I was thirteen when it first happened. That day had been relatively normal. I rode the bus home from school, completed my homework, ate dinner, and read a chapter of my favorite comic book. I even went to sleep that night as usual. However, I had a very strange dream. In it, my younger brother Theo was climbing a tree. As I watched him, I became very aware that this dream felt real. I knew it was just in my head, but I could somehow feel the wind sifting through my long brown hair and the sun burning on my face. I’d never had a dream this realistic. Suddenly, I saw a flash of color as Theo fell out of the tree. He screeched, and then I woke up. I didn’t think much of it. I had another regular day at school. When I got home, I found my brother in the backyard in a tree. The same tree as the one in my dream. When Theo saw me, he shouted out my name. “Raina, look at me!” And then he fell. The world stopped. My mom rushed to see if he was okay, but I just stood there. Every part of me was terrified. Not for Theo, but for myself. I had a dream predicting this exact moment, which could only mean one thing. I had become an oracle. I spent the rest of the day in my room. My mind was spinning. Based on everything my parents, teachers, and friends had told me, I knew that there were generally two main opinions people had about oracles. The first was that they were evil sinners being possessed by the devil in their sleep. The second was believing that all oracles were just liars trying to get attention and fame. People of both opinions caused future-tellers to be hated by anyone who found out about their ability. I picked up my phone. Since I obviously wasn’t making it up for attention, that only left one explanation for my dreams. I had done something wrong, something to provoke evil demons. I searched the internet for solutions. The first results were articles like “How to Conduct an Exorcism” and ads for “therapy” that sounded more like religious harassment. But on the third page, I found the beginnings of information that would actually help me. I began to learn. By the end of the month, I had determined that my oracle ability would never go away. However, I was no longer ashamed. I hid from my family and friends to prevent them being angry at me, but I didn’t hide from myself. I had learned that oracles were everywhere, much more common than people thought. I’d probably met several of them without realizing it. There was a whole community of people like me who existed among us, living together to avoid social stigma. They were hidden in plain sight. About a year later, I walk into the library. It’s become my new favorite place to relax during my free time. I pass through the hallway, noticing an open door that is normally locked. I used to think it was a storage closet, but now I’m curious to see for myself. I step inside. Bookshelves line the walls. A boy with strawberry blond hair and large glasses sits in an armchair, reading. He glances up at me for a moment before returning to his book, but not for long. He then does a double-take and jumps up out of his seat as if he’d been electrocuted. “Oh, uh, I’m sorry. I thought I… uh… recognized you… or something.” The boy shoves his face back in the book, but I can still sense him watching me as I walk around the new room. I go toward the bookshelves, brushing my hand over the spines of the books. I glance back at him. My eyes are drawn to his bracelet, which features a repeated spiral shape with a line through it. It looks familiar. I’ve seen that symbol on someone else before, but I can’t remember who. A friend from school? No. My neighbor? Nah. I think it was… I stop. I recall a YouTube video I once watched, one with a comments section filled with hate. In it, a woman held up the symbol attached to a chain. “This is special to people like me,” she had said. *And me,* I had thought. “Where’d you get that bracelet?” The boy slowly puts down his book again. “Um, I made it. Just thought it looked cool.” “Are you sure?” I take a step closer. “I thought it represented something.” “What? Uh, nope, I don’t think it does!” He was getting nervous now. I think for a moment about my response. “I think you know I know. Just be honest. I promise I won’t be upset.” “Fine! I’m… uh… I’m an oracle. You happy now?” “Yes,” I say smiling. “My name is Raina and I’m an oracle too.”
I sit down in a chair, and we talk. We talk about our families, our friends, the dreams we’ve had, the things we’ve predicted, and how long we have had to hide. I learned that the boy, whose name was Oliver, had begun having oracle dreams when he was only nine years old. Since he was so young, he didn’t know what was happening and naively told his parents. Their response was to punish him. It made him so miserable that he pretended his dreams had stopped in order to make his mom and dad happy again. I share my story too, and Oliver listens. I don’t notice time passing until it’s already very late. I look at the clock and jump out of the chair. “Oh no, I’m supposed to be home by now,” I tell Oliver. “I’ll be here, same time tomorrow!” I rush out of the library and jump on my bicycle, hoping my parents won’t be too angry. When I get home, it turns out they’re not as upset as I thought they’d be. My mom scolds me a little before I go up to my room. I open the door and see my little brother on my bed, snooping on my phone. “Theo! What the heck are you doing! Get out!” He slowly turns toward me and hands me my phone. My internet browsing history from one year ago is on the screen. It consists of my first questions about being an oracle. My blood goes cold. Theo looks at me with fear in his eyes. “You’re not an oracle, are you?” I step closer to him, but Theo backs further away. “No, listen, hear me out,” I beg him. “It’s all a misconception. I’m not going to hurt you. You know the stuff they say about us isn’t true. I’m your sister.” There was a long silence. Then, to my absolute horror, Theo ran out of the room and started shouting. “Help! Help! Mom, dad, Raina’s possessed by the demon! She even admitted it! Help!” I follow him downstairs and find him crying to my mom. When he sees me, Theo screeches and hides behind her legs. My mom glares at me. “Raina, what did you tell him? I cannot believe you would actually commit to such a… horrible monstrosity.” I have no choice but to lie. “Of course I wouldn’t, duh. It was just a prank and Theo clearly fell for it.” I fake a laugh and smirk at Theo. “But… but,” he asks. “Your internet history?” “Come on, I’m not an idiot. I know that tricks have to seem realistic.” I examine my nails, trying to act like I think I’m being cool. “Raina!” my mom interrupts. “That was highly inappropriate. We don’t joke about serious issues like that. If you had said that in public, someone might call the police on you!” Yeah, I’m very aware of that, I think to myself. I stand there in silence as my mom revokes my phone privileges for a week, knowing that the punishment would be much worse if I told her the truth. How lucky one would be to be an oracle with oracle parents, or at least have ones who love them for who they are. Of course, if my mom and dad found out, they’d probably still claim to love me. They’d just say that “with love comes discipline,” and they need to “discipline” me to get rid of who I am. I don’t sleep that night because I can’t get those continuous thoughts out of my mind. The next day, I don’t pay attention at school either. Only once I get to the library in the evening do I finally relax. The door to the side room is once again open. I enter as I did yesterday and see that Oliver is already there. I tell him about what happened, and he shakes his head sadly. “You just can’t trust people. Some aren’t willing to change.” I sigh and lean back on the library’s soft chair, looking at the ceiling. It’s not fair. It’s not fair that my existence is an opinion or that my identity is up for debate. It’s not fair that something as minor as my dreams can dominate my life so much because I have to hide them. It’s not fair that I’ll never have a good relationship with my parents because they both believe in misconceptions and myths. But at least I have Oliver now. And I’m learning to speak the “oracle code” to find other people like me, living in this world, hidden in plain sight.
