Lili had a quiet personality. She enjoyed being unique. She saw the world differently than others, yet she didn’t like others knowing it. Lili was not outspoken like her twin sister. Nor did she crave the social interaction that her sister enjoyed so much. It's not that Lili dislikes people, she loves being around people. She just doesn't want to feel like she has to interact with them. That’s why she enjoys eating alone during her lunch break at school. She finds a pleasant nook out of the way, reclusive although close enough to the social aspect of school that she can sit, observe, and watch the other children and young dragons play and interact.

            Lili also loved to draw, capturing the inspiring moments in her sketchbook. She loved finding the unnoticed moments of life. Moments when a classmate ensures their friend avoids a puddle, or when a child shares food with another. She liked to capture those brief moments that show the care and kindness people have for one another but often hide in societal facades.

            Lili was born with the talent, although it was her consistent drawing and perpetual sketching that turned her into the artist she had become. She sat and sketched out several scenes and happenings. Her lunch of bread, cheese and citrus sat off to the side, untouched. She focused on observing the world around her.

            Lili’s twin sister, Leila, also possessed some artistic talent, but she lacked the same passion for drawing. Though quite different in personalities, Lili considered Leila her closest friend. She loved spending time with her and their friend Ella. There was never a dull moment hanging out with Leila and Ella, although Lili’s one true, reliable best friend was her sketchbook.

            Her sketchbook was always there for her. It would never let her down. She knew when the paper might run out so she could purchase a new one. She could share her innermost thoughts with her sketchbook, and her sketchbook would not judge her one bit. It accepted her for all her faults, her hopes, and any emotion she liked to keep to herself. Through her drawing, Lili expressed her feelings without the anxiety of being rejected by someone else. Her sketchbook became a safe place for her.

            Lili looked for a subject or a moment to draw. She noticed a little lizard. She stared at the lizard sitting on a rock a few steps away from her. It moved its head back and forth with independently darting eyes, as it ensured its safety. It looked straight at Lili. The lizard sat there for a few moments, then did several little lizard pushups, basking in the sun's warmth. Still staring back at Lili, the lizard crawled even closer to her on its rock. Lili noticed the strange behavior. Lizards stay far away from any human. She figured the noises of the nearby school yard would have kept any timid lizards away, yet the lizard continued to stare at her despite the noisy schoolkids.

            She appreciated it. It gave her plenty of time to sketch it out. Even the little mister lizard deserved a portrait. Then another lizard crawled up and over the rock. Lili smiled. “Mr. Lizard has a friend! Or is it a Mrs. Lizard?” She thought. Then a third one poked its head over the side of the rock, surprising Lili. These little critters stay as far away from the obnoxious laughter and wild temperament of school yard children. Yet they braved the noise to introduce themselves to Lili.

            As someone who loved nature, she introduced herself, and talked of the weather, and asked them what life was like living in the woods and how they felt about the sun on the rock, as she sketched the scene.

            It caused her to think about some of her recent experiences, where wildlife seemed to manifest wherever she went. She had never seen so much wildlife before. It made her wonder if the vegetation in the hills lacked proper water, driving the animals closer to civilization. Yet every rainy season seems to bring more and more water every year. She wondered if growing older made her observation sharper. Maybe these animals have always been there. She just wasn’t aware of them before.

            She recalls a previous experience when walking in the woods and came across a family of moose. Normally, moose keep their distance from any civilization, but it surprised Lili to see a moose family roaming the woods behind her house. Moose are very territorial, especially around calves which made Lili nervous. She climbed a solitary rock to keep a safe distance and out of reach if the mama moose charged. Lili pulled out her sketchbook to get a quick drawing. The moose family eventually noticed her, although they did not act threatened. They approached the rock she sat on, as if to learn about her. It seemed as if they wanted to say “hello” and went on their way. It felt like the universe provided her with gifts of nature.

