The Transmogrifier

The summer before college, I went on a road trip with some friends. We went to the beach on a cloudy day for a windy, August picnic. Halfway through our sandwiches, the clouds gave way to rain, thunder, and lightning in a freak storm. My friends ran back to the car, abandoning the picnic setup, but I cared too much about it to just leave it all there. As I grabbed up the last of the silverware, a shock of lightning coursed through my body, actually melting the sand around my feet into molten glass. I marveled at the beautiful change made at the potential price of my life, as I began to fade out. I saw my friends running back down the hill to me as another bolt struck me. I blacked out before they could reach me.

The world seemed too bright and something was wrong, I could tell. Things began to come into focus and I found myself in an operating room...looking down at myself. Doctors were yelling and surrounding my immobile body, but I could hear nothing. I watched the green line of the heart monitor remain flat and unchanging. One doctor was doing CPR, while another was readying the electric paddles. As the paddles took place of the hands, I felt dragged towards my lifeless body. As the paddles current continued, as did my return to my body. By the fourth strike, my eyes popped open and I gasped at the air. The heart monitor beeped methodically and the doctors' voices roared to life in my ears. There were sighs of relief and questions about my current state. After a weeklong stay in the hospital, I was released with no complications, aside from jokes about making sure not to shock everyone. I had been struck three times and was declared dead for twenty minutes before miraculously coming back with no brain damage.

I sat outside on the bench and called my mom to pick me up as I took in the clear blue, Modesto sky. She said she'd be there in fifteen minutes and I hung up, watching the bird who was lucky enough to fly home as soon as he pleased. I thought about what it would like to be a bird and was surprised to look down and see my hands glowing and sparking. The spark spread throughout my body and my arms turned into beautiful wings. I was forced out of my seat as a feathery tail grew behind me. I began to flap my new wings and took off into the sky. That's when I discovered I could change form. As I explored my power, I also found out I could manipulate the forms of whatever object I touched with a conscious idea behind it. I became The Transmogrifier and decided to use my powers to help others.