A dark haired man walked towards the garden, deep in thought, so he did not notice the form shadowing him on the other side of the hedgerow. The shadow's head had popped up as the man passed and jumped from stone to stone, to a log and then on to a new stone, following the man but hidden by the thick green hedge. As the angular-faced man stepped between the two yews that marked the entrance to the gardens the form leapt at him, threw its arms around his neck and squeezed its legs around his waist. The weight of the form forced the man to take a step backwards, at the same time he raising his arms.
"Did you see Charlie? Did you? I did it!"
Charlie's ears relayed the voice to his brain even as his arms were wrapping around the small form clinging to him. Then he felt a wave of emotions wash over him; excitement, joy and … at first he couldn't identify the other feeling.
Just as he identified it as pride, Charlie felt the emotions shift to panic, and then fear and finally the outpouring of emotions were shut off. Little One unlinked his arms and unwrapped his legs from Charlie's waist and slid down Charlie's chest to land in the sand at his feet.
This burst of emotions followed by nothing caused Charlie to take a staggered step and fall to his knees rocked by the abrupt change.
To the man's dismay, Charlie heard Little One mutter fearfully, "I'm sorry."
"No! Little One, wait! …"
What did I do Charlie chided himself? The first time Little One's dares open his emotions to me, I don't respond and he closes himself down again. I can't let that happen. Say something, anything to let him know it is okay.
Meanwhile Charlie had been saying. "… It's okay, when I am happy I like to get hugs as well. I was shocked that's all. I was deep in thought and not paying attention to what was happening around me. For a moment I thought you were an attacker. Now, tell me again, what you were you saying."
Charlie looked at Little One's face and could read the uncertainty on it. After he made a few quick glances, to make sure Charlie really meant what he said, the boy's eyes finally meet his, and then the child's face beamed, "I did it. I made the jump."
"You did? When?" Charlie hoped his voice sounded excited and not just relieved at seeing the joy return to the boy's face.
"Just now. Twice! I did it again when I was following you."
"Congratulations Little One! Would you like to show me?" Charlie asked as he pushed himself to his feet.
Little One's head nodded in excitement. As the boy turned and moved towards his starting stone Charlie felt the glow of pride return to the boy and the man knew he had done the correct thing. As the boy stepped on to the first smooth rock Charlie moved and sat on a stone beside a bush inside the hedged garden.
In just under six weeks the boy's entire demeanor and physique had changed. Little One was not looking weak and pale any more, every day he had grown stronger now that he was eating properly. And it appeared he was opening up emotionally and finding his confidence, his actions today seemed to be proof of that. Day by day, as they had worked together around the neighbourhood, Charlie had seen the boy begin to relax and occasionally Charlie would see a smile but until this point the boy had still never voluntarily touched Charlie, or anyone for that matter.
Little One turned his head, checking to see if Charlie was indeed watching and then refocused and stepped to the second large stone. The boy successfully made the jump to the third rock, but Charlie knew it was this next leap that, to this point, had been the boy's nemesis.
Charlie held his breath as Little One's whole body tensed. The boy took a step back, relaxed his stance, and then retook the step and leapt across the space to make a perfect two-footed landing on the large boulder.
"Good work Little One!" Charlie roared, knowing the boy now had access too much more of the garden should he wish it. Little One turned to face him, a satisfied smile on his face.
"Now I don't suppose you could make it to this stone do you?" Charlie challenged as he pointed to a stone between the two of them.
Little One took two steps across the top of the bolder he stood upon and looked to where Charlie pointed. The boy's smile fell and his face paled as his eyes rose to look at the man. Charlie knew the space between the two stones was more than the boy could handle, it was more than some men could manage, but he wanted to see what Little One would do. Would he use good judgment? Could he work out what was really being asked of him?
Little One's blue eyes, which had not left Charlie, suddenly narrowed. As the boy took half a step back his chin rose in challenge and suddenly Charlie found himself afraid. Little One was going to try the jump and Charlie was going to find the boy with a broken arm, leg or worse.
Leaping up Charlie snapped out, "Little One, No! I'm …"
Even as Charlie began speaking Little One had turned on the balls of his feet took two steps, pushed off and flew across to the stone he had come from. Relief made Charlie's legs give out and he collapsed back to the stone under him. He calmed himself as Little One returned back one more rock and then continued in a circular path to the stone Charlie had pointed at. As the boy made the leap to the final boulder Charlie briefly closed his eyes, opening them to find Little One staring at him with an eyebrow raised.
