Rosa rushed out of her office building in Lincoln Park, holding a pilfered newspaper over her head to avoid drenching her thick black waves of hair. The 30-something Latina (Ecuadorian, to be precise) was wearing a smart skirt suit and a pair of Manolos she'd rather not test against whatever chemicals were in Chicagoland rain these days. Fortunately, the psychologist's car was parked streetside just a block down.
As Rosa opened the door to her Prius, a thunderclap made her jump. Looking up into the sky, she noticed the dark clouds had rolled in quickly from the Southwest. Ah, Spring in Chicago, she sighed internally as she started her car and pulled into the early afternoon traffic on Halsted. Making her way to Clark, she turned north and headed toward her place off Montrose. Traffic was miserably slow, and the rain wasn't helping. Helplessly, Rosa Troya watch from inside her car as the rainstorm turned into a full-blown thunderstorm.
"Great," Rosa said out loud. At home, Leonardo would be losing his fool mind with the thunder. Last time, she'd lost a couch this way. Rosa knew it was useless to lay on her horn in frustration, but she did so anyway. Cathartic, she reminded herself. As the stoplight went out for good, Rosa dropped her head, as if to say "really, world?" She reached over in her seat and grabbed her phone, checking e-mail and social media. That's when the car behind her hit her, doing about 30. The noise of screaching metal filled the air outside, and people in traffic and buildings nearby looked excitedly to see the latest incident.
Since Rosa had her wheel prepared to turn, her car slammed right into a lamp post, which cracked and dropped onto the hood and roof of her car. The phone flew to the floor. "Aye," Rosa uttered, pain shooting through her shoulders and chest from the accident. Unbuckling her seatbelt, she reached the door handle and pulled. Rosa didn't notice the static causing her hair to separate as she stepped out of the car. All she knew is she was angry, and planned to give the idiot who'd hit her a piece of her mind.
As (bad) luck would have it, at that same instant, a particularly strong lightning discharge was coalescing to strike the very light post that had just fallen on Rosa's car. As Rosa put her foot on the ground, the events of the day conspired against the successful psychologist, and a lightning strike hit the already electrified hood of her car. The shock sent Rosa through the air and across the street, her feet slamming on the hoods of parked cars before she landed against the side of a building.
Fortunately for Rosa, she had a peculiar genetic history. As the electricity discharged from her body, her cells, rather than burn, changed. A cool blue glow surrounded her for a brief instant, the rain sizzling against her.
An instant later, Rosa awoke, and wondered if anyone got the plates on the bus that hit her. Then she remembered it had been a truck, not a bus, and it was still sitting there. Standing, she began to march toward the truck...and that's when she realized everyone was staring at her. Looking down, Rosa saw that not only was her skin still glowing in a fluctuating blue light, she was walking across the air three feet off the ground.
Acting more on instinct than anything, Rosa thought back to the days she hadn't been a respected psychologist and businesswoman, when some people prefered to judge her based on what she looked like, not what she knew or what she could do. Swooping into her car, Rosa, still electrified, put her Prius into reverse and maneuvered around the light post, quickly throwing the car into drive and flooring it down the sidewalk of an east-west street, away from the scene of the accident.
Fortunately, the driver of the truck that had rear-ended her was not about to call the police, and she'd managed to avoid causing damage to any other vehicles. Her adrenaline supercharged, Rosa didn't stop the car until she was well away from the scene. Only then did she pull over and relax. Assessing the situation, Rosa came to two immediate perceptions. First, she was still glowing blue, static sparks flying from her skin. Second, she'd basically melted all the internal plastic in the front seat of her Prius.
Getting out of the car, Rosa heard the rain sizzle against her. Occasionally, another small bolt of electricity would arc toward her, but the small lightning bolts felt like the soft touch of a child. Rosa's feet were on the ground now, though she found it easy to levitate a few inches over the pavement if she wanted. Moving in any direction required similar concentration.
Her mind raced. What was going on? This was like an action movie or something. Looking side to side, she saw the side street around her deserted. Sighing with relief, Rosa tried to put events into perspective. Okay, she thought. I've just fled the scene of an accident, but I didn't cause it. I've probably committed a couple misdemeanors. Hopefully, no one near the scene had their phones on record. I might be in the clear, and if I'm lucky no one identified me.
Wait, another side of Rosa's mind brought its own opinion. Why do you even care? You need a hospital! If you'd just stayed there, the ambulance would have picked you up by now, you wouldn't have any chance of having a warrant, and you'd likely be fine tomorrow!
No, Rosa countered in her own mind. Even if that were so, it's too late now. She had very little moral wrong in the situation, and at this point taking punishment for being hit by a truck and turned into a freak seemed pointless. Besides, she considered. If no one knew who she was, maybe...maybe she could keep it that way. And just maybe, her conscience spoke to her, she could do some good. After all, most people couldn't do...this!
With that, a bolt of power flew from Rosa's arm, and slamming into a nearby garbage can, sending it flying into the yard behind. Looking down at her hand, Rosa realized she could extend the electicity to variable distances, from a few inches all the way to across the street. And then there was the flying.
Slowly, Rosa rose into the air. She found she was afraid to go much higher than 10 feet or so above the street, but she instinctively knew she could if she wanted. Realizing she needed some time to consider the situation, and also that the inside of her car wouldn't take her driving all the way home, Rosa fly off down the street toward her condo. The sensation was amazing.
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