From "James"- A short Story.

 

He lived in the ruled middle class, where guidelines and strict laws consumed his young life.

The young James knew he was out of his "real" life, everything he knew to be true was unreal or a lie, but the rules remained, and he instinctively was aware that he certainly did not belong in this world.

The young James, despite the institutional brain washing, knew in his mind, that now, where he existed , body, mind and soul, this reality to be false - something had gone, was very wrong.

Jame's kept his head down, attempting to blend in; pretending not to be too smart at school, and on the street, something of a loner.

It wasn't till he threw his arms in the air in the outside area of the oval at school in front of a group of students, whispering a kind of chant, which the boy who'd been bullying him since year 7, simply vanished -physically disappeared. Those that witnessed this bizarre event could not even speak about the phenomenon, but the police would not or could not believe, that young James, a little boy, could make another boy disappear - in plain sight; disappeared, in fact, in front of a crowd of students in the school yard; simply not possible.

In other words, this kind of event was impossible in this "reality", therefore James had not been charged of any crime, and the vanished bully boy went into the Cold Case Files - just another lost teenager among thousands.

This kind of behaviour, in Jame's life didn't stop because, as he grew older, these so-called powers, grew in strength and the power that he knew in his heart, at that particular time, in his twenty's, he had to choose - use his gifts for good or for his personal advantage.

One thing he knew in his very soul: he had to get back home.

James only socialised when he had a goal in mind.

James practised day and night the art of the "sleight of hand"; distracting the victim while doing something else - it worked, once he attempted the art many times, the art perfected, somehow , it became child’s play.

Dickens's "artful dodger" (once James' idle) was an amateur pick-pocket, a survival child, doing what he could to stay alive in 19th century England: compared to James, the Dodger never came close to James' skill.

James' next goal was to levitate, truly levitate, without any trick.

In his youth, he could always move silverware or a pencil by moving his hand over the objects.

Night after night, he would attempt to put himself or his consciousness in another place, willing his body to rise in the air without props or a wire.

On one particular night, the sound of sirens in the city, the drunken battles of a dysfunctional family next door, he rose a metre in the air, and maintained the position for at least 10 to 15 seconds. This was a break- through and James continued practising until he had levitation down to more than 24 hours.

James, now, could fly at will.

After years of playing the "magician" or more so, the "Joker", at various carnivals and finally, Las Vegas, the time had finally come to move and change...to what or whom, he did not exactly know. He decided to use his skills at the Race Track; moving from state to state, and won literally millions of dollars. This money, he thought, would be used to travel to the far corners of the earth. James' purpose: to find out where he truly came from - his home.

James grew up in a series of foster homes - some good, some absolutely terrible. In one home, the last before he turned 18, his so-called foster father used to drink whisky and beat up his foster mother. After weeks of this abuse, James had had enough. He confronted the "wife beater", and simply chanted a few lines, similar to the school bully, and the drunk vanished into thin air. Before leaving the house, because he now was of age, he left his foster mother $200,000. Later, he stumbled into show business.

James left for England with the intent of finding his "True" home.