"Congratulations Little One, you have been more than successful, today." Charlie whispered, hoarsely.
The boy gave a wide smile but then quickly shifted his gaze to look at something in the bushes behind the man. It was only then that a loud tut, tut, tut caught Charlie's attention. A bird was protesting from the bushes and another from a tree above and to his left. The next thing Charlie knew the bird in the tree launched itself from its branch and swooped straight at him, forcing him to duck as it flew past his head. On its return arc Charlie felt the red-breasted animal clip his head and fall to the ground fluttering in the sand. Fearing the animal may be hurt, Charlie rose and took a step towards the bird only to watch it scuffle a few feet across the sand and then stop and begin its fluttering again.
When the same thing happened a second time a giggle made Charlie glance towards Little One whom was now sitting on the enormous boulder observing him. It appeared the boy was trying, unsuccessfully, to hold in his laughter. "It's not funny Little One." Charlie growled. "She is hurt."
Charlie's comment and a series of twitters from the bird had the boy rocking with laughter. When Little One lost his balance and rolled off the boulder to land in the sand at its base Charlie took a step towards the boy, and relaxed as Little One gave a cough and sat up. The bird meanwhile, began its tut-tuts again and moved towards Charlie.
"You've all gone crazy." Charlie muttered, only to hear the boy give a barked laugh followed by another cough.
Finally the boy spoke, "Don't you know anything Charlie? HE, is playing broken wing; trying to protect his babies. The mother is in the bushes, next to the nest, telling you off as well. You should hear what she has to say." The boy giggled before continuing, "Even the Monks know not to go near that part of the garden right now."
Charlie turned towards the bushes he had been sitting beside and could hear the other bird still squawking at him. "Okay, so I have not been paying attention to things around me today. Is this bird hurt or what?" Charlie responded waving his hand at the bird that still fluttered on the ground in front of him. "He did hit me after all. Maybe his wing is really broken."
Little One stood up and walking around the rock, looked at the bird and vocalized some tuts back at it. The bird turned its head, looked at the boy, and then flipped its wings back into position, bobbed its tail a couple of times and finally spread its wings and launched itself into the air.
Charlie blinked and looked at Little One, "What did you say to it?"
"I told him he was being silly. You would not know what to do with its babies." Then Little One looked Charlie up and down. "Besides someone your size couldn't make a meal out of something as small as they are right now." Little One gave a mischievous smile before finishing with, "Maybe when they get a little bigger he might need to worry."
Charlie shook his head in resignation before he playfully growled, "Making me out to be the bad guy are you?"
Charlie took a menacing step towards the boy and as Little One turned and fled, Charlie chased him. Just as the boy reached the sand marking the edge of the garden, Charlie's arms snaked out and caught him. Charlie stood up, pulling Little One into his chest, and was not surprised when he felt the boy tense in his arms.
"I'm very proud of you Little One." The man whispered into the boy's ear and then as he spoke his next words Charlie felt the boy relax.
"Since you did so well today I think it is time for you to start in my classes. Don't you?"
The child twisted his torso so he could face Charlie. Eye's aglow he replied breathlessly, "Really? Today?"
As he walked down the path, still clutching the boy, Charlie gave a chuckle, and had to shake his head at Little One's enthusiasm, "My lessons are over for the day. We will start next week. Besides," Charlie looked down at the boy's stomach, which had grumbled loudly while he spoke. "I think it is time we put some food into that bottomless cavern you call a stomach. Hmmmm?"
Little One nodded his head but still questioned, "You really mean it? You're telling the truth, you're going to let me start practicing how to fight?"
"Yes Little One. On Tuesday you will join my beginners DEFENCE class."
Charlie felt the boy's body tremble and because of their close physical contact his Powers were able to tell him it was from excitement. Little One squirmed in Charlie's arms so the man stopped walking and lowered the boy to the ground. As soon as Little One's feet touched the flagstones he ducked out from Charlie's arms and rushed along the path, stopping short of the gated exit from the temple grounds and turning back.
As Charlie approached he could feel Little One studying his face. "Tuesday right? You wont forget?" The boy implored, before ending sadly. "Three whole days is a long time to wait."
Smiling Charlie took another few steps towards the boy and saw Little One's face once again break into an excited grin. Then the boy turned and bound the last few steps towards the gate, opening it and waiting for Charlie.
