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How to Seer, Part 4

copyright comidacomida 2019

For most teenagers, high school is hard enough just dealing the classes, the cliques, and the other students who make life difficult no matter what side of the popularity-line you're on but falling in with four Spirits that nobody else knew existed could have made things even more difficult for me... especially considering how much attention was already focused on me since the loss of my sister.

Surprisingly, that turned out to be my saving grace. The first few weeks of having Talapus, Mishupishu, and Kon with me were insane-- and I'm pretty sure I seemed like I was too. I ended up in the councilor's office probably a dozen times and my parents had to take me to a specialist. Thankfully, I learned how to deal with the three Spirits without drawing attention to myself in public.

By the end of that school year things got simultaneously more difficult and easier since the Raven Spirit that had been Skin-Riding Kyle separated from him; it allowed him to talk more frankly and help me learn how to deal with seeing the physical world and the Spirits within it at the same time. Talapus had given him some grief, arguing that it was Coyote's job to provide insight, at which point the Raven said that Coyote gave mankind Fire, but it was Raven who gave them instruction so that they didn't die in a conflagration.

The Spirits seemed to be at odds more often than they worked together, but things came to a head when I was sent to spend a week 'under observation'. At some point they must have come to the conclusion that endangering me with their bickering and constant daily interruptions during school wasn't going to do anyone any good and, with Kon spelling out their agreement, they forged a Binding and resolved to work together to my benefit.

It was slow going, and, although my memory of my time 'under care' is a little spotty, I remember being glad that they came to that conclusion and I was released shortly thereafter. It wasn't exactly the best experience and, after a meeting with the school board, my mom and dad decided that I'd be home schooled for my last two years. It wasn't a victory and it wasn't a defeat; the general consensus among my Spirits was that it was just another step toward helping me find my place in the world. That thought struck me as strange.

In as many ways as I can tell, most people either figure out where they belong early on in their lives or else they spend decades meandering through existence trying to find out their meaning for existence. Before meeting my Spirits I think I was part of a third group: people who never really thought about it and just took each day as they came. According to Talapus, he thought those were some of the most interesting people, assuming they transitioned into 'finding their bliss' before being overcome by the world.

I didn't really understand 'finding their bliss' at the time, but after I completed my coursework and got my home schooling certificate I started looking ahead to what lay beyond my home, and that's when I felt that strange sense of indecision and emptiness-- it was a lack of direction, and it was on that day that Talapus' meaning made sense: the world was a little overwhelming and I felt it astutely.

At first I thought about going to college; there was a perfectly good community college in town and my parents had suggested I might consider taking some courses. I toured the campus but, unfortunately, there were plenty of teens in attendance that recognized me from high school so my 'year of chaos' was going to follow me there. In that moment, Raven asked a very leading question. "Have you ever thought about starting fresh?"

I hadn't, to be honest, and Talapus was quick to shoot down the idea of relocating but, the more I thought about it the more it made sense. Kon wasn't opposed and, in fact, suggested what he considered to be the perfect destination: Cherry City. After my Spirits talked it over (and Mishupishu was consulted via translation), they all acknowledged that they would support me in my venture if that's what I decided to do. In the end, it was really as much their decision as it was mine and they pretty much just brought me along for the ride.

So that was how I ended up in Cherry City. My folks had given me some money to get things set up but within the first few weeks that was almost gone. I'd stayed at motels and eaten sparingly but money only went so far, which meant that I needed to figure out what to do; I didn't have to look far. Having lived with the Spirits long enough, I had picked up a few tricks. They were more than willing to help me and all I had to do was ask.

Raven made sure that I regularly 'conveniently' found money on the street whenever I went for a walk; Kon, through a seemingly innocent happenstance led me to an incredibly nice apartment complex that needed a live-in manager and they were so desperate that they were willing to hire an eighteen-year-old with a background check that showed no criminal history; Talapus was incredibly adept at finding free-and-reduced food deals so I never went hungry. Mishupishu's help was a little less overt; he kept everyone in line, which was just as valuable.

So it was that, by the time my first month in Cherry City had come to an end, I had a two bedroom apartment and an income just for keeping an eye on a 16 unit apartment complex. In a way, I'd been ostracized enough to force me out of my home town, so, while my new living arrangements hadn't really been by choice, it was where I ended up. It wasn't home, but my choices were limited. Still, it was a roof over my head, and, to be honest, it was a pretty nice place.

In addition, I was making about $20 a day in spending cash just by strolling around the city; I usually only paid for maybe a dozen meals out of the week and got the rest for free. Most of all, I had free time to actually sit down and learn what each of my Spirits seemed desperately interested in wanting to teach me about being a Seer. They all seemed to have big plans for me and weren't the least bit shy about letting me know.