Fiction logo

Visionary Spaces

Fantasy realism or my mind creating spaces for the future - not sure which one occurred

By Denise LarkinPublished 2 years ago 9 min read
4
Visionary Spaces
Photo by Khad's Photography on Unsplash

The small green patch of grass of my aunt and uncle's London garden was set up for my cousin's seventh birthday party in the summer of 1978. I was the only skinny girl there at twelve years old dressed in white Bay City Roller trousers and a silky white top but then the plump freckled neighbor came walking in wearing a red checked patterned dress acting like she owned the place. She plodded down onto the seat next to me with a wide grin on her face deliberately ignoring me. On this day an incident occurred that led me to see something about my future. I call it an incident or perhaps spaces in my mind being cleared to grant me a wish of something splendid for my future. Of course, I was the only one who experienced it.

The garden was overrun with six noisy boys that consisted of my three younger brothers and three cousins. They were boisterously loud as I sat at a long oblong table with them. The day was spent playing games and eating ham or cheese triangle sandwiches along with jelly custard trifles in whipped cream made by my aunt. I came to love her creamy trifles.

I remember sitting there as the warm breeze blew through my long brown hair. I had felt too old for this kind of party. I was grown-up for my age and I looked older than twelve. I didn't want to be there. I wanted to be at home listening to my records. I loved the Bay City Rollers but most of all I loved watching classic Hollywood movies. I had recently been to see the film Grease the week before for my birthday which was all the rage back then for my friends and me, especially the songs.

At first, I was glad to be the only girl there but then the neighbors arrived. The plump podgy girl who was two years younger than me, and her older brother, PJ, had gained my attention. PJ sat at the opposite end of the table staring at me whenever I wasn't looking his way. I remember his shiny blue eyes. I felt slightly embarrassed too. Of course, PJ's sister dazzled like she was the star of the show and the most wonderful person in the world but her brother was quietly reserved. I had nothing in common with her. She was the total opposite to me; loud, bubbly, and popular. Her short rounded body was moving about like a zombie. Her brown curly hair bobbed up and down as the spread of freckles on her red cheeks glistened in the sun. She was the center of attention.

Next to her, I appeared tall, skinny, and lanky. I felt embarrassed by her clever eagerness to play the games that we were told to play by my tall menacing uncle with jet black hair. He was a conniving obtrusive man. He bullied me and my brothers to join in with the games that were horrible and fickle. Another reason why I hated that day; my uncle had set out to embarrass me. Since the plump girl's arrival, I had felt a shyness quieten me down which wasn't usually like me. Plus, I was seriously being stared at by PJ. Of course, worst of all, I was severely taken away from the games by something that was happening within myself that I couldn't talk about. A euphoric atmosphere had begun to grow within me invading my personal space.

My personal space of invasion happened when I decided to stare back at PJ. To be honest, I was slightly curious about him. PJ, who was a year older than me with thick brown wavy hair wearing silver-rimmed glasses had stolen my attention. As I stared at him something really bizarre happened. It was the most unusual experience. My mind oozed spasms. I couldn't explain it nor fathom it out because what I saw next was astounding. I believed that my personal space within my brain was taken over by a force unknown to me.

When I think about it now I'm still in awe of it and I can't really explain why I saw it. I wrote about it in my diary all those years ago after it happened. It made me smile at how things can occur at a young age about what we believe and see about our future. So, when I read what I wrote in my diary years later, I remembered that day vividly.

I wrote, "What did I see? Was the space in my brain invaded by something or someone? What was it? A wedding cake? Bells? Is it true? Am I going mad? Was it real?"

It seemed like a weird thing to ask myself back then about what I'd seen but it did happen and I do remember wondering if it would come true.

What I saw upon PJ's head was a vision. My personal space was invaded or at least that's what I believed at the time. The vision was clear and vivid. I stared at a peculiar image above his head. I gazed dazedly at it. An eerie strangeness surrounded me. I glanced around the garden. Could anyone else see what I was seeing?

Everyone was busy enjoying the pegs-on-the-line game that I hated. My brother was the first to start it off. The game consisted of who could get the most pegs from the line in their hands without dropping them. The person with the most pegs held in their hands would be the winner. Of course, I couldn't concentrate.

The game irritated me because the plump girl was the one who kept winning. She had gotten so much praise that day, so when it came to my turn my uncle distracted me and put me off by prancing about like a silly grown-up child trying to make me lose. I dropped the pegs and was out of the game in minutes. My uncle laughed loudly at me when I growled to myself.

