by B R Coelho
“Silencio!”, Nana says out loud, visibly upset and reaching for her head.
I reach out to comfort her, it must have taken a toll on her. Nana is rubbing her temples now, and smiles.
“You’re just like him.”
“Like who, Nana?”
“Gomez, my first-born.”
Firstborn?! Gomez?! That’s the name Nana had been crying out when I read her mind. But Dad never mentioned having a brother.
“Gomez is…was your uncle. He was born before your father. He was from another marriage of mine. I met your grandfather years later.”
“So, what happened to him? Did he die? Is that why you were crying?”
“I think it would be better if I showed it to you.”
“How?” I ask, my interest now piqued more than it ever was before.
“Watch and learn, chiquitita.”
Suddenly, Nana’s brown eyes begin to glow. A beautiful hue of violet and purple flashes, giving me the creeps. She no-longer looks like the ordinary senile woman I had come to know. The room suddenly begins to dissolve, and I begin to experience a vision. A vision similar to the ones I experience when unconsciously reading other people’s minds. Is this a memory?
A young boy comes running up to me. He is younger than I am, around eleven or twelve. He looks peculiarly similar to the boy in Nana’s framed photograph. I feel taller and heavier than I usually am. It feels like I am there, but I’m not really there.
What I am witnessing is a memory. Nana’s old memory with me in her head. It’s pretty similar to virtual reality. The sights, sounds and feelings. It feels so real. The only difference is I feel like a puppet. Unable to control my actions.
I lift the little boy up from the ground. He speaks Spanish to me, but strangely enough I understand every single word. This is freaking amazing. I tell myself. This must be Uncle Gomez. I’m holding him in my arms and I can actually feel him. It’s surreal, like living in a past life. Only, I was just an observer.
I speak to Gomez, he smiles and plants his head on my neck. We move into what looks like a little make-shift shack. The shack is comprised of red earth and wood. This must be where Nana used to live. Despite it being humble in appearance, it looks quite homely.
I set Uncle Gomez on the floor of the shack. I begin cleaning around the house. Gomez calls out to me in Spanish. I turn to see him playing with a toy car. Only the toy car was floating in air. He would gesture with his hands and the floating toy would spin and move wherever he motioned. Uncle Gomez was telekinetic? He could move things with his mind? Unreal. I hear a voice in my head. It’s Nana’s.
“Yes, your uncle Gomez was blessed with a very special gift, one of the full-spectrum gifts of the mind.”
Full-spectrum gifts of the mind? I ask still struck at Gomez adept motions in controlling the floating object in the air. He could make the car ride upside down on the ceiling. I, or rather Nana is cheering him on in Spanish.
However, the whole thing is cut short when a man’s imposing body darkens the door. He looks like one of those bald strongmen from those old-time carnival freakshows, with a thick broomy black moustache. Nana is suddenly upset and rushes to shield Gomez. She mentally whispers something to Uncle Gomez.
“Gomez, stop someone is here.”
Gomez freezes and the car drops to the ground. The man steps into the house, he towers over both Nana and Gomez. His face is red with rage. Who could this be? Nana rushes toward the large man and begins pleading with him.
“Please, you don’t understand, he’s just special. He’s not possessed, please Senor Morales.”, Nana says clutching onto his arm.
The large man easily pushes me to the side. He grabs my son, I mean Gomez, by his collar and drags him out. The emotions really get to you when you’re experiencing a memory. It feels like it really is you.
“This boy is possessed by a demon, Samantha, and must be exorcised. We have already suffered many calamities by entertaining this demon that lives in him.”, Senor Morales bellows in a loud baritone voice that seems to carry over the whole village and echoes strangely in the house.
Gomez has a look of terror on his face and struggles against the large man’s grasp in vain. A crowd is beginning to gather outside their make-shift shack.
“I just saw him levitate this toy in the air. Are you going to deny that Samantha?”, Senor Morales turns to face her waiting for an answer. Nana stands, biting her lips and fidgeting, thinking of something to say, she telepathically speaks with Gomez.
