Seven Point Eight The First Chronicle - By Marie A. Harbon Page 0,37

controlled me and gave me pleasure.

As I got older, I felt my power intensify. I began to wonder what would happen if one day, I got so angry and carried out an incredibly destructive act that I could never forgive myself for. Hopefully that day would never arrive.

I had a more compassionate side too. If people felt afraid and required courage, or felt despair and needed hope, I had the ability to send positive emotions to heal them. Only those special to me or who deserved my help received this gift. I chose to punish those who hurt me. This light within gave me hope I may not turn out to be evil. So this became my ethos, and I felt comfortable with the status quo again.

Focusing on enjoying life once more renewed my confidence. Very early in June 1953, Queen Elizabeth was crowned officially and we gathered around our new television, a fine piece of technology in a wooden cabinet. It took a few minutes for it to warm up, so the picture didn’t come on straightaway and sometimes father had to move the aerial around the parlour to get a good signal. It was the first time anyone had seen royalty being crowned, so we were entranced.

A wonderful street party followed, and father helped the neighbours take out their tables and place them end to end in the road. Bunting hung everywhere, we all wore party hats, and ate sandwiches, cakes, and crisps. I helped my mother tip the crisps into a large bowl and we twisted open the little packets of salt, sprinkling it all over to flavour them. That day formed happy memories for me.

Annie and I had a penchant for ‘Journey into Space’ too, a wireless programme which scared children because of its creepy sound effects and spooky music. It was set in the future of 1965 and related a tale about man’s conquest of the moon. We were enthralled by this half hour programme, which always ended with a cliff-hanger. The thought of exploring made me feel wistful and adventurous.

“One day, I want to go into space,” I declared.

No one ever took me seriously.

My happiness didn’t last forever though. Annie and her family moved house, they went to live in a town much further west, far away from me. I could still write to her but it wasn’t the same, and I became overcome with loneliness and emptiness in my heart.

At that low point in my life, I found a new ability. One night, I found myself staring back at my own body on the bed, from the other side of the room. I realised I could move around my bedroom, completely free of my body and even watch my parents sleep in the next room. Maybe the desire to escape my sad and lonely life gave me some sort of incentive to master this skill as easy as learning to breathe, yet it seemed so natural and automatic. Then it occurred to me I could see my friend again.

I missed Annie so much that one afternoon, I suddenly found myself standing in front of her. She didn’t see me but I knew I was really there. Annie looked a little older, and she wore her hair short and wavy now. Dolls and teddy bears filled her small bedroom, and when I peered through the window, I saw rows and rows of houses, with children playing hopscotch or skipping games outside. After a while, I came back home because I felt tired.

This happened again, and I secretly made repeat visits to my old friend. I began to think it was just a dream but then, in a letter, she sent some photographs of her bedroom, her new friends, and the street on which she lived. It all looked exactly like what I saw when I visited her. My strange travels were real after all.

I started to make trips to numerous places, I don’t know where but I found tranquil retreats in the mountains, or on a beautiful beach with palm trees. To help me remember, I drew some vivid pictures, although I wasn’t very artistic. Mother asked about them and I just told her they were special places. In secret, I looked in my books about the world and found some of the places I drew. One drawing looked like a little village in the Alps, and others looked like beaches in the Caribbean. I also found some temples in China and Malaysia. I