No One Like Me

                “You broke another one! Why’d we even let her play with us? She keeps breaking them!” a boy hissed, his face red with anger.

                “She promised she wouldn’t this time.” A girl whimpered to try and cool his and the other’s emotions.

                “I’m sorry.” Jamie said sheepishly. The pieces of the toy spaceship she had been given fell between her fingers to the ground. She was too afraid to hold it tight again, afraid she’d crush them even more. The boy whose toy it was, was crying and wiping his face. The other boys and girls in the group all stared at her and made faces. This was the fifth time this week she broke a toy from grabbing it too tightly. She looked at them and felt their hate wash over her. She dropped the pieces and attempted to run away. Travis, an older boy who had been held back in school, stood in her way.

                “’member what I said I’d do if you broke something else?” he cracked his knuckles and stared her down. The other kids took a step back, far enough to be safe yet still close enough to see the action. They didn’t want anyone to get hurt but they all didn’t care much about Jamie. Not since she came to school two weeks ago.

                Jamie just stood with her head down waiting for the boy to punch her or kick her. She wanted to plead with him and the others, apologize over and over that she didn’t know why everything she touched broke but she couldn’t find the words. She wasn’t sure they’d listen even if she could. They were waiting for a show now. One boy kept a look out and the rest had their eyes trained on Travis and Jamie standing in the middle of the playground. The teacher had stepped away for a smoke, the kids were all alone. Travis smiled and raised his fist. The children held their breath as his show of force came raining down on Jamie’s head. A cry was let out. To their surprise it was from Travis.

                “My hand!” Travis grasped his right hand and started to tear up. The children stood in bewilderment.

                “What happened?”

                “Did she hit him?”

                “No, she just stood there.”

                A few seconds ago Jamie was ready for the attack and braced for it but when she opened her eyes she saw Travis holding his hand in pain. Jamie having barely felt the first strike was confused. She felt the spot where he touched her. Nothing felt different. How was that possible?

                In Travis’ rage at shedding tears in front of the younger kids, he reached back to strike Jamie again with his other hand. Travis swung again and this time Jamie held up her hand to block it. Travis’ hand crumpled under her smaller hand and he cried out in pain.

                “What?!” a few of the children cried out. They all took another few steps back in fright from Jamie as she stood there. She looked from side to side not understanding what was happening and started to cry. She wanted help or someone to make sense of it. The teacher having heard the cries of the boy now writhing on the floor with two broken hands rushed over.

                “What happened? What happened!?” he pushed through the small pack of kids. He saw Jamie with her hand raised and the boy on the ground, not sure what to make of it.

                “Jamie did it!” one of the boys said pointing. All the other children nodded in agreeance. Their fear of Jamie was unalienable now. Jamie stood frozen not sure what was happening to her. A few broken toys and angry stares had turned into fearful eyes and contempt. She just wanted to disappear from that spot and never return. The teacher, wanting to gain control of the situation, approached Jamie and put his hand on her shoulder.

                “Jamie what did you…” before he could finish the sentence Jamie had spun and knocked him away throwing him five feet back off his feet. He laid unmoving by the swing set.

                “She killed Mr. Justen!” the kids screamed and started to run around in a hysteria. Jamie looked at her teacher unconscious on the ground, then Travis slowly crawling away from her, then her own hands. Her own destructive hands. She wanted to tear them off and throw them away. But that wouldn’t help, the damage had been done. Another teacher came outside to see what all the noise was then ran back inside to call the police having seen the two bodies on the ground. Jamie darted towards the fence around the recess area and tore through it like tissue paper to escape. Tears and snot streamed down her little face as she ran. Where could she hide? Where could she run? Could she go home? She thought of home and her parents faces in the dark of night leaning over her bed.

                “You’re special Jamie.”

                “One of a kind.”

                “We love you.”

                “I wish I was normal!” she screamed as she ran down the street. “I wish I was normal.”