Ashley was walking down a street far from her house. The warm yellow lights of the street lamps illuminated the ground and the walls of the houses in the darkness of the night. Some people were walking quickly to reach their homes, while others were talking to each other. Ashley was looking around, searching for a good target to test the abilities Monica had written about in her diary.
She focused on a child who was walking with his father. She locked her eyes onto him and tried to reach his mind. At first, she couldn’t hear anything clearly. It was like static… a blurry feeling of tiredness and childish curiosity slowly reaching her. She frowned slightly, concentrating harder. Then, faintly, a thought started to form—like a voice coming from far away in water. “When will my father let me walk around on my own? I’m strong enough to protect myself!”
Ashley’s eyes widened a little. She had done it. But at the same time, something unexpected happened. As she kept focusing, the noise around her didn’t fade—it multiplied. Other faint feelings started slipping in from nearby people. Small fragments of thoughts, emotions, flashes she couldn’t fully control. She quickly broke her focus and took a step back. “…Okay,” she whispered to herself. “That’s… not as simple as Monica made it sound.”
Ashley took another breath and tried to calm herself. “Okay… just one person at a time,” she whispered. She turned her head slightly, focusing again on the environment around her. This time, she didn’t lock onto a single person fully. She just… listened. At first, it felt like nothing. Then everything hit her at once. A wave of fragmented thoughts crashed into her mind like noise breaking through silence.
A man walking past her: “I forgot to reply to that message…”
A woman near the streetlight: “I hope he didn’t notice I was late again…”
A tired shop owner closing his store: “Just a few more minutes… I need sleep…”
Ashley suddenly froze. Her breathing became uneven. “W-what…?” she whispered. The voices weren’t clear thoughts anymore. They were messy, overlapping, pulling her attention in every direction at once. She stumbled slightly and grabbed her head. “Stop… stop…!”
For a second, the world felt too loud—too full. Like her mind wasn’t supposed to hold this much. She quickly broke her focus completely and shut her eyes. Silence returned. Ashley stood still on the sidewalk, breathing heavily. “…So this is what she meant,” she said quietly. “It’s not just reading minds… it’s surviving them.” For a few minutes, Ashley just stood there, trying to calm herself.
“Fine… let’s try again,” she whispered. This time, she chose a young man who was waiting at a bus station. She sat next to him, acting as if she was just there by coincidence. The young man was looking at his phone, seemingly waiting for a call or message from someone. Ashley took a slow breath and focused. At first, she only felt faint emotions—sadness and boredom, like a quiet background noise in his mind. She stayed patient this time. She didn’t force it. She just… listened. And gradually, it became clearer. A soft, tired thought formed in her mind:
“Still no message… of course.” Ashley blinked slightly. She didn’t react immediately. Instead, she let the feeling settle, as if she was learning a new language. It was strange… but not overwhelming anymore. She looked forward again, watching the street quietly. For the first time, she understood that this ability wasn’t something she had to fight. It was something she had to learn how to live with.
Ashley slowly stood up, started walking through, returning to home. As she was walking she thought abıut everything she went through…and the things that these stuations gave to her. She wasnt’t feeling sad or scared, at all, she was just feeling curious. She thought about John and Charlie, what were they doing right now?...She tought about Monica…and Monica’s red moon family…She thought about herself and what Powers will she gain in long way in front of her…