“I’ve got to show you something.”

“Yeah?”

“Look! I’m flying!”

“Well, you’re not moving, so technically you’re floating.”

“I expected a little different reaction, but I can move. See? Flying.”

“Hahahahaha.”

“What’s so funny?”

“The way you lean forward and back to move . . . You look like you’re on one of those ‘hoverboards’ with wheels.”

“But I don’t need a board. And I can go higher.”

“Why are you moving so slowly?”

“It takes effort to do this, you know. It’s not as though it’s magic.”

“How fast can you go?”

“Vertical is slower than horizontal.”

“How fast?”

“I haven’t run time trials or anything.”

“How. Fast?”

“Horizontally, about a jog. Faster if I push it, but that starts to wear me out.”

“A jog? Let me see. Go to the end of the block and come back. As fast as you can go without pushing it.”

“Fine. . . . There.”

“You’re sweating a little.”

“Yeah. Maybe I pushed it a bit.”

“Why did you stay upright? If you were parallel to the ground, you’d have less resistance. Maybe you could go faster.”

“. . . I . . . I tried that.”

“And?”

“I fell, okay? Quit laughing.”

“You fell?”

“Yeah. To get off the ground, I sort of . . . push . . . with my legs.”

“Wait. You push? But you’re not standing on anything.”

“It feels like pushing. Or like I’m forcing energy down through my legs. I lean to direct the flow of energy in one direction or another. When I tried to get more parallel, I tumbled over.”

“Seriously?”

“I keep trying to figure out how to push from my torso, but it’s like trying to jump using your stomach while you are lying down. So I stay standing.”

“So you fly standing straight up, moving at a jog? Have you thought of a superhero name?”

“Shut up.”

“Maybe Somewhat-super Man?”

“Let’s see you fly.”

“No thanks. Sounds like a lot of work just to keep your shoes clean. Oh, hey. Have you thought of using a cape? Maybe you could use it like a sail to go faster.”

“Don’t.”

“You could be Kite Man!”

“I hate you.”