Feeling Feelings

By Paul Roever

I was walking home from school when it happened. Suddenly, I was able to hear things that I had previously not heard before. The man in the house to my left, he was lamenting the loss of his wife, although it had occurred more than three years ago. The woman in the house to my right was almost bursting with happiness. She had just won the lottery. There was a lost child wondering around in one of the gardens, playing hide-and-seek by itself. All of these feelings overwhelmed my own. I felt a panic rushing at me. I knew I had to block these feelings out, and fast, or I would be nothing more than a disheveled wreck lying on the ground. I began trying to think of ways to block out these feelings. I though about my family, but to no avail. I though about going fishing with grandpa, but to no avail. Finally I had the idea to think of math. I thought about Algebra, and I tried to remember some of the homework problems so that I could solve them in my head. This worked. As soon as I began trying to solve a problem, I felt the feelings of other people recede into a secluded space of my mind. Shaken, I proceeded on my way to my house, all the while focusing on Algebra. I got home, and my mother smiled at me and said, “How was school today, honey?” Instantly I could hear her thoughts, her worries about how my father’s company was doing, whether or not she should call him, and worries about my sister’s cold. Suddenly I understood the hardship she had to go through every day, and right then and there, I hugged her as hard as I could.