            These experiences seemed to back up her belief that there is something in this world that connects us to all living things. She couldn’t speak to the animals, yet she felt like she could communicate with them. Why not? People can easily train horses and dogs through their own forms of communication. What if a deeper form of communication existed that we haven’t learned about yet? She can’t explain it, or describe it, but she feels there is more to this world than what we see and observe. There is meaning to the things we can feel. There had to be an explanation for premonitions, or a feeling that connects people to others.

            It seemed like an odd belief, and her sister relentlessly made fun of her for holding onto such childish notions. Although recently, Leila even admitted there may be some credibility with this theory. When Lili and Leila were younger, they loved to talk about their special twin powers, where they knew each other’s thoughts. Leila had long since abandoned the notion of such an unseen connection, although Lili enjoyed holding onto such sentiments. It didn’t mean she was foolish, or any less aware of the world. She experienced several times when she couldn’t deny her premonitions. Lili embraced it, Leila questioned it, although she at least acknowledged the experiences happened.

            Suddenly, the lizard scurried away into a nearby bush as a stray playground ball came bouncing into Lili’s little shelter. No matter, Lili collected enough information, and could finish the drawing by memory. Lili picked up the ball. A young dragon laughing came running up to her.

            “Sorry about that. Our game got a little out of control!”

            “No worries, here you go!” Lili tossed the ball with a smile and watched as the young dragons and children engaged in their game.

            It wasn’t only nature that fascinated Lili. People equally fascinated her. Their behavior, what they think, how they act. “People watching” became a fun activity for her. She liked to observe people and imagine what they were thinking, their personalities and home life, and what they would say to each other. She often imagined entire conversations people had without hearing a word they said, solely based on their actions and reactions and her imagination.

            Lili watched the energetic crowd of young children, dragons, teenagers, and teachers. Lili closed her eyes and listened. She thought about her breathing, inhaling deeply, then slowly exhaling, and focused on listening. She called it “Seeing in the dark.”

            Submerged in darkness, she liked to push her ability to observe mentally by remembering what she saw and pushing her imagination to maintain the visuals in her mind. She became quite good at it, often predicting an individual’s movements, then opening her eyes to check her accuracy. With her eyes closed, she could see the playground in the imagination of her mind. The children and dragons chased each other. The older kids gathered in groups talking and laughing with several teachers in the corner watching over the school. Even though details were hazy, she conjured the images in her mind, tracking the people as she would hear them run back and forth.

            She also challenged herself to look around. With her eyes closed, she looked to her right and smiled as her mind could ‘see’ several of the teachers sitting across the other side of the play area. She looked to the left. Her mind could ‘see’ the roadway, trees and some of the other buildings of their town. She smiled. She took pride in her ability to ‘see’ things with her mind. Then she looked down at her lunch. Her mind instantly conjured images of the bread, the block of cheese, and her favorite, an orange. The colors of her lunch shone into her mind like an aura of existence.

            Then a strange thought entered her mind. As she looked at her lunch with her eyes closed, she thought, if she could visualize the world around her, and could imagine the children running around, she could use her powerful imagination to move inanimate objects that would not otherwise move. As she stared at her lovely yet untouched lunch in the imagination of her mind, she focused on her brilliant orange. The colors appeared so vivid in her mind. She held out her hand and imagined the orange rolling into her hand. She smiled with a little laughter, as it seemed like the orange rolled toward her. Her mind made it feel so real.

            Lost in her imagination, Lili didn’t even think how foolish she might look to an outsider watching her motion to her lunch as if casting a spell. She wouldn’t care, anyway. She loved every single moment of it. Lili felt a sense of control, knowing how well her mind envisioned the outside world.

            Suddenly a flash of a red color blocked what she could see. Surprised, she worried something was physically wrong with her. She held for a moment, eyes closed, and focused on her feelings. She felt fine. Then the flash of red came again. This time, it felt like the colors came from behind her. Still, with her eyes shut, she turned around, and in her mind, she could see a pulsating red orb. She knew she faced the wall of the school’s eating area. The flash of red pulsated again.

