If you could have a super power...

Yet another installment of "ye gods I gotta write a post, quick give me something to write about." This time my random prompt is "If you could have a superpower, what would it be?"

When I was a kid I used to think about this all the time. In fact, Young X-Men was always on the T.V. when I was supposed to be doing homework on Saturday mornings and I'd insist that I could do both. Of course, I couldn't but that's not the point. The point is I could spend part of Saturday imagining that I was a student at Xavier's School for Mutants. The trick is though that I had to have a power. I settled on a few favorites.

1. Long before Avatar the last Air Bender, I thought it would be cool to have elemental control except that I envisioned it as a little more personally confined. In my imagination I could turn my body into air and be invisible or burst into flame when threatened. Once it occurred to me that if I could control all elements that I could therefore combine elements and turn into Lava Lady, I was lost in daydreams for hours. It's too bad in a way that I wasn't still daydreaming when I hit Chemistry... If I had been, Chemistry might have captured my interest better.

2. In one of my recurring daydreams I could see multiple diverging timelines from the now. So it was sort of like a short range omniscience. I couldn't tell what was happening on the other side of the world or a month down the line, but I could see the immediate results of any given decision. I figured it would be great for sneaking about or knowing when someone was about to attack.

3. In one of my favorite scenarios, I channel the spirits of various animals and can call at times to have their abilities. So, for example, I could absorb the cheetah's quick turn of speed or a gazelle's vertical leap. Of course, in this one there was an elaborate procedure to 'befriend' the animal spirit. I later became acquainted with Animal Man and this shine wore off some but it's still a favorite daydream.

4. Now that I'm older, I think I'd like the power to do without sleep. It doesn't sound like much, but think what could be achieved if we didn't spend a third of our lives unconscious. Of course, I wouldn't get to dream either so there's a downside.