Debby lived in a town where every family has a gift, a gift bestowed unto them by the Gods of the land.
These gifts could manifest in form of super strength, incredible speed, and an unbeatable mind. And every person in town had a gift they possessed that was passed down from generation to generation.
Debby's next-door neighbor the Clintons, possessed one of the most unique gifts which smart people in the town called matter manipulation.
They could craft life from anything. They are known typically as the Clintons of the wild, as they use their gift of matter manipulation to preserve and protect the wildlife, and nature itself.
They increased the population of trees available, doubled the aquatic reserve as well as increased the population of aquatic life in the ocean.
They also prevented the extinction of endangered species of animals by vastly multiplying the numbers of the available species using strains of hairs or furs of that animal.
On one certain occasion, the Clintons helped the homeless in the Getto of town by manipulating sand castles and turning them into real houses.
The Clintons were truly incredible and were loved even in the darkest corners of the town.
But, Debby's family didn't have any gifts in particular like the rest of the town or the Clintons. Instead, they had a drawing board which was nothing different from the regular drawing board sold at the art store.
The drawing board which was kept in a safe room that had paintings of every gifted family in town plastered all over the walls, including the Clintons.
Debby would follow her mother every Saturday into the room which was always locked and would help her dust the pictures and clean the room. And every time she would always ask her mother what the drawing board was used for. But her mother would just smile and tell her that, "it's waiting for the next gifted".
Debby would always assume that her mother meant a new artist, someone who would sit and draw again as her late father did. So, she spent the majority of her childhood learning to become the gifted.
But at the age of sixteen, Debby's mother passed away living her alone in the world. And during this moment, her heart sank deeper and deeper into sadness day by the day. But she managed to get through each moment through art. She had made a lot of drawings and paintings of what she expected her life to be like, most of which Includes her being one of the powerful people in a town blessed with the gift of powers. But alas, the only gift she had managed to secure was the power to put her imaginations on paper.
But no matter how hard she tried to hide from her pains and grief, it always catches up with her eventually.
One night as she lay in her bed, in the silence of an empty home filled with sleep that denied her access.
She slowly began to notice her loneliness and remember her mother who she loved spending time with. She got out of her bed and began to make her way out of her room which was poorly illuminated. She entered the art room which had the pictures of every gifted, and the drawing board sitting on a stand at the center of the room.
Slowly, she felt the walls and pictures on the wall, shedding a little tear in remembrance of her mother. She wallowed around the room in sadness for a brief moment before finally sitting on the floor with her back against the wall.
She sat there quietly, embraced by silence, until, a bright light broke the silence.
She jumped up from where she was sitting to notice that the light was coming from the drawing board. A gust of wind followed very briefly, filling the room with the high-pressure wind that threatened to blow Debby through the walls of the building. Debby fought to resist, by planting her feet tightly to the surface of the ground and shielding her face from the bright light of the board with her hands.
Eventually, the gust of wind vanished as quickly as it came, leaving behind what appeared to be an empty drawing paper glowing bright gold on the surface of the board.
Debby approach slowly until she came face to face with the glowing paper which was stuck to the face of the board.
Suddenly worlds began to appear on the paper saying, " it is time...create the gifted"
Debby stood puzzled for a while before a golden pen magically appeared floating Infront of her. At first, she didn't know what to do, so she decided to recreate one of her old paintings. So, she took the pen and began to draw what she felt her family house should look like.
Once she was done, the golden pen vanished and as well as the paper containing the drawing of her house. The bright light that illuminated the room vanished and everything became as it was before.
Confused by what just happened, Debby went to bed and drifted straight to sleep.
The next morning, Debby woke up and dashed straight to the art room in hopes that she would understand what occurred the night before. But on reaching the room, she found something unexplainable.
She found the picture she had drawn the night before, glowing brightly in a free space on the wall among the images of the gifted individuals.
Still confused, she went outside the house, only to discover that it was the exact structure she drew, but the inside remained the same.
She returned to the drawing board which was now repeating its glowing as the night before. She took the golden pen that appeared in front of her and began to draw. But this time her bedroom.
When she was done. It all vanished again. She ran into her room to discover that it has also been restructured to that of her drawing. She ran back to the art room which now had the image of her bedroom glowing alongside that of the house and the images of the gifted.
She couldn't believe her eyes. It all felt unreal. She couldn't explain what exactly was going on, was it her gift? , Did she always have it but it never should up until now? Or was it just the magical board? How??
She kept asking herself these questions, but the only person that could answer them was her mother who is dead. So, she decided to draw a picture of her mother in her room.
She once again went to the drawing board and with the golden pen that appeared Infront of her, she began to draw her mother in a remodeled version of her mother's room.
When she was done again, the vanishing process repeated itself and she ran straight to her mother's room.
She opened the door to find a remodeled room but no mother. Confused once again she returned to the art room to find the image of her mother's room glowing brilliantly on the wall but her mother wasn't in it.
She returned to the board to redraw the image again. But there was no pen and no glow. She stood there patiently waiting for the pen and the glowing paper but she got something else instead.
"Debby...Debby !", A voice called in a very familiar tone that fits her mother's.
"Mom, is that you?", She walked outside the art room into the passage that lead to the various rooms in the house. The silence grew thick, so, she returned to the art room.
As she approached the drawing board, she noticed it began to glow, but not in the way she was expecting. Instead of a golden glow, it gave off a bright white glow.
"Debby...Debby !" The voice called again, but this time echoed throughout the house.
Debby's blood rained cold, she immediately turned to the door and ran. But before she could get out, the door shut close. Trapping her in the art room.
"Debby .. Debby!" The voice called out again. Soaked with fear Debby fell to her knees and began to cry. She bowed her head causing her to face the ground while avoiding the intensity of the bright light.
"Please, I'm sorry, don't hurt me...I promise not to use you again..please", she said crying, using both hands to cover her ears, while still crying and bowing her head away from the light.
She was deep in fear when a mysterious hand touched her shoulder. She was so frightened that she fell unconscious.
She woke up a few moments later, she was still in the art room and the board was still glowing white.
She stood up slowly from the ground and began to dust herself when a spitting image of her mother appeared in front of her. She screamed at the top of her voice until she was tired. She wasn't sure if it was real or not, she just stood and stared in utter confusion.
"Debby, I see you finally unlocked your gifts. I am so proud of you, my child"
"Mom, is that truly you?"
"Yes, my dear child... remember when I said, that the board was looking for its next gifted"
"Yes, I do".
"Debby, my child you, you are it's gifted. You now possess the power to create whatever you imagine and bring it to life with your art....now, you must learn to control it before you can tamper with life itself. I can't be with you now because your powers are still in their infant. But, remember your new powers will attract new enemies to you including your father. Stay strong and never fear and also remember, I love you forever, my child."
The light from the board began to flicker until it vanished and took her mother's ghost with it. Leaving Debby once again alone, but now, with a gift, she still doesn't understand and a boatload of questions left unanswered.
