The Therapist (Part One)

1

DANIEL MADDOCK SAT in the waiting room; he casually browsed the framed pictures on the wall. They were supposedly modern art, drastic colour strokes obviously painted by a hyperactive young artist. They contrasted with the bleak pale cream walls and the ruby red sofa seats, a comfortable place to dwell but only for so long. The humid Los Angeles heat was barely eased by the humming fan above Daniel’s head. He flipped through an old magazine, just scanning the pictures while feeling nervous about his first meeting with a therapist. Since his wife (also his childhood sweetheart) died over a year ago he felt unable to communicate with the opposite sex, a thirty-three year old man who feared what the women of the world thought of him.2

‘Daniel Maddock, Clara will see you now.’ Said the receptionist.3

Daniel put the magazine he was perusing back on the light-wood table, his heart began to race, this was it, his brain was about to be picked to pieces by a complete stranger, and worst still a woman. The time was 2.00pm, right on schedule for his appointment, the appointment he considered cancelling for the last two days. There was no going back now, if he left now he would look like a fool, the very thing he didn’t want. He walked over towards the receptionist, his feet dragged the cream-coloured carpet, his feet, along with the rest of himself were unsure if he was doing the right thing.4

‘Clara’s office is just through there Mr Maddock.’ Said the receptionist, as she pointed towards Clara Braid’s office.5

‘Thank you.’ Replied Daniel with a less than enthusiastic sigh.6

The door to Clara Braid’s office was slightly ajar; he knocked twice in quick succession then opened the door. Clara was not in the room, he imagined she would have been behind the dark-wooden desk in front of the window. He looked around the room; there was a ruby-red sofa close to the desk, and plant pots in all four corners. Pictures of modern art hung in frames on the walls, just like the ones out in the waiting room. For some reason he looked towards the brown varnished door across the other side of the room.7

‘Please take a seat on the sofa.’ He didn’t hear the words with his ears; the words seemed to come from his inner voice, although his inner voice now sounded like that of a woman’s.8

‘Make yourself comfortable, I’ll be with you in a minute.’ Again the words seemed to bounce around the insides of his head.9

He sat on the sofa while fidgeting with his hands, trying unsuccessfully to busy away his nervousness. He looked down to his polished shoes, clapping the sides of his shoes together seemed to release a few of the butterflies from his stomach. The door across the other side of the room slowly opened, a woman appeared from behind it. She looked to be middle-aged and wearing a peach-coloured dress.10

‘Hello Daniel, sorry about the wait, I’m running a little late today.’ The words came to Daniel okay but he didn’t see her lips move once. He stared across the room at her with confused eyes, she sensed this.11

‘Relax Daniel, You’re not going crazy, I’m just talking to you through telepathic thought.’ This time he saw her lips move but that didn’t help, what disturbed him was the content of what she said. He had just heard her talk inside his head, and it was an unusual feeling for him to say the least.12

‘I don’t understand, no one can communicate that way, can they?’13

‘Well I can, I guess it’s a gift.’14

Daniel was shocked; he came to therapy for answers; now it seems he will leave with even more questions. Clara walked over to her desk by the window; it was a big window that looked down on the busy Los Angeles traffic.15

‘You can see just how polluted the city is from up here can’t you?’ Said Clara without moving her lips.16

‘How do you do that?’ Questioned Daniel.17

‘Like I said it’s a gift, you know I can teach you to talk to people telepathically, it’s not that hard once you understand it.’ Said Clara as she sat down behind her desk.18

Daniel couldn’t believe it, of all the therapist’s he could have gone with he had to choose this one, the witch of therapy.19

‘Oh that’s not very nice Daniel, you don’t think I’m a witch do you?’20

He went red, redder than a clown’s nose. It seems not only did Clara send telepathic thoughts, she could also retrieve them. Daniel felt invaded, when you think someone can read your mind, your deepest darkest secrets seem to pop into your head as a reflex. He tried to make his mind go blank, the harder he tried the harder it got to block all of his secrets. His brain was fully open for browsing, like a computer with no personal firewall; his hard drive was open for downloading. Now he didn’t want to speak, he didn’t want to think about words, words always turn into thoughts, private thoughts. Now Daniel knew what therapist stood for (the rapist), the rapist of the mind.21

‘Please Daniel, don’t be afraid of my ability, I’m here to help you’ Said Clara.22

