With the days coming and going, I was feeling more and more antsy by the day. The mafia fellers hadn’t made much of a peep—which was good, since it gave me time to think. But it also made it hard to tell where they were coming from.

As far as I knew, Mr. Ernesto was safe. But from what I remembered him telling me, I was marked, too. So why hadn’t they sent anyone else after me? Maybe they figured I’d be with him, so it made more sense to go after him first instead of dealing with me? Nothing really added up. None of it made much sense.

Still, I was nowhere near ready to face that lady the next time I saw her, but I had to do something to prepare. When I thought back to that day, I got this strange feeling. Something made my blood run a little cold. A thorny feeling, like something was poking at me and I just couldn’t get away from it. The more I thought about it, the sharper the pain felt. Was this what people called “anxiety…?” I thought this stuff was all in your head.

Regardless, I had to keep pushing forward, even if I wasn’t feeling all that great. My biggest issue was my training. If I was going up against someone like her, I figured the best tool I could have was something that let me make better use of my sunlight, so I could unleash more of it on her.

I thought back to how our last fight went; I could barely land a hit. I remembered how her skin would ooze during our battle, and how it seemed to absorb the impact of my explosions. I wasn’t sure what that was, but the only thing I could think about fighting it with was more heat.

I had an idea of how I might pull it off, but I wasn’t too sure if my theory was right—and even more than that, I had no clue how the heck I was supposed to do it.

On top of that, getting smacked around by her wasn’t something I wanted to deal with. Taking damage cost me more sunlight, and if she really put her all into those punches, I’d be done for. So I had to focus on hitting hard and fast—hard enough to damage her body, and fast enough to maybe keep that ooze from covering her up. Not exactly a combo my body was built for.

Trying to find that balance was going to be tough, especially now that I didn’t really have anywhere to practice. I tried doing simple things like push-ups on the rooftop. With the way my body works, as soon as I got tired, it would absorb sunlight to repair the damage. It worked for a while, but I wasn’t sure if it’d be enough.

I was a heck of a lot stronger, but I didn’t think brute strength was going to cut it—especially not against a monster of a woman like her.

“So what else can I do…?” I muttered to myself, lying on my back atop the building’s rooftop, guzzling from a bottle of water and watching the clouds drift by.

After taking a swig, I sat up and began fiddling with my powers, sparks of energy sputtering in my hand.

“Hmm…”

I kept my eyes fixed on my hand as sunlight pulsed through it, focusing on all the little areas I could send the energy to. The way I was using it now, my powers shot up like a pillar—straight and sharp, like a little laser. But I wondered if I could flatten or spread out the output for different effects.

I quickly snuffed the pillar out and tried again, this time focusing on the center of my palm. As the energy began to glow, I paid close attention to how my nerve endings reacted. I tried again; this time, spreading it across my palm. Thin layers of golden light shimmered over it. It was a sight to see. I laughed to myself; it kind of tickled, being so close to the skin. Always did find it funny that I could make these little explosions and they never hurt.

“Well, this is new… but it feels like this takes a bit more energy…”

After a moment, Mama opened the door and called out to me.

“Mijita… there you are… what’re you doing up here…”

“I’m sorry. You said no using my powers in the shelter, so I came out here to practice…”

She sighed.

“Sunny, you spend all day up here. You should be down with the other kids, trying to make friends…”

She was right... but at the same time, I needed to make sure my powers were sharp.

"But Mama—"

"I know, I know... I won't stop you from doing what you're doing, but at least consider it. Please?"

"Okay..."

After a moment, she left the roof, and I was alone with my thoughts.

I looked down at my hand and dispelled the little pillar, making sure to remember the idea for later. "Heheh!" I had a few other ideas I could focus on too, but the question was—where?

Miss Reyes wasn’t a fan of me using my powers indoors. She was worried about how the other kids might feel, not to mention the whole safety hazard thing. I stood up and looked out at the city, completely unsure of what to do. Maybe it was time for a break. Just then, I heard my phone ringing.

I opened it up and saw Luz’s name on the caller ID—heh, right on schedule. I quickly answered the phone.

“How’s the training going…? Wanna get a soda?”

“You bet!”

She sent me her location, and I didn’t waste any time rushing off toward the city center. But I always kept my eyes peeled. Those mafia guys knew me by now, so I tried to keep things low-key—didn’t want them catching me off guard. With how fit I’d gotten from training over the past few days, it had gotten a lot easier to just run, jump, and skip my way over using as little power as possible.

I always made sure to land in alleyways, spots where I figured no one would see me. Luz and I even had a little system; once I got close, I’d ask her to stay near an alley and let me know if the coast was clear. I guess if I was a superhero, she was my sidekick. Thankfully the gas station was right by one.

