Jay Ess: An Unordinary Hero

Chapter 4 & 5

Chapter 4

I began my scholastic career at Swanton Elementary; my first grade teacher was Mrs. Deweese. She was a kindly woman that spoke to all of us like we were her children. Her long, black, curly hair was always unkempt. Her soft green eyes smiled just as often as her lips. She was a fan of long jean skirts and cardigans. As Mrs. Deweese tried valiantly to get me to learn things such as math and reading and writing, my mind was never far from the garden.

During the week when I got home from school I would report into my mother and then head back off to the mysteries of the garden. The longer I stood there with my eyes closed and my mind open, the calmer I found myself becoming and one day, more than a month after I had started my daily visits here, inspiration took. It was a Friday in September and I had less than thirty minutes before I knew my mother would be calling to me to come home for dinner. With the rake in my hand I went to walk to the center of the garden and tried to begin the design when I found I could not move.

Achak cleared his throat and spoke. "Come back tomorrow and I will allow you to make your design. During the night, I have homework for you to perform."
I stood there awaiting his instructions but heard no other words form. I also felt as though I was able to move again, so I turned to leave and almost ran into Achak. Leaning over what little he needed he whispered in my ear.

"You are watched. Tonight I want you to reach out with your mind, like you did when the sand spoke to you, and touch the mind of he that watches you. You must figure out how to cloud that mind. Now go." He tapped a finger on both of my temples and said, "Remember".

Without making eye contact or acknowledging the words that were just spoken to me, I went home for the night.

This was a rare night where all five of us dined at the same time. Despite the heat associated with the middle of September, mom spent the day making a family favorite for dinner, chicken and biscuits. It was a rare time of conversation and laughter around the dinner table, though there was a weird tension between mom and dad that I would very soon understand. I did not engage much in the merry making as I was consumed with the words last spoken to me by Achak. I was being watched he had said. I could not wrap my mind around why or by whom. I was further confused over what her wanted me to remember. Did he fear that I would forget his instructions, or was there some memory from the past he wanted me to recall?

Achak wanted me to reach out and touch this person's mind and cloud it. I took this to mean I was supposed to make them think that I was one place when in reality I was at another. He had provided me with no guidance on this, just like he had not provided my any when I was puzzling at the sand.

I sat there, slowly chewing on a succulent mouthful of tender chicken, gravy and biscuit and decided to try and touch the minds of my family. I concentrated with almost all that I had while looking at my dad. After a minute I touched his mind, I could hear his thoughts. He was very sad about something, despite the smile he wore upon his face. I could tell that he was waiting to deliver some bad news so I left his mind before discovering what that was.

Next I moved on to Ken. She was thinking about a boy that lived up in the center of town. His name was Chris St. Francis and he sat next to her in class at school. Lucy's thoughts were consumed about wondering if there would be something equally delicious for dessert. She caught me looking at her and her thoughts quickly switched to negative feelings towards me. She had hated be since I started to grow in mom's belly. Having a brother was the worst fate possible.

Taking all of the negativity that I could, I moved on to my mother. Hers was the most difficult of minds to touch, but when I did I dropped my fork. My parents were getting a divorce?!