Daniel had seen enough, he wanted to leave, whether that made him look like a fool or not. He paid seventy-five dollars for an hour of therapy, not for a freak show. He looked at Clara, not sure if he even needed to use words ‘I’m going to leave now, this isn’t what I came here for.’23

‘I know Daniel; you came here because you’re afraid of what women think of you. You have only had one women close to you your whole life and that was Lisa, your wife and childhood sweetheart. I know that she died about a year ago to cancer, and that you miss her. But now you are coming to me for therapy because you want to move on with your life, but there’s that problem, you’re afraid of what women think about you, well I can help you with that.’24

This time Clara spoke using her lips; perhaps she felt it was only right. But she was blunt and to the point, she had obviously been routing around Daniel’s brain to get all that information. It was hard for Daniel to hear those words coming from someone else, especially a virtual stranger. Tears filled up his eyes, he wanted to move on with his life, but deep down inside all he really wanted was Lisa.25

He looked towards the door, and then back at Clara, the options were there; he could leave but something told him not to, someone other than Clara.26

‘Okay if I stay you have to promise me you won’t delve into my mind, I only want you to know what I am willing to let you know. If I can’t trust you there’s no point to any of this.’27

Clara shook her head, ‘I haven’t taken anything you weren’t willing to let me know, but lets get one thing straight. You came to me for help; I offered you that help and now you’re telling me it’s not what you want. If I’m brutally honest I’ll tell you that I’m not really a therapist, hell you’d think I would be with my ability, but well that’s just not what I’m good at. What I am good at is enabling people to use the ancient, long forgotten art of telepathy.28

Daniel was shocked by Clara’s outburst, she seemed to be amazingly truthful and outspoken, that made him trust her. She talked with so much confidence that it was refreshing to hear her voice; her voice was like the gentle breeze on a hot summer’s day, unexpected but always welcome.29

‘Okay, but do you think being able to hear women’s thoughts will help me?’ Stated Daniel.30

‘If you can hear their thoughts, you’ll know what they think of you, you’ll know what they want.’ Said Clara with a smile, 31

Daniel stood up; he walked over to a particularly interesting painting hung on the wall. It was made up of drastic strokes just like the other modern paintings; however something in this particular painting gave him a warm feeling. Shivers wondered down his neck, in awe of the emotions that had been awoken from previous memory.32

‘Do you like that picture, I painted it myself. In fact I painted all the pictures on this floor.’ Boasted Clara.33

‘Really?’ Said Daniel.34

‘There rather extravagant, but they do seem to be growing on me.’35

Clara dropped her head slightly, showing the effect of Daniel’s flattering remark; it was the first time she seemed to react to Daniel’s words. She straightened up her neck again and put her serious face on. ‘Listen Daniel, I want to help you out. But the only thing I can do is to give you telepathy.’36

‘Give!’ Said Daniel looking confused.37

‘How can you give telepathy to someone?’38

Daniel sat back down, desperate to hear the answer.39

‘Well, I have a special machine that you put over your eyes. You are then subjected to a series of lights; they flash in a strict combination that awakens your dormant skill of sending and receiving thoughts from other people.’40

‘Where did you get the machine from?’41

‘Well that I can’t tell you, all I can say is that it works’ Said Clara.42

Daniel seemed to ponder on Clara’s words; she was brutally honest about everything except where she got the machine. As he pondered he felt himself imagining how life would carry on for him, his problems would still be there, gnawing away at his heart. But if he could read people’s thoughts he could get his confidence back.43

‘So how long does it take to work?’44

‘Not very long at all, you could be telepathic in just two minutes.’ Said an anxious Clara, sounding a bit like a commercial, desperately wanting Daniel to take her product. It went unnoticed by Daniel however; he was too excited about the prospect of curing his problem and getting on with his life.45

‘Okay then.’ Said Daniel, he was talking to himself as well as Clara.46

She reached down to one of the drawers in her desk.47

‘This is it.’ She held up a black contraption that looked a bit like a pair of goggles.48

‘This is the machine that will awaken your ancient ability to use telepathy through thought.’ Boasted Clara once more.49

Daniel looked on; a part of him felt something was up. You don’t just go to a therapist and then get given the ability to talk without words. A promise was the only thing that kept him in the ridiculous situation he found himself in, a promise that Lisa had asked him to make. He promised her he would carry on with his life after she was gone, that’s what she wanted. Lisa told him how she couldn’t bare the thought of him living the rest of his life alone. On that promise he was willing to do anything, make any mistake as long as he lived his life to her wishes.50

