Dax and the Red Eyes - Excerpt

My short story "Dax and the Red Eyes" appears in Caped: An Anthology of Superhero Tales.

Dax is a developmentally delayed six-year-old with extraordinary superpowers. Because it's hard for him to communicate, though, his parents don't understand what's going on. His older brother Sawyer, meanwhile, sees Dax's abilities far too well -- and uses them for his own purposes.

Here's an excerpt:

Dax hoped no one would be at the pool, but they were. Lots of them. Dax was scared.

When Mommy went to the snack bar for ice cream, Sawyer got that look on his face. The bad one.

"Whatcha gonna do about this?" Sawyer looked at the high dive, and Dax's eyes turned orange and crackled. A girl was up there. Tall. Pretty. Yellow swimsuit reminded Dax of the six balloons tied to his chair on his last birthday.

She bounced: one, two, three. Went high and arched her body, right above the water. But then she moved backward like a balloon in the wind.

Sawyer looked at Dax with devil eyes, thinking Dax couldn't fix it this time. Dax's eyes turned red, and he tugged the string of the yellow balloon, hard.

The girl's head missed the board, just barely. The girl turned and twisted in the air and then splooshed into the water.

Dax slapped at his eyes. "Owowowowow bnnnnnn."

Mommy ran over, horrified. "No, no, don't hurt my Daxie! Don't hurt those beautiful brown eyes!"

Sawyer jumped up, looking confused and frightened. "Mom, what's wrong with Dax? Why is he doing that?"

Shut up, shut up, shut up! You made me burn them!

"I don't know! Did he get splashed or something?" Mommy asked. "Poor sweet Daxie made his eyes all bloodshot."

Sawyer shook his head, eyes wide. "No. I didn't see anything, and I was keeping a real close eye on him, just like you said."

"Of course you were." Mommy kissed Sawyer on the head. "I can't imagine what got into him. He's never done that before."

Dax had. Sawyer knew, but he didn't say. It hurt worse every time Sawyer made him turn his eyes red.

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