Gift

I was very curious about a boy in class once. He would always perched on the far end corner of the classroom, alone, always away from everybody else. He would stay there, even when lecturers request him to move to more populated areas. He would always walk briskly with his head down.

I don't remember how I approached him, but I talked to him one day. I was very late to class, and I sneaked into the lecture room and sat right next to him in the far end corner of the class. I was wondering how to start talking to him, when he spoke.

"You know, everybody in this class, not everyone concentrates on the lesson. Some girl over there is thinking about her boy friend, somebody over there wants to go shopping. Imagine all 200 students in this class are talking out loud, wouldn't it be a din?" I blinked at him, trying to grasp his words.

"Sitting far from everyone else, the reception is less powerful. It is something like a radio, the waves don't reach that far. Besides, when you can see into their hearts, it is horrifying how much darkness you can find within."

It suddenly dawned on me. "So, does it mean...?"
He nodded slowly, "That is why I choose to stay away from everybody else. To protect myself from all those lies and deceptions. People, they seldom think good."

"But you can't just judge by that. You can tell when a person is telling a truth, you can tell who is really pure of heart. Nobody is perfect, even you yourself is not 100 percent pure of heart. We all have darkness, but maybe not that much. Maybe I don't understand how you feel, but I know how humans can be quite bad. Still, I choose to believe that the probability of people being good is higher than when they are not so good."

He kept silent. At that point the class ended, I left him where he was still lost in his thoughts. I remembered the times when I was betrayed by my best friend, how I was deceived by someone else I trusted. Still I believe that people are born to be good, we just have to be careful ourselves and judge the circumstances. If we trust no one, life could become rather sad and lonely.

I haven't seen him for a long time since. I have always wanted the ability to read minds, but would I end up like him? To have something, we have to lost something as well. Am I ready to bear the consequences? I sincerely hope that he is able to make friends and become happier.