I had seen all the web comics before, and it perfectly describes what I can do. The Trolley Man, no matter what The Trolley Man does, a train will hit one person or a group of people. That's my "super power" if you can call it that.

It's a horrible thing really, because no matter what, someone dies. And it's always the single person who gets sacrificed to save a group. The worst thing about it, is that the people never know that they're about to die when I pick them. I guess it's a good way to go, quick and painless, but I still feel like a murderer.

The day I first realized I had this ability, I was at an amusement park (which shall remain nameless but the ride has closed since anyways). There I was with my parents, I was only 10 years old. We were walking by roller coasters, the whole park was filled with screams of glee as people plummeted down sharp hills and got spun around 360 degrees on other corkscrew tracks.

This malfunction happened as a cart of passengers was coming in hot on a track and then they reached the part where people were flipped upside down. Except the ride stopped.

200 ft in the air, arms dangled, and the passengers were shouting with joy for a brief moment, but soon they were screaming for help. The operators of the ride were frantically trying to get the people off the coaster but they didn't know what to do.

Then the strangest thing happened. My whole world went dark and time slowed down. One of the ride operators was about to press the button to release the safety bar. But in my field of vision, I saw a handful of people near me glowing a golden aura. The people on the ride emitted a violet shine. It didn't make sense to me -I was a little kid, so I didn't know better- but I thought I was having a heart attack at first.

I looked at my parents and tried to talk but my voice was coming out slower than molasses. I was trying to ask them, "What's with all the glowing people? Why is everything so dark all of a sudden? Why has time slowed down?"

But I could still move my hands at regular speed. So I pointed at a random person to try and show my parents that someone was glowing, but as soon as I pointed at the stranger, they collapsed.

Time reverted back to normalcy, the darkness lifted, and I could talk like nothing happened. But no one was talking. Everyone was watching the group of people on the roller coaster as the safety bar lifted up and all of the people fell 200 ft.

Miraculously though, there was a giant inflatable that appeared out of nowhere below all of the people. They landed safely, although they bounced upon initial impact, their lives were saved.

I couldn't believe it. Did I just save that whole group of people?

Then everyone around me swarmed the stranger who passed out and they called for a doctor. Then they called an ambulance. The man passed away, and I felt like I was responsible since I pointed at him.

It would take me another incident to realize that my pointer finger was indeed the determination if someone lived or died. But when I asked my dad if pointing a finger at someone could kill, he said.

"No chance, sonny. That sort of thing sounds like it came from a comic book."

That was my first experience with the power, and unfortunately I've had many more since.

r/randallcooper