***

“Growing up my brother beat the shit out of me constantly. Like, cut eyes, bloody noses, police called beatings.

One day at the library I was reading a book about some tribe who believed you could go into people’s dreams and cast a sickness on them. So I did all the pre-dream ground work described in the book and that night I went to sleep and had a dream.

In the dream I was at one end of a long road and my brother was at the other end. I lifted my hand and pointed at him, “I cast a sickness on you.”

The next day we’re watching TV and he said, “I feel like shit.”

“You have mono.” I don’t even know why I thought of that, but it was the first thing that came to mind.

“Fuck you bitch” was all he said and the conversation was over.

A week later it turns out he DID HAVE MONO.

I was freaked out. I was pretty sure I was a witch and would burn in hell.

To compound matters. I had a friend whose dad was a professor. We’d get stoned with him and he’d always tell me random facts. I’m at his house and he starts telling me about this tribe that went in people’s dreams and cast sickness.

I was paranoid as fuck that people would learn this horrible thing I did.

Now that I’m not 15 and an idiot, I assume it was just the creepiest coincidence ever.”