“Olivia,” she said, smiling, “you’ve returned to this world. How do you feel?”
“I feel great,” I said. “My back is a little sore from sleeping on a rock, but other than that, I feel fine.” As I stood looking at Elsa, I began to see some of the same colors I had from the night before. Elsa was gently giving off waves of yellow and orange as she stood before me.
“You’re giving off colors again,” I said.
As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt a rush of warmth invade my body. It was the feeling of pleasure, but the feeling was not my own. It belonged to Elsa. “I can feel your pleasure, too,” I said, shaking my head. “Is that what you hoped would happen?” Again, a rush of warmth ran through me. “You’re pleased. I can tell.”
“I am pleased,” she responded, rising from the bench to stretch. “How much more you can do with your gift remains to be seen. We’re going to work on it a bit, and then I am going to introduce you to a group of people who are very interested in meeting you. They’d like you to come and work for them.”
We walked back to the house in silence, my mind too preoccupied with the show unfurling before me. As I walked past people on the street I could clearly see the outline of their auras and feel their emotions. Unfiltered, it was disorienting, and by the time we got to the front door, my stomach was churning with all of the morning angst I’d picked up as my neighbors headed off to work. I placed my hand against the door jam and closed my eyes for a moment, remembering Elsa’s advice from the night before. After a few moments of deep breathing, I regained control of my senses. I nearly had been overwhelmed by other people’s emotions, but with some measure of confidence, I realized that I could calm my mind when necessary.
I was about to reach for my hide-a-key, when the front door flew open. Lily was standing in the doorway half awake, wearing one of my bathrobes. Evidently, she’d had the good sense to come home and sleep in a bed.
I watched velvety green light coming off of my best friend and felt her happiness at my safe return deep inside my heart. It was lovely to feel that kind of friendship from another being.
“Thank you,” I said. “I am very glad to see you too. What an adventure we had last night. Did you know that your light is as green as that island we swam to?”
Lily giggled. “It worked. You can see my aura. I am green and sometimes a little blue comes through. Most fairies are. If you ever see a red color coming off a fairy, you should run and get away as fast as you can. It means something horrible is about to happen.”
I nodded, distracted by my stomach, which began to grumble.
“I’m starving. Let’s have some food and we can talk some more.”
“I can’t stay,” Lily said. “I have to go to work. You know the library is open seven days a week.”
“Suit yourself,” I said. “I am making pancakes.”
After I had eaten and taken a shower, I came downstairs to find Elsa sitting on the floor in the living room, meditating. Legs folded, eyes closed, she was chanting softly. I could see very strong orange and yellow pulses coming from her body as she took in breaths of air. I wondered what colors my body gave off, but when I tried to look after my shower, nothing appeared in the mirror.
“Yellow, orange and a twinge of red,” Elsa said. “I can hear your thoughts now, Olivia. Your mind is very powerful. We need to be careful so that you don’t telegraph what you are thinking to those who would use the information against you.”
I flopped down in a chair and sighed. “You can hear my thoughts. I can feel your emotions. How is this supposed to be better for me? I feel more vulnerable than ever.”
“You are more vulnerable… for the moment,” Elsa said. “It will pass and you will come to learn how powerful a woman is when she uses her sixth sense.”
I sat for a moment contemplating my future. It certainly couldn’t get any worse, I reasoned. I now had the power to read people and know their emotions. If I could figure our