the telepath

Keith. Amanda's twin, Lance's friend, Alora's man... and my very first character.

A years' old sketch I picked up from the pile and finished despite years' old proportions because he was too pretty not to. I think he might've been prettier before, but it's finished... so.

And since it seems weird not to have the writing anymore, here's an older and longer-than-drabble-length one...

Keith had always known his reality was different. People commenting on his lack of focus had really been his first clue. As a child, he'd been subjected to a seemingly endless battery of tests by well-meaning people. Teachers suspecting attention disorders, doctors fearing autism... all proven false time and time again, to the bafflement of many.

Scientific minds needed the comfort of a known cause; they needed to find the logical reason that the sweet little boy would drift endlessly, in his own little world, only to flash into sudden hyperawareness... the depth and the infinite understanding in his eyes threatening to swallow them whole.

His parents had not been so black and white. To his parents and his sister, alone, the child sought to share his secrets. Whispering of things he shouldn't know, jewels of knowledge sifted out of the depths in his mind.

To them, and only them, he spoke of the haze he lived in. The fact that others expected him to focus, more a clue of their lack of understanding than anything. How would one focus on something so far away?

He was always separate, but also surrounded. Telepathy, as he'd eventually come to realize it was, created an opaque wall separating him from 'reality'.

Like flying over clouds, he'd most successfully described it. The world below, populated by so many that took it for granted, was often distorted and only visible in random spurts. He could break through the ever-present barrier and walk with his people, but the need to soar was strong and the skies beckoned constantly.

The clouds themselves were beautiful. The view a unique gift. The things he saw and heard in their depths only hints of the world they contained. Unfortunately, to stay for prolonged periods in the clouds provided by telepathy was to become overwhelmed. The thoughts and feeling and essence of others confusing, blinding him to himself, blinding him to reality... threatening to drown him if he didn't surface to breathe.

Thus, the safest place, the place he most frequented, was above. Maintaining a sense of the various planes of existence, but drifting away from them. Attention divided. Always unfocused.

Even so, the constant presence was reassuring. The thoughts of others there to buffer him.

Keith Moray © Amber Shelton (me!)
Bic .5mm mechanical pencil on printer paper