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Drafty Drafter (1-30-18)


You have an ability where you can see people's aura telling how successful they will be in life. Today you saw a guy in rags having the strongest aura yet. [Link to post.]


"NO!" I slapped the side of the beige PC tower. "C'mon!" Nothing happened. The PC was on its last legs a year ago, but the timing of the failure could not have been worse. I walked out of my room to look for my mother.

"Mom? Where are you?" I said as soon as I stepped out into the hallway.

"In the kitchen!" She replied. The smell of her meatloaf should have tipped me off, it was my favorite meal. I smiled when I stepped into the kitchen. Her aura sparkled like a cloud of silver glitter floating around her. She did not know that I could see her success, but she was happy that I smiled every time I saw her.

"Can I use your laptop? I need to take a test, but my PC finally gave up."

"Sorry hon, left it at work today. Why don't you try the library?" She always tried to encourage me to go outdoors. As far as she knew I was a depressed shut in. I decided to tell her at some point soon, but the test was more important. I was enrolled in college, but could not handle going to the campus.

Once I noticed it, my ability took me a while to sort out. I can see auras, and depending on its appearance I can guess how successful they'll be in life. The blinding auras on the campus helped me learn that it's more potential than actual success. 90% of the students had brilliant possible futures. Not only could I not concentrate in class, the light was often bright enough to be seen through my eyelids, and give me a headache. I didn't last more than a couple of days before I switched to online enrollment. I hoped the middle of the afternoon, in the middle of the week would mean a relatively empty library.

"Save me a plate!" I yelled at my mom as I walked out of the house with my backpack over my shoulder.

"'Kay." She said. I got in my car and drove. I cheered to myself when I noticed there was only one other car in the parking lot.

"Probably the librarian," I said to myself. I walked in and the place was beautiful. I'd not been in years. The library consisted of a two story building with wonderfully large floors. The help desk was in the center of the first floor with rows of book cases on each side. I made my way up the stairs to the computer lab on the second floor. It was also surrounded by rows of books. I sat down and got to work. After about half an hour I looked up and noticed a black speck.

The black dot hovered in the air behind the computer station I sat at. It began to grow wider and taller until it resembled a pitch black hole in reality. It appeared flat with no depth or any sign light escaping. I stared at it intently until a golden shining light forced my eyes shut. It was not enough and I still saw brilliant, solid gold through my eyelids. I put my hands over my eyes and laid my head down on the desk, hoping I wasn't permanently blind. It felt like I stared at the sun.

"Hey, you okay?" A man's voice said, and I felt a gentle hand rock my shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said. I looked up at him assuming the light was gone. Golden light seared my eyes and I forced my head down on the desk. I caught a glimpse. I could not make out any features, his aura was too bright for me to see the person. Normally peoples clothes help block out some of their aura, but from what I could tell this man seemed to be dressed in tattered rags. I noticed darkened strips going down his body vertically. "I'm not fine. Sorry. I can't look at you, but don't take it personally." I hoped he didn't think I was insulting him. His hand remained on my shoulder.

"It's probably for the best, I'm kind of indecent at the moment. Is there a store nearby where I can get some clothes?" He asked.

"Huh? Yeah, there's one right next door," I said. I was about to ask how he didn't see it on his way into the library, then I realized he probably came through the black hole I saw.

"Hey, where'd you come from? Did you come from that black hole? Who are you?" He patted my shoulder warmly.

"My name is [Regal](http://hserratafun.blogspot.com/p/regal.html). So you saw me coming out of the portal?" He asked. I shook my head.

"I saw the portal open, but I was blinded when you stepped through. I can see people's auras and yours was *really* bright. The brightest I've ever seen. His hand wavered on my shoulder, somehow it felt like he was thinking. I kept my hands on my eyes, and my face on the desk. Even the slightest wiggle allowed his aura to pierce through my eyelids.

"What's your favorite number?" he asked. His question caught me off guard, and I answered as quickly as I could.

"34" I said.

"Do you have a tattoo with the number 34 on it?" Regal asked. I nodded, even though my mom had no idea about it. I had a tattoo of an old style army helmet on my thigh with the number 34 on it.

"[El Soldado](http://hserratafun.blogspot.com/2017/11/hugoverse-guidebook.html)! I've been looking for you," he patted my back, then stopped suddenly. "Sorry. To be clear I haven't been looking for *you*. I'm just looking for people like you. Unique Souls."

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