Honestly, I was just trying to impress my friends. The other boys at the neighborhood pool were seeing who could hold their breath the longest, so I joined in. At first it was nothing too unusual. A minute here, three minutes there. By high school, I was up to fifteen minutes.

A month after I won the gold in the 2012 Summer Olympics, I rescued a girl from drowning in the Pacific. Sure, I was banned from future swim competitions on the basis of an “unfair advantage,” but on the plus side, now I get to make a real difference.

Author’s Note: He always wanted to make a big splash.

Categories: Fiction, JB Starre | No Comments »

She was six months old when we adopted her from the shelter, and right away we knew she was special. We saw her potential and wanted to make sure her powers were put to good use; plus, Shepherds get bored if you don’t challenge them.

She’s a fixture at the county hospital nowadays. Performs the triaging herself, heals minor wounds, and can tell from one sniff what ails a person. Scientists at Johns Hopkins keep trying to bribe us to let them do tests on her, but she’s not a science experiment. And anyway, she’s got important work to do.

Author’s Note: Mrs. Dalloway asks that the paparazzi respect her dog’s privacy and stop photographing her without her consent at the dog park.

Categories: Fiction, JB Starre | No Comments »

No, of course his real name isn’t Midas. That’s the name the reporters came up with to make a catchy headline, and it just sort of stuck.

He’s not a bad guy, my Mikey. He always had the ability to change other metals into gold, and mostly he just used it as a party trick, to impress the other children, you know? But he went to business school, and I guess one thing led to another… money being the root of all evil, you know, and gold the worst of it.

It’s the gold committing these crimes, not my Mikey.

Author’s Note: If your kid started getting called a supervillain, you probably wouldn’t be too happy, either.

Categories: Fiction, JB Starre | No Comments »