‘This isn’t going to hurt me at all is it? Questioned Daniel.51

‘No not at all, you may suffer a bit of a headache for a while after, but that’s it really.’ Replied Clara, in her familiar trusting tone.52

Daniel took a deep breath. ‘Okay I think I’m ready then.’53

Clara smiled; she was pleased to hear those words.54

‘Don’t you want any extra money for doing this?’55

‘No, not at all.’ Replied Clara. ‘I don’t do this to get rich; if you have children they will have the same ability as you. Eventually I hope that all humans will have the use of telepathy. Of course I have to move around a lot, if I was ever caught doing what I’m doing they would put me in a nut-house and throw away the key.’56

‘Why?’57

‘Because people don’t like anything that’s not considered normal, if they did I’d be on T.V.’ Said Clara.58

Clara fiddled around with some of the settings on the strange looking black pair of goggles.59

‘Okay Daniel, all you have to do is put these over your eyes.’60

‘Don’t I have to lie down or something?’ Said Daniel.61

‘No, as long as you focus on the lights it should work just fine.’62

It was the should in Clara’s voice that put Daniel off, it was too late now though. He was about to be transformed into a caveman, a caveman that could send and receive thoughts with ease.63

‘Okay I want you to start focussing now; the lights should appear in a second or two.’ Instructed Clara.64

Daniel braced himself as the lights began to hit his eyes, this was no virtual reality game, this was full on flying through the stars. Daniel saw colours he wasn’t sure what to call; he had never seen them before. All his muscles began to flex, they seemed to rib into a ball of fleshy mass, of course that was just an illusion. His brain seemed to be working hard; his head seemed to warm up like it had done many times under the burning sun. He felt like he was dodging the stars, shooting through wormholes. The lights certainly seemed to be orientated towards solar flying; his mind was completely tricked by the realism of what he saw. He felt as if his body was disappearing from reality, bit by bit, sinking into a world that almost felt more real to him than the world he’d lived in since birth. Finally the lights stopped, or at least Daniel thought they had. Suddenly a blinding white light seared into his eyes, it felt like someone had just stuck a needle through both of them. The pain put his breathing out of rhythm and his heart felt like it was sinking, it was finally over again and all he could see was darkness falling over his eyes.65

‘Daniel, wake up now, it’s time for you to leave?’ Said a voice.66

He looked up to find the receptionist looking down at him; he was back in the waiting room lying on one of the ruby red sofas.67

‘What, where is Clara?’ Mumbled Daniel.68

‘Seriously, you have to leave right now.’ Shouted the receptionist.69

Just as he was about to give the receptionist a piece of his mind two security guards came over. They wasted no time in lifting Daniel up from the sofa, they weren’t careful either, not for a man with a mind-grating headache.70

‘Aghhhh! No put me down you bastards!’71

They grabbed him even harder after the insult, one guard had hold of his legs while the other had hold of his arms. Workers and visitors in the building gave him funny looks; he could see their looks as he was shuttled along the corridor. They looked on at him with pity, although some eyes looked on with pure anger, he could barely stand the way they looked at him. Among the violent shuffling he could see the doors of an elevator getting closer; it was the same elevator in which he had arrived.72

What have I done? That was the kind of question he couldn’t help but ask himself, he came in an innocent man and now he seems to have done something wrong. The guards put him to his feet as they waited for the elevator; he was scared of them and scared of the scouring looks people gave him. The elevator pinged and the silver metal doors opened, they threw him in the elevator, he sensed they were angry at him. He realised that although he sensed their anger, he couldn’t exactly read their thoughts, not as he was promised, he thought perhaps things didn’t go to plan.73

‘What has happened, what have I done wrong?’ Yelled Daniel.74

‘Just shut up!’ Replied the bigger one of the two security guards.75

He did as they requested, he certainly didn’t want to give them any excuses to beat him up. His stomach became light and empty for a second as the elevator eased to a stop; he knew there would be more staring faces in the lobby of the building.76

Down on the ground floor the faces would be even more critical or sympathetic; they usually are when you get to street level. He dreaded the inevitable opening of the elevator doors, he prayed they would just let him make his own way out from the lobby; he certainly wasn’t going to hang around if that’s what they thought. The doors opened, the bright sunlight drifted through the large windows at the fore of the building. There were people stood around waiting, perhaps for their meeting with a so called therapist. A few people were sat down on the ruby red sofas in the lobby, and Daniel felt they were all going to see him being dragged or carried out to the street. 77

