He stood dangerously close to the building's edge, his lips curled into a smile that none of the onlookers could understand. They shouted for him to step back, to not waste his life. But each wondered why he looked so happy and so content. One woman came to the conclusion that he was a religious extremist—one of those nuts who believes that by jumping, the mother ship might reveal itself and whisk them away. Another bystander declared he might be mentally unstable and unsure of what was even going on. But despite their feverish theories, there was no denying the fact that the boy intended to jump.

"Stand back from the ledge, son." The police had arrived. One was on the roof with the boy, keeping his distance while trying desperately to coax him into coming back. But nothing was working. And that smile: there was an eeriness to it, something entirely innocent and yet at the same time overwhelmingly menacing. The crowd below grew larger and larger, the incident fueling their morbid curiosities.

"You know…" for the first time, the boy spoke. All strained their ears to hear what he had to say. "It's funny really. You would think with powers like mine, I'd be out saving the world or something." The smile intensified and whispers swept like tremors through the mass below.

"Yet instead, I'm standing up here on the edge of this building…" he shuffled closer to the ledge and a cry rose up from the crowd, carried by the wind until it vanished all together. "And I'm about to jump…" He turned around and flashed the lone officer that strange smile, which bewildered him just as it had all the others. The boy crossed his arms over his chest and stepped back just a little more. His eyes closed and he began to fall backwards.

The officer ran forward in vain and the onlookers all pointed to the sky as the boy began to grow larger, falling down, down, down. Closer and closer still.

The boy's eyes shot open in midair and he grinned more happily than ever.

"I'm jumping, just to freak these people out and then laugh afterwards."

Suddenly, he stopped descending and once more rocketed into the air. His laugh echoed through the streets and left the mass of people perplexed and confused. They stood for a long while, staring up at the sky and scratching their heads. The police eventually had to break them up and move them out of the area. Soon after the street was lonely once more, its sidewalks no longer holding anything of interest. All the onlookers returned about their business, telling their friends and family all about their strange morning. But by nightfall, after the evening news had covered the story, everyone seemed just to forget all about it.

But somewhere, a boy was still laughing at the gullible state of humans. They deserved to be scared for a change. Yet, he realized that standing atop that building, for once he had felt normal—accepted. No one hated him then, they pitied him. No one thought he was a freak, they simply thought he was misguided and in need of love. And now his laughter turned to tears, and suddenly nothing seemed very funny anymore.