Karsyn

Length: Short

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I’ve been able to read minds since I was a child. It’s not really like how you see in the movies, though. It’s not like listening to the radio. It’s much more immersive. I experience everything as if I’m really there. It’s a thrilling experience when you read the right minds. The trouble is really with finding minds worth reading.

Frankly, reading adults is as fun as doing taxes. Kids’ minds, on the other hand, are amazing. They’re not bogged down with work and stress and dissatisfaction. The mind of a child is filled with imagination and adventure. That’s why I became a kindergarten teacher.

I sit at my desk and watch as my class colors. I smile as they doodle away with their crayons. I reach out and peek into their minds. In an instant, I take off with Carlos in a rocket ship, hurtling past swirling galaxies. I visit far-off planets full of blob-like aliens and two-headed martians. I smile and move on to Marcy. I can smell the candy canes and jelly beans as I’m pulled into a veritable candyland, complete with gumdrop castles and caramel waterfalls. She plays hopscotch with gingerbread men, giggling her musical little laugh.

I’m about to move on to Thomas when I feel a tug at my dress. I look down to see Sarah. She’s one of the most adorable little girls I’ve ever seen. Beautiful brown curls, big puppy dog eyes, and a gleaming smile.

“Miss Dupree, I made this for you!” she exclaims, handing me a paper. I take it from her and see myself in stick figure form. “I Luv Ms. Doopry” is scrawled across the top in multiple colors.

“I love it!” I exclaim and give her a great big hug.

Sarah’s only been with the class for a couple days and I have yet to have a peek at her hopes and dreams. I reach out and touch her mind. And I nearly vomit.

I choke as I’m hit with wave after wave of the hot, fetid stench of death. My mind’s eye is blinded by a darkness which seems almost alive, spilling into my brain, seeking to blot out everything it touches. In the void, I feel slimy coils roiling around me, wrapping around my legs, pressing against my face, a gigantic beast hungrily probing the darkness in search for food. And then a keening wail rises up, nearly bursting my eardrums. The screams of thousands of souls, crying out in sorrow. Crying out for death.

And then I’m back in the classroom. I let go of Sarah and compose myself, hoping she can’t see me shaking.

“That’s a lovely picture, Sarah,” I say, nearly whispering. “Now go along and get ready for snack time, alright?”

She nods happily and skips off. I watch her as she goes. The minds of children are the most wonderful thing in the universe. But whatever that thing in the blue dress is, it is no child.

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“I don’t know where I’m going, but I’m on my way” 

-Carl Sagan