One of the guards pushed him out of the elevator; Daniel turned around as the biggest one said ‘Get the hell out of here buddy… you here me?’ Daniel certainly appreciated them not carrying him out to the street, but considering he hadn’t done anything wrong those security guys sure were pissed off. He started walking for the front door; it was one of those swinging doors where you have to negotiate when it’s best to step forward. He looked at the people sat down, he considered warning them about how he had just been treated on floor number nine, however the security guards were still watching. He quickened his pace towards the front door, anticipated the electronic swinging door and then stepped forward, wishing in his head that he had cancelled his appointment.78

As the door slowly swung around to reveal the fresher air outside he could hear voices creeping into his head, just the way he had heard Clara’s voice only quieter. He looked at peoples faces as they walked by, they looked bright underneath the Los Angeles sun. Their thoughts seemed to come to him as if he were a magnet for their tender and most private revelations. He looked down to the ground, he was embarrassed by his ability to hear exactly what all the people that passed were thinking, in one way it excited him, but it also felt so wrong to be able to do it.79

‘I wonder what I’ll cook for Bobby tonight, maybe something sexy.’80

‘I hope she likes me as much as I like her.’81

‘Oh God, I’ve bought to much again, I can’t afford to keep doing this’82

‘God I miss her so much.’83

‘I wish these assholes wouldn’t get in my god dam way.’84

‘Jesus what’s that guy looking at, what a fucking pervert.’85

He could hear all these thoughts, it was so invigorating to hear them speak openly and honestly. They spoke the way Clara spoke, with no inhibitions at all, but why wouldn’t they; as far as they know there only speaking to themselves. Daniel started to walk down the seemingly endless street; it was full of people’s wishes, haunts and tiredness. They came to him fast, almost to fast to comprehend.86

‘I wish I was dead.’ ‘I hate my life.’ ‘I’m gonna kill someone today.’ ‘What’s the point?’          ‘No one cares about me.’          ‘I bet she’s happier without me.’ ‘What can I…’    ‘My mind is…’ ‘I’m losing contr…’ ‘Thi…’87

The voices melted into one continuous voice, Daniel felt like his head was about to explode when suddenly he heard a voice from the darkness of his head.88

‘Meet me at the corner of 52nd avenue… Now’89

It was Clara’s voice, she had a lot of explaining to do, he rushed down towards 52nd avenue as quick as he could. He closed his eyes to see if he could drain out people’s thoughts, he couldn’t; the voices still came thick and fast and had merged into a low reverbing groan. They could quite easily make a loony person even loonier; they could make you so loony you’d go back to sanity again. As he got closer to 52nd avenue he was sure that he could even hear Clara’s breathing through the groan of people’s voices. He looked to the spot where in his mind he imagined she would be standing, that’s exactly where she was standing. Daniel wasn’t sure if Clara sent him the picture of where she was standing or if he just received it using his own ability.90

He walked over to meet her and before he could say a word she said. ‘Come with me, quick just follow me for God’s sake.’91

Daniel was taken back by Clara’s brashness; it was just like being back in the hands of the security guards again. He followed her but she wasn’t easy to catch up with, she could dodge passing people so well she could probably play in the All-star American football team, perhaps she could read which way people were going to go. Suddenly she disappeared from sight, all Daniel could see was a crowd of people and he knew what they were all thinking, at least he could if he were able to decipher the code they sent. He carried on walking down the street when suddenly.92

‘Hey! I'm here you idiot.’93

Daniel instinctively looked to his right, there was Clara, she quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him into the small alleyway that hung between two fairly large buildings. Maybe now Daniel would get some explanation as to why he was thrown out of the building.94

‘Don’t say a word Daniel; I just want you to listen to me for now, we might not have much time. Okay the first thing I have to tell you is that I have been caught. I used the Black goggles on the first client I had, they changed him in ways he didn’t like. He went to the police and told them about what I was doing, while you were sleeping the police raided my office, but I managed to escape. They sent everything they had after me, forgetting or perhaps not noticing you. That’s why my security guards got you out of there, they couldn’t tell you the real reason they were throwing you out because I told them not to, the police were sure to return. Daniel you were only my second client so I guess I didn’t do very well by them.’95

