Ch-Ch-Change

Growing up, my primary mode of transportation was my own two legs. Whether walking, running, or biking, I tended to rely upon myself to get from place to place. My friend and I took turns going back and forth to each others' house, about a mile or so apart. I ran errands to the grocery store. I walked to rehearsals. Unless it was raining (and sometimes even then), I was on foot.
I noticed that the traffic lights were not functioning properly one day. There was a police officer manually changing the lights while workers were repairing the malfunction. I got to see the inside of a control box for the automatic traffic light switch. I started paying more and more attention to those boxes; if I could control them, I could bring traffic to a stand-still. mwahahaha! Or, I could make sure we had all green lights when traveling by car. Nifty!
I starting trying to figure out if I could, somehow, control them with my mind. I imagined that I was sending out 'pulses' with my mind, similar to Aquaman on the SuperFriends cartoons. By coaxing or commanding, eventually the light would change. In my mind's eye, I could see the switch moving and hear the characteristic chinks as the mechanism caused the light to change.
At first, I knew it was just coincidence. But I kept at it. Eventually, I began to suspect that I was actually changing the light. Then I knew I was.
Mom was driving us on errands one day. The traffic light we approached had just changed and a timer was involved; it would take approximately 3 minutes for the light to change again (she had timed it; she read that turning the car off for long lights could save on gas so she had timed several lights to see what the cost savings might be). Having just missed the light and knowing we were somewhat pressed for time, I concentrated and the light changed. Not only did it change for us but the whole process of the other light changing from green to yellow to red and our light changing from red to green went much faster than usual -- some cars squeeled as they braked, caught off guard by the sudden change.
Mom was shocked at the light that day. I sat in the passenger seat and looked at the cars caught in the intersection. I made a vow to only use my evil powers for good. Mostly.