Control

21

It took us a while to get all our items unpacked, organized, and to slowly fill the empty rooms with furniture as we found pieces we liked. Adyson spent most of her weekends off in town going to various home stores, and almost always came home laden with bags.

We enrolled Aiden in the local daycare, since we could no longer rely on Mrs. Gonzales to watch him while we were at work. The drive back into the city from our new home was less than ideal, especially when one factored in the increased traffic volume of rush hour. We had taken for granted the short fifteen minute drive we had when we lived at the condo. Our new home was an average of forty-five minutes to either of our work places, but it usually took an hour, or more, depending on the traffic.

As Christmas approached, we began to make plans to have both families to our new home on Boxing Day for dinner. This year, we decided to spend Christmas day alone and would do visiting in the days leading up to the holiday.

Adyson had returned to her shopping tendencies, on the search for decor, placemats, and centerpieces for the table and mantle in the living room. I was left with the task of putting up Christmas lights on the house, something I had never done. Thankfully, Kevin showed up with a ladder to help while Adyson and Claire went shopping. We got the lights up with minimal complications and spent the rest of the day watching TV and drinking beer while Aiden played and fell asleep curled up on the floor.

Adyson called shortly before four that afternoon to say she would be bringing something home for dinner. Kevin, declining our offer to stay, headed home to his apartment. After graduating college, Kevin had been offered the position of assistant coach for the school‟s football team. The job was perfect for him, affording him the opportunity to do something he loved, and actually get paid for it.

I waved to Kevin as he drove out our driveway and down the street, I closed the door and turned back to the living room to clean up the beer bottles and chips we had strewn around the living room. Aiden was still fast asleep on the carpet by the coffee table, curled up in a little ball around a stuffed monkey toy.

I took a moment to lean against the window sill and watch as snow began to fall lightly. I had not had any incidents or headaches since that night Adyson took me to the hospital. I had not used my ability in over six months. And I had to wonderd if the frequency in which I used it had any correlation to the unwanted side effects or strange alterations. It seemed unlikely, as I thought back to when I had had the headaches, realizing that I had not used my gift around the time they occurred. Adyson had relaxed on her search for any explanations. I felt that her search was becoming repetitive and was no longer yielding any new information to keep her interest.

Pushing off of the window sill, I stepped over Aiden to clean up the mess Kevin and I had left on the table. I folded up the bag of chips and brought it into the kitchen, sliding it onto a shelf in the pantry, then coming back into the living room to gather the beer bottles from the table. I turned towards the door in the hall which lead to the garage to toss them in the empty case just inside the garage.

Before I had a chance to make it to the hall, a strange, dizzy sensation overtook me. A hazy veil lowered over my eyes, and I was forced to reach an arm out to steady myself against the doorframe of the living room. I stood still for a long moment, waiting for the feeling to pass. It lightened, but didn‟t go away completely. I shook my head gently, squinting my eyes to force them to readjust. It didn‟t work. I felt no pain, my eyes were not sensitive to the light like with previous incidents. The dizziness increased as I pushed away from the wall and continued my course towards the garage. I only made it two steps before the sensation peaked, causing me to lose my balance. My hands flew out to my sides to catch myself, causing me to drop the bottles I had been carrying with a loud crash. The room spun around me, nothing seemed able to come into focus. Each time I blinked felt and looked like slow motion, the darkness lowering and retreating much slower than I felt my actual eyelids moving.