Awakening Book One of the Trust Series(23)
Caitlyn caught the ball, all the while blushing, embarrassed that she was so engrossed that she forgot that she sometimes inadvertently projected her thoughts. “When are you teaching me how to block my thoughts exactly?”
“Once we get the basics of levitation down, I promise that we will move on to blocking. Don’t worry; it’s usually only when you are deep in thought that you project them. It’s not as if I can hear them all the time. So I am going to start by having you sit and close your eyes.”
Caitlyn did as instructed, sitting in a chair. “Now what?”
“Now, I am going to have you start by touching the ball, feeling its composition. It’s often easier for new Actuals to grasp the concept of levitating by touching the object in their hand to start. Feel the ball, the texture, the weight. Now today we are just going to concentrate on teaching you how to relax, how to focus for levitating. You have to open your mind to thinking differently, to thinking like an Actual. Breathe slowly; try to clear your mind of anything. Imagine you are the ball.”
Caitlyn tried not to let her performance anxiety get to her. She held the ball in her hands; it was incredibly light, the ball overall smooth, with small imperfections on the surface. In her mind, she imagined herself as the ball, cradled in warm hands. She looked out at the walls from the balls perspective.
She listened as Garrett advised her to visualize lifting the orb till it was up to her head. Caitlyn concentrated, her mind picturing elevating the ball. Something did not feel right when she did so. She could tell she was not levitating the item. She took another deep breath, trying again and again. It was still wrong. There was an invisible barrier in her mind, a thin film that she could not quite penetrate. She let off a small groan in frustration.
“Open your eyes, Caitlyn. You need to refocus.”
Her eyes squinted slightly at the man who was now towering above her. “It’s wrong.”
Garrett grabbed her hand and lifted her to a standing position, his head cocked ever so slightly. “What’s wrong?”
She tossed the small sphere back and forth between both hands. “I don’t know. I can almost perform the levitation. When I am trying, I am pushing, trying to make the levitation occur, but my mind is not yielding. I need to do something different.”
Garrett scratched the back of his neck. “That is good. Very good. I am surprised you can feel a barrier already. It takes weeks for most people even to recognize it. Think of it this way. Your brain is used to functioning one way, but now the nerves need to complete the rewiring process. The basics are there in your head, but everything needs to connect. Give it time.”
She sat back down, closing her eyes, starting again to concentrate on the ball. The next twelve attempts were the same as the first, that invisible block always in her way, mocking her, refusing to succumb. It was late in the afternoon by this point and she rubbed her temples, frustrated that they would need to stop soon.
Garrett plopped down next to her. “We will have you try one more time today and then we can resume again tomorrow, okay? It’s been a long day and there was a lot for you to take in. Believe it or not, you have already made a lot of progress.”
Caitlyn dropped her head to her chest, wallowing in her defeat, before slowing raising it again. “Can I take a break, just for a minute, and then we can try our last attempt?”
Her teacher smiled. “Of course. I am going to check to see if Katie has the details on my meeting with Councilman Riley. I’ll be right back.”
The door closed shut behind her and she pulled at her hair with her hands. Caitlyn could not grasp why she could not do this. She knew that it was right there, right in front of her. She needed that barrier to break. But the question remained on how? What was she doing wrong? When Caitlyn felt the barrier, she pushed and she had pulled, and… nothing. She paced around the room thinking of a solution.
Garrett re-entered the room, her mood no better than she was before. He placed a sympathetic hand on Caitlyn’s shoulder, patting in lightly. “Ready to go one more round?”
“Yes.”
She grasped the ball in her hand, the image of raising it clear in her mind. She felt the obstruction at that moment. As she pushed at the barrier, she again pushed harder, to try to lift the ball, only to find the resistance got stronger and harder. Finally, a thought occurred to her. What if she didn’t push? What if she did not do anything? She let her body relax, the stress built up in her melting away. The barrier then released.