Strange Girl in a Strange Place. Part 1

“Diana!”. She felt a stillness she hid in the strange room. Felt the anticipation of getting caught but she didn’t worry much. She had found a good hiding spot. He had been looking for her a while now. “Diana, it’s Dad. You can come out now.” She was tempted to come out until she remembered he rules: Find a good hiding spot and stay there until her said the safe word.

She hid on top of a shelf, high enough that you couldn’t see her for a certain angle. Only problem was she could barely see out from there. She heard feet shuffling, then a loud thud before the silence continued on. Then finally, she heard her father voice again. “Come on out, Little Bit.” Diana smiled to herself and climbed down. She peeked out to see her father in the middle of the empty room. “Good spot, huh?”

Her father helped her climbed down and hugged her tightly. “It was a great spot, sweetie. I didn’t think I would find you by myself.” Diana looked around the dark room. It didn’t look like anything for her house but it felt familiar. She looked into her father’s face. Even with his dark complexion, she saw that he was covered in dust and dirt and his large brown eyes seemed anxious instead of relaxed as they usually did.

“Now, remember, Di, you always have to-” She woke with a shock. It didn’t make a different. She’s never heard the end of the sentences before but it always stung when she woke up. Diana open her eyes and remembered where she really was. She was in her room, surrounded by pictures, books and massive heaps of clothes. Though the ceiling fan seemed closer than usual.; probably because it was. “Oh, crap, not again!” Without warning, She collapsed into her bed faster and harder than expected, causing the bed to groan in protest. “Ow!” She agreed loudly. To add insult to literal injury, her alarm clock stared the awful truth at her. “I had 15 minutes left. Jerk!”. She slammed it aside, rolling over to seize a few moments of peace when she heard a voice calling her to breakfast. “Be right there, Mom!” She rolled out of bed. “Well, the hits just keep on coming, don’t they?”

As Diana came down the hall towards the kitchen, she passed by the usual pictures: pictures of past recitals, old family and past vacations. None of these pictures were new but there was one that always caused her to linger. It was one of her and her parents at a someone’s wedding, she was 9 and wore a green sundress with her hair in braids, her mother likewise in a sundress but a blue one and her father dressed in blue to match. The faces all smiled back at her as if someone had mentioned a special joke only the three of them knew; she remembered the sun shining brightly and a warm breeze blowing. She smiled bittersweetly at the plaque directly below the picture, the one say “In memory of Robert Gallagher. Born May 9, 1964, Missing: August 17, 2006. Loving father, husband and friend.” She was 16 now and the pain reared it ugly head briefly and only occasionally. She sighed. “What was I supposed to remember, Dad?” she said, knowing the picture wouldn’t talk back. “What do you say, Kiddo?” Her mother yelled. “Nothing, Mom. Just talking to myself.”

Her mother was already sitting at the kitchen island with her breakfast made when she entered. “Coffee’s done.” “Aw, thank you! Had a rough night.” She turned her back toward her mother, getting her cup and bowl. “Really?” Her mother said, “What happened?”

Diana braced herself involuntarily. She had to figure out a story fast; one that wasn’t a lie but just didn’t highlight the whole truth. “Um, crazy dreams again. Nothing new.” Diana started to pour her coffee. “Nothing new? Not even screaming and crashing into your bed so hard that I thought that you’d fall into the basement? Hmm.” Diana turned to her mother, who was smiling at her from above her coffee cup.

There was a lot of things people loved about Mara Gallagher. Her clear eyes that saw through everything and everyone, the strength she exudes, her loyalty. Her lack of tact, however, was always a more acquired taste. Diana tried to laugh it off, putting on a wry smile and said “Crashing into the bed doesn’t count as something. I didn’t break the bed frame again so that’s gotta count for something.”

Mara gave her full attention to Diana. “What was the dream and how bad was it?” Diana sighed and decided to get settled in for the upcoming lecture. “It was the one with me hiding from Dad again and it wasn’t that bad. Honestly, I caught myself in time before I could have drifted into the ceiling fan and-”

“Whoa,” Mara interrupted with a start. “How close were you from the ceiling fan?”

“Um, not that close. Just about like a foot, foot and a half-

“Diana!”

“About 6 inches.” Diana blurted out, eyes closed with frustration. This wasn’t going as well as she‘d hoped.

She reopened her eyes to see Mara with the same expression, leaned forward on the countertop. “Di, your powers are progressing faster than we expected. 2 years ago, you couldn’t move a shoe more than 5 feet, now you’re floating in your sleep.” Mara stood up and walked over to Di. “Kiddo…I don’t have the training to teach you, not the way that you need it.” “What you’ve taught me has worked so far. Everything is fine.” They stood in the kitchen facing each other, silently mapping out their valid argument for the other. This wasn’t their first discussion about her gifts.

Before Diana started school, her parents sat her down and told her the truth: that instead of being immigrants from another country, they were actually from another planet named Einon. Her father always joked that they took the term “Illegal aliens” to a whole new level. They didn’t tell her a lot about the home world other than they left when Di was 3 to start a new life and that they met at an academy for gifted students.

They also warned her that as she got older, she would have an advance telekinesis, moving things with her mind and that they would help her control it. Di , however, was never sure when or where the “advance” part of her gift would kick in. In her experiences, it seemed like a misnomer, like the time when she broke 3 windows in the living (she has a cold) to accidentally lodging a toothbrush in a wall in the bathroom (she was aimed for the trashcan), to breaking her bed frame and a lava lamp (caused the same offending dream of she had that morning). Mara had shown Di some techniques to control the telekinesis but it didn’t as she truly needed. They both knew they would have to go back to Einon and it was only a matter of time.