Chapter 1

All of my life I have known that there was something different about me. I wasn't the same as those around me. It didn't make me feel totally apart from the other people around me or anything like that. I enjoyed most of the same things everyone else did and got along well enough, but it didn't take too long to discover that some of my abilities were not shared by other people – at least no one I knew of.

My dad was the only one I ever talked with about my abilities. Dad didn't freak out or jump to conclusions about things and tended to give advice only when it was really useful and warranted. One such piece of advice was to limit the number of people I told about my abilities. He felt that it would be better that way and after listening to his reasons I agreed.

One thing about my relationship with dad puzzled me though – at least back then. For some reason, even though I could talk with dad about most things, he was the one I tended to but heads with as a teenager and much more so than the rest of my family. When I finally found out why – it kind of made sense. I remember that evening with clarity even all of these years later.

"Come talk with me for a few minutes Paul," my father said as he gently guided me into his den with an arm placed on my shoulder. I walked into the room and sat down in one of the two leather recliners in the room as dad sat down in the other.

"Son, you know I try not to judge you harshly – especially concerning your abilities. In fact I have always tried to encourage you to learn more about them in the hopes that it would help you make wise use of them; but recently, well – I'm a little disappointed and maybe just a bit hurt."

I didn't have to wonder too much about what he was getting at. I guess I had acted without thinking and now felt ashamed and embarrassed.

"I'm sorry Dad!"

"And you should be! Yet – I can still remember what it was like to be fourteen and full of hormones," dad said with some humor creeping into his voice.

"Let me just state this clearly Paul: Your mother is my woman. This one is off limits to you. Is that clear?"

"Yes. I just wasn't thinking it through. I love and respect both of you too much to want to mess things up; but damn! Why does she have to be so beautiful?"

"You wanted an ugly mother?" he asked in reply.

That set both of us to laughing and the tension eased somewhat. By now you have probably understood that I had initiated some sort of intimate contact with my mother. In my defense I have to say that being a healthy male with great appreciation for the beauty of the female form – I would have had to have been blind not to notice and desire my mom! She was a stone cold fox! Mom was just under 5' 10" tall with smooth skin, gorgeous legs, a big bust, and the firm ass of a woman who knew how to keep fit. Mom liked to jog, swim, and play tennis and all of her activity really paid dividends. Add the silky blond hair and vivid blue eyes plus the sexy clothing she always seemed to favor and it was hard for her not to be the center of my hormone fueled fantasies!

"So if we're clear on that and you respect my wishes, I will happily forgive you. Don't disappoint me in this Paul. I haven't placed very many limitations on how you use your empathic abilities. I am asking you to limit yourself in this matter out of your love for her and me."

"I understand Dad."

"Maybe you do Paul; but I am not certain of that – not yet anyway. Let me explain more Son.

"You have been sharing your secrets with me since you were a little tyke and I have appreciated the trust you've shown in me – especially when you began wondering about the differences you observed between yourself and those around you. Yet, while you have been sharing all that you have learned about your unusual abilities with me, I have kept totally silent and not shared any information regarding my abilities with you.

"In a way this might seem unfair Paul; but I have had several good reasons for doing so – at least up until now," dad said as he began ticking off his reasons.

"First, I really meant it when I advised you to limit the number of people who know about your abilities to as few as possible. I know you like science fiction and so do I. I really think some of the authors out there have had the right take on things – I guess I mean to say that there are some really unsavory characters out there who would not hesitate to use people like you and I with no thought to our comfort or our desires. Hell! We might even end up strapped to a dissection table in their zeal to learn how our minds tick!

"Second, if I had shared the details of my abilities with you and you didn't end up with all of them you might feel that you were a disappointment to me – and I can assure you that nothing could be further from the truth.

"Third, let's say that you had known what all of my abilities are and you had developed an ability I do not possess. I didn't want you to be shy about telling me about it or feel that I might be jealous or resent it in some way. I don't ever want any differences in our abilities to stand between us.

"Paul as far as I can tell you and I may be the only two humans on the planet who can do the things that we can do with the power of our minds. We may very well be the next wave of human development or perhaps the start of a more advanced species."

My dad spent the next several hours telling me about his abilities. We talked about the common abilities we shared as well as those that only I had exhibited. Dad honestly didn't seem at all jealous about the things I could do that he could not. He kept saying that his abilities when applied intelligently had only brought about good things for himself and his family. He cautioned me about doing anything that would draw too much attention to myself.

"It's getting late Paul. Tomorrow is Saturday and you and I will talk again. Sleep well."

My conversations with my father moved to another level after that. Our relationship deepened as he began to train me, to the best of his capability, to make good use of my special abilities.

I learned that my empathy was really two way, or as my dad described it: receptive and projective. Almost unconsciously I had been making use of it for years. I didn't cry a lot as a baby - somehow my mom just seemed to know what I wanted right when I needed her to. My dad felt I must have been influencing her straight out of the womb. He said that even as a baby I was exhibiting projective empathy or the ability to influence the thoughts and actions of others with my mind. I also seemed to be able to sense the moods and basic thoughts of others with great accuracy which he said was a form of receptive empathy. Dad had both receptive and projective empathy, but not to the same degree as I did.

We also both had the ability of telekinesis - though again, mine was stronger than his by an almost exponential factor. Dad's difference turned out to be of enormous benefit when I was learning how to control that ability. While dad may not have been able to lift and manipulate enormous weight, he had perfected a level of finesse I might not have understood was even possible without his patient guidance. An example of that was brought home to me once when I lost my key to the house and used telekinesis to destroy the lock on the side door of the kitchen. When the rest of the family came home dad took me aside and asked why I didn't just telekinetically pull the hinge pins up and open the door that way. I had to admit that once he mentioned it I couldn't come up with any reason not to have done it that way. He joked that my way was like swatting flies with a sledge hammer! That incident led to him walking me through a lot of hypothetical situations to get me to learn a bit more finesse myself.

Some of my other abilities came later or I didn't immediately understand what I was experiencing and didn't grasp the significance at the time.

Another memorable evening discussion in dad's study began just after the party guests left after my 17th birthday party.

"Well Paul - it's probably been difficult at times; but you've kept your word regarding your Mom. And it can't have been easy; but I sense an uneasiness in you that is building and frankly - you need to get laid boy!" dad said before bursting into laughter.