thebirdonfire.org staffers were given the following prompt:

“You can teleport–but only if there is no way for you to be fatally harmed if you can travel to the desired location. You just tried to teleport to the living room from your bedroom, but couldn’t.” What is stopping you?

Editor Katelin Slosky choose and compiled the following excerpts from our bloggers.

Renée Vazquez: “Foreboding Teleporter”

My powers are like those of a few people on earth. We can teleport anywhere we want, anytime we want, except in cases where teleportation would lead to almost immediate fatal injury. I just teleport when I’m tired and I lead a pretty safe life. So you could imagine my concern when I was lounging in my bed and then tried to teleport to my living room, but couldn’t. At first, I was just annoyed, but then it hit me. What is in my living room that could kill me? In my house. Just down the hall. Death waited for me.

Luke Langlois: “Teleporting”

Thirty years ago, Barack Obama came up to me and said, “Luke, you are now granted the power to teleport unless there is fatal harm waiting for you at the destination.” I was surprised that President Obama had the power to bestow upon me this power, but I wasn’t complaining. I was left with great power. . . and great responsibility. I’ve been feeling sick recently. So, being lazy and sick, I tried to teleport to my living room from my bedroom but I couldn’t. Why? I remembered the one condition of this power, but what could possibly be fatal about my living room? . . . . Oh well, I’ve got to move on and do what I have to do for today. The Homeowners Association said something about a possibly dangerous mineral in the walls. Asbestos, or something?  

Katelin Mei: “Teleporting”

I was in my bedroom minding my own business. It was 7:30, and I was starting to get hungry. I teleported to the kitchen to make myself dinner. Well, I tried to teleport, but for some reason I couldn’t. I knew that there must be danger, because my ability prevents me from teleporting if I could become fatally injured by doing so.

However, when I crept from my bedroom, through the hallway, and into the living room and kitchen, there was no one and nothing there. Everything was normal. I just thought it was a glitch in my abilities, as I could still teleport outside of my house, and into other rooms, except for my living room and kitchen. I made myself dinner, and put on a show for myself to watch.

I had dinner. I drank, and went to sleep. I never woke up.

James Zheng:

I tried teleporting to the living room; it does not work. The feeling of anxiety grew inside me; I attempted to figure out a way to check out what is there in my living room that could kill me.

It is a risky action for others to do, but I called a food delivery and left the notes ”I cannot move downstairs to get it, so please come in and put the food on the table in the living room.” The delivery guy was reluctant to do it, but I told him I would give him a one star and negative comment if he did not follow my instructions.

So he called me when he arrived at my house.

“Hey Sir, the door is locked.”

“The window in the kitchen is usually open, go there.”

“But sir, this is outside the duty as a delivery.”

“Just do what I say, I will pay you extra after this.”

“Are you sure this is your house, there is nearly nobody…”

“For God’s sake, just put the food in the living room and I will pay you ten times the money.”

Then I heard a sound. He was trying to get in. I heard his steps.

“Ok sir I put your food right here… woah..”

“Hello? What’s wrong? What do you see?” Then I heard chaotic shouting and multiple conversations going on, . . . .

But the signal is cut, the only thing I could do is teleport to the outside of the house and take a glance at the internal situation. So I did it, and then I see those tall guys in black suits with the dark glasses. And they are holding the gun pointing at the delivery guy. As I tried to crawl down and hear the talking.

“You have two seconds to tell us whether you are associated with anything about the host here.”

“I am completely confused by this and I will get out here like right now if you wish.”

“We have heard the host disappeared in this house, we receive the command to arrest anyone who comes here and maintains the obligation to shoot anyone who interferes with our operation.”

So I think they have probably known about my power. But how did they know? When did they know? And also why is there a fatal implication on me when I attempted to teleport if their objective is just arrest me? . . .

I stopped thinking and teleport back, and said to myself.

“Maybe that’s what I need to find out now.”

Chelsea Xu: “Teleport”

Something is in the living room. I do not know who or what, but I can sense it. The smell of death. But there’s no way out, no windows, no way to run. I shakily turn the doorknob, take a deep breath and step out. But there’s no one there, an empty hallway, yet the smell of death strengthened. I do have the ability to defend myself, but I do not dare to teleport to the living room just yet. Something is not right. The house is silent, I cannot hear even the slightest sound. It’s quiet, so quiet that I can hear my breathing and the pounding of my heart. I start to think, if I use my ability to teleport to the living room and then run, using my full speed to the kitchen then I’ll win this game. It’s now or never, kill or be killed. Isn’t this the rules of living? Takes a deep breath and close my eyes. 

I never stood a chance in the first place. 

In an instant, I ́m there, standing in the center of the living room. In a blink of an eye, I’m lying there in a pool of blood, my blood. The figure is standing before me now, so I can finally see their face. I smiled and said, 

¨̈Happy now? My dear self?¨

Doreen Yuan: “Teleporting”

I have the ability to transmit, but one day, I found that I couldn’t transmit from the bedroom to the living room, but because the living room and the kitchen are in the same place, so I went to the kitchen first, and found that the gas in the kitchen leaked, the gas entered the living room with the air, and there is a furnace in the living room, if I come to the living room, I will turn on the fire, and then because carbon monoxide and gas are combustible as a result, the whole living room will explode, and I will die, so my transmission ability will not allow me to go directly to the living room, only to the kitchen, where I will find gas leakage, I will not light up, but I will open the window to breathe.

Quintus Ni:

. . . He was warning me, “If you try to teleport your grandfather, I will kill all of your family.” I was scared. I don’t know what can I do. My third vision mind was back to my head. I was screaming, while I heard an evil voice say, “The sacrifice begins now.” “Ahhhhhh!”

   Finally, I wake up, “Just a nightmare. Don’t worry about that, Quintus.” I was talking by myself.