Fantasy Superpowers

It's the question everybody gets asked at some point: "if you could have one superpower, what would it be?" I was reading the paper today and a journalist had asked it of Cuba Gooding Jr., who said he dreamed "about flying".  That doesn't necessarily mean he wants that as a superpower; we've all dreamed about flying at some point throughout our lives, haven't we?  I felt he should have given the question a bit more thought, personally.

My own fantasy superpower used to be the ability to speak any language fluently.  But I've been thinking about it, and that's actually quite a lazy superpower to wish for when with a little bit of work, I could probably speak quite a few languages competently enough.  Besides which, it'd be a wasted power to have most of the time.  I'm not exactly well-travelled and there aren't that many opportunities to use Swahili in the local supermarket.  When you try to speak French in France the locals answer you in English, so it might be an uphill struggle to actually use the languages even when you get the chance, plus I suspect that to be taken seriously anywhere it wouldn't just be the language you'd need to know, but all the cultural attachments incorporating the national and local humour and general idiosyncrasies.  That's, ironically, quite a mouthful to articulate into a wish for a fantasy superpower.

No - I think I've realised what my fantasy superpower would be these days, and it's a very practical one I'd get a real use out of almost every day.  It is, quite simply, the ability to wish myself anywhere I want without the need to travel.  Think Dorothy's "there's no place like home..." from the Wizard of Oz, except without the ruby slippers and the phrase itself.  My power wouldn't be reliant on the donning of the correct footwear and the ability to speak, meaning if I were ever to be kidnapped and gagged I'd still be able to wish myself home in an instant.  I've really given this some thought.

Obviously, my fantasy superpower would be great for going on holiday and visiting friends and family overseas (a side-wish could be the ability to reduce all your luggage down to the size of a pea until you need it), but it'd also be bloody fantastic for daily things like work.  No more commuting!  No worrying about how to get home when I've been out drinking!  I'd save a fortune on cab fares.   It'd also stop well-meaning people droning on about how I should try taking my driving test again "because it gives you so much independence".

I guess I'd just need to add the caveat (people strangely always feel the need to add caveats and restrictions to 'fantasy' things; I guess we're all just so used to being disappointed in real life) that it doesn't work when I'm dreaming, or I might wake up and find myself lying in downtown Kabul.  But apart from that - it'd be great.