Auras

By Laurie Bowler

In the enchanting world of Auras, where pink plants and green cats exist, Elaine possesses a special ability to see the colourful auras surrounding all living beings.

For years, she has kept this gift hidden, enduring bullying and concealing her true nature even from those closest to her. However, fate has other plans as she crosses paths with her tormentor from kindergarten, Jeremy, who astonishingly shares her extraordinary skill. As they delve deeper into their shared power, a profound bond forms between them, unveiling their undeniable connection.

Amidst a world plagued by danger and drug-induced chaos, Jeremy and Elaine must unite their gifts to protect their friends and preserve their budding relationship. Together, they embark on a thrilling journey that will test their strengths and challenge the boundaries of their abilities.

"Auras" is a captivating tale that blends the beauty of an extraordinary world with the raw realities of life, showcasing the power of unity, love, and friendship against all odds.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jan 5, 2024
• ISBN: 9781446602546

Laurie Bowler

Laurie Bowler is a bestselling fantasy author residing in Hampshire, a county in the United Kingdom, where she started writing fantasy fiction in late November 2009.    After reading hundreds of fantasy novels, Laurie knew she wanted to write within that genre. She set her mind to writing her first novel, 'Vanquished', which was then quickly followed by the award-winning Moon Rising series.  Laurie attended college and has gained qualifications in Creative Writing, Music and Health and Social Care. She is still undertaking as many academic courses as possible to improve her knowledge.  Laurie lives with her daughter, fiance and a houseful of pets, including eight cats and three dogs, to name just a few. Her new novel Mythical and its sequel, The Battle of Evov, have both been an immense adventure and creativity of her mind. 

Book preview

Auras

Laurie Bowler

Contents

Title Page

Foreword

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter 4 – Ten Years Later

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

About The Author

Foreword

Royalties of my work is donated to The Mental Health Foundation and Young Minds. Both charities raise awareness and support adult and children with mental health.

Please be sure to tell your friends and family about my books to support these charities.

Copyright © 2023 by Laurie Bowler

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permission requests, contact [include publisher/author contact info].

The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products is intended or should be inferred.

Book Cover by Laurie Bowler

First edition 2023

ISBN:

978-1-4466-0254-6

Imprint: Lulu.com

Chapter One

Hurry up, Elaine; walk faster, her mother called.

Elaine turned upward, anxious and energised, unfortunate yet pleased. Her kindergarten enrollment day. She’s a young lady now... the exact words her Mom had recently said as she'd rushed her from their vehicle to the school's large swinging doors. Together, they had walked down the tiled corridor of the school building towards the section where the kindergarten children line up. Elaine wore her best dress and matching gleaming dark shoes that made a tap sound reverberating in the quiet school. Her mom's shoes didn't make any noise, so Elaine tried to walk on her toes, which caused her to walk slowly. Elaine looked up to see her mother holding the homeroom door open and enticing her to come to her side.

In four loud, clacking steps, Elaine raced to her mom's side and looked through and saw her kindergarten classroom. It was enormous. It was... brilliant. The room was full of children, and her teacher, Mrs Jorgensen, sat at a kidney-bean-formed table. The woman had light brown, firmly twisted hair, wrinkles, and a friendly smile. The element that danced around her was a cheerful, yellowish light. But Elaine didn't have any desire to move from the doorway and enter the classroom. She felt overwhelmed and fearful and stood solidly despite her mom's hand pushing gently on the back of her head.

Come in! Mrs Jorgensen called. You would be Mrs Radcliffe, is that correct? she smiles, lighting up her face.

I am, yes; it’s nice to meet you, her mom replies, smiling. And this is Elaine. She's a little overwhelmed at the moment, she ventured into the room and let go of the door, so it started to close, providing no option for Elaine except to step inside to avoid being injured. Her mother took her arm and drove her to the table. Sorry we are late, she said with a moan. I needed to leave my other children with the sitter.

Not a problem at all. It's completely understandable, she said with a rehearsed grin, then turned her eyes to Elaine. Who is this young lady?

This is Elaine, said her mom. Come on now, sweetheart, she said with a smile, taking Elaine's hand. Say hello to your new teacher.

Yet, Elaine's voice caught in her throat. She gulped, slowly inhaled and was going to try again when her mom started to chastise her. Talk when you are addressed, honey, Elaine hid her head in her mother's skirt, humiliated. Her mom sighed and started to talk with Mrs Jorgensen.