“When you get the chance, you run into the forest and go to the hiding spot just like we practised, I’ll follow you when I’m finished here.”
“Mama, I’m scared what if they chase me.”
“If they try to chase you darling use your powers, you use them and you keep yourself alive you hear me?”
Gomez nods his head reluctantly. A crowd begins to gather outside the hut. I’m begging Senor Morales to release Gomez.
“First, you have a child out of wedlock. Then, refuse to baptise him. And then, when he shows signs of demonic possession, you ignore it.”, Senor Morales voice booms. The crowd is getting larger and more animated.
“Our village has suffered enough problems because of this. Our crops have not yielded because you harbor a demon among us. Many of our children have died because of a plague, and yet you do nothing to repent to God.
God is punishing us because of your sin woman. This child must face an exorcism to rid him of this evil spirit.”, Senor Morales says, the crowd begins to yell and whoop. Senor Morales loses his grip on Gomez.
“Go! Run my son! Run”, Nana says to Gomez.
Immediately, Gomez takes off dashing under the legs of a few of the on-lookers. The people around begin to howl and jeer as they make attempts to grab the boy. I’m wringing my hands and muttering in a panic hoping that he is able to evade them. A group of men scream as they are suddenly jerked into the air by some invisible force and thrown to the side effortlessly.
“Demon! Demon! Kill him!”, the group begins to chant. Nana screams and begins to run toward the spot she last saw him. Gomez is on his way dashing, zipping and ducking through the crowd as they throw stones and sticks at him.
His telekinesis is providing some sort of shield that blocks the projectiles. He lifts a group of five men who surround him and he juggles them in the air as if they were toys. The crowd is terrified of him and begins to scatter. In the confusion, he makes his way and disappears into the wood neighboring the village.
“Mama! I made it! I made it out of the village!”, Gomez says through telepathy.
“I’ll meet you at the hiding spot once I’m finished here. Don’t show yourself to anyone. I love you Gomez.” Nana says to him.
Senor Morales organizes a search group and angry villagers pick up machetes and sticks. They look determined to kill the boy. Nana runs into the make-shift shack. She knew she should have left weeks ago. This was totally getting out of hand now.
But these were the only people she knew, they were family. She’s packing. Tears are start to drip down her cheek, no my cheek. My vision suddenly gets blurry and the memory begins to fade, like a dream. I come out of it. And to my surprise, tears are streaming down my face.
“That was the last time I saw my little Gomez. Those evil bastards found him and killed him. Since then, I never returned to the village. I wished death upon all of them, but I knew they killed him out of ignorance.”
A side-effect of being a telepath is being able to experience the emotions of another person. There is a danger to this, as this can lead to deep emotional scarring for the telepath. I was experiencing first-hand the loss of losing not just a loved one, but someone’s own child. It was devastating. Slowly the vision fades but the deep emotion is still there lingering.
I wipe the tears from my eyes, and for the first time of my life I finally understand Nana. Sure, it took using our powers, but it brought us together more than I think any other relationship I had till t
hat point.
I place my hands on hers, wiping my tears away with the other. I finally understood why she was so grumpy and bitter sometimes. She had come to distrust most people in her life. She also blamed herself for encouraging Gomez to play openly with his powers, never thinking of the trouble it would bring. I still had more questions to ask. Where did this power of ours originate from? Were there other people out there like us?
“There are other people out there, some call them the indigo children, or in your time today mutants, but in our ancient culture we called them the servants of the gods.” Nana’s voice echoes in my head. I almost forgot that we were still telepathically linked and she could read my thoughts as openly as I could read hers.
“Servants of the gods?”, I ask eye-brows furrowing.
“I’m going to show you another vision, this one is from your great ancestor. It has been passed down from generation to generation. It is my gift to you. Use it well, chiquitita.”
