Presentation Date: 9/27/25
Location: Lorain Public Library

Suggestions Provided by the Audience:
Superpowers - Ability to Understand Any Language, Flexibility, and Strong Sense of Smell
Personality Traits - Grumpy, Funny, and Very Tired
Origin of the Superpowers - The Library
Superhero Name - Curly Fry

Walking into the library felt like home to Melanie. Her mother had been bringing her here since she could walk. That was a couple decades ago now. It’s where she felt most comfortable. It was a place away from the hustle and bustle of the city, which did nothing but drain her of any energy she had. The more she was around others and their lives, the more she felt exhausted. The library was a place to recharge.

“Good morning, Melanie!” exclaimed the librarian clerk sitting behind the information desk.

“Oh, morning, Carol.” Melanie responded back. This early in the morning she really couldn’t be bothered with pleasantries, but Carol never seemed to get the message from Melanie’s tone.

“What world do you figure you’ll be exploring today? Something in fantasy, science fiction, or is today a historical biography day?” Carol always was too inquisitive for Melanie’s taste, but she tolerated it as Carol was also the best resource for new and old material that the library had available.

“One never can tell. Maybe I’ll find a book that helps me prevent people from asking too many questions.” Melanie replied with a hint of sarcasm.

“Ha ha! Oh, Melanie, always coming with the jokes! Happy exploring! Let me know if you need anything.”

Melanie never knew what aisle of books she would head down on any given day. All she knew was that her instincts would guide her. They were never wrong.

Today she found herself down a bit of a darker lit section she didn’t recall being in before, which seemed unusual since she typically knew every corner of the library like the back of her hand.

She ran her fingers along the spine of the books that were eye level, and they suddenly stopped on some gold embossed letters on a very thin book. The letters caught her eye because she didn’t recognize them as any language she had seen before. One of the things Melanie prided herself on was after so many years of coming to the library, she was able to learn just about every language spoken by mankind. While she couldn’t speak all of them fluently in a conversation, she could read and understand them in written form. All languages except this one.

While she was originally feeling especially tired this morning, the thought of learning a new language added a level of excitement on a rather mundane day. She took the book over to the nearest table and opened it. A gust of wind must have blown in from outside when someone entered. Her curly hair lifted and she felt a chill along her neck and arms.

As Melanie situated herself in a chair and looked more at the words on the pages, an unusual thing happened. The strange symbols, letters, and words began to make sense in her head. She couldn’t really translate what they said, but they no longer were unknown to her. She read more and more with a fevered pace. A tale formed in her mind. It was a tale of a great battle between the forces of order and the forces of chaos. The saga told of how the world was on fire from this conflict, and Melanie could almost smell the smoke from the flames. It was an odd sensation, but as she read, her sense of smell continued to pick up on every scent from the scenes and the world around her.

She read how the army of order eventually, after great loss, was able to find balance with the agents of chaos and turn the tide. They knew that they could not completely eliminate chaos from the world, but that they could find this balance that would at some point bring everything back to where it needed to be. It was a level of flexibility they needed to have versus the rigid structure they had always lived their lives with previously.

The last pages of the book ended with a celebration. The people of the world celebrated, and Melanie could smell the delicious foods for their feast, the metallic perfume of the launched fireworks, and the salty ocean air that ushered in a new era of peace.

Melanie closed the book and decided she wanted to take it home to read it again. She felt different after reading this tale. She was a bit less foul and grumpy than she was when her day began.

As she approached Carol and the front desk, the main doors to the library opened, and a very large man entered. Melanie had never seen him before, and she pretty much knew all of the regular patrons. Of course, nothing about his garb designated him as someone arriving to have a peaceful day reading the latest novel.

The man stood in the doorway scanning the room. Melanie for some reason could smell the must and mildew coming off of his clothes. She didn’t know why she could as he was several feet away, but much like when she read the book, her sense of smell was heightened. This man did not have a good smell emanating from him, and it gave Melanie pause. He turned towards her at the end of his survey and his eyes fixated on the book.

Carol came out from behind the counter, oblivious to the danger she approached. “Hello, sir. You seem to be new here. Can I help you find anything?”

Just as Carol reached arm’s length from the man, he smirked at her. His eyes began to glow yellow, and he tossed Carol into a cart of books with one arm as if it was nothing. She appeared to be okay, but Melanie was startled. She had seen those yellow glowing eyes before. They were the eyes of the agents of chaos that she saw in her head as she read the book earlier.

The man began to walk towards Melanie. From a distance she had not realized how large he truly was. He must have been seven feet tall and built like a brick wall. There would be no way of getting around him. “I’m going to need that book, small fry,” he said as he approached.

Melanie didn’t completely understand what was happening, but she knew she couldn’t let him have this book. Melanie did what came natural to her. She replied with a bit of wit.

“I’m sorry the book has been claimed and library hours are almost over. Maybe they can add you to a wait list for it once it’s returned.”

What was wrong with her? Where did this confidence come from that she never had before…and why now in front of a possible life and death situation? She didn’t know but it felt right.

The man swung his large arm toward her to grab the book, but Melanie bent backwards just barely dodging it. She bent almost in half…backwards. Her hair and head were almost touching the floor. And after the arm passed over, she sprung back upright.

The man took a step back in shock. “So there still exists knights of order in this land.” He charged at Melanie with both hands and grasped ahold of her arms.

Melanie was operating on pure instinct at this point. Her legs did the splits and the man lost his grip. She then spun her right leg around and swept his legs out from under him. He reached up and grabbed her arm as she tried to get by.

“You can’t escape us. We will find you and that book will be ours.”

Melanie looked down at him and measured how well he was holding onto her. “I’m sure you’ll do your best.” She then bent her arm in the opposite direction an elbow would normally let you go, and dropped a knee onto his shoulder forcing him to release her.

Looking down at him, she pointed to her hair, “And the name is Curly Fry. Don’t forget it.”

Melanie ran out of the library holding firmly onto the book. She knew she needed to get distance from the man she left behind before he was back on his feet. She also knew she needed answers.

How was she able to bend like she did with such ease? Why could she smell things so clearly both in the real world and images that formed in her mind? Who was that man and how many more like him were out there? So many questions that she needed answers to. Thankfully she had a feeling the answers were all in this book, and she would discover them all under her new identity of Curly Fry.