When I got to the gas station where she was parked, I spotted her sitting by the entrance with a pack of soda cans in her hands. She raised one and tossed it to me as I walked up.

“Oye, there you are, slowpoke…”

“Hey, I flew all the way here…”

“Don’t say it…”

“And boy are my arms tired…”

“Ayy…” She pinched her nose as I sat beside her and cracked open my can.

“So, trouble with training, eh…?”

“I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’m making progress, but I just ain’t sure I really got a place to put my powers to good use. I think my body’s about as good as it’s gonna get.”

I pulled back my little sleeve and flexed my arm.

“But I don’t think that’s gonna be enough to take her down… I need to train my powers, too.”

I looked up, watching the clouds drift by.

“But I ain’t too sure how I’m gonna do that…”

“What’re you trying to do? Like—” She let out a massive burp. There was a pause as we looked at each other for a second.

“Well, excuse you,” I said with a laugh.

“But if’n you must know… I’m trying to work on hitting hard and fast. I’ve got some ideas, but I ain’t too sure where I can go to practice.”

“Well… what if you got a little creative?”

“What’dya mean?”

“Well, there’s a whole bunch of abandoned places around here. Maybe we could sneak into one and mess around in there?”

“Well, I guess it’s better than nothing… You know any places?”

“Nope. But how hard could it be? You’ve got a map right? Let’s just take a look around!”

With that, we clanked our cans together and set off around town. We roamed far and wide, scouring the Westwood and beyond for any buildings that might fit the bill. The nice thing about having a map of the city was that you learned your way around a whole lot faster.

By now, I knew all the nooks and crannies and had spent the last couple of weeks exploring everything Westwood had to offer. But despite what I knew I still don’t think I found anything that fit the bill.

We headed to the furthest outskirts we could find, until eventually, we found it: a big factory building with a giant hole in the ceiling. Perfect for letting in some sunlight while we worked, probably a in bad shape cause of the war.

Inside, there were these big ol’ tall pallets of wood and a couple of forklifts.

“Well… there’s quite a bit of these…”

“You said hard and fast, claro?”

“Yeah, I sure did…”

“Well…”

Luz made her way behind the forklift and, somehow, managed to turn it on. She rolled it over to one of the pallets.

“Hey Luz, I ain’t too sure you’re supposed ta…”

But she couldn’t hear me; she’d already lifted the pallet and brought it over, dropping it right in front of me. The thud made me jump.

“I say the easiest way to make this happen is simple! Your cellphone got a stopwatch on it?”

I pulled it out and fiddled with it.

“I think so…”

I looked it over, eventually finding the app after a few seconds.

“Dame lo. give it to me!”

I tossed it to her.

“Okay, so since the sun’s out, right… that means you’re always regenerating, yeah?”

I nodded, curious where she was going with this.

“Well… kinda.”

“Then you’re gonna break down this crate using nothing but your powers! We’ll take breaks so you can get your energy back, then keep going until you’re as fast as can be. ¡¿Entiendes?!”

The plan sounded simple enough; just get in there and start busting things up. My body was good at bouncing back from exhaustion, and with all this daylight, I could train a whole lot longer. Maybe being out here was exactly what I needed to really get myself going. And boy, Luz sure was smart. Not too sure I would’ve thought of this; it was so simple.

But was it gonna be enough? Monster Lady looked like she had a good few years on me, and probably way more experience. And there was something else—something that’d been nagging at me since I got here. When we finally stopped for a break, I had to say something.

“Say, Luz…”

“Yeah?”

“Ain’t you scared…?”

“Of being out here?”

I nodded. “Yeah, them Mafia fellers are hot on my heels, and while I’m happy to have ya along, I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“I mean yeah, but like, I’ve got you here…!”

“But what about when I ain’t there…?”

“I mean, kinda, but like… they’re not gonna mess with me. They wouldn’t dare!”

For a girl without powers, she sure was brave. Or maybe she just ain’t got a handle on how bad these fellers can be. I mean, one of ’em popped me with a baseball bat just fer looking at him funny—and unlike me, Luz might not’ve been so lucky.

“Well, no matter what, I want ya to be careful, okay? I’ll do my best to protect ya, no matter what.”

“Dude… you’re so dramatic,” she’d say with a laugh.

I wonder if this is how my Pa, Mr. Ernesto, and Mama felt whenever they thought about me. Wanting to keep someone you care about safe, no matter what that meant to ya. Yeah, I think I understand it now.

