FSE

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Being born in a big city was supposed to offer many opportunities. There were more shops to buy things from, more places to visit on a date and definitely lots of new people to meet. If you were looking for cultural activities, you were certain to find a wider variety than if you lived in, let’s say, the fifth less populated town on the continent. And all those jobs you could have!

Pffft, Rime found himself thinking. As if I need more work at the moment.

Unfortunately for the white tiger, he’d also been born a telepath. That meant he had to endure all that mental noise everywhere – in the shops, in the dating places, in the cultural gatherings and the work places. Every single person carried with them a cloud of thoughts that he could clearly hear, swirling around their head like a storm, whispering like a happy breeze or raining down like dark waters. And no matter how much Rime tried to close the window that his powers opened into other people’s minds, he always ended up inadvertently watching something he shouldn’t have. After all, window glass was meant to be looked through.

But not now.

His friend Tundra had offered to take him camping. It wasn’t the first time, but this time the snow leopard had insisted.

“You’re always saying you’d like to do it, but then you never come with me,” he’d reminded him. “So do it this time! It’ll be cool.”

“Uh, I don’t know.” Rime could easily perceive Tundra’s eagerness. It sparkled around his friend like crackling electricity. “I’ve never left the city before. And I don’t want to be a burden.”

“You wouldn’t be a burden even if you tried to,” Tundra had argued. Rime could tell he was just trying to be nice, of course – anyone could be a burden, given the chance, which was reassuring in its own way. “Besides, I’m tired of going all on my own. I need someone to chat with around the campfire.”

Rime had held his friend’s gaze, slightly embarrassed, as he scratched the back of his head.

“That’s what I mean. I don’t even know how to start a fire.”

“That’s because you haven’t come along with me yet! I’ll teach you how to do it. We’ll have fun! And you know I’m not lying.”

The white tiger knew his friend was speaking from his heart, but the fact that the snow leopard wasn’t lying didn’t necessarily mean he was telling the truth. One could say many things he fully believed in that turned out to be lies, just because he was convinced of it somehow. Tundra, who was used to working with people’s minds, should have known that. Perhaps he did.

In the end, Rime had agreed to go camping with Tundra. Looking back on it, the white tiger felt a bit dumb for not taking up on the offer any sooner. Sure, he’d dreaded the idea that Tundra would notice he wasn’t the capable hero everybody in the city seemed to picture him as, but the snow leopard was his friend. He probably knew by now.

Plus, the silence was so welcoming. After spending so much time awash in the psychic chaos of the city, just resting there on the grass under the moon’s silver gaze was enough to make him feel better. He could feel tension he didn’t even knew he had, evaporating like mist. Who could have guessed silence would be so, so pleasant?

That didn’t mean there was total silence outside the city, though. After all, Tundra was still there with him.

Even now, lying a few meters away from his friend as they both tried to catch some sleep, Rime could hear his thoughts slowly drifting over his head like a bunch of lazy, fluffy clouds. The snow leopard was also thinking about the sky as he lay on his back.

<<We’re so lucky we got a clear sky tonight. Last time I was camping, it was a bit of a disappointment. I didn’t get to see a single star.>>

Rime thought that was unfortunate. Looking at the sky now, he found it difficult to imagine it without stars. The crescent moon was so big and bright that they almost hadn’t needed a campfire. Tundra had taught him how to start it, however, simply because he had promised to do that. Rime wasn’t entirely sure he’d got the gist of it, but at least he’d tried his best.

<<Come to think of it, I don’t think I saw any stars the previous two or three times either. It’s been a particularly cloudy winter, hasn’t it? Hmm. Well, it must be Rime, then. He’s my lucky charm. I’ve got to say that to him so that he hears him with his own ears and not just his mind.>>

The white tiger felt a smile spreading on his face as his heart warmed a bit. He knew Tundra appreciated him a lot, and it was a sentiment he shared wholeheartedly. Neither of them were particularly good at expressing their emotions – although Tundra, with his avid interest in psychology, knew more about the stuff than Rime did. Which was a bit ironic, considering the white tiger was the one who had access to other people’s mind.

He should have learned something about it by now, but it turned out you couldn’t learn to express your own feelings just by observing the feelings of other people. Sometimes Rime wished it was that easy.

<<Tonight the sky looks like a blanket… No. Like an ocean with thousands of fireflies on it. Although, what would fireflies be doing at the bottom of the ocean? Drowning, probably. That’s a silly metaphor. Hmmm. Angler fish? No, too threatening. Shards of glass under the sea? Ugh, that makes it sound like it’s been polluted. Never mind.”