Nana’s eyes begin to glow again. The room disappears and is replaced with complete darkness. The darkness is suddenly pierced by a blinding light. I realise that I am inside what looks like a hut. I’m almost the same size as I am now, but I feel different.
To my right and left I see a group of bodies I do not recognize. They’re all fast asleep. The sound of their breathing breaking up the stark silence. The light is coming through the make-shift circular hole on the wall of the hut. No-one else seems bothered by this. I struggle and lift my body off the ground and walk. I’m wearing strange clothes. The type of clothes that look like they were hand stitched and embroidered.
Could this be a vision of an ancestor? Is this the memory of my great-great-great-great grandmother? I step out of the hut ducking under the low entrance that is guarded by a large heavy cloth. The patterns on the cloth are similar to the one on my clothes. The light outside the hut is even brighter. It almost looks like daylight but not quite. The light is violet in color and it’s coming from something that seems to be floating in the air.
I’m trying to figure out what it is, but staring directly into the light is hurting my eyes. Suddenly the object drops down and slowly moves toward me. The light is getting blindingly bright and instinctively I, or rather whoever I am, covers her eyes with her hands. There’s a loud whooshing sound and the wind is picking up, then suddenly it stops.
I peak through my fingers to see what is happening. The light is now gone. I drop my fingers from my face and see a rather tall woman standing in front of me. She looks human but deep down I can tell that she isn’t. There are a couple of odd features that make her stand out.
For one her dark hair seems to be alive, moving around as if it has a will of its own. Her eyes are violet and they almost seem to glow, but not quite. Her skin is copper-skinned like mine, but hers glows and twinkles in the moonlight, almost as if someone had sprinkled some sparkle dust on her.
She begins to speak. What comes out of her mouth is nothing like I’ve ever heard before. Her voice is soft and slippery. There’s a certain hint of ASMR in it that gives me shivers and tingles. The language she’s speaking isn’t like anything I’ve ever heard before. I don’t know what it is.
She’s wearing what looks like white robes that also move as if they’re alive, constantly changing shape and writhing. She’s wearing a crystal necklace of constantly changing rainbow colors. She also has on golden ankle and wrist bands.
“Hello my child! I am Alaghom Naom (pronounced: Al-a-gom-nah-om). I am the mother of the mind.”, I am speechless. Her voice sounds as if someone was singing and speaking at the same time.
“I have watched the misfortunes of your people, and can no longer bear it.”
“How will you help us?”, the shaky mature sounding voice coming from my mouth surprises me.
“By granting you the knowledge you need to survive. How to till the land, harvest the food and bring abundance to your people. I only ask that you do something one simple thing for me in return.”
“We haven’t eaten in days. We are starving and many in my village are dying with disease. If you’re going to help us, what would you like in return? We have nothing to give”, I say.
“I seek no tribute nor sacrifice. All I ask is that you use these gifts responsibly. And that you remember the rules I give to you.”
The tall woman then gives me something, it has a material likeness to glass marble. In her palm the contrast brings out it’s ebon color. It glistens in the light like a black pearl. Her finger nails are painted the same color as her eyes and they also seem to glow.
I take the marble in my hand and almost immediately I feel a funny sensation emanate from its touch. The marble begins to glow and I can feel warmth and a tingling sensation begin to travel up my arm into my shoulder and radiate out all through my body.
My whole-body lifts from the ground as the surge of energy begins to increase and I can feel the power overwhelm me. It feels like electricity is flowing through my whole body. I can’t tell but I think my eyes are beginning to glow as light starts to shoot out of me. I am now eye to eye with the tall woman. She has a radiant smile on her violet colored lips.
“What is this?”, I ask using my thought-speech.
“This is the power of Alaghom Naom, my child. That orb I have given you is my totem that will help you channel and focus your power. With this power I have granted you, you will be able to lead your people to a great destiny. This will be the beginning of a civilization. Your name henceforth shall be Maya, and so shall the name of your people.”
