[ONC2024] Everyone can read minds except for Ethan Langdon. And Ethan Langdon has the dumbest (and cutest!) thoughts Lukas Hoffmann has ever heard.
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Lukas Hoffman's life in Brambleburg is about as boring as you'd expect for a town where everyon...
We lay side by side and the mood of Ethan's thoughts shift between dreamy and nostalgic. He's still staring at the stars but his mind is elsewhere, pensive and poignant.
The melancholy settles upon me like a thick blanket, terrifying because I can't read his thoughts, and I don't know what's wrong, and I don't know why he's upset, and I finally can't take it any longer.
"What are you thinking of?" I ask.
He blinks fast like he's pulled out of a reverie. He doesn't look at me but I see his eyes shining under the starlight.
"My parents used to show me the constellations." His voice is soft. "I guess I...see them in the stars now."
Images scatter in his mind, too quick to catch. I can't make out the words, but they're so bittersweet.
"They used to travel around a lot too, before they had me, and had...other responsibilities. Mom was very sick for a very long time...dad was always there for her, but he died just a month after she did. I guess it was from a broken heart." Ethan turns to me finally. "I didn't really want to stay there after it happened. So I—ran."
"That must have been...really hard." It's not enough but I don't know what else to say.
Ethan smiles a little sadly. "I got to be with them for a long time. I was pretty much grown up when it happened."
His voice carries in the wind, light and soft. He's falling asleep, memories blurring and getting muddled. I catch a snippet of family dinner and apple pie, and I want him to know my thoughts like how I know his.
"I don't really remember my parents all that much. Oma raised me...and I'm grateful for her. We're really close."
"She seems really nice—everyone here is. Mr. Müller has been...really nice to me." He bites his lip.
His thoughts shift to Sebastian and they're fond, and I know he reminds him of his dad.
"I thought I'd feel closer to them while travelling." He looks back at the stars. "My parents, I mean...and I do. They feel more present here in the flowers and the trees."
"I want to take you to the woods," I murmur, falling asleep myself. Then my eyes snap open as I realize what I said. "Wait! I don't mean in a creepy way! That totally sounds like I'm taking you there to murder you."
Ethan laughs and it's the nicest sound I've ever heard. I feel it echoing through his being and ringing in his ears. It reverberates through me too, my heart rate increasing to match his own.
Within the transition between wakefulness and sleep, my telepathy transcends hearing his thoughts and becomes more of an understanding of his feelings. A warm feeling spreads through him, and I feel it pool in my stomach the same way.
After a moment he says, "Sebastian is very much in love with your grandma, by the way."
"Oh. The whole town knows."
He grins. "I guess you don't need to be a mind reader to figure it out."
I start at the phrasing but Ethan just smiles. His eyes are falling shut. I feel his muscles relax and his breathing slow. My heartbeat slows to the same rhythm as his, and once his mind ventures into sleep, he drags me under too.
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