While he continued towards the gate Charlie realized he enjoyed seeing Little One look so happy. He was acting as a child should instead of some frightened creature. And his laughter – it was almost infectious, as long as you were not the one being laughed at.
After stepping through the gate Charlie turned to watch Little One as he closed the door and then the man voiced what he had been thinking, "It is good to see you so happy Little One. I hope I will get to see more of it."
After the boy closed the gate, Little One grabbed a shocked Charlie's hand and bounced along beside the man as they set off down the street. Charlie allowed his mind to wander over the events that had happened in the garden.
'So you like talking to birds to do you?' He thought. 'I wonder if we can push this a little further? If I recall correctly …'
Charlie looked down at the boy beside him and inquired, "Since you have had such a successful day today how would you like to do something fun tomorrow, to celebrate? Would you like to go to the park?"
When Little One looked up to answer Charlie could read the response in the boy's eyes, even before he spoke, "Yes!"
8888888888888
At the Park – Next Day
Weekends at the park were family days so the park was always busy. On summer weekends it was even busier because more families wanted to get outdoors in the nice weather. Families could sit and picnic around the lake located in the center of the park. The lake was large enough that at one end there was a public beach but at the other end the lake was quieter and more naturalized. Along one side of the park there was an amusement area with children's rides, games and lots of vendors selling food. Across the lake from the amusement grounds there was a covered pavilion where people could sit and listen to live music or they could shelter from the sun or rain.
The park could be entered through one of four gates. It was through the gates nearest the naturalized section of the park that Charlie and Little One walked into the park and milled with the crowds. Charlie had no intention of moving towards the amusement area. With his sensitivity to people it would become too much for him, he would become overwhelmed by everyone's feelings. But it appeared the cheerful cacophony of music lured, not only Little One, but many other children as well. Once they reached the rides, games and booths the two roamed and watched people as they raced around and stood in lines for the rides.
One ride in particular attracted Little One's attention and he stood and watched as the vehicles moved up and down on their arms while they turned around a central base.
Noticing Little One's fascination, Charlie leaned down and whispered in the boy's ear, "I am sorry I cannot get you tickets for it, Little One."
"Its okay." The boy muttered distractedly. "Do you think it would feel like you're really flying?"
"I am not sure Little One. It might."
"Some day I am going to fly my own jet." Little One said with certainty.
"It is very good to set goals Little One. Just remember sometimes it takes a lot of courage to reach your goal."
They stood and watched as another group of children boarded the little jets and enjoyed their ride. Then Little One sighed and declared, "No, it wouldn't be like flying at all."
"Oh?" Charlie questioned in surprise.
"It doesn't go high enough."
"And you want to go higher?" The man said incredulously.
"Yes." Little One stated confidently, "I am going to touch the clouds."
After they spent some more time watching the rides and observing the game booths, Charlie purchased some food for a meal and extracted Little One from what was rapidly becoming a confusion of sights, sounds and emotions to the man. Charlie led the boy back to the quieter end of the lake, away from the noise of the rides and the crowds of families swimming and playing on the beach, where he found a spot under a tree for them to sit and eat.
After eating they cleaned up the wrappers and while Little One ran to throw the garbage away Charlie spotted his reason for bringing the boy to the park. He was uncertain how to proceed to the next step, should he be direct or should he be subtle about it. Looking around Charlie noticed Little One had been invited to play a game of soccer with some other children in the open grassy area. Charlie lay back and closed his eyes. This section of the park always calmed him, here he could relax and reconnect to parts of himself that he usually needed to keep closed. It had been a while, since before meeting Little One, when he last visited the park and done this.
Charlie did not know how long he meditated, but Little One's breathless return and drop to the grass brought the man back to present.
"Did you have a good time?" Charlie asked without opening his eyes.
"Hmm mmmm."
"Who won?"
When he did not get an immediate response Charlie opened his eyes to find Little One's eyes narrowed in thought, his head tilted to the side. "I'm not sure." The boy finally decided. "Everyone I guess. It was not a real game. We got all mixed up and kept switching sides. It was a kind of a free-for-all I guess." The boy ended with a shrug. "What have you been doing?"
"Listening." Charlie stated as he sat up.
Little One's brow furled as he looked around, "To what?"
"More to what's inside myself instead of what's outside."
"Oh."
Charlie could tell from his tone that Little One did not really understand, but the man wanted to push on so he asked, "What do you hear?"
The boy took a breath and was about to answer when he looked at Charlie a question in his eyes. Charlie gave a wry smile and said, "Yes, I mean with your ears."
