PECULIAR LIZ
By Virginia Dare
Even as a small child there was something about Elizabeth. She had a presence, an aura. Elizabeth didn’t realize she was “different”. She had no idea she wasn’t like everyone else. Until she was ten and the kids at school started calling her peculiar. The name “Peculiar Liz” stuck and though it was meant to upset her, she never minded. Being peculiar sounded like fun.
If they only knew just how peculiar she was. When someone stood too close to her, she would feel what they felt. Sometimes she could hear their thoughts, well she could hear them anytime she “let them in” She learned early on that you could know too much about a person and it was often unpleasant. When Elizabeth read anything it was in her mind forever. She could see the printed page as if the book was right in front of her. She was aware that this wasn’t something everyone could do.
Her mother always told her she found her in a trash can in the alleyway. It was supposed to be a joke but Elizabeth knew it was the truth, well maybe not a trash can but somewhere. They never bonded, Elizabeth never felt as if she belonged with her mother. Her father had left her for another woman and when Nora found the infant, she used her to try and get him back. It didn’t work, the man didn’t believe her, knew she hadn’t been pregnant and was not interested in returning. Elizabeth knew that Nora didn’t love her but now she was stuck with her. It was too late to take her to the police as an abandoned baby. Too many people thought Elizabeth was hers. All this information flew into Elizabeth’s head when she was ten. She stood too close to her mother when the woman was angry with her and it was all there. See, too much information but there was nothing she could do to stop it flooding her mind. Now she wondered who she really was. She knew she didn’t belong here, this world felt alien to her, these people were not her people.
When she was fourteen, she watched a movie about a girl who could move things with her mind. She discovered she could do that too, quite by accident. Her mother scolded her one afternoon and sent her to her room. Liz was angry and as she passed the door to her room it slammed hard behind her.
“Elizabeth Ann did you just slam your door?” her mother called out angrily.
Silly question when there’s just two of us in the house but actually no I didn’t, but I guess I did. Elizabeth thought. She was confused but she answered that it was an accident and apologized. That was when she discovered she could do what that girl in the movie did. She laid on her bed and turned the tv on without touching anything. She pulled her book from her backpack and opened to the page she needed without laying a hand on it.
Elizabeth began wondering what else she could do. The next time one of the bullies at school tried to trip her he felt someone punch him in the stomach and doubled over. Elizabeth smiled sweetly and continued on her way. She was beginning to feel powerful. She was beginning to believe that she could do anything. But she knew she must learn to control it, to use it too much would draw attention and that would be very bad. She had no idea how she knew it, it was as if it was the thought came from somewhere outside herself.
Ms. Neila stood in the doorway to her classroom and shook her head. “Be careful, Elizabeth.” Ms. Neila’s mouth never moved, but it was her voice, clear as a bell.
Okay so this is what insanity feels like. She laughed out loud and moved with the crowds to her next class. Sitting in her math class, which was never a challenge for her, she thought again about controlling her powers. People with “powers” often disappeared in this world, never to be heard from again. She didn’t know how she knew that she just did. It occurred to her that was how knew most things, they were just there.
For example, she knew the answers to all the math problems on the board, though she never let on. It was dangerous to be too smart. How did she know THAT? She just knew it. One day a man was asking for directions and Elizabeth told him how to find the address he was looking for. Her mother looked at her with suspicion, “Since when do you speak Spanish?”
Elizabeth had no idea they had been speaking Spanish but she knew better than to admit it, so she just shrugged. “TV and subway signs.” Her mother said no more about it but Elizabeth knew she frightened her mother.
It was a few weeks later when she “heard” a girl crying in the utility closet. She opened the door to find one of the bigger boys about to force himself on a girl and she pulled him out of the room and flung him across the hallway where he hit the wall. She never touched him. He had no idea what happened. He thought the girl did it, he didn’t even notice Elizabeth.
Elizabeth turned and found Ms. Neila standing behind her. “Come with me, Elizabeth.” She said but once again, she never said a word. Elizabeth followed her outside the school, and they sat at the picnic table.
This time when Ms. Neila spoke, she did it out loud. “You’ve heard me in your mind, haven’t you, Elizabeth?”
“Yes.” She answered quietly, looking at her hands.
“Look at me, Elizabeth.” Ms. Neila smiled. “Do you sometimes feel like there’s something different about you? That you can do things the others can’t?”