Elaine gazed at the carpet under the kidney-bean table. She saw it had the alphabet printed on it, with each letter in red, yellow, and blue colours. She was pleased that she knew the name and sound of every letter of the alphabet and immensely proud she had always listened when her mother recited it. She started to look around and saw cabinets brimming with pastels and pencils of every colour imaginable. There was a long workstation under the window with a sink, a water fountain-type fixture, and a little door leading into the restroom in the corner of the classroom. There was a plant in a hanging crate close to the window, which was pink, and another plant sat in a pot on the counter, which was orange... it most likely required water. No, wait, thought Elaine, Mom says all plants are green...

Her ears perked up as she caught a few things her mother said to her teacher during their discussion. She realised her mother was discussing a sensitive subject that made Elaine feel different.

I have spent endless hours trying to make sense of it, but I can only think that perhaps she might have an issue with her vision and identifying colours. Do you think that’s a possibility?

Gracious, it's extremely uncommon in young ladies, said her teacher in a relieving and calm voice. I see that as most of my youngsters are simply innovative and creative. They would rather not be limited by traditional standards... colours are such a lot of fun for little ones this age to play around with! They pick millions of assortments and mixes rather than what they'd actually find. It's their approach to putting themselves out there and discovering the world, her teacher smiled at Elaine.

Elaine grinned back, and hope flared in her chest; perhaps she wouldn't be ridiculed or bullied in class. Her older sister, cousins, and everybody taunted her about colours. She'd started to conceal her colouring books, keeping her drawings hidden or tearing them up and discarding them rather than putting them on the cupboard doors or fridge like her siblings did.

She could see her sister's crumpled-up nose as she scoffed at a drawing she'd grabbed from her mid-colour.

Cats aren't green, stupid! Becca had harped. What's this one supposed to be? Cows aren't that colour, idiot! Elaine snatched her picture back, crushing it into a ball and hurrying to the trash to throw it away. Then, she ran crying to her room and heard her mom shouting, Becca! What did you do to her this time? Elaine had stayed in her room for hours that day...

Elaine checked out the homeroom once more. It seemed...safe, and she concluded she could like it here. She gazed toward her teacher, who grinned.

Alright then, my dear, Do you think you could work on something for me? Perhaps you could show me how you write your name?

Elaine nodded and anxiously picked up the pencil her teacher pointed at. She took the piece of paper before her and, with all of her concentration, wrote her name. She glanced at her teacher after she’d written each letter of her name and saw her teacher nodding, encouraging her to continue; she proceeded to the following letter until she was finished.

Mrs Radcliffe, you have a shrewd little girl.

Elaine saw her mom beaming with pride. Thank you so much. I think she is incredibly clever once she puts her mind to something, as well.

Her mom and the teacher talked for quite a while; however, Elaine started to get tired. She edged off her seat and stood relatively close to the table. She took a few steps backwards; however, the grownups still talked. So, she walked toward the tables close to the front of the homeroom... each table had four names written clearly and neatly on nameplates with plastic on top of them. They were coloured in and had stickers on them. She found her name and then attempted to figure out the three other names close to it. Anne... Bo... she couldn’t read the surname and eventually gave up but wondered what the other children at her table would be like. She attempted to read the next name, which should be a kid's name; it had truck stickers on it... J... e... r...that was as far as she got.

The door to the kindergarten room suddenly opened, and Elaine looked into it, frightened that her mom may be leaving without her. But she was surprised to see a child coming into the classroom. He catapulted into the room with messy hair, hauling a coat along the floor. A few steps behind him was his mother, calling for him to slow down as she hurried into the room a second after him.

Ah, lovely, my next student has arrived, Mrs Jorgensen announced, smiling. It was wonderful to meet you and little Elaine. Goodbye for now, Elaine!

Elaine walked back to her mother and stood beside her, waiting for her to grasp her hand, yet she didn't take her eyes off the other child. Her eyes widened as he detected her and walked straight over to her without hesitation. He was not the same as anybody she'd seen before.

Hello, I go to school here, he declared gaudily. That is my name on the table!

Elaine saw him highlight the kid's name she could not spell. Reluctantly, she said, Are you... Jermy?

He glowered and stepped. Jeremy! I'm not Jermy! You... you... stupid girl!