We begin to fly and she guides me up higher and higher. I look back to see the village I was in not even two seconds ago get smaller and smaller and disappear into the thicket. We stop high up on a mountain overlooking what looks like a deep canyon jungle.
“Your people will thrive and their civilization will be built here, I will guide you and give you the knowledge you need to build one.”
“But how? I’m just a girl. No one will listen to me.”
“I have bestowed upon you power that rivals that of a god. You will be able to do great feats with it. You will be able to speak without talking, and move mountains without touching.”
“How? I’m not even strong enough to walk. I haven’t eaten in days.”
“Have faith child. See that great rock there? Use the totem in your hand to move it. Focus.”
“But…”
“Focus, child.”
I begin to focus on the massive boulder unsure of what is going to happen. I seriously doubt that I’m going to be of much help. But I focus anyway. Nothing. I’m drawing a complete blank.
“Selena…focus on your emotions, not your mind.”, Alaghom Naom (Alo for short) says.
The surprise hits me and I stare at her. Did she just say my name? How is that even possible? Does she know that it is me here, experiencing this memory?
“I am aware of many things child, I have trained all of your ancestors before you and will continue with your descendants after you. You have many questions concerning how to use this power. Now I will show you. Focus, again.”
I begin to focus now, this time I put my all into it like I was really there. Suddenly, the orb starts to get warm in my hand. It’s glowing. Holy crap, it’s glowing. The stubborn boulder is still there on the ground.
Suddenly, the trees begin rustling. The ground beneath them begins to tremble. The trembling turns into a quake. I can see birds, insects and animals begin to scatter from the the area nearby.
There’s a loud KAA—RAAAAACK. The rocks underneath are splitting in half. It’s taking everything in me not to faint. The boulder slowly begins to rise. As the giant rock rises, I can feel the strain sapping almost all the energy out of me.
“Steady…Steady Selena…you’re almost there.”, Alo speaks.
Woah! I’m doing it. I’m lifting the boulder with my own mind. I can’t hold it for long. It’s too heavy for me. I can feel my exhaustion growing exponentially. Suddenly, a searing pain wrac
ks my brain. I let go and the boulder falls down with a giant clatter.
“Excellent…that was much better than I expected, for your first try. You raised the boulder only two inches above ground. Pretty impressive, for a mortal.”
I’m spent. I have no energy to argue with her. How did she expect me to be able to do this? And only on my first try? This is insane. Suddenly we begin to descend into a clearing below, if not for her power supporting me, I would have fallen to the ground.
“This is where your civilization will begin, Maya.”, Alo says, looking at me.
She keeps switching back and forth between Selena and Maya. Did all of my ancestors experience this…this bootcamp? It does feel like some old re-hashed bootcamp film for psychics, psychics who are related to Maya. I had to admit, it was pretty neat.
Better this than searching endlessly online for something that no-one else knows exists. How was I even going to convince anyone else that this was happening to me. I am the descendant of an ancient Mayan Priestess who started the Mayan civilization. How neat is that?
“Look up there into the sky.”, Alo points up into the star dotted sky.
“It is your life’s destiny and your descendants that has brought me to you, and no one else. I will teach you the different signs of the stars and their meaning. With this knowledge you will be able to predict the future and fortune of every nation, tribe and individual in this world.”
The starry night looks so beautiful from down here. Astrology? The ancient Mayans were known for their great astronomical knowledge. They mapped out the precise times and seasons, through which they were able to plant food and harvest it.
They were also known to practise astrology. The clearing around me is strangely quiet and nothing, not even a cricket is singing. Alo teleports us instantly back to the front of the hut where the strange odyssey began. I feel surreal.
“Take that gift with you and use it wisely, I will be watching.” Alo says and with a bright flash she vanishes. I open my hand and stare at the now dull marble in my hand. I smile and walk back into the hut. Strangely enough, everyone is still fast asleep. My father who is a usually a light sleeper did not even stir once. I clutch onto the marble and fall asleep.