Writing Resources from Fifteen Minutes of Fiction

Reading Your Mind

I remember this game we used to play when I was a kid. My friends and I would be splayed across my childhood living room and we'd ask each other what if questions. Our question in particular haunts me to this day. Inevitably, one of us would ask the others, 'If you could have a super power, which power would it be and why?', and being kids, we'd blithely respond with whatever skill would help us with our budding perversions. It was never a surprise when someone claimed to want the ability to be telepathic. I mean, who wouldn't think a skill of that enormity would be a desire able choice? I know I did, before my ignorance was worn away by the incessant whispers.

At first, when I woke up from the fall, I had only felt a bit dazed--after all, I had hit my head on the tree trunk on my way down from the clubhouse. But eventually, the ringing stopped and I began to notice that I was hearing my friends without them saying a thing. Just the four of them clamoured in my head with all of the clutter in their minds. I thank whatever deity chose the woods that day and not a crowded mall. I'm sure in that scenario, I would have been in danger of losing my mind. Not that that's not a concern now.

With a wisdom unbeknownst to me in other tough spots, I decided to keep my mouth shut about what was going on. Besides, I mostly figured it was my head being a bit off from a concussion. I assumed it would eventually go away and that I would come to find it a trick of my battered brain. Boy was I wrong.

Let me start my tale of torment by prefacing it with the statement that being able to read someone's thoughts is NOT a cool thing. It is very much the opposite. There is so much complexity in even the most simple mind that the noise becomes unbearable. It becomes impossible to be surprised or amazed because there is no wonder in knowing every detail. People become disappointing at best. Most don't realize how much we lie to ourselves and how indecisive we all are at every single moment. The best part of humanity is being able to choose our actions and words, despite our inner turmoil. That choice is what separates us from the herd, and being able to have faith in the actions and words of others is not a luxury I have anymore. Every single detail, from the inane to the insane, is clearly broadcast to my sphere of perception. I have lost faith in a lot of people, if not everyone.

Even the mundane can become exhausting. Can you imagine what it's like attempting to converse with someone wondering if they should clean their ears or through that leftover chicken in the bin? It's very distracting and very disheartening to hear these things behind what's coming out their mouths. Especially being intimate. I personally have no interest in my partner pretending I'm someone I not. I haven't had sex in years.

Obviously, it's not all bad. I can certainly cash in on poker or black jack. It's how I got the money for my cabin. But I would trade all the money in the world to not hear my elderly relatives thoughts when alone with their partners on holidays. I don't go home any more if I can help it.

Yes, I thought at first I could master it and use it like a super ability, but the truth of my life is caged within these four walls. I live isolated and alone, far enough away from everyone that they are only a slight buzz in my mind. Until you showed up, of course, as loud as a bear in a bakery.

Now, I will get to all your questions in time, but you have to slow down your mind. It's making me nauscious.

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