It’s Just a Thing

It’s Just a Thing

He was only 10 years old. A child prodigy they said. Who knew that it would go so far. 

It started with a drawing he did as a 5-year-old. “That’s an incredible picture of a horse,” his mother exclaimed when he brought it home from school. “It’s so life-like,” she said, “Where did you see this horse?”

“It’s not a horse,” was his reply.

His mother was confused. “It looks exactly like one. If it’s not a horse, then what is it?”

His reply was simple, “It’s just a thing. I saw it in my head.”

This went on for years. Each drawing that he brought home was more and more lifelike. His parents tried to figure out what he had drawn. A kite on a windy day, a car stuck in a snowdrift, a cat leaping through the air as if it was flying, a swimming pool filled with frogs, a mountain scene with azure skies, and vulture-like birds flying overhead, and more. But each time anyone tried to guess what the picture was about they were told that they were wrong. 

“It’s a thing!” he would shout. 

“But what kind of thing?” they would ask.

“JUST A THING! I saw it in my head.”

His pictures were the talk of the town. A number of them hung up in the local library. The town newspaper even wrote an article about him and printed some of his drawings. 

And then he turned ten. Though the drawings continued, they were now different. Detailed? Yes. Colorful? Yes. Picturesque? Yes. Recognizable? No. 

Each new drawing became a three-dimensional image. The figures, if that’s what they were, looked alien-like. The landscapes and objects all looked foreign. One could even say unworldly. There was no need to ask him what a picture was of, for his answer would always be the same. “It’s a Thing. I saw it in my head.”

Again, the local newspaper ran an article about his drawings. They even ran a “Name the Thing” contest. Local news articles rarely make national news. But somewhere, this particular article was picked up. The Washington Post found it interesting enough to write a story about this boy in their Sunday magazine section. They include some of his drawings, especially some of the new ones and they caught the public’s eye. 

In fact, it caught more than just the public’s eye. It caught the eye of the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security.

These pictures that he had been drawing recently, were recognized. For, similar pictures had been drawn by a number of other children all across the country, and some of the objects that were pictured also happened to be located and were being analyzed at Area 51.  

So the boy was summoned to Washington. His parents were questioned as was the boy. And then he was taken away. He would be with others of his kind, they said.

“What do you mean, his kind?” his parents questioned.

An answer was given. “He’s very talented,” they said. “We want him to go to a special school for kids like him,” was all they would be told.

His parents acknowledged that he was different and were assured that he would be well taken care of. His parents would also receive a stipend of $100,000 a year for as long as he stayed. They just had to sign a non-disclosure agreement. It was for his protection, they said. That was a lot of money at the time and his parents could use it. But was it worth giving up their only son?

They were told that they would have unconditional visiting rights, but that the location of the school would not be divulged. Different meeting places would be set up for the meets. Under those conditions, they acquiesced. 

And the boy continued to draw as did all of the other children in his class. Not everyone drew the exact same pictures, but they were all very similar. Planets with multiple suns and moons, alien creatures that could not only walk but could fly, creatures that seemed to be able to morph into different shapes, mimicking their surroundings and each other’s appearance. 

All of these drawings were not shared with any of the parents of these children. Reports home stated that the children were advancing their artistic skills and receiving an excellent education and care. 

Visits continued throughout their confinement. The students were not allowed to keep any electronic devices so that communication with their parents was kept to visits and handwritten letters only. And all of the letters were screened. 

On one of the boy’s parents’ visits, he gave them a picture he drew. This was allowed after being screened. It was like his old pictures from his youth. It was a farm scene. Only in this picture, there was one difference. There was a child in the picture and it looked like himself. None of the pictures he had ever drawn were of people. 

“Don’t you like this picture of a farm?” he asked. “Look at all of the animals I drew. There’s a horse and some sheep and I even drew some chickens.” 

Both parents were surprised. In all the years since he began drawing, he never mentioned what anything in his pictures represented, even though they seemed obvious. 

“I’m very impressed,” his father said. 

“Me too,” his mother agreed. “I like that you are even in the drawing.”

“Oh, that’s not me,” was the boy’s quick answer. “He’s just a thing. I saw it in my head. So should you.”

And that was it. They took the picture home and stared at it for a while. That was a very strange thing for him to say. “So should you.” They had an idea. The mother, being a microbiologist, decided to take a closer look at the boy in the picture. Using a high-powered magnifying glass from work she focussed on the boy’s head. What she saw was jaw-dropping. Sketched within the hair of the boy, was another picture. This picture was of aliens, strange planets, and places. 

As the weeks followed they were given more pictures during each visit. No matter what the natural scene was being depicted there was always one human in the picture.  These images hidden microscopically in the human’s heads became somewhat sequential. A story was being told. In reality, these micro drawings were the same pictures he had been drawing for the scientists and military personnel studying him. They were so cleverly hidden in the pictures he was giving to his parents that no one suspected a thing. 

And as the story went, these creatures/aliens, whatever they were, were about to come to Earth, if they were not here already. What were his parents going to do? This was more than a “thing.”