Jeremy! his mom summoned and immediately pulled him from Elaine. Please accept my apologies, she muttered to Elaine's mom. Hi, Mrs Jorgensen; I am Mrs Randolph.

Elaine's face shined brilliantly red with embarrassment. She wasn't trying to be mean to him; she couldn’t read his name, and he called her stupid. She knew she would hate kindergarten, especially now she had inadvertently made an enemy by not being able to read his name correctly. She looked at her shoes as her mother guided her into the lobby and felt tears dribble off her cheeks.

Chapter Two

Elaine sat under the huge farm truck tire in the sandbox, arms folded over her knees, eyes squeezed shut, and her face buried into her kneecaps. She closed her eyes against the gushing dazzling light. An excess of light meant an excessive number of auras she saw inside the jungle gym, packed with children playing on the swings, seesaws, under the playground equipment, and all over the slide. Every child was moving, calling out, squealing with laughter, and running amok. Every child in the jungle gym was illuminated with a bright coloured shadow, and she could not look at such countless auras. Some beat blue, a few oranges, a few pinks, yellow, and red. It wasn’t frequent for her to see a green aura on a person; it was mainly animals that possessed green auras.

Elaine hadn't anticipated that the lights would sting her eyes to such an extent. She was accustomed to seeing the different shades of auras from individuals, like the hordes of individuals in the supermarket, at the chapel, or in the recreation area, which generally gleamed with little surges of colour. It had been that way however long she recollected. She became accustomed to the aura shades of her friends and family to such an extent that she scarcely paid attention to their auras except if they were moving or evolving. Anyone else's auras didn't intrigue or bother her; she could block them out quickly.

However, at school, there were nearly 300 children outside on the playground during the mid-day break. And because children consumed more from the world around them, their auras were so splendid their sheer energy caused the lights to emit like starbursts and firecrackers. It was too much, far too bright, and excessively overpowering, so Elaine protected her eyes until the bell rang, and the time had come to line up and go into class.

She looked around the playground from her shadowy cover and saw her class staying in a group close to the school's entry. There were two-evening kindergarten classes, one close to the next. She heard the door open for the adjoining class, and the teacher called out to the students. Elaine then paused and waited for them to go inside. She could handle her own small classes, auras and vibrant colours because twenty students had attended her kindergarten, which was easy for her to cope with. Now she felt safe enough to emerge from her hiding space, slithering on all fours, she arose out of under the tire. She painstakingly stood and brushed the sand from her corduroy pants; it stuck determinedly in the little depressions. She shook every leg, kicked her shoes against the tire, and was practically liberated from the sand when her homeroom door opened.

I got you! a voice shouted behind the tire, and she screamed and spun around.

Ha! Frightened you!

You didn't, Jeremy!

I did, I did, I did, Jeremy taunted. You screamed.

That wasn't proper screaming, Elaine turned and went to the door where the older students were documenting their presence inside as they filed into the school one at a time. Jeremy jumped over the farm vehicle tire and followed behind her.

Why were you hiding under there? he asked.

Because, she shrugged

Why?

Leave me alone.

Make me, Jeremy smirked.

Elaine scowled at him. She despised him more daily because he was never nice to her, nor did he say anything decent! And now she’s stuck in the same room as him for three hours because they shared the same classroom.

She looked ahead and saw Mrs Jorgensen holding the door open; however, her head was turned as she watched the other students balance their rucksacks inside their cubbies. So, she immediately turned to confront Jeremy, stuck out her tongue, then spun around and ran inside as fast as possible. She was practically sitting inside the classroom when she heard Jeremy shouting to get their teacher's attention.

Miss, Miss! She stuck her tongue out at me!

But she kept her head down, took out her reading book, and overlooked anything that complaint Jeremy planned to make. Elaine looked tactfully at her teacher, which showed she wasn't in trouble. The teacher was trying to quiet Jeremy, who whined and snitched twice as much as any other student. The auras around the teacher stayed shimmery, light-yellow-uplifting news for her.

The possibly crucial step was sorting out whether or not Jeremy was as yet frantic. From the first day she had met him, regardless of how mean he was, how pleasant and friendly she was to him, what happened to him during the day, or what state of mind he was in, he had no aura. He was the prominent individual on the planet she'd at any point met who had no aura.