"You're such a bad loser!" He said as I went back to my seat sulking as I stared casually over at PJ.

I was usually very eager when it came to new games but on that particular day, I was tormented by the vision. It had taken my attention away from the party.

When I say, I saw a vision above PJ's head, the visionary image consisted of a two-tiered white glowing wedding cake with a bride and groom on top of it and bells moving. I could hear them ringing in my ears. The sound had bugged me intermittently. It wrecked my concentration. A whispering hush in my ears felt like a kind of ringing sensation and an impressionable whisper said, "You will marry him."

To be honest, I nearly fell off my chair in fright and confusion. I was absolutely flabbergasted at the sight above PJ's head. I was shocked and extraordinarily surprised. Questions went through my mind. Was this true? Was this real? Who was doing this? Was someone playing a trick on me?

Of course, none of the answers came to me. I couldn't tell anyone about it either. I did think about telling my mum later but wouldn't she think I was fibbing? Then I realized I couldn't tell anyone until I could figure this out.

I stared at PJ's glowing face and realized the image was of a wedding. I started to wonder if it was my wedding I was seeing and whether he really would be my husband. It worried me. I wasn't sure I wanted this boy to be my husband. He appeared handsome enough except for his glasses. He had happy piercing blue eyes. He did seem to be a decent 13-year-old boy. I wondered how this could be possible when I continued to stare at him. But then our eyes caught one another's and something sparked within me. Later, in my diary, I wrote "I felt a spark of something deep as I looked at him. It bugged me. Could this be real?"

As I watched the others play another round of the pegs on the line game I sighed as the image disappeared. The invasion of my personal space within my brain was like nothing I had ever experienced before. Nothing would be the same for me again. I looked anxiously around me wondering if I would see something else but nothing happened. How could I possibly be told who my husband-to-be was at 12 years old? After seeing the image of wedding bells above PJ's head I did wonder if more visions would appear. Of course, all I could see was PJ's sister jumping up and down with a skipping rope on the garden lawn and the boys sitting at the table scoffing sweets as one of them got up and started to kick a ball around.

I panicked slightly but then I shook the idea out of my mind because I was probably being silly.

"Did I have a daydream or a vision about PJ? Will I really marry him one day, or am I having delusions?" I wrote in my diary later.

The delusional idea wasn't something I was comfortable with because I had a feeling it was just a daydream although I wasn't sure what to believe.

The memory of that day stuck with me. I didn't know if this would eventually come true or not but that evening I came down with an ear infection with severe ringing in my ears. So, I shrugged it off thinking I must have been ill that day. The spaces in my brain were not available for visions.

Of course, I told my mum the next day and she smiled and said it could be real. I also told PJ years later before we got married and he laughed at me and said he'd always known that I was one step ahead of him which was kind of funny at the time. Now I know that sometimes the personal spaces within my brain can without warning be invaded with visionary images and senses. Something to look forward to I suppose.

Also published on Medium.com

©️ Denise Larkin 2021. All Rights Reserved.

Short Story
4

About the Creator

Denise Larkin

A writer with a BA in Arts & Humanities (specialism Creative Writing), studying for an MA in Creative Writing, writes poetry and fictional short stories. The author of Time to Run, The Island of Love, Darkness, and The Non-Human.

Reader insights

Outstanding

Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!

Top insights

  1. Excellent storytelling

    Original narrative & well developed characters

  2. Compelling and original writing

    Creative use of language & vocab

  3. Easy to read and follow

    Well-structured & engaging content

  1. Eye opening

    Niche topic & fresh perspectives

  2. Heartfelt and relatable

    The story invoked strong personal emotions

  3. Expert insights and opinions

    Arguments were carefully researched and presented

Add your insights

Comments (3)

Sign in to comment
  • Poker Guyabout a year ago

    Thrilling story. I like the visual day in the garden but the realism in what you saw was exciting to read.

  • Jack Rayabout a year ago

    Exciting realism. I loved the way you wrote it.

  • James2 years ago

    Beautiful story and I like the theory about 'the personal spaces within my brain can without warning be invaded with visionary images and senses'. This is quite a unique and positive way to use this idea. Wonderful story.

Find us on social media

Miscellaneous links

  • Explore
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Support

© 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.