A vibrant green meadow. This was the scene that filled Jacob’s vision. A cluster of people he had never seen before huddled at the far corner. Yet, he felt as if he knew every one of them. Could it be possible? Was this another one of those times again? You know the feeling, right? Some call it déjà vu. The feeling you have experienced something before, though you have never been there, never met the people, never felt the things you are feeling at that exact moment? Yep, that’s the one.
“There you are! What took you so long to get here, my boy?”
It was an older man who had spoken. He pulled away from the mass of human bodies huddled at the far end of the clearing when he saw Jacob standing there, a dazed look on his face. Something about this man seemed very familiar to Jacob; however he was sure he had never met him before.
“Or have I?” Jacob mused to himself.
Something about the older man tugged at a memory he just could not grasp.
“The eyes. Those electric blue eyes, where have I seen them before,” Jacob thought to himself. Jacob himself has brilliant, emerald green eyes. He always thought they were a combination of his father's sapphire blue and his mother's honey.
“We have been waiting quite a long time for you to get here, Jake. I knew you would find your way to me eventually. You see, I can explain this all. Help it make more sense for you. Would you like that?”
Jacob stepped back. He was confused, didn’t understand exactly what the man was talking about.
“Do not be afraid. You are dreaming and I know that everything must seem very frightening to you right now. But this is not the first dream like this you have had nor will it be the last.”
“Wh-wh-what are you talking about?”
Jacob froze. His voice sounded small. He didn’t recognize it. Jacob hadn’t heard his own voice before. One of the more obvious effects of his autism came in the form of being nonverbal.
“My boy, you have to have wondered about the dreams. I know about the dreams you have.”
“How is that possible?”
“Because when I was alive, I had them too. My name is Joseph Baxter. Does that sound familiar to you?”
Jacob hesitated. He had heard the name before. But it was impossible, what this man was saying to him. You see, Joseph Baxter was Jacob’s grandfather. Jacob had never met the man. He knew him only through pictures which were always of a much younger man. The photos Jacob recalled depicted someone who looked strong, healthy, and full of life. This man before him looked like a man who was well past his prime.
“Seems hard to believe, yes? But it is true, Jacob. I have no idea how to make you believe that the words I speak are true but they are. I have been watching over you since the day you were born and I knew you were going to be special, that you would share the gift I spent my whole life trying to fight against and hide from everyone around me. “
Jacob listened, trying not to show the disbelief on his face.
“You see, son, my time was very different. People did not believe the impossible could really exist. People like us were marked as heretics. In an earlier time, they were branded as witches and burned on stakes.”
“Witches?” Jacob asked, startled by the word.
“Don’t misunderstand. We aren’t witches, exactly. We are probably closer to…well, do they still show those Psychic Hotline commercials on TV late at night?”
“Y-yes.”
“Okay, well we are closer to that than witches, although some bits from both descriptions are probably fitting. You have to wonder how you have always seemed to know things before they have happened. There is an explanation.”
“O-okay. I d-don’t understand.”
“We are descended from a long line of men who have been able to see what was going to happen in the world around them. I’m sure you have noticed a sense of déjà vu in some situations, a feeling that you know what is happening and have to do something about it?”
“I-I, I th-think so.”
“That is a part of it, Jakey.”
Jacob went pale. The only person who ever called him Jakey was his grandmother. And she was gone. She had died when he was only 8 years old. As a matter of fact, now that he thought back, that was the first of the dreams.