He was

by Evelyn Floyd

He was an anomaly, something not of this world. Oh, he looked human, as human as anybody else. I'd seen him naked once, if only briefly, and he looked just like any other normal eighteen year old guy. But it wasn't his appearance that gave him away. It was what he could do, how he spoke to me that made him different.

You see, he could talk to me telepathically. He could think at me and his voice would be in my head. He could speak inside my thoughts. When it first happened, I thought I was going crazy. Having more than one set of thoughts inside my head freaked me out. It left me feeling vulnerable in a way that was uncomfortable. He never imposed himself on me after that, but that first time left me shaken. It was terrifying in a way I can't explain.

He couldn't read my mind, as far as I knew, and I tested him later on. Sure, he could have been faking not being able to read my thoughts, but I didn't think so. Having him in my head with me also meant I was a part of him, too. I could see him exactly as he was, and he explained that what I saw about him was who he was as a person. I couldn't read his mind, I could only hear what he wanted to say to me, I could only see what he wanted me to see. It worked both ways, in a sense, but as he explained it, private thoughts were compartmentalized, and he respected me too much to dig that deep. I wondered if he had a hidden agenda, if perhaps he was lying about his abilities.

He seemed too honest for that. But that wasn't even the most incredible thing about him. What surprised me most was that he had the ability to share his touch with me. He could make it so that I felt like I was in his skin with him. He said he could sense the feeling of being in my skin, too. It was too incredible for words, but I felt it. I felt the feeling of holding his hand and as I was able to feel our touch in my nerve endings, I could feel our touch in his nerve endings, too. I was in my fingers in the normal sense, but I was also in his fingers at the same time. When he traced his finger along the inside of my forearm, I felt it from my point of view, and also from his point of view. It was an eerie sensation that made my heart race. It was like something that only identical twins could do, but it was even more unusual than that.

That was why we never had sex after the first attempt, it was all too weird to feel me touching him, to feel my touch in his nerve endings and to know how it felt to be him touching me. It was the weirdest sensation and it made having sex with him too strange to consider. Because not only was I privy to his thoughts and his technique, it was that I could feel my touch in his body as well as his touch in my own. It was like being in two places at once, and it was almost creepy.

Knowing that the sensations I felt below the waist were how he was experiencing me while I was making love with him were very intense. It was too intense, and it brought on such high levels of anxiety that it made it difficult to perform. We soon gave up, because I couldn't continue, knowing him as well as I knew my own self.

But I loved him, as much as I have loved anyone else in my life. We remained close friends for a long time and we spoke telepathically occasionally, but it wasn't enough for him. He needed someone to conjoin with completely, and I wasn't capable of such an extreme level of intimacy. I still love him, and I know now that the failure of our relationship was because of my inability to be completely selfless with him. It was my fear that ruined our relationship.

He has found another person to love him; a girl, and while it seems unnatural that a guy like us could be intimate with a female, it seems to work for him. His sexuality is much more fluid than my own. It must be strange to not only share oneself with a member of the opposite sex, but to be able to do it at the level he is capable of, given his abilities. I am almost jealous of those abilities, and I am sorry that he and I couldn't make it work.

But in hindsight I have come to realize that even the most promising relationships sometimes just aren't meant to be. He was a big part of helping me to learn exactly who I am, and I will always be thankful for that. I wished him and his new companion all the best.

And since then I learned that he is just as human as anybody else, he just possesses a rare and unusual ability. Recently I learned that they had a child. I wonder if he passed that ability on to his offspring. I suppose I will never know, and sometimes, in ignorance is the safest place one can be.

Voting

This story is part of the 2019 story challenge "Inspired by a Tweet: Non Consent". The other stories may be found at the challenge home page. Please read them, too. The voting period of 8 March to 29 March 2019 is when the voting is open. This story may be rated, below, against a set of criteria, and may be rated against other stories on the challenge home page.

The challenge was to write a story inspired by this tweet:

This challenge is to write a story based on reading the tweet and to write a tale within its spirit, albeit a male homosexual teenage tale.. There is no picture, Just the tweet.

He Was

You may tick as many statements as you wish. Stories my also be discussed in detail on the Literary Merit forum I will seek this author's work out It grabbed my attention early on I had to know what happened I identified with at least one of the cast Gritty - it had an edge to it Realistic - it could have happened that way I found it hard to follow Good characterisation I feel better for having read it It was romantic It was erotic Too much explicit sex It had the right amount of sex, if there was any Not enough explicit sex I have read and enjoyed other work by this author I understood about lack of consent Current Results