My First Friend Is Invisible

Aria

Seeing him up close, I feel I did not do him justice. Sid might have a haphazard dress sense, and an equally eccentric way of speaking, but he is quite a hunk. He is also not as old as I initially thought.

After taking us for a tour around the house, he offers to go buy us takeout, since we have just settled in. We don't decline the offer. I am quite famished and tired.

When he returns with the food, I jump up gleefully when I see my all-time favorite mushroom soup in the mix.

"Crimson cabbages girl, please no hugs. I am spoken for and my lady is the jealous type. She can smell another woman on me from miles away. I would not want to invoke her wrath!"

By the time he finishes, I am clutching my sides from the pain caused by laughing so hard. This guy is hilarious and I am surprised that I am warming up to him fast. Henna is equally as amused as I am. I just know that I am surely going to enjoy my stay here.

A part of me wishes that this will become our permanent home. For a while, I forget about the weird anticipation I have been feeling. Sid helps us settle and then bids us farewell with the promise of visiting us again. Before driving off, he lowers the window and says something that leaves us in fits of laughter once again.

"Thank you so much Mr. Hawthorne for helping us settle. You made us feel at home from the moment we set foot in this land. Please don't forget to visit us with your wife." Henna extends her gratitude but gets a glare and a chiding from Sid. Of course, it is friendly.

"Cracking cavities, lady! Must you be so formal? I just said no hugs till my dame meets you. In my book, we are already friends and you definitely will be seeing more of me. I bet once you meet the boss, you will click. That is a compliment. Au revoir."

With that, he drives off leaving us in stitches with laughter because of his eccentric wordy statement. Holding hands with my god-given mother, we stroll around the yard appreciating the scenery.

No doubt, this is an upscale suburb and I am sure it is one of the wealthiest places. We sit on the porch in comfortable silence watching the fish swim in the pond. It is peaceful and relaxing. I decide to voice my thoughts.

"Mom, I have to confess, this place does feel like home. I feel as if I am in the right place and I would not want to leave. It is an indescribable feeling of belonging. I hope I do not sound weird."

She squeezes my hand for reassurance as she responds with equal fervency.

"Not at all, love. I feel the same way too. I feel as if this is where I should have been all along. And that Sid guy is quite an amusing character. I have not met my boss yet and I hope he is the same. By the way, I love how the word mom rolls off your tongue. I love you, my little girl."

She wraps her hand on my shoulder and pulls me in for a side hug. I lean my head on her shoulder and it sure feels good. Henceforth, without anyone's prompting, I have decided to call her Mom. She is by right my mother and by nature, she is much more motherly than anyone I have met.

"I love you too, Mom. I hope this new start brings us new memories that we will treasure forever."

For the first time, I decided to put a name to that strange emotion. It is love, familial love for the woman who is my mother, and my guardian angel.

After a while, we go back inside and go to our respective bedrooms. We both have a lot of unpacking to do. However, when I get to my room, I am once again hit by that strange emotion.

I slump down on my bed and wonder why I have this sudden feeling of despair. I have no reason to feel so hopeless and down. It is a great sense of loneliness and despair which I have no idea where it is sprouting from.

For no reason, I feel tears trickle down my cheeks. Damn, it! Am I losing my mind or what? Why does it feel like I am tapping into someone else's mood? After thinking about it for a while, I am convinced that someone is feeling this despair and for some reason, I caught on to their frequency.

Spooked, I sit upright and pull my laptop. I need to search if there is anything like that in this world. Whoever is projecting their emotions onto me must need help. Unfortunately, I find no such thing online.

Shutting down my laptop angrily, I ruffle my hair and decide to try and connect with whoever it is. I have no idea why I am feeling the need to reach out, but what I know is that, if they can make me feel their agony, maybe I can mentally connect with them.

I caught on to their mental signal if ever there is anything like that. What if it is my brother? I have to do something because I am sure someone out there needs my help. Now, you all ought to know that I am not superstitious, but this mental agony is disturbing my whole being.

Convinced that I may be able to do something about it, I close my eyes and focus. Surprisingly, it is as if I can see the communication line but it is faint and coiled up on some points. Unfortunately, I do not know how to fix it so I try the dumbest thing ever. I decided to try and reach out.