As the day came and went, we’d gone through quite a few crates, and by the end of it, my body sure was tired. Thankfully, I still had enough left for one more go-round.

It was just around the start of sunset. By now, my powers were winding down; I was finally starting to feel the fatigue from training. My body was recovering slower now that there wasn’t as much sunlight left for me to take in. My clothes were drenched in sweat, and I could really use a shower; I smelt stank. On top of that, I was thirsty and starting to get hungry. While my body could regenerate, if I didn’t have enough water or food, it couldn’t keep up the nourishment. Thank goodness it was almost over, at least.

Luz prepared to drop down the large crate.

“Last one, chica! Finish strong!”

Over the course of the day, I’d been putting all sorts of techniques into practice—the flying kick I’d been working on with Daddy, all the different types of mobility tricks I’d picked up from flying around the city. Today, I’d been focusing on how to control the output, spreading it to different parts of my body, layering it over my skin to evenly release all the heat and move in any direction. Now it was time to put it all together.

“Bring it on!”

As the girl dropped the crate, I took my first strike—launching myself off the ground with a controlled explosion before it even hit. I burst forward, slicing the crate in half with precision. Without wasting a motion, I twisted my body to face forward, and mid-turn, I blasted off to one side in a blinding blitz. The crate barely had time to move before I fired another explosion to the side, then zipped across to the other, leaving streaks of heat in the air. The trails brightened as I moved, creating a small light show in the factory.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luz shielding her eyes from the glare. I kept the momentum going; tiny explosions and bursts of speed helping me scorch the area as quickly as possible. Eventually, nothing was left, and I landed back on the ground.

“Time!” I called out.

“Five minutes! Almost twice as fast as when we started!”

Good. After so many hours, it felt nice to make some solid progress. My breathing was heavy; my body had adapted to the motion, but the sheer speed left me drained. I dropped to one knee, and Luz jumped out of her cozy little forklift, rushing to my side.

“Oye, Sunny… are you okay…?”

She wrapped an arm around my shoulder, helping me up. I looked her way and gave her a tired smile.

“We got any more o’ them… sodas?”

Soda wasn’t water, of course, but it was better than nothing. She smiled and went to grab one.

As soon as I had it, I guzzled it down fast.

“That’s some power… remind me to bring my sunglasses next time,” she said with a laugh.

“I think we did enough for today… but hoo boy, am I tired…”

“You gonna be alright…?”

“Yeah… anyhow, I gotta get going. Me and Pa made plans for tonight…”

“How’s he doing…?”

“...” I didn’t really say anything. I didn’t want to think about his condition too much. Luz seemed to understand and gave me a tight squeeze.

“Lo siento…chica.”

“Gracias.” I replied.

“You gon’ be okay getting home by yourself…?”

“Yeah, I got my skates in my bag. Don’t worry about me. Same time tomorrow?”

“Heh, you bet!”

After that, I made my way over to the hospital, but not before stopping by the restaurant to pick up some food he ordered. See, we had a tradition: whenever possible, we’d always eat dinner together. That wasn’t changing now, even though he was sick. So every day, I’d visit him twice: once in the morning and once at night. He was the first person I’d see in the morning and the last one I’d see at night.

I never understood all this cancer stuff. It’s something awful. How you gon’ tell me he’s doing well when he still ain’t getting better? They say there’s something called the five stages of grief that people go through when they know they’re going to die, but I wonder—do their loved ones go through it too?

I was in denial at first, then I got angry… and honestly, I still am. Not being able to save Mr. Ernesto was one thing, but watching my daddy fade away? It’s too much most days. I’m cherishing these memories every time I see him—but these aren’t the memories I wanted. I got all these powers, but there are still plenty of times when I feel powerless.

“Daddy…I’m here,” I said, adding a little sing-song to my voice.

“Well, if it ain’t my little delivery bird—whatcha got for me?”

“Some sudado!”

Sudado was a popular dish in the Colombian community on the island. Hearty chicken in a rich, tasty sauce.

I sat up on Daddy’s bedside and placed the little plastic bag between us. The packaging was still warm, and steam had fogged up the two plastic trays of food. I popped the lid off and took in the scent—man, it looked good.

I did the same for Daddy, opened the top, and set his meal in front of him. But when I did, I noticed something I hadn’t seen before: a tube running through his neck, with a little bag hanging off to the side.

“What’s that, Daddy…?”

“Feeding tube… Doctors say I ain’t getting everything I need. But don’t worry—it’s only temporary. Just means tonight’s dinner’s gonna taste extra good.”

He said that while rubbing the top of my head. But no matter what he said, it didn’t erase the frown on my face.