“Yes.” Elizabeth said softly. “I am different.”
Ms. Neila smiled. “That you are. We aren’t from this world.”
Okay, crazy talk! Elizabeth thought.
“No, honey, it’s not crazy talk. See I know what you’re thinking too.” She sighed. “Your real family will be here soon. I have been searching for you for a long time, but until you started using your powers I couldn’t find you. I was drawn here and I knew one of these children was you, but until you punched that boy in the hallway, I didn’t know it was you. Mind you, I heard the kids calling you peculiar so I had a hunch it was you. We’re going to take you home with us, today.”
“This is nuts.” Elizabeth said.
Ms. Niela laughed. “No, I’m not kidnapping you. You know the truth. Just let your mind find it. You’ll know your parents when you see them. That memory is there too.”
“What if I want to stay here? I don’t know anything about this other place.”
“You must return home for a time, you need training. Then perhaps you can join our colony here on Earth. We are hoping to teach these beings that they are wasting their resources and using only a small fraction of their powers. They are afraid whenever they see someone with gifts such as mind melding and such, as you have discovered. Now let’s get that note written for your “mother” and we’ll be on our way.”
Liz poked around Ms. Neila’s mind. Ms. Neila smiled and Liz heard her thoughts. “Be careful there Elizabeth, you need to respect the privacy of others. That’s one of the many reasons you must return home. That and your desire to see if you can get away with murder.”
Liz gasped. “How?”
“You think very loudly when you get excited. It was that idea that caused me to expedite your return home.”
Liz wrote the letter saying she was going to California to pursue a career in show business. It made her laugh. Her savings was withdrawn from the bank and the proper paperwork found its way into a teller’s drawer.
“Are they coming in a spaceship?” she asked Ms. Niela.
“No, we don’t do that. You watch Star Trek, we transport in a way similar to that. It’s how you got lost. Nobody knew you were hiding in one of the containers being sent to our colony. By the time they knew to look for you, it was too late. You had wandered off.”
Just then she felt something strange and mere seconds later she was standing in front of a group of people in a strange room unlike any she had ever seen. Ms. Niela was right, she did recognize her parents, and her siblings. For the very first time in her whole life, Liz didn’t feel peculiar. She was where she belonged. Still, she would have liked to try that murder thing.
If they only knew just how peculiar she was. When someone stood too close to her, she would feel what they felt. Sometimes she could hear their thoughts, well she could hear them anytime she “let them in” She learned early on that you could know too much about a person and it was often unpleasant. When Elizabeth read anything it was in her mind forever. She could see the printed page as if the book was right in front of her. She was aware that this wasn’t something everyone could do.
Her mother always told her she found her in a trash can in the alleyway. It was supposed to be a joke but Elizabeth knew it was the truth, well maybe not a trash can but somewhere. They never bonded, Elizabeth never felt as if she belonged with her mother. Her father had left her for another woman and when Nora found the infant, she used her to try and get him back. It didn’t work, the man didn’t believe her, knew she hadn’t been pregnant and was not interested in returning. Elizabeth knew that Nora didn’t love her but now she was stuck with her. It was too late to take her to the police as an abandoned baby. Too many people thought Elizabeth was hers. All this information flew into Elizabeth’s head when she was ten. She stood too close to her mother when the woman was angry with her and it was all there. See, too much information but there was nothing she could do to stop it flooding her mind. Now she wondered who she really was. She knew she didn’t belong here, this world felt alien to her, these people were not her people.
When she was fourteen, she watched a movie about a girl who could move things with her mind. She discovered she could do that too, quite by accident. Her mother scolded her one afternoon and sent her to her room. Liz was angry and as she passed the door to her room it slammed hard behind her.
“Elizabeth Ann did you just slam your door?” her mother called out angrily.
Silly question when there’s just two of us in the house but actually no I didn’t, but I guess I did. Elizabeth thought. She was confused but she answered that it was an accident and apologized. That was when she discovered she could do what that girl in the movie did. She laid on her bed and turned the tv on without touching anything. She pulled her book from her backpack and opened to the page she needed without laying a hand on it.
