The Hat

A 10 year old boy finds a magical hat that allows him to hear people's thoughts.

         "Johnny!" I heard my sister yell. "Come swing with me!"
         "I don't wanna swing!" I whined. I walked my limp body over to one of the brown, rusted park benches and threw myself back to lay on it. I felt my head hit something soft. I sat up and looked over to see a hat. It was a wonderful thing. An abnormally large peacock feather was poking out from the brim of the bright purple, velvet, over sized sombrero. The stupid thing was just so obnoxious and outrageous - I absolutely loved it.
         I heard footsteps and hurriedly shoved the marvelous hat behind my back before sparing a glance for my visitor. It was my sister, Bella.
         "Whaddya have?" she asked.
         "Nothing." I stuck my tongue out at her. It was my hat. I had found it and I didn't want to share it.
         "Lemme see!" cried Bella.
         "No." I stuck my tongue out again for added effect.
         "John-ny."
         "Go away." I really, really wanted to try on my discovery.
         "Hmph." Bella walked away, her little hands balled into tight fists. Her face was arranged into a pout she had spent the last six years perfecting.
         As soon as she was safely out of sight, I whipped the hat out again and jammed it on my head. At once a cacophony of noise swarmed into my head. I could hear voices overlapping voices, so loud and riotous I couldn't distinguish one from another. It scared the bejeebus out of me and I ripped the hat off my head and looked fearfully around. The park was quiet and there weren't that many people here.
         I counted people off: Bella and I, a mom and dad and their two little girls plus the teenage daughter watching over the little ones, and lastly two older boys playing basketball on the court.
         "What a dirty trick," I thought, "to start yelling as soon as I put my hat on." I plunged it back onto my head and at once the voices crowded in. I swiftly looked around the find the source of the noise, but no one was talking, and there was definitely no yelling.
         I pulled it off my head in confusion and stared at it. I ran my fingers along the brim and focused on the posh velvet of the sombrero. I twirled the top of the green-and-purple peacock feather between my fingertips.
         I became determined to figure out the mystery of this strange object and so, for the third time, onto my head it went. This time I was completely prepared for the voices and didn't jump when they flushed in all at once.
         I focused on them and tried my hardest to differentiate them from each other. It was really hard at first and I couldn't tell the different voices. After a few minutes, though, I could tell each voice was distinct and learned them by heart.
         I spent near twenty minutes separating the voices and learning to focus on just one. Then I began to listen.
         I found Bella's voice first. She was swinging, and still slightly annoyed about me not letting her see what I was hiding. "Stupid Johnny." she thought, "I wouldn't have told nobody." She kicked her little legs and her swing was UP! higher than she'd been able to go up to that point. All thoughts of what I was hiding were forgotten as she reveled in the joy of being so high up over the world.
         Next I focused on the mom. She was complaining. "Jeez, lady." I thought. "Can't you clean up your mouth? I hope your daddy catches you." Her feet, her head, her arms, and her stomach all hurt. I approached her, suggested she see a doctor, and walked away. I don't think she understood me. She just looked confused.
         I sat back on my bench and tuned into the guys playing basketball. Their attention was focused on the teenage girl playing with her siblings.

. . .

. . .

         Oh man. I was in for some education. I didn't know what half the words meant, but I did manage to broaden my vocabulary substantially. Wouldn't mommy be surprised when she found out I could talk like the big boys!
         Suddenly my view of the boys was blocked by a large, burly man. "I like your hat, son." he said gruffly, his arms folded. "Where'd you find something like that?"
         I tuned into his thoughts: "Where the hell did he find that piece of crap? Looks like a bird died in it and left somethin' behind."
         I shot him a fierce glare. "I don't like you. You lie. You don't like my hat? I don't like your face!"
         I got up and walked triumphantly away. "C'mon, Bella! We gotta go!" I yelled as I grabbed her hand and marched her away, ignoring her whining and pleading to stay at the park.
         I stuck my nose in the air as he stared after me dumbfounded - as if he didn't know!
         Oh. And you wanna know what happened to my marvelous hat? When I showed my mommy what I picked up at the park, she washed my mouth out with soap.
         That stupid, obnoxious, outrageous thing got buried. It brought me nothing but trouble.

Reviews

[Kay]

hmmm.....just a wee bit confused. Maybe I need to reread it.

[Bleeding Ink]

Oh man. I'm sad that it was so short. I think it has a lot of undeveloped potential.