I have read and heard about telepathy. So, I am going to give it a try. It has to be successful because I, Aria, have made an effort to try it. Emptying my mind, I focus on that white mental line.

Once I successfully remove everything else from my mind, I decide to try. I draw in a deep breath and exhale slowly through my nose. Plenty of butterflies are roaming around in the pit of my stomach, but I suppress the nervousness and decide to try.

"Hello there. I do not know who you are, or why your despair is affecting me. But whatever it is, I need you to know that things eventually get better in life. I am not just giving you false hope. I am saying this from experience. Please stop worrying because life is full of happy surprises. Just take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Pick yourself up and go about your days holding on to the hope. Even if there is nothing left, hope always sticks around."

That must be the dumbest thing I have ever done but hey, a girl's got to try. Besides, this is affecting my life now. I wait for a while and almost jump up in fright when the most unusual thing happens.

It feels as if whoever I am having a telepathic connection to, hears me and is trying to respond.

Unfortunately, I cannot hear what he or she is saying. It is as if the line suddenly becomes static. I can barely make out anything. But I listen intently all the same. I swear I can make out a few words.

"Goddess! .......shhhhh.......will....shhhh...... .need you."

It sounds like a phone line breaking badly. As if there is a very bad network. The voice, though barely audible, gives me a sense of security like no other. Try as I can, but nothing more comes out. Whatever it is that just happened is otherworldly, and I do not think I can tell Henna this.

The line suddenly breaks and I fall back on the bed feeling exhausted. It is as if I have done some tedious task. But I do not have time to mull over this.

Again, I pull my laptop determined to research telepathic gifts if there are any. What I find spooks me. It appears that I might be having psychic powers. For all I know, I might have been talking to a dead person.

Mind-numbing, soul-gripping, and terror-inducing fear, engulf me and I break out in cold sweat. There is no way I am sleeping alone in this room. After gathering my flailing nerves, I barrel out of my bedroom and head straight to my mom's.

I budge in and run straight into her arms. I bury my head in her chest and try to control my breathing. As it is, I am heaving and panting. Not from the fleeing, but sheer fright.

"Goodness, child! What happened to you? Have you seen a ghost? Calm down, baby, and tell me about it. Come sit down. Let me get you a glass of water then tell me about it." Henna, or mom, as I have now decided to call her asks with concern written all over her face.

Obediently, like a good pet, I follow her orders. After downing the water, I finally feel myself relax. Just enough to narrate my experience. Henna, like the best mom she is, listens attentively. She blows a slow breath after I finish explaining everything to her.

"Listen, baby girl, do not fret, alright? We will figure this out together. Who knows, maybe this is a good thing. Besides, Aria, you have always been a special child. The mere fact that you survived such an ordeal at a very young age, shows that you, my dear, are destined for greatness. I am glad you trust me now. I promise you that we will get to understand this. Now let us get some shut-eye, love. For tonight, we will sleep together. We have to go to your new school tomorrow."

"Argh! School already! I thought that I would be given a chance to adjust before going to school."

I suddenly exclaim in a dejected tone.

"With the way you are intelligent, I figured you would not want to miss more days than necessary. I am surprised you sound as if you are being led to the guillotine."

Yeah, right. She has no idea how much of a hard time I have blending in. I already feel that it is going to be another hellish rollercoaster. Unless I shorten it. Pulling the covers, I make a mental vow to finish high school in just one year instead of two. I have to keep myself immersed in books so that I get it over and done with.

A smile creeps on my lips as I am satisfied with my genius plan, to cope with that prison called school. However, before sleep envelopes me, I am suddenly hit by an unnatural wave of euphoria. Of course, I know that I am just picking up on someone's emotions. Maybe the same soul that I had a telepathic connection to, earlier.

Smiling, I once again empty my mind and try to reconnect with the owner of the emotions I am tapping into.

"Hi there, once again. I can feel your happiness and I must say I am glad you are no longer feeling gloomy and forlorn. It is time to sleep where I am. Therefore, I bid you good night dear friend."

This time, unlike the last, the telepathic connection is bad. I know he or she is responding but unlike last time, I cannot even hear anything. Because it is energy-draining, I break the connection quicker. Without effort, I feel myself drift off to dreamland. I just hope that the nightmares will give me a break this once. I hope I dream of my new friend and maybe, be able to put a face to the owner of the emotional turmoil.