While walking this morning I was thinking about the power that words have. And how I have never been able to use my powers for good.

The first time I noticed the power of words was when I pulled a tornado out of the clear blue sky.

We were driving through Kansas, the first visit for me. Coming from hilly West (by God) Virginia, I was amazed by the expanse of sky and the horizon that seemed to go on forever.

My comment was something like, “I can’t believe how much sky there is! Thunderstorms must be incredible out here!”

The sky immediately darkened, and within a short time the first drops of rain were falling. We turned on the radio only to hear a tornado warning.

Usually, though, what usually happens is I’ll say something like, “wouldn’t it really suck if such and such a bad thing happened?” At which point said bad thing immediately occurs.

I think I inherited this power from my mother. I have a clear memory of pulling up in front of my aunt’s house, and my mom telling my father, “be careful! You’re going to hit the curb and we’ll get a flat!” I don’t have to tell you what immediately happened, do I? The strange part, however, is that I can not ever remember my dad hitting the curb when parking. Ever. It was as if her words drew the car towards the curb and flattened the tire.

So I’m careful now with what I say. Often I’ll start a sentence and then slap my hand over my mouth to keep the words from escaping.

But I still try to use my powers for good. Hoping that one day it’ll take.

Wouldn’t it be great if I found a million dollars?