“You ain’t gonna make it… are ya, Daddy?”

“’Well darling. It ain’t looking too nice right now…”

I leaned into him and gave him a squeeze.

“I wish I could use my powers to make ya feel better…”

Daddy let out a sigh and rested his hand on my head.

“Something you’re gonna have to learn, sweetpea, is that with them powers, you can’t save everyone…”

I frowned a little, but even with all that, Daddy still had a smile on his face.

“So that means you gotta cherish those you do save. You put on the biggest smile you can for everyone you can get out.”

He turned and looked at me, by now I had tears streaming down my face.“You save them for those you couldn’t save otherwise. You know who told me that…?”

I looked to him and nodded my head no. “Who, Daddy?”

“Your momma. I asked her how to cope with losing a teammate in the service a long while ago, and she told me, ‘Well, I can’t save everybody, so I cherish all those that I can.’ Strong woman, your mother was… Miss her every day.”

“Me too, Pa…”

I sure was lucky to have such wise parents to pass on all this before they passed on themselves. They were always so optimistic and full of zeal. I think it rubbed off on me, given how I turned out. Daddy was right. If I couldn’t save everyone, I needed to be grateful for those I could. It wouldn’t make the pain any easier, but it sure made the next save feel all the more worth it.

Even on his deathbed, he always knew just what to say. With that comfort, we ate our meal and watched a baseball game from one of the teams back home. It was a tradition every summer; a shame this might’ve been the last one…

When the night ended, I made my way back to the shelter. I knew Momma’d be worried, so I gave her a call on the way.

“Sonrisa Shelter—how may I help you?”

“Hmm… Miss Sandoval, where’s Mama? Ain’t she usually working the back office?”

“Ah, hola, Sunny. Yes, she normally is, but she had an errand to attend to. I’m sure she’ll be back tomorrow. Did you need something?”

“Was just lettin’ her know I’m on my way home. You know when she’s gonna be back?”

“We’re not sure, but I’m sure she’ll be fine. We’ll see you soon!”

“Alrighty!”

That was kind of funny—why wasn’t Momma at home? Maybe she went to check on Mr. Ernesto? I wasn’t sure, but something told me I ought to head back there. It was getting late, and I was so dang tired I wasn’t even sure I had it in me to use my powers to get home. So I started jogging, picking up the pace—just me and the quiet streets of El Lugar. It was such a pretty sight, even if it was just a few lonely streetlights and some colorful buildings. The walk was nice, but that pleasant view got cut short when I turned a corner.

I heard someone crying out for help. As I turned, I saw a lady in the middle of getting mugged, and right there on the guy’s shoulder was the same tattoo as Ms. Monster Lady’s—“La Cima.” I thought to myself. I ducked behind a corner, not wanting them to hear my footsteps.

I wanted to do something, but after the day I’d had, I wasn’t in any shape to go after anyone. All my power was drained. All I could do was pull out my cell phone and call the authorities. After I called, I wanted to make sure the cops showed up, so I kept an eye on him. Right beside me was a ladder leading to a fire escape, and I did my best to quietly climb up. With each step, I could hear that poor man’s face meeting fists. After a while, those fellers finished him off and picked his pockets before leaving him there.

The poor fella looked to be in a lot of pain, barely able to move. Even so, I stayed and kept watch after they left, just to make sure he’d be okay. Eventually, the police and paramedics came and got him to safety. But man, it really got me thinking—just how many more folks like Mr. Ernesto were out there, getting beat up by these guys or worse? I wished there was more I could do, but for now, I think I’ll do like Daddy said and take some comfort in at least being there for this fella.

A short while later, I made my way back to the shelter. It was quiet, since everyone was asleep, but when I got inside, I couldn’t stop thinking about Miss Reyes. That had me feeling a bit queasy. Is she safe? Where’d she go? Why so late? I couldn’t do anything but worry as I headed up to my room. When I got through the front door however I noticed the usual security guard was asleep at their desk.

Maybe I could sneak into her office and find out for myself. I ain’t like doing this, but something just don’t feel right. Where could she be going? I slipped into the faculty office and looked around Mama’s desk. I started rummaging through it and eventually stumbled on a little calendar.

And when I opened it up, I saw something—a couple of marked dates: tonight and tomorrow. With the name Mr. Ernesto's name written in cursive. I figured that’s what it was. She’s been trying to visit him in secret, to make sure he’s safe. But thinking on it now, them Mafia fellers are crafty, and there ain’t no way they’re not on her trail. If she’s going to see him tomorrow, maybe I oughta tag along… tail her, make sure she’s safe. 'Cause there ain’t no telling what might happen.