Elizabeth began wondering what else she could do. The next time one of the bullies at school tried to trip her he felt someone punch him in the stomach and doubled over. Elizabeth smiled sweetly and continued on her way. She was beginning to feel powerful. She was beginning to believe that she could do anything. But she knew she must learn to control it, to use it too much would draw attention and that would be very bad. She had no idea how she knew it, it was as if it was the thought came from somewhere outside herself.
Ms. Neila stood in the doorway to her classroom and shook her head. “Be careful, Elizabeth.” Ms. Neila’s mouth never moved, but it was her voice, clear as a bell.
Okay so this is what insanity feels like. She laughed out loud and moved with the crowds to her next class. Sitting in her math class, which was never a challenge for her, she thought again about controlling her powers. People with “powers” often disappeared in this world, never to be heard from again. She didn’t know how she knew that she just did. It occurred to her that was how knew most things, they were just there.
For example, she knew the answers to all the math problems on the board, though she never let on. It was dangerous to be too smart. How did she know THAT? She just knew it. One day a man was asking for directions and Elizabeth told him how to find the address he was looking for. Her mother looked at her with suspicion, “Since when do you speak Spanish?”
Elizabeth had no idea they had been speaking Spanish but she knew better than to admit it, so she just shrugged. “TV and subway signs.” Her mother said no more about it but Elizabeth knew she frightened her mother.
It was a few weeks later when she “heard” a girl crying in the utility closet. She opened the door to find one of the bigger boys about to force himself on a girl and she pulled him out of the room and flung him across the hallway where he hit the wall. She never touched him. He had no idea what happened. He thought the girl did it, he didn’t even notice Elizabeth.
Elizabeth turned and found Ms. Neila standing behind her. “Come with me, Elizabeth.” She said but once again, she never said a word. Elizabeth followed her outside the school, and they sat at the picnic table.
This time when Ms. Neila spoke, she did it out loud. “You’ve heard me in your mind, haven’t you, Elizabeth?”
“Yes.” She answered quietly, looking at her hands.
“Look at me, Elizabeth.” Ms. Neila smiled. “Do you sometimes feel like there’s something different about you? That you can do things the others can’t?”
“Yes.” Elizabeth said softly. “I am different.”
Ms. Neila smiled. “That you are. We aren’t from this world.”
Okay, crazy talk! Elizabeth thought.
“No, honey, it’s not crazy talk. See I know what you’re thinking too.” She sighed. “Your real family will be here soon. I have been searching for you for a long time, but until you started using your powers I couldn’t find you. I was drawn here and I knew one of these children was you, but until you punched that boy in the hallway, I didn’t know it was you. Mind you, I heard the kids calling you peculiar so I had a hunch it was you. We’re going to take you home with us, today.”
“This is nuts.” Elizabeth said.
Ms. Niela laughed. “No, I’m not kidnapping you. You know the truth. Just let your mind find it. You’ll know your parents when you see them. That memory is there too.”
“What if I want to stay here? I don’t know anything about this other place.”
“You must return home for a time, you need training. Then perhaps you can join our colony here on Earth. We are hoping to teach these beings that they are wasting their resources and using only a small fraction of their powers. They are afraid whenever they see someone with gifts such as mind melding and such, as you have discovered. Now let’s get that note written for your “mother” and we’ll be on our way.”
Liz poked around Ms. Neila’s mind. Ms. Neila smiled and Liz heard her thoughts. “Be careful there Elizabeth, you need to respect the privacy of others. That’s one of the many reasons you must return home. That and your desire to see if you can get away with murder.”
Liz gasped. “How?”
“You think very loudly when you get excited. It was that idea that caused me to expedite your return home.”
Liz wrote the letter saying she was going to California to pursue a career in show business. It made her laugh. Her savings was withdrawn from the bank and the proper paperwork found its way into a teller’s drawer.
“Are they coming in a spaceship?” she asked Ms. Niela.
“No, we don’t do that. You watch Star Trek, we transport in a way similar to that. It’s how you got lost. Nobody knew you were hiding in one of the containers being sent to our colony. By the time they knew to look for you, it was too late. You had wandered off.”
Just then she felt something strange and mere seconds later she was standing in front of a group of people in a strange room unlike any she had ever seen. Ms. Niela was right, she did recognize her parents, and her siblings. For the very first time in her whole life, Liz didn’t feel peculiar. She was where she belonged. Still, she would have liked to try that murder thing.