{"id":55,"date":"2021-03-09T00:33:32","date_gmt":"2021-03-09T00:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/john-shirley.com\/blog\/?p=55"},"modified":"2021-03-09T00:33:32","modified_gmt":"2021-03-09T00:33:32","slug":"voices-a-rediscovered-flash-fiction-piece","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/john-shirley.com\/blog\/voices-a-rediscovered-flash-fiction-piece\/","title":{"rendered":"VOICES  &#8211; a rediscovered flash-fiction piece"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Voices<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYour parents are worried about you,\u201d the child psychiatrist told Jeremy. \u201cDo you know why?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYes,\u201d the boy said, \u201cit\u2019s because I hear voices.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat do the voices say?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey don\u2019t say anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThen how can you be hearing voices, Jeremy? They just sort of hum, or bark? I\u2019ve heard of that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cNo, they\u2019re not even voices. It\u2019s only one, and it\u2019s not exactly a voice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThen what is it like?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The boy leaned back in the leather chair. He looked at the cryptic doctoral certificates, framed, on the wall. He looked at a bowling trophy. \u201cYou like bowling?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t think of a doctor bowling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWell I do. It makes me feel like I\u2019m just doing what my body likes, sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI know what you mean by that, I do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe voice, or whatever it is, Jeremy. Can you try to tell me what it\u2019s like?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The boy looked at a world globe. \u201cWell, um&#8230;I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cTry to describe it. Take your time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The boy considered; the miniature grandfather clock ticked. A hummingbird came to the window and seemed puzzled by a reflection in it. It hung beating the air, looking at the glass, fooled and not fooled, then went away. \u201cHuh,\u201d the boy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The psychiatrist waited. At last the boy said, \u201cIt\u2019s like&#8230;if you\u2019re in a dark cold room, and somebody pulled back a curtain, just a little, high up on the wall, so that one ray of light came down and you put out your hand and in the dark cold room you could feel that warm light on your hand, and how that feels.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThat sounds like a pleasant feeling. A good one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is. It is a good feeling. But it\u2019s just&#8230;It\u2019s like the feeling is talking. It\u2019s saying, \u2018Ray of Light, Ray of Light, Ray of Light.\u2019 It\u2019s saying \u2018You and Me, You and Me.\u2019 It\u2019s saying \u2018Open and feel Me.\u2019 But it\u2019s not saying anything either. It\u2019s not saying anything at all. No words. It doesn\u2019t talk in words.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The psychiatrist realized his heart was thudding loudly in his chest. \u201cWhen&#8230;when do you hear&#8230;feel this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen&#8230;when things are a certain way in me. I don\u2019t know how to say\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIs it when&#8230;just like receiving? A feeling of nothing but receiving? Very&#8230;very empty except for&#8230;for receiving?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYes! Yes, that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The psychiatrist looked at the clock. \u201cWe have some time left. Do you want to play Chinese Checkers?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSure.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The psychiatrist told Jeremy\u2019s parents there was nothing wrong with him. But he asked permission to speak to the boy on his birthday every year, \u201cjust to keep an eye on things,\u201d but what he didn\u2019t say was: he asked to do this for himself, and not for the boy&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Voices \u201cYour parents are worried about you,\u201d the child psychiatrist told Jeremy. \u201cDo you know why?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d the boy said, \u201cit\u2019s because I hear voices.\u201d \u201cWhat do the voices say?\u201d \u201cThey don\u2019t say anything.\u201d \u201cThen how can you be hearing voices, Jeremy? They just sort of hum, or bark? I\u2019ve heard of that.\u201d \u201cNo, they\u2019re&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-55","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>VOICES - a rediscovered flash-fiction piece - John Shirley Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/john-shirley.com\/blog\/voices-a-rediscovered-flash-fiction-piece\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VOICES - a rediscovered flash-fiction piece - John Shirley Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Voices \u201cYour parents are worried about you,\u201d the child psychiatrist told Jeremy. \u201cDo you know why?\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d the boy said, \u201cit\u2019s because I hear voices.\u201d \u201cWhat do the voices say?\u201d \u201cThey don\u2019t say anything.\u201d \u201cThen how can you be hearing voices, Jeremy? 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