With a nod Little One closed his eyes and started listing things, "… The crickets, the leaves in the wind, some birds … the music from the rides. I can also hear people shouting over at the beach but of course they are quieter because they are further away."
"Anything else?"
Little One stared at Charlie and after a few moments challenged, "You want to know if I can hear any voices from my friends don't you?"
Charlie gave a chuckle, "I should have know to just come out and ask. Yes, I mean can you hear any of your friends."
"Like I said, there are the crickets and grasshoppers in the grass and birds in all the trees. And …"
Charlie interrupted, looking around "Wait a minute you hear ALL those crickets? There must be hundreds of them chirping in the grass out there."
At Little One's nod Charlie question again, "You hear every single one of them! Individually?"
The boy nodded emphatically this time, "If I listen for each of them I can hear each one."
As he thought about all the 'noise' the child must be hearing Charlie reassessed what he was going to ask, "Maybe it's a good thing I'm teaching you how to filter out voices."
"Oh, that's easy to do with insects. There are so many of them and they are tiny and quiet most of the time, and they do not really have much to say. It's more … Look at me. I'm here. Look at me. I'm here." The boy chirped with a smile. "Birds … usually are always singing about the nice weather, how high they can fly, or about their eggs or their chicks. Mice … are quieter during the day, that's to be expected I guess, but at night they chatter on and on about the food they have found."
"And you hear this all the time."
"Ummm, not really any more, only when I listen for them, but before you found me … yeah, kinda. It got worse just before we met."
Amazed Charlie said, "Now I think I'm beginning to understand why you were in the state you were when I found you. When that noise, the voices, get too much for me I am able to move away, come to a place quiet like this, but for you … there is no where to go, is there? There will always be animals or insects around." Charlie paused and looked at the boy before continuing, "Now I am almost afraid to ask you to do this but … what else do you hear around us?"
"It's okay Charlie, I told you, you made most of the voices go away and you are helping me stop the others, filter I guess you call it." The boy said and then tried to clarify, "I guess I can still hear the voices if I have to, but if I don't listen, if I don't concentrate on them, then I can ignore them. It's only when there is one that REALLY wants to tell me something and it is very loud or is close to me. Then it stands out."
Little One then turned his head and focused on what he could hear. "Well, besides the crickets, grasshoppers and birds I told you about? … Those ducks over there are fighting over the grass … there are two rabbits eating dandelions and sunning themselves in the tall grass over there, they wont come out until the people are gone…. and that dog over by the field is barking because he is bored and thirsty, he also wants to chase the ball … That's it." With those last words Little One shrugged his shoulders.
"That is all? You can't hear those over there?" Charlie asked as he pointed to the large white birds on the island in the middle of the lake.
"Those what?" the boy questioned and then his eyes grew large. "Wow! Are those real swans?"
Little One looked to Charlie for confirmation and after the man's nod the boy turned his attention back to the birds. Charlie smiled at the boy's reaction but noticed his intense concentration and felt a build up of energy.
Eventually the boy said, "No, I can't hear anything. They are too far away."
"Can you call them over?"
Little One started to stand up but Charlie placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and shook his head, "Try it from here."
Confusion crossed Little One's face but he dropped back to the grass and opened his mouth. As the boy took a deep breath his eyes flicked to Charlie and he exhaled loudly.
"You don't mean with my voice do you?"
When Charlie shook his head indicating 'no,' Little One sat pensively before muttering solemnly, "I can't do it. They are too far away. If I can't hear them they can't hear me."
After Charlie said, "You just need to focus and use your ability." Little One gave him a cold, hard glare.
Charlie had to smile and chuckle at the look. "Okay, I take it you think you can not do this. Let's look at it another way then. Pretend you are in a large room, the one you told me the Chief likes to hold parties in, and you want to talk to someone on the other side of the room. What would you do?"
"I'd move closer to them and hope I can get them to look at me."
"Well you can't do that this time, there are too many people in the room, or in this case, a lake between you."
"Then I would shout at them… Only I would need to know their name, instead of shouting 'Hey!' and have everyone look at me. And I don't know their names yet." Little One said as he pointed towards the swans.
"So, we have ruled out two methods you could use, what else is there?"
"At school I used to …" Little One gave a secretive smile and his eye's flicked to the ducks at the water's edge and then up to Charlie. "Do you think ducks and swans talk to each other?" he asked.
