It's hard not to notice Leo Valdez. He's nuts. I mean, literally. He's got a permanent residence at the mental institution.
But, you might be wondering why it's not hard to miss him. If he's in a mental institution, then wouldn't he being surrounded by people just like himself? Would he not, I don't know, blend in? Can't he be a normal mentally disordered kid?
I suppose a lot of the people over there, at the institute, fidget constantly. Have trouble focusing. Let their mind wander.
But still, I don't know many who stare at the dinner table instead of eating, every night, trying to convince the others sitting at his table, that yes, of course it's growing legs, can't you see it too?
Some of them get a bit worried, try to inch away from him during one of his episodes but he tugs on their sleeves and pleads with them.
"Please don't go. Don't go, don't go, don't go. The others left me too, they didn't believe me, but you do right?"
No one had tried to figure out who he means by 'others' but instead they nod their heads frantically and smile. And they thought they were maniacs until they met Leo Valdez.
He was stressed more often than not, but when it got really bad, that's when the fire hallucinations happened. You can tell when it's coming, because he starts looking around desperately, then puts his head in his hands.
By the time he starts shaking, you know it's too late to hope for him to calm down.
He blows and spits on his hands and when he begins to cry "It's burns!" the pain in his voice almost tricks you into thinking it's real.
It scares the other patients more than anything. He runs around, pressing the fire alarms, clawing at his hair and screaming "Fire!" over and over again.
When you approach him, he backs away, "Stay away, stay away, stay away. I'll burn you, I'm on fire, I'm on fire."
At times like these, you can see the trauma in his eyes more than ever. I suppose seeing his mother get burned alive started it all. It didn't help that he was the only one there, and he was so young he didn't know what to do.
Some days you will catch him talking to someone, or more accurately, no one. In his head, he is getting a reply, but the one-sided conversations are interesting enough.
"It's all my fault. I let her die."
"I keep catching on fire like my mum, Festus."
"I don't want to die here. Sure, I want to die, just not here. Not somewhere that they all think I'm crazy."
"They say they're trying to help me, to heal me, but there is nothing wrong with me. I don't need to fixing."
"You should hear them, Festus. They don't believe me. They don't listen like you do. Maybe if they met you, they'll understand."
"Festus, everyone is telling me you aren't real. That you're all in my head. Crazy kids don't have an imagination, because they see the world as it is, too real. That's why they're crazy. That's why they think I'm crazy."
My head! It's on fire! It burns, it burns, get it off, get it off! Stop it, it's hurting, I'm going to burn, I'm going to end up a pile of ashes, help me, help me!
As if the catching on fire, a walking table and a nonexistent person named Festus isn't enough, he tries to get the other patients to talk to them too. Don't you see the table's arms? Look he's moving away, there he goes! We have to go get him, he's trying to run away again.
The rumours are that he's introducing the dinner table as Buford now. And he's saying that Festus is a metal dragon.
The saddest part about Leo Valdez? When he's telling you about his burnt fingers, and his best friends Buford and Festus, you look into his eyes and you can tell that every word that comes out of his mouth, is the absolute truth.