Da invited me to hunt with him today, I’m so excited!
Stalking is supposed to be fun so why do I feel so scared?
Oh, Oh No, Make it stop!
Running, running looking for a safe place. Somewhere I can hide from that awful sound. Running until I collapse. I curl around myself and cover my ears but I can still hear it.
It stopped, finally it stopped!
Exhausted I fall asleep.
Anxiety, worry, fear what is that? I hear da calling my name. Ok da is safe, he is close. He is really worried about me.
I crawl out of my hiding space and run to him. What … the worry seems stronger the closer I get to da. He sees me! Oh my, he seems really happy to see me! relief, joy, anger. He is happy to see me safe and sound. He doesn’t know why I ran…
I’m sorry da, I was afraid and I ran
What frightened you?
I don’t know. I just got scared
Remembering does not make it any easier. That was the first time I consciously sensed emotions from someone or something else. I had just seen my third winter.
At first, it happened very rarely unless it was a strong emotion but gradually I grew more sensitive.
By my 9th year, it was near-constant and I had started to hear voices as well as the emotions. I avoided people as much as possible because the complex thoughts and feelings hurt my head. I knew I had to protect myself or I would go crazy. I spent hours trying to figure out how to keep people out of my head.
Eventually, I learned how to build a wall around my mind and I was able to interact normally with my year mates and the rest of the village
