Superpowers

What's your favorite superpower?

I've had this conversation with a lot of people. The question is almost always the same, even down to the wording: “If you could have any superpower, what would it be?”

I've always had a hard time answering. In part that's because there are a lot of great superpowers to choose from. Who wouldn't want to be able to go invisible or conjure flame or breathe underwater?

Or fly? Wouldn't that be great? Of all the typical superpowers I've always thought this would be the most fun. Sure it's not necessarily the most useful for catching villains, but I think everyone daydreams at least on occasion about floating through the sky. I imagine flying is a lot like swimming—go through enough clouds and you'd probably even get just as wet. But there's something irresistibly romantic about flying.

The main reason I have trouble answering the superpower question, though, is that the power I'd really want isn't on the superpower A-list. It isn't in any comic books or superpower movies I've ever heard of. For the longest time I couldn't even describe exactly what it was.

I have a name for it now: it's the Velveteen Rabbit power—the ability to make things real. But it wouldn't just be about bringing stuffed animals to life; I'd be able to make the characters from my favorite books real, and give life to the people in my head, and even turn games into reality. So I suppose this superpower is more of a combination of the Velveteen Rabbit, Inkheart (which I loved, by the way), and Jumanji... only with a little more control over what becomes real.

And maybe that's the main reason I write: when I'm writing I'm giving as much life as I possibly can to the things I most want to be real.

What about you? What power would you choose?