Helen liked to walk with her grandfather and felt that she was safe next to him. They had fun going to new places along with Lorena. Over time, Merko used these moments alone with the girl to teach her how to use telepathy to communicate, without invading the privacy of others. Together, they had a lot of fun using this extraordinary ability. When they went out for ice cream or walking, they talked only with their minds and smiled knowing that the people around didn't know what was really happening. The grandfather had not yet explained to his granddaughter how they had this ability, but decided that, along with Helen's parents, he would reveal everything at the right time.

Merko also realized that the girl's intelligence was unique. At school, the girl showed extraordinary performance and all teachers were amazed at her ability to reason. She was always at the head of the class, reaching the conclusions of the subjects addressed before all the other students. She was seen as a girl well above average compared to the other students.

"Helen, don't say the answer yet, because your classmates need to understand the subject," her biology teacher would say in class, smiling, as she saw her raise her hand to answer the questions.

The young woman obeyed by nodding her head. In addition, she liked to study and nurtured within herself an intense desire to learn. It seemed that she knew the importance of knowledge and how it could be useful sometime during life. On that day of school, however, strange things would begin to happen.

As she waited for the teacher to finish an explanation of the functioning of the human body, Helen stared fixedly at the skeleton being used in class. The teacher touched the bones of its arm, saying their names, as a student ran into the classroom and stumbled, knocking over the structure the skeleton was in. The boy also fell on the table and the teacher ended up on the floor.

Some bones were displaced from the others, because the hooks were released with the shock. The teacher got up and saw the bones at her feet. The students began to laugh, because the sequence of events had been very funny. The crowd remained in a great commotion.

"You're so clumsy, Anthony! Besides taking so long to