4:05 PM, Thursday, October 14th, 2021: Bend, Oregon
Today hadn't been a particularly interesting day for Spencer Ross. He had just gotten out of class at Duniway High School and was walking his way back home. Nothing on him save for the bag slung over his back and the pack of cigarettes in his pocket. It was the same as any other day.
A few weird things had happened, but it wasn't anything worth remembering. He had actually done well on a math test for once in his life. Ms. Duffy had somehow convinced him to sign up for that stupid potato farm field trip that she did every year. He watched another kid use his Gift to turn into a swarm of ants to fight another kid that had really slippery skin. Normal stuff.
Really, the day had been completely unremarkable, bog-standard by any metric. One that he would remember only in scant recollection in just a few days time, and would completely forget about by next month. A day you never really bothered to think about in the first place.
Spencer pulled a cigarette out of his pocket, and brought the tip up to the back of his knuckles. He stopped in place and focused on it for a few seconds, and a small flame abruptly lit up on his skin and sputtered out just as quickly. Now he had one lit cigarette, and it only took a little bit of pain. Being able to set your own hair on fire had its uses, he thought. He just wished that he was actually fireproof instead of just kinda fireproof.
He leaned his head back, taking a look at the bright blue sky above him, fluffy white clouds rolling by overhead. As boring as his day might have been, there was still something precious to be found within it.
You only get so many boring days.