After being a telepath for so long, Rime was used to listening to people’s inner monologues without chuckling at them, even when he found them funny. However, he was about to laugh at Tundra’s unlucky attempts to find a suitable metaphor and the smile on his face grew a bit wider. His friend’s thoughts were his favorite to pry into, without a doubt. Rime liked how creative they were how they constantly went back and forth from one idea to the next.

<<Actually, this reminds me of a relaxation exercise we learned back in school. I always thought it was a bit silly, but I suppose it’d do nicely in a night like this.>>

Rime crossed his arms behind his head, still staring into the sky. He had no idea whether his friend knew he was listening or not, but Tundra was always eager to share his knowledge on the things he’d been studying. Rime was usually happy to listen, unless he was in a hurry. The snow leopard would talk about the brain in terms so specific and descriptive that they painted a highly detailed picture in Rime’s mind. And for someone like him, who was used to seeing people’s minds all around, having a way to rationalize what he saw was certainly helpful.

There were times in which he definitely didn’t understand what Tundra was talking about, obviously, and when those came, he simply pretended to follow along. His friend had gotten surprisingly good at reading people since he’d started studying, however, and Rime wouldn’t have been too surprised to find out Tundra knew perfectly well when he wasn’t paying attention… and when he was.

<<It’s that one about focusing on each star in the sky. Looking at them as they shine up above, trying to consider them all together as you take a deep breath in. Heh, funny how that part usually stays.>>

Rime wasn’t surprised to notice his own breathing had slowed down. Tundra had that quality about him that helped others relax when he was around. The white tiger wasn’t entirely sure why his friend needed to learn about relaxation exercises – his presence was soothing enough, most of the times. His grey-green eyes mirrored the endless mantle of stars in the sky, a thousand small silver dots covering his irises. Well, necessary or not, Tundra is right, the tiger found himself thinking. This is relaxing.

<<And as you stare and breathe, you start noticing that your body relaxes. Each breath making it easier as you focus more and more on those distant shining lights. Then, it’s just a matter of time before you realize how your gaze and your perception move beyond the point where they were at first. Getting further and further into the sky… rising up like the moon as night settles in. Zooming in like a telescope – but seeing less the further you go.>>

Rime fought the urge to yawn. He could tell Tundra was getting increasingly relaxed as well, judging by the softness of his thoughts. Like floating balls of yarn, they were unraveling now – getting thinner and lighter, like small threads carried in the wind. The snow leopard’s relaxed tone helped Rime get even more comfortable on the grass, his heavy eyelids lowering down just a bit.

<<Letting the sky and its blackness absorb you gently, like you’re falling straight into it… only you’re rising. Falling.>> The snow leopard seemed to hesitate. <<… Rising, I think. Yes. Breathing. Sinking into the dark vastness as you get even more relaxed. So heavy. Hnngh… Like a… like a…>>

The metaphor led nowhere.

Instead, Tundra seemed to start a new trail of thought that started right where the other had ended. Rime was following along – but at the same time, his mind had stopped paying real attention to what his friend was thinking a few sentences ago. He was hearing those thoughts, but his mind was somewhere else – too busy to give meaning to the words it received, too comfortable and heavy to make the effort. It helped that his friend’s psychic voice felt like a caress right between his ears at the moment. Only that sensation and the sky in his mind at the moment.

<<Until you see no stars… even if they’re there. Even if you keep staring. You see no stars because you rose so high, above them. They’re further down. They’re deep in your mind now, in your eyes, because you’ve been staring so much and so good. And the…>>

There was another pause. Rime only noticed it because he focused intently on the silence it created, which resonated particularly well with the empty blackness he was basking in. He was so unused to silence that it filled the conversation in its own way, like a different kind of instruction.

<<… and the stars in your mind begin to turn off one by one. One by one they go off, like blowing candles. They blink…>>

Rime blinked. Those thoughts were taking more and more to arrive.

<<… And just like that, they go. Fading… hmmmm… uh, fading… one by one… jus’like… poof…>>

Rime blinked again. Heavy.

<<Y… yeah… poof… Until they all… until they fade… hmmmf… they… fade…>>

Rime blinked one more time. This time, his eyes didn’t open again. He knew full well what’d happen when all the stars faded from the sky in his mind. He didn’t need Tundra to tell him that.

<<… goodnight, Rime…>> were the only other thoughts his drowsy mind caught before drifting to sleep together with his friend.

“G… g’night, Tundra…” he managed to whisper.

And then the starry sky high above watched over them as they slept.