Chapter Four: Telepathic Lessons
I had my first telepathic lesson at one week old. Most telepathic owlets didn't start before they were at least two weeks of age.
"Alright Mesmo, are you ready?" My da asked aloud. I nodded impatiently and enthusiastically.
"We are going to start with mind reading. Have you ever attempted mind reading before?" I can't say I had. I mean I knew I was able to, but I just didn't know how. "No da, I haven't" I looked down at my talons.
"Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of." He lifted up my head with his starboard wing. "Mind reading is the only telepathic ability that doesn't come naturally, even for you."
"Really?" I looked at him with disbelieving eyes.
"Yes and so does memory reading. Telepathic speech comes naturally at around a week and mind control at three weeks. But you have already tapped into telepathic speech at birth and mind control at one week."
"So I did everything early. But why can't I read minds yet? Is it anything like reading a book?"
"No Mesmo, it is very different. Our top Telepathic Researchers can't explain it. Mind and memory reading has to be taught. Some things come naturally and some things just don't. I'm sure that if it didn't have to be learned you would have picked up on it by now."
"I see... But don't telepathic speech and mind control also have to be taught?"
"I cannot teach those to abilities to you, for you already know how to use them. I can only help you practice them."
"Oh."
"Enough of that. Let's get on with it then."- I nodded to my da's telepathic notion.
"Flinty. Now, let's begin with mind reading. It is important to remember that if you don't get it right on the first go to keep trying. First close your eyes and try to sense my mind." I shut my eyes tight and felt something in the room that I had not felt before. It was like a complex bundle of owl thoughts, emotions, memories and functions.
"What is it da?" I asked aloud.
"That is my brain Mesmo" I was literally mesmerized.
"I can feel it!" I shrieked with my eyes still closed.
"Good. Now, see if you can hear what I am thinking."
I shut my eyes even harder and focused the most that I ever had in my very brief recent owl life. All of a sudden I heard something emitting from my da's brain. It was similar to his tele-voice but somewhat different. At this moment I realized that mind reading is experiencing what another owl is thinking in his mind at the moment and I could only hear my parents voice in my mind because they were speaking telepathically voluntarily. Mind reading is involuntary reading of another owl's mind. At fist what he thought sounded like mumbling, but then he repeated it and I read his mind clearly, ~"Mesmo, can you hear me now? How do I sound?"~
-"Yes, I can hear you da."- I opened my eyes and spoke telepathically directly to his brain. –"You sound a little different though."-
-"Ah, I can hear your tele-voice very clearly now Mesmo."- My da spoke back.
-"Was it any different before?"-
-"Why yes. You see now that you've learnt to sense my mind you are able to speak directly into my brain making your speech very clear. Before you were only throwing telepathic speech into the air. You will need to speak into the mind of a non-telepathic owl in order for them to hear as they cannot pick up on telepathic brain waves."-
-"Really? I thought all owls were telepathic."- I churred out loud.
-"Absolutely not!"- My da also churred a bit. -"Not all owls are as gifted as we are. Only the owls inside Tele Town possess telepathy. That's who the Cortex Silencers watch out for."-
-"Oh, I understand"- What I didn't tell my da was that I had suddenly grown a desire to meet one of these non-telepaths.
-"Good, let's carry on. This time I'm going to think a picture in my mind. Tell me what it is."-
I shut my eyes and focused on his mind again. At first glance it looked like a blurry brown blob with a tail, but a few seconds later I saw a mouse.
"I'TS A MOUSE" I cried and opened my eyes.
"Whoa, easy there son. Yes, precisely. I'm going to think of a sequence of images now. Tell me what is happening."
I nodded and went into mind reading position for the third time. I saw the mouse again and nearly blurted it out before I saw it being snatched up by an owl slightly larger than my da. As I looked closer at the owl I recognized her face.
"It's mum catching a mouse isn't it?" I said with my eyes wide open. Da indicated yes with his head and then smiled.
The next three weeks my da helped me practice mind reading, telepathic speech and mind control using live insects, mice and small birds in which time I had my first molting ceremony. I practiced on my own a lot too.