da old man

“I am a time jumper. I time jump into totally random people in history. Huh? Yeah, I thought the same thing when I found out. Let me explain. You know when someone wants a part in a play, or a movie, or a TV show, and they say, “I want to play the lead!” Or maybe they look at the script and say, “I want to play the bad guy! Bad guys are fun.” Or “I want to play the comedic best friend!” Yeah, that’s not me. I never play the lead, bad guy, or sidekick. I’m the character nobody thinks about. In school, I’m called an NPC. A nonplayer character in a video game. Kids don’t even notice if I wave at them. That’s probably why I was given this totally random power. If you’re not noticed in real life, you’re probably not going to get to time jump into anybody interesting from the past. According to The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, my power gives me the ability to sonder. Basically, I can transport into random humans in history. Like an extra in an epic historical movie. Seemingly insignificant and utterly pointless in the grand scheme of extraordinary historical moments. I can tell you’re looking around wondering, What is wrong with this kid, and why am I still reading or listening to his story? I wouldn’t blame you if you just stopped right here and bailed. I mean, who wants to read the extra’s backstory? I never did. And yet, here I am, literally able to time jump! But only into random extras in history. I have so much knowledge about history’s unimportant characters that I decided to write it all down and tell someone. And”
― Gary D. Schmidt, A Little Bit Super: With Small Powers Come Big Problems