Paste and scissors were dissipated over the kindergarten tables. Papers were painstakingly coloured and cut into little squares. Each square had a letter, each letter had a sound, and each sound had a matching picture. The students were excited about participating in this game because of the many fun parts involved. It involved doing some colouring, cutting and sticking, matching a few sounds, and translating a few words; putting all the game pieces together was something every kindergartner loved the most.

Make sure your name is on your work, please, reminded the instructor. We will show our work in front of the entire class, so ensure it's your best work. Now, it's time to tidy up your tables! Tidy up, tidy up! she sang.

Elaine had just finished spreading the paste on the rear of the letter T, and she lined it up neatly under the image, smoothed the edges, and cleared the dribbles of the paste off the edges (and onto her trousers). She looked down at her work and felt proud of her achievement. She had accomplished an impeccably shaded Cat, with letters C-A-T cut into perfect little squares and glued underneath the image. As the teacher said, her name was written neatly at the top of her work.

The other students on her table were wiping the caps on their paste bottles and folding more paper scraps to throw in the trash. They dashed this way and that to tidy up their table and set their scissors aside before Mrs Jorgensen arrived at the end of her tune. Anybody not done at the end of the melody must put their head down on their work area, a definitive indication of disgrace.

Now, they all skipped back to their seats, practically short of breath, trying to beat the melody. Mrs Jorgensen smiled to show her approval and started to call the children by name as she came around to review their pictures.

Marie, what beautiful work. Mark, hold up your picture a little higher; lovely work. Paul, super shading. Goodness, Brady; it seems to me that your C has tumbled off. Get it, and use a smidgen more paste in a little while, she said as she approached Elaine's table. Bo, enjoyable work, too, she came and stood close to Jeremy, who held his image up high with two hands. Great job, Jeremy. Excellent cutting skills, As he put his picture down, Elaine took a quick peek. His cat was magnificent...and green.

His cat is green! Somebody behind her shouted and laughed.

Elaine felt a little terrified that it was her turn soon as the teacher was close to her.

Hold up your picture, Elaine, her teacher gently encouraged, and she gradually raised it, and across the table, Jeremy glared. Ok, another innovative shading attempt, said the teacher. Very good, Elaine, she set the picture of her green cat with perfectly coloured blue letters on the back of the table before her. More laughs came from the table behind her.

Mrs Jorgensen focused on the other students in the classroom and continued to go from table to table.

Copy-cat, Jeremy whispered. You copied me! he murmured.

Elaine shook her head. Didn't.

Why did you colour your cat green?

I always colour my cats green, she answered.

It was my idea, not yours!

Mrs Jorgensen cut in. Jeremy, calm down. Move your focus to the other students and be friendly, the same as you would want them to be towards you. There is no need to be rude to anyone else in the class.

Elaine kept her mouth shut and turned to look at Jeremy, but he was not listening to the teacher and didn’t want to be quiet or friendly. He snatched up his work, flung his paper off the work area, and sent it skittering across the floor covering.

Jeremy! That is enough, Mrs Jorgensen retrieved the wayward picture and stood beside him.

But she copied me! he whimpered.

We are allowed our thoughts and ideas, which doesn’t always mean someone is copying you. Besides, we are not allowed to throw anything across the classroom or anywhere in the school. So now, you'll need to put your head down for two minutes, please.

Jeremy crossed his arms firmly and laid his head into the bend of one of his elbows, leaving adequate room for one eye to glare out over his arm to frown at Elaine for the entire two minutes.

Typically, Elaine was great at figuring out other people. She was pleasant to the other children (except occasionally her sister), respectful to grown-ups, and always calm and polite. She knew when she'd disappointed her mom or accomplished something that satisfied her teacher or grandmother. She was learning that different kids could be sorted out. The colours that had annoyed her when she had first started school now appeared to smooth and balance out. She could see the energetic, lively tones around each wiggly kid currently blur into a cloud of colour. This cloud showed her who wanted to be friends, who would like to be left alone,  who was terrified and who was out to be mean to others. She frequently haggled with other children for toys to share and participated in their games. If everything turned out great, the tones would orchestrate a layered, colour-upon-colour cloud around the whole group of friends. On the odd occasion, the colours didn't blend, and the tones conflicted. It gave her a migraine, and she disappeared. Yet, generally, things worked out, and Elaine felt a murmur of harmony and satisfaction.

