Piotr Wilk on Unsplash]
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Latest posts by Laura Shell (see all)
- Levitation - November 26, 2024
Thoroughly enjoyed this story! Great use of humor and tension.