Free Witness by Jamie Magee Page B

college.
    Sometimes I felt cheated that none of us would have that kind of life, but most of the time I was relieved that I didn’t have to look forward to the stress of freshman year. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t skipping college; in fact, my mother had insisted that as long as I was in this world, I would take classes. Not knowing what I wanted to be when I ‘grew up’, I enrolled in the basic online classes. Last week, I’d grown so bored that I had worked through every part of my syllabus; all I had left to do was review for the exams. I felt like a total dork with no life when I did that, but now I’m glad I worked so far ahead. I doubt that I’ll be able to focus on anything to do with school anymore.
    Surprisingly, there were several people walking along the sidewalks, and the traffic was heavy. I guess people were out enjoying their break, being with old friends again.
    “Alright,” Aden said as he pulled up to a red light. “I doubt we’re gonna go over fifteen miles an hour for the next two blocks. Start looking at the people walking by. If you get it, then we’ll park and walk a block or so.”
    “You want me to see that fast – while you’re moving?!”
    “I can do it.”
    I glared at him, which only made him laugh. “We can go home,” he said, reaching for his blinker.
    “Stop, fine,” I mumbled as I looked out the passenger side window. The first people I saw were a middle-aged woman and a young boy. I gave up on focusing and just stared. All at once, I saw them in the last store they were in. She bought him a game with a gift card. In this image, I focused on the card and saw the words ‘love Dad’.
    “Ok,” I said, nodding to them so Aden could check my ability. “Divorced. Dad is a paycheck that thinks gifts substitute love.”
    “Is that a guess?” Aden asked.
    “Kinda. He gave him a gift card; why would he do that if he could just take him?”
    “You’re assuming. Look deeper.”
    I rolled my eyes and looked back to the little boy.
    “Hurry – light’s changing.”
    As Aden said that, I was gone from the truck, watching that little boy talking to his dad on a webcam. His dad was in uniform. The little boy was talking to him about how he’d done everything his mom asked all summer, just like he asked, and he became choked up when he asked when his mission would be over.
    Grief overtook me, and I closed my eyes and found myself back in the truck. The light had changed, and Aden had moved forward a few feet and was waiting at the next light.
    “Well...?” he asked as he glanced at me.
    “Dad’s a solider, defending our country and trying to be a dad at the same time.”
    Aden nodded and smiled slightly. “Never assume anything; make sure you see it.”
    I nodded and looked down at my hands. I let my thumb trace the pick on the broken necklace. The whispers calling my name became calmer, but their pleading was still as intense.
    I mumbled, “show yourself” as I looked out the window.
    All at once, the Hummer was surrounded by shadowed figures.
    “Warning next time,” Aden said firmly as Monroe all but leapt into the front seat with us. Aden began mumbling random words as I looked to my side at the shadow next to me. What I saw was no different from the other shadows I helped: lives that were dark and lived with despair. I shifted through the thoughts of this image as I held tight to Draven’s necklace. “Pumpkin pie,” I whispered as I relished in a memory that was full of that aroma. That shadow vanished, and another took its place. With this one, I shifted through an endless life full of abuse until I found a sunset that would make any soul cry. “Shades of Amber washed across the sky as he whispered, ‘I love you’.” That shadow faded as another came.
    Honks from around us caused us to move forward, even though we couldn’t see past the front of our truck. I wanted to prove to Aden that I could handle anything at that school, so I started searching the