Скачать или смотреть Author's Journal | HARVARD ACCEPTANCE LETTER! | Entry #17

*Please note, this is a rough draft and has not been revised. Grammatical errors and awkward sentences surely included.*

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Jonas Caldwell
“Heads or Tails”

Powers:
1.) Channel the Devil
2.) Radiation

Jonas was only ten years old when he got his powers, and unlike many superheroes he idealized, Jonas received his powers partly by choice.

Jonas grew up in Quincy, Massachusetts as the only son to his parents, both respected pastors at their neighborhood church. Though in a poor part of town, his parents’ church was thriving. One night, Jonas remembered he had forgotten to lock away the offerings he helped collect in his parent’s office. As he crept downstairs, he overheard his parents arguing in the living room. Unbeknownst to him, his dad was working with drug lords in the area to get more money for the church and selfishly for their home. (His father would help distribute drugs through communion and larger amounts through clothing and food donations.)

On the night Jonas overhears his parents arguing, Jonas’s mother was begging his father to stop. Jonas overhears his mother say that he had “made a deal with the devil” and his father replied that he felt there was no way out.

Being young, Jonas took this expression literally and feared for his dad. He continued to their church (right next door) and found the offerings where he’d left it, then headed to his parent’s office. On top of the offerings, he noticed a quarter that had his birth year on it, so he pocketed it.

It was then that he saw a glint from the corner of his eye. Turning, he looked upon the locked chest his father told him contained ancient texts that he must never open for they included how to summon a demon. Remembering his dad’s peril, he broke into the chest and found a book that contained a simple ritual. A demon quickly appears in front of the young boy, eager to see such a pure soul. To its delight, Jonas begs to sell his own soul to the devil free his father’s. The demon agrees to take him to see the devil, not telling him that no such deal exists with his father, but it knows Satan will be thrilled to have this young soul.

They travel to Hell quickly and before Satan himself, Jonas begs to replace his father’s deal with his own. Satan hums it over and tells him he normally doesn’t do such favors, but will make an exception for a price: Jonas must do his biding on Earth whenever he calls upon him. Jonas agrees. The devil promises to “release his father.”

Back on Earth, Jonas runs home to see his father talking with the drug lord outside. His father tells him he no longer wants to partake in their deal, so the drug lord goes to shoot him (Jonas now realizing this is what Satan meant by “release.”) As Jonas runs toward them, his quarter falls out of his pocket and lands with the head up. Suddenly, Jonas feels a surge of radiation power through him. He blasts at the drug lord, killing him instantly. His father is knocked unconscious and never saw Jonas. Jonas picks up the coin and sees that it has changed: one side (“heads”) has an image of a sun or explosion. The other side (“tails”) shows a horned tail.

FAST FORWARD: Jonas is now a teenager (16) and has the ability to call either his radiation powers (head) or the devil powers (tail) with the flip of his coin. He does not get to choose them at will, but is slave to the flip of his coin. He constantly fears the promised return of Satan, and spends his time fighting evil to try and combat any future horrors he may be forced to commit. He operates at him and fights for all of Greater Boston. He goes by the name “Heads or Tails” as it has become his catch phrase: he asks this to the bad guys/villains before flipping his coin and fighting them.
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MENTIONED:
Chris Mooney: https://chrismooneybooks.com/
"Messenger" by Lois Lowry:   / 12930.messenger  
"Anatomy of Story" by John Truby:   / 1383168.the_anatomy_of_story  
"Life and Death" by Stephenie Meyer:   / twilight-life-and-death  

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