‘Very well by who?’ Said Daniel96

‘Well remember when you asked me where I got the Black goggles that enables telepathy, I couldn’t tell you but well now I guess I can. I was abducted a little while ago when I was driving along this country road just minding my own business. I saw a bright light hanging in the sky, the next thing I knew I was on this table being looked at by aliens. They didn’t look as scary as I had seen in U.F.O magazines, they almost looked human I would say. Anyway they talked to me through telepathic thought, that’s the only way they could make me understand them. You see they didn’t talk with words like I am now, they talked through feeling. Imagine someone who is death and blind from birth, they can’t talk to you, they can’t see you but they can still feel you. They think through their feelings, they don’t have a language because they don’t need one. If you could listen to their thoughts you wouldn’t hear words, but you could sense if they were hungry or if they felt sad or excited. Eventually you would be able to have a conversation with them by feelings. I think that’s how all humans communicated before they used language, they needed language as the world around became more complicated and then we lost the ability of telepathy.97

The only way these alien species can communicate with us is through telepathic thought, that’s why they abducted me. They asked me to take the black goggles back and to try and give as many people as I could the ability to talk through telepathy. The more people they could communicate with, the better chance there would be of us understanding them and their intentions. The thing is you were only my second client and I made a big mistake with my first.’98

‘That’s amazing but what do you want from me now?’ Whispered Daniel.99

‘I know the police will catch up with me eventually, I can’t stay hidden for long, and after all I have a business on floor nine. My business there used to be my art, that use to be my career but after the abduction I dedicated everything to the alien’s plea. Okay so it didn’t last very long but I think I chose the wrong way to do it, you were only my second client and you’re the best chance there is left.’100

‘But why do you believe in the alien’s plea so much?’ Enquired Daniel.101

‘Well I sensed that they want to help the human race, but they can only do that if they can communicate with us, the more of us there are with telepathic thought the bigger chance they have.’102

Clara reached into the black-hand bag she had by her side, she looked down the alleyway to make sure she wasn’t being watched. Daniel instinctively knew what she was going to take out of the handbag; she pulled out the black goggles.103

‘Daniel I want you to take these with you, I don’t think the police know about you and you’re the only one I know that can do this now. You will have to find a way of giving people the gift of telepathy, I chose the wrong way; don’t make the same mistakes I made. I think the best thing for you is to always be on the move, I was in a fixed location where I could always be found.’104

Daniel looked at Clara with uncertainty in his eyes. ‘Clara I’m not sure telepathy is a gift, my head hurts with the constant voice of people’s feelings. How can I stop the constant chattering of people’s brains? It’s gonna drive me insane.’105

‘It’s not something I can teach you, it took me a couple days. You just have to learn what you want to hear and what is not important. Eventually you’ll be able to channel the voices, it’s a bit like when you’re in a crowded room and people are talking, you learn to hear the voices that you want to hear and the others fade away into the background. It’s not easy, but believe me when you manage to control the ability it’s the best.’106

Daniel still looked concerned, and not ultimately convinced. ‘Okay but I still don’t feel much motivation to help these alien’s.’107

‘Give it time and you will, once you start to control your telepathy the alien’s will begin to communicate with you. They will tell you their plan for the human race, and it beats the state were in at the moment. We have problems that can’t be fixed by us, we are in a downward spiral and the alien’s sense this. They care about all living things and their not about to watch us all go down, there’s no point in me telling you anymore, it’s better if it comes from them.’108

‘But What?’ Muttered Daniel.109

‘Look I don’t have time to talk right now, you have to get away from me or the police will catch you as well, I sense their getting close. Good luck, I hope you do well.’110

Clara quickly shuffled down the alleyway as Daniel stood still and watched her disappear. He was half-expecting it to all be a joke, that he was part of a television programme, that he had been set up by his friends. He was gullible and that sacred him, had his gullibility landed him in trouble once again, had he made a fool of himself on national T.V. But the voices, they were real and couldn’t be faked; he could still hear a thousand of them all at once bouncing around inside his head.111

He walked back out onto the street, his problems before today seemed tiny and unimportant now, he sure picked a strange therapist to help him out. As he walked he tried to fade the voices out of his head, they silenced for a second and then came back again just as strong. He could feel the black goggles stretching out his right pocket, no one shouted out surprise your on candid camera. He wanted to ask more questions, like how do you use the black goggles on other people? He just carried on walking along 52nd avenue thinking how he could get people to put the goggles on, and when; when would the aliens contact him. As he walked he heard Clara’s voice above all the other voices chattering around his head. She said ‘Daniel just remember, only concentrate on the voices you want to hear, and the alien’s will contact you soon, I promise.’112

I will add THE THERAPIST PART TWO when it's written.113

Paul Dawson (darkimagination)114