Whether or not it is because I am lazy and unorganized is unclear, but time keeps slipping through my fingers, and I end up doing little useful each day. Even fixing my sleep rhythm doesn’t seem to help. Thankfully I have an older short story that I have yet to show you. This piece is somewhat “fantastical” so if you hate fantasy, you should consider not reading it. Without further ado….
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The sun was hidden behind a few white clouds, and the wind barely managed to stir the leaves of the oak trees on the sidewalk. It was going to rain soon, at least according to the weather forecast shown on one of the few digital billboards in the city. As always, the streets were bustling with activity. Deluded men, walking around in suits talking into their fancy cellphones, lost in an illusion of their own creation. Regular men and women, in town simply to shop or perhaps running errands for their employers.
Goths, environmentalists, addicts, almost every group from every level of society was represented. Most of them paid no notice to the chaos around them, but instincts had them avoiding one man like the plague. A remarkably tall youth grimaced as he walked slowly on the sidewalk. Wherever he went, the crowd separated to let him through. Not one sign of surprise displayed at the people so clearly avoiding him. Apparently, he was used to it.
It’s too goddamn noisy! the man thought. The overpowering mix of sounds that reached him, sounded as if the result of a free for all battle between the sounds themselves. Each trying to overpower the other and disrupt their flow, the reward being to be allowed the joy of tormenting him. He shook his head angrily, I should be able to ignore such a small nuisance as this.. But instead, he failed miserably. Quiet down damn you! The unnerving mass of sounds ignored his request, but then, silence. His eyes bulged, his heart started pounding. It was quiet, like a still pond on a windless morning. Yet, the chaotic mass of people around him should not be silent. He could even see them talking and shouting, but he heard nothing.
Startled, the man stared wildly at everyone around him. An old man, a young man, a drunkard, a newspaper boy. No, none of these. Where are you!? the thought lingered in his mind as he searched his surroundings. There was only one thing that could cause instantaneous deafness without the pain of your eardrums shattering. He felt it, the presence was growing stronger. To think that there’s another one in this town, besides me. The man was a psychic. No, not the fabled kind that can talk to the dead, a real one.
At birth, everyone is granted the ability to affect other human beings’ minds and their consciousnesses. In most cases this ability develops into the ability to talk, write and use body language. But in some, it develops beyond that, beyond what science proclaims is real. People with the ability to change emotions, thoughts, even sensory input to the brain, with nothing but their own minds as the tool. When the young man had first discovered he was not unique, the real reason for the witch hunt 900 years ago became apparent. Psychics experimenting with their recently discovered ability.
He would never have guessed that someone this experienced was present in the city. As the uninvited visitor in his mind drew closer, he started noticing some characteristics. Robbing me of my hearing and still this unaffected… and a woman too eh? What’s the meaning of this? He started looking around frantically, briefly staring at all the women relatively close to him.
A nondescript woman of perhaps 30, no. An old woman, no. A young girl, definitely not, a presence of that caliber could not possibly… wait, his eyes widened. It is the girl! The shock faded quickly, she was staring at him, wearing a smile that looked somewhat odd on a girl of around ten. He tried to move, but his body refused to listen. Terror replaced the initial shock. He tried to speak but was unaware if he succeeded or not.
Such an intricate illusion on top of induced deafness and immobility… You’ve got to be kidding me! The crowd was oblivious to the danger in their midst, he wanted to warn them but couldn’t. She probably won’t harm them anyway. “What makes you think that?” it sounded odd coming from the little girl, who now stood directly in front of him. “Come here.” She reached up with her tiny hand, found his and dragged him along. This must look really weird he thought, trying to distract himself from the fear.
And indeed it did. The young woman dragging a remarkably tall man raised many an eyebrow. It was not an everyday occurrence in the city after all.
“Walk on your own. This is attracting too much attention.” She said, the young man blinked at the sudden stop. You trying to say something? Can’t hear you. He felt her hand tightening around his as if she was annoyed. The young man’s mind went blank as the sound rushed back in. “Walk on your own. You’re attracting too much attention.” She turned around and continued walking toward the harbor.
Obediently he trailed after her. This is ridiculous, am I really this pathetic? Yeah as if thinking about that helps. What’s wrong with me.. The inner discussion left the young man none the wiser. He noticed the girl stopping, and to his great dissatisfaction she was laughing. That’s it. He let himself fall into the chaos, let himself become the very definition of random. A crazed expression overtook his face, eyes rolling uncontrollably around in their sockets together with a scarily wide smile with his tongue moving around randomly. He started making unrecognizable sounds and moving around like he was having a seizure. He stopped, his tongue went back into his mouth and a confident smirk settled on his lips. “Did you know? Concentration is worthless before the endless imagination.” He said, and started laughing a maddening a laughter just as he finished the sentence.
The woman laughed heartily as she thought How pointless… Even as she was laughing her eyes started stinging, since when was it this bright? Instinct forced her to close her eyes. “Is this all you can manage? How pitiful.” She said, however, she could no longer recognize his mental presence anywhere, with the constantly changing mood and thoughts. He really is crazy, just like they told me, the information was accurate after.. Abruptly she yelled out in pain. Her skin felt like she was in boiling water, and she could feel it peeling off slowly to reveal the flesh underneath.
Regaining composure, he stared down at the woman in front of him as she lay unconscious on the ground. As I thought, maybe she assumed I would leave a little girl alone. HAH! The thought caused him to chuckle, he was already ignoring the fact that he had been terrified a moment ago. There was no need to kill her, if she passed out from just that she offered no real threat to him.
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Tell me what you think. Thanks.
Take care, and keep on writing.