What Goes Unseen

I always felt a strange presence surrounding me as a child, as if there was a hidden world that only I could sense. Yet I never fully saw it, not until I turned twelve. The first time it happened, we were outside the classroom with our science teacher, who was teaching us about plants at the time. Being gripped by boredom while standing at the back of the class, I soon felt myself drift away into nothingness. It was as if I had sprialled through infinity in a second.

 

I suddenly found myself in a playground that was miles away from my school, but there was barely anyone there except for a small group of girls. One of them ran up to me and introduced herself as Anisha before asking me to join her and her friends.

“You’re new here, aren’t you?” Anisha asked.

“Where exactly is ‘here?’” I asked back. 

I looked around at the silence around me. There was a sense of calm that saturated the air, the likes of which I had never experienced before.

“None of us really know, but I’m sure you’ll love it here.”

I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes. It was as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. The bullying at school, my parents’ arguments, they all dispersed into the soft breeze. I joined the other girls and played with them until the sun began to sink in the distance. Anisha looked at me and said it was time to leave. Suddenly, there were soft flashes from the edges of the park. Adults were appearing, and the children began to run towards them.

“That’s my mom,” Anisha said, pointing at the woman who approached us.

Anisha’s mom welcomed me with a smile. “I see you’re new here. I’m glad this friend group is growing.” But she also urged me: “Best you hurry, though. Your parents must be worried sick.”

I nodded and smiled before sprinting into the distance. Infinity took me once more, and I appeared before my house a second later. Cops were already at the scene, and my parents ran towards me the moment our eyes met. They asked me where I had been for so long, and I told them I was playing with some friends at the playground. The police didn’t believe me; they said they combed through all the playgrounds in our town.

I didn’t know what else to say. I certainly couldn’t tell them about my abilities; no one would believe me, not even my parents. Following that incident, I was grounded for two weeks, trapped to wander the two places I hated the most. The bullying only got worse afterward as some children called me a ‘runaway’. My parents were no better: even though they didn’t pick on me, they never listened to anything I said. All they cared for was their own disagreements.

A month later, my parents and I were at a relative’s wedding when I disappeared again. I was at that same park once more, and Anisha and the others were already there. I feared being grounded again, but Anisha said that, since I was already at the park, I wouldn’t really be able to leave until I was truly comfortable. She extended her hand towards me; I smiled and accepted her invitation. We spent the evening the same way we did the other day, and before we knew it, the sun was disappearing into the horizon once more.

Anisha’s mom greeted us once again. Kneeling beside me, she stroked my head and gave a reassuring smile. “I’m sorry about everything, but they’ll come to their senses soon, you’ll see,” she said before turning to Anisha and wrapping one arm around her. “I know it took me some time…”

I left the park with some hope stirring in my heart, but only to return to my distraught parents who wouldn’t listen to a word I’d say. I couldn’t completely blame them either, given my secret. But this was always the case even before my unseen travels. No answer was good enough.

It was not long before this happened again a third time, and by then, they were too exhausted to care. My parents had me homeschooled since then. They both soon adjusted their schedules to meet my needs, and somehow it seemed to bring us a bit closer. They surprisingly became more understanding as they spent more time with me in person. And then came the day that I disappeared right in front of Mom while we were watching a movie that she loved but I found boring. But things were different that time. At the end of the day at the park, Mom suddenly appeared beside the other parents. Anisha’s mom explained to her what was happening, and Mom’s eyes were soon flooded.

I had never experienced a tighter hug from Mom before that day. Strangely enough, after that, I was able to control whenever I could travel to the unseen world; Mom and I introduced Dad to it as well. Things were beginning to look brighter, just as Anisha’s mom had promised.