            Curious to figure out what happened in her mind, she focused on her thoughts and perception. Still with eyes closed, she tried to move closer to the flashing red object that her mind saw. The playground noises behind her faded away. As she got closer to the red flashes, she could see odd shapes and movements. They were a mixture of blurred colors, moving about, also giving attention to the pulses of red light she could see, almost circulating around it. She forced her mind to look closer.

            She wondered if she was ‘seeing’ this, or if her mind experienced a medical issue? Focusing, she could see a dark object. The dark object blocked something else trying to move. She could see the colors above and below. It looked like an hourglass shape. The shape below the object turned a deeper color red. The black object kept moving slightly, yet it would not go up or down. She still couldn’t tell what she saw, but it appeared to be blocking the two shapes. She physically reached out to see if her mind could feel the dark object.

            “Is the dark object supposed to flow through those shapes?” she thought. The lower shape seemed to exude more and more red energy. Physically, and mentally, she tried to push on the dark object with her finger, which resulted in what felt like a jolt of energy, almost painful. “That felt strange,” she thought, “why is my mind conjuring such images? And why does it seem I’m sensing pain?” Lili thought about opening her eyes and ignoring it.

            She wondered if she witnessed the connection she believed existed throughout life? She had to try; maybe the images in her mind contained some sort of meaning. Lili reached out again to move the object with her mind. She couldn’t hold it despite her mind trying to imagine that very action. It almost felt… slippery? By now, the shape below pulsated shades of deep red, jittering back and forth. It seemed in great distress. She could sense the urgency the dark object emitted on the visual shape below. Her heart rate increased. Her mind told her to “remove the object”, “remove the object”. “I can’t, it’s too slippery,” she thought to herself. She lowered her hand for a moment. She panicked. Again, she wondered if something was wrong with her mind? “If I don’t fix this, will I die?” She thought. Her stomach sank as the pulsing red turned into a rapid strobing flash. Lili reached out again but couldn’t grasp the shape. She only felt air. She tried again and again. Yet nothing changed.

            Then she held up her hand and focused. She started to ‘see’ her hand in the colors. Then, holding two fingers tightly with her thumb, she reached out to the black object, focusing on her energy. Increasing the pressure between her fingers and thumb, she saw the colors in her hand intensify. Letting the pressure take over, she flicked her two fingers with as much force as she could. She could feel the energy of her fingers tap on the black object. The dark object dissipated like a handful of sand into the wind. The red pulsating shapes faded and filled with calm colors and…

            “YAAAAYYYYYY!”

            An applause of children broke Lili’s concentration, and she opened her eyes. She stared at the wall a mere distance from her face. Giving attention to the noises coming from inside the building, she ran to the doorway of the eating area. She saw a large group huddled around one young boy. His face looked unnaturally blue, although it slowly regained color. She took a few steps closer to listen in.

            An odd feeling passed through Lili as she heard what they talked about. The young boy choked on a piece of meat. The other children tried to get the attention of one of their teachers. By the time an adult arrived, the boy had coughed out the meat that blocked his airway.

            Or was it pushed out?
            The discovery shocked Lili. She thought through her feelings, looking for an explanation. It’s impossible that her mind controlled the situation, but that’s what it seemed like. She shook her head. “That could never happen!” she thought. Her mind continued to look for answers. Subconsciously, she must have heard the commotion and conjured the images in her mind. Isn’t that what she likes to do? Wasn’t that the goal of “Seeing in the dark”? That must have been it. Her mind must have heard the commotion, and her imagination conjured the scene in her mind’s eye as the events took place. It’s that simple. It just seemed odd that her fingers felt the object.

            That’s when she realized she held something in her hand. She slowly looked down. In her hand, she held a bright, round, fresh orange.