Joshua Cast

 

Joshua learned how to cast. He couldn’t remember how or from whom or even the first time he did it. He just knew how. Ever since graduating high school, his life continued an interesting, twisting path. One couldn’t call the path “criminal”, for, technically speaking, he did nothing actually illegal. Aside from the typical, self-indulgences experienced by most, Joshua was all together, a pretty good guy.

As for the casting, as Joshua called it, he somehow was able to project his essence into the subconscious of others. He called it “essence” for he could find no other term to articulate exactly what it was. He could find no documentation, in all of metaphysics, history or philosophy, that identified what it was that he did. In short, Joshua could share, on a temporary, short term basis, the emotional/intuitive foundation of who he was. He shared no memories, he shared no knowledge, just essence. And more often than not, people would collapse and begin weeping uncontrollably.

His earliest memory of casting, though he was sure it was not his first cast, took place on the couch at his grandparents’ home at a Christmas Eve party for the extended family. He had just opened the one gift from his grandparents, a yellow and black floral print shirt. He smiled, he said thank you but inside couldn’t help but feel awfully disappointed. Then it happened, Claire, his one-year older cousin, opened her gift. Same size box, same wrapping paper. Squealing with delight, she extracted the newest i-phone from the box. Looking at Joshua, she discreetly stuck out her tongue and then jumping from her seat, hugged both her grandparents.

Joshua felt something very subtle, in the center of his forehead and as he looked Claire in the eyes, it happened. Suddenly she sat down, on the floor where she had stood and began sobbing.  The room fell silent. For the first three seconds, Joshua relished the feeling of victory.  But then, sitting there, looking at the teenage girl, curled into the fetal position, uncontrollably sobbing, her eyes squeezed shut into two thin slits, tears and snot cascading down her face, he suddenly felt horrible.

It was an awkward twenty-two seconds until Claire’s mother, Aunt Jane, dropped to the floor next to Claire and pulling her into her arms, embraced and consoled her. Initially, she tried to determine what exactly it was that she cried about but Claire, nearly out of her mind and incoherent, didn’t even try to answer.  Another twenty-two seconds passed and Claire’s father, Uncle Bill, helped the two ladies to their feet and guided them in the direction of the bathroom.

The room sat in silence as Uncle Bill left and then returned. The awkwardness was thick, like the undeniable presence of a fart that no one claimed. Eventually, small talk started, and the room returned to normal, for everyone that is, except for Joshua. His mind swirled as he replayed the scene over and over in his mind. Every ounce of his scientific mind could conceive of no possible explanation for the seeming connection between the buzz in his forehead and the emotional devastation of his cousin. But his heart told him otherwise. Without knowing how or what, he knew the entire scene was his doing.

“Bill, we need to go,” interrupted Aunt Jane as she poked her head out around the corner of the hallway. “We need to go right now,” she continued. Bill looking sheepish and apologetic, could only answer, “Yes, dear.” Hugs were exchanged, coats were retrieved, and Claire was not seen in the cacophony of relational communique. But Joshua only sat and pondered.

Four months later, it happened again. He sat in the front row of the high school auditorium, waiting his turn to recite an Easter poem. In his mind, Easter was an archaic holiday that only belonged to days past. But here he was, about to display his oratory prowess to an auditorium full of parents and siblings. He had deliberately chosen an obscure and somewhat controversial poem for his recitation, just because.

Patiently waiting, as each student rose from their seat, in proper alphabetical sequence, Joshua felt Brad, the class bully immediately to his left, shift in his seat and then stand. Stepping on Joshua’s foot and farting as he passed by, Brad’s face couldn’t hide the smirk that followed. Joshua involuntarily gagged. Then it occurred to him. ‘I wonder if the cast will work this far away.’ Gauging the distance to be nearly twenty feet, he felt like he would give it a try. Focusing his attention on Brad, standing before the podium and still smirking, he quietly begged for a split second of eye contact.

Then it came. Brad swept his glance across the front row and increasing his smirk ever so slightly, he made eye contact. Joshua focused on his forehead and the buzz lit across it like a cheap kitchen timer. But as soon as he connected, he suddenly felt horrible again. For the moment the buzz occurred, Brad’s ridiculous smirk turned into a sob. The tough guy Brad actually bellowed, sobbed and sounding somewhat like a donkey, gripped the sides of the podium and turned ash grey. Watching him crumple to the floor, everyone in the front row, almost in unison, rose to their feet to try to see what was happening. Brad, blubbering like a baby, just like Claire, curled into a fetal position and waxed incoherent.

Mr. Johnson, the high school English teacher and purveyor of fine Easter poetry, quickly ascended the stage and tried to intervene.  Helping Brad off the stage, he quickly turned and made a half attempt to call out for Brad’s parents.

Joshua knew how to cast, and he used it to his advantage. He was no criminal, though he certainly could have used this ability to that end. He was not even a mean person, for in his mind, emotionally crushing those whom he chose, was simply a means to an end, a source of justice for those who completely deserved the distress he shared. He considered himself a vendor of karma.

This manifestation of the mystical finally came to a head one evening as he sat in his college dorm room sharing a hookah with his roommates. Carl, the long-haired world religion major, had brought a girl to the party. She was an odd one, unlike anyone Joshua had ever met. The evening began innocently enough. Introductions were made and the hookah was loaded with Joshua’s favorite, Girl Scout Cookies. The hookah tube had made a single pass through everyone in the room, when the girl began talking about this weird buzzing feeling in her forehead. Joshua paused. He began to look directly at her but then caught himself. Staring instead at her navel, for she wore a half shirt, reality suddenly became very unreal.

“Hey, man, are you okay,” Carl asked. “You kind of look off.”

Joshua took another hit and lifted a single finger, as if to say, “Yeah, hang on a minute.” Holding it in and then exhaling, quite dramatically, he then spoke. “Yeah, it’s all good.” The weed should have distracted him enough to not think about what the girl said but he only found himself wondering all the more. He thought about casting her but that would require eye contact, which, he was sure, would open him up to her, if she was doing the same to him.

When Joshua woke up, he was wearing the girls’ half shirt and occupied the back seat of a 1962 Buick station wagon, belonging to whom, he did not know. With no recollection of how he got there or even where he actually was, he sat up and tried to gain his bearings. Checking the front seat and the rear area, he realized that he sat alone in an unknown car in an unknown field. Climbing out, he felt rather odd wearing nothing but a half shirt that wasn’t even his. Removing the shirt and wrapping it around his waist, he started walking towards what he believed to be a road. It was then that his friend Carl showed up.

“Dude, there you are,” he said. “Nice skirt you’ve got on there. I’ve been looking for you for almost an hour. Hop in, I’ll give you a ride back home.”

The two sat in silence for a moment and then Carl continued. “Man, that was one crazy night. I can’t believe what happened between you and that girl. Did you even know her?”

“I’m afraid to ask,” Joshua said. “What happened? I have absolutely no recollection of anything.”

“Man, I don’t know if it was the weed or what but out of the blue, you two started like a staring contest or something. It was wild. I’ve never seen two people get so intense. You kept getting closer and closer together and then all of sudden, it was like a volcano of light went off. The whole room lit up and everybody got super happy and smiley and peaceful. Oh, man the peace, the peace was unbelievable. Kind of like everyone was in one big hug, love fest. It was beautiful.”

“Uh…. Okay,” Joshua said. “That’s really weird. Is the girl still around? I don’t even know her name.”

“Yeah, when I left, she was asleep on the couch. But she could have left by now. I guess we’ll see when we get back.”