Disclaimer: The usual - fabulous characters owned by fabulous characters, sadly me not one of them. The Haiku is mine, written on a challenge after a visit to the San Francisco Asian Art Museum. I thought it might suit.

Drops of Rain

read·er \rēd-er\ n 1a: one that reads b: one appointed to read to others…colloquial or slang 1a: telepath b: one who can hear the thoughts of others

Reader. You told me who I am. You defined the unknown in me and let me see through the fear and darkness. You gave me form in the midst of my insanity.

Yet you did not fear, not like the others. Even Simon, my sweet brother, cannot dispel the small fear of me that lives in the corner of his mind. He rescued me, but doesn’t know how to save me. He doesn’t know how to believe in the intangibleness of it.

I see it in their eyes and hear it in their thoughts. They all wonder, at least a little, how much I can see and hear. Do I listen? They worry a monster will get out and kill them. You don’t. You accept as if it was always part of your life. How fey are you?

You fear only that you will have to turn me out, let me go. You worry about keeping me safe. You know the wounds inside that can overwhelm, bringing madness. You still feel them at night, when consciousness surrenders to sleep and dreams take hold. I hear screams inside your mind.

Warm, gentle rain falls

Infinity in each drop

Splash, they become one.

We are one. The sum is greater than its parts. Kaylee told me about the day I woke up. Did you know that you would become the father that should have protected me? Do you know the family you have made? Family. One.