Before Charlie could respond the boy turned back to the ducks and gave a few quacks to draw the bird's attention, and shortly, two of the birds turned and started swimming across the lake.
Little One then turned back to Charlie. "In school, when we were not supposed to talk, we would pass notes with messages to each other. Sometimes we had to pass a note to someone so it could be handed on to the person we wanted it to go to. I asked the ducks if they could pass on a message from me." He announced proudly and then his eyes narrowed. "That was allowed wasn't it?"
"I don't have much say now, do I? It has already been done." Charlie noted and gave a smile. "Although I had hoped YOU would call them over, not use this round about method. Still, if it works."
While they waited to see if they got a response, Charlie reminded himself that he had not intended the lesson to be about if the child could reach the swans from this distance but to see if the boy could focus his ability and speak with the swans when he had other distractions around him. That seemed pointless now that he had learned the boy was already filtering out 'noise' from insects just to hear another animal.
"They're coming! It worked!"
At Little One's excited whisper Charlie looked up to see the two swans slipping into the water. The man continued to shift his eyes between the boy and the birds and when the birds were about a third of the way across Little One's face suddenly broke into a huge smile. Little One started to rise and then his head darted around to look at Charlie. The boy bit his lower lip and sat down heavily with a sigh, his eyes returning to the swans. But Charlie could feel Little One vibrating with excitement.
The man realized he had just discovered the distance Little One's hearing extended and knowing he would not keep the child sitting much longer Charlie said, "Oh, go on! Just remember to bring me back a good story."
Released, Little One sprang from his seated position and raced to the bank waiting for the swans to arrive. Smiling to himself, Charlie lay back, closed his eyes and waited for the boy's return.
This time when the boy came back he was much quieter. When Charlie opened his eyes he observed the boy as he sat watching the swans swim down the lake towards the beach.
"Well?" Charlie questioned quietly.
"They are going down to see if anyone has any bread for them. Their names are Mina and Tandr. They arrived a couple of months ago, after they lost their eggs to some foxes at another spot. Mina says she likes it here and wants to make her nest on the island next year. It will be safe from foxes she says." Little One ended with a yawn and lay back on the grass with his eyes closed.
Sudden concern made Charlie sit up and take note, "Are you tired?" To which the boy gave a nod.
"Hungry?" After a pause, Little One gave a second slow nod.
Charlie knew that using Powers could exhaust a person. A person needed food and rest after they had extensively use of their Powers; the food helped to ground the person, as well as providing energy, and rest allowed them to recharge. But a simple thing like Mind Speaking should not exhaust someone. Then again, the boy was just learning to use this ability and Charlie had asked him to push, or reach, a fair distance several times today. All that, compounded with the excitement of the amusement park and the soccer game, had probably taken its toll on the child.
"Come on Little One. We need to get moving if we are to find some food. We will not find anything if we lie around here. Let's see what we can find during our walk home."
Charlie pushed himself to his feet and looked around. As he did he noticed two men approaching them from different tangents. The Huan Gang? Charlie wondered. This would be a perfect place for them to take a child he realized, as he looked around at all the children. Hiding his fears Charlie reached down and helped Little One to his feet and then continued to protectively hold the boy's hand as the two headed towards the gate they had entered from.
When they reached a bend in the path Charlie took a moment to glance back and saw the two men standing and talking. Charlie relaxed deciding he must have made a mistake, with those two anyways. They were still in Huan territory and children were still going missing.
Unaware of the agitation Charlie felt, Little One slid his hand from Charlie's grasp as they stepped through the gates and raced down the sidewalk stopping to look in store windows. Setting his fear aside Charlie began considering where he might acquire food supplies for their evening meal.
When he reached a corner cross walk Charlie realized the boy was no longer beside him. Panic struck again and the man whipped around tracing his route with his eyes. Relief washed over him as he saw Little One standing with his face pressed against a store window. Wondering what had caught Little One's attention, Charlie returned along his path, noting the store was a Hock Shop.
Stopping and leaning against the wall beside the window Charlie called, "Little One?"
"It's a real airplane." The boy whispered enthralled by what he was looking at. "Well, it's a model but it can really fly. I built a model at home but I didn't know some could fly."
Turning his head to glance in the window Charlie noticed a yellow remote controlled plane sitting among some other items being offered for sale. In the collection was also video camera. A few minutes later Charlie managed to entice Little One away, not realizing the camera had been intentionally placed in the window, by the owner of the store, with the hopes of capturing the images of the numerous thieves who constantly broke into the stores in the area.