Then there was Jeremy. He was the one child she didn’t know how to talk to. He never played nicely with her and went out of his way to be mean to her. It was like he was looking for ways of being spiteful to her. Moreover, she could stare until she was cross-eyed at him; however, his aura colours never showed. Whether she tried to see or avoid him, he'd blow up and shout at her to stop staring. So, the best thing she could do was to constantly ignore him, which was the point at which he'd put in more effort to irritate her. She endured some conflict of words or the sting of horribleness constantly. But kindergarten would be enjoyable if Jeremy wasn't in her group by some stroke of good luck!

Jeremy caused problems with his bullying and unfriendliness in the initial few weeks. Not that Elaine squealed; Jeremy was sufficient to get his activities seen by the entire class. After those first weeks, he became weary of the head-down time and found ways to avoid being caught. He'd purposely taunt and pester her when the teacher wasn't looking. He'd be on-task, occupied, and blissful when her eyes moved toward him, only to stick out his foot to trip Elaine when the teacher turned her head. Endlessly, Elaine endured a series of stunts, which continued for many weeks. Elaine was disappointed when she told the teacher. Jeremy, in some way or another, bartered and coaxed away any discipline repercussions.

Elaine gradually became an expert Jeremy-avoider, sat with another group of friends, and refused to indulge him by looking at him. She'd deliberately stand at the end of the line, whereas he always stood at the beginning. Furthermore, gradually, every day of kindergarten passed. Another day of effectively staying away from Jeremy, the enemy she always expected to bully her.

Chapter Three

Hello, how are you doing, Miss E? Mom called as Elaine strolled through the door.

Hello, Mom! she said. It's hot outside.

I'm home! Becca added pointlessly as she strolled in through the door behind Elaine.

Hello, darling. Did you have a good day at school?

It was fantastic, Mom, answered Becca. I got one hundred per cent on my spelling test. We had Cheetos with our wiener for lunch. And take a look at this library book I booked out of the library! She hauled a twofold-sided book out of her rucksack, panthers on one side, ponies on the other. You can find out about two creatures in a single book!

Mother, could I please have a snack? Elaine asked softly.

Hello, you interrupted me! Becca dissented. I'm talking with Mom!

Sorry! I'm just hungry!

Try saying excuse me sometime later, before you ask, said Mom, as she hauled a few loaves of bread and peanut butter out of the cabinet.

I need one, as well, said Becca.

Elaine feigned exacerbation.

Mother is making me one first, Elaine said. I asked first, if there was one thing she could have done without today, and that's her elder sister with her pushy and demanding manners.

Becca could have also done without that response; Elaine could tell it had annoyed her by the cloud of colours emerging above her head. Elaine could see ideas and a situation unfolding gradually around Becca's head. She spoke up before she could allow the cloud to explode in a fit of temper.

I have an idea, she said. We can slice this one down the middle. We can share.

OK, Becca said, grabbing the half-sandwich briefly after Mom cut it. She then skipped happily into the family room, chomping cheerfully.

Mother, Elaine asked pleasantly, may I also have a banana, please?

Sure. Here you go, she said, then gave Elaine a little congratulatory gesture. That was really good of you to share with Becca; well done, Elaine.

I know, said Elaine. It’s a much better way than letting her throw a tantrum.

Savvy! So, savvy. How am I going to manage my little Miss E know it?

Love me for always, Elaine said, smiling, and her mother laughed. Elaine grinned to see the little pink sparks that appeared to emerge from her mother when she laughed, which was the primary explanation for them. She tried to think of other entertaining things she could tell her mother just so she could see the pink sparks of happiness again. Nothing can beat seeing the joy and happiness of her mother.

A few minutes later, Becca found Elaine on the lounge floor, colouring a worksheet where you coordinate words with their image. Do you have homework in kindergarten? she questioned.

I need to redo this one from class.

From class? What happened to the first one, then?

Jeremy took it, Elaine replied, shrugging.

The kid that always picks on you... your archenemy? Well, yep, that definitely sounds like something Jerenemy would do!

Elaine stopped with her hand in mid-air, looked at her sister, and then laughed.

That’s a good name, Jerenemy! Great name for him.

Glad you like it. Why did he take your work?

He said I copied him, Elaine answered with a sad smile.

"Really? Why didn't you tell the teacher then? Surely, she