#wright bros

Cal froze on the steps when he heard the unmistakable sound of something shattering in the kitchen.  He sighed and continued to the room, finding Felix standing there and a broken plate on the floor.  Felix wasn’t really moving, save for some slight shaking.  Cal quickly strode over and started to pick up the pieces of broken dishware.

  “I’m sorry,” Felix said with a quivering voice.

  “It’s fine, it’s just a plate.  We have a bunch of them.”

  “I mean about mom and dad.”

  “What are you talking about?”  Cal looked up and saw that there were tears coming down Felix’s face.  “Whoa, hey, sit down.  What’s going on?”

  Felix let himself be guided to one of the kitchen chairs.  He paused a few moments to try to compose himself before speaking.  “I didn’t tell you everything about the accident.”

  Cal’s brow furrowed.  “What do you mean?  What didn’t you tell me?”

  Felix wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand.  “Whenever I realized what was going on with the accident, I tried to save.  I tried really hard.  I thought…I thought my powers were like yours.  I thought I could phase mom and dad out of the car with me, but when I grabbed their arms, only I went intangible.  And I…I…I had to watch them pull away from me while I phased out of the car.”  Felix managed a sputtering breath before he began to openly sob in front of his brother.  “I tried really hard to save them.  It’s all my fault they’re dead.”

  Cal stared down at his younger brother, the realization of the words sinking into his brain..  He had no idea what happened inside the car during the accident.  When he was told what happened, all he knew was that Felix was found unharmed outside of the car.  The police chalked it up to some strange turn of events, but Cal knew that Felix was simply using his powers.  He had no idea that he actually tried to save their parents.  How could anyone have known?  Felix knew to shut up about his powers, so he wasn’t going to tell anyone about it.  But Felix kept it from the one person who might understand what it was like and everything he’d gone through.  And now Cal was stuck with the difficult position of comforting his sobbing brother and processing everything.

  He took a few deep breaths and put a (shaking) hand on Felix’s shoulder.  “It’s okay, Felix.  It’s okay.  This isn’t your fault.”  Cal knelt down so he was eye level with his brother.  “You didn’t know.  You thought you had the same powers as me, but you don’t.  There’s no way you could have known that then.  You didn’t know that you couldn’t help.”  He grabbed a napkin off the table and used it to wipe some tears off Felix’s face.  “Don’t beat yourself up over this.  It isn’t your fault.”

  Felix sniffled.  “You must hate me.”

  Cal shook his head.  “I don’t hate you.  I don’t think anything could happen that would make me hate you.”  He stood up, tossing the napkin into the trashcan.  “What do you say the two of us go out for breakfast this morning?  I’ll buy.”

  Felix wiped away any remaining tears on his face.  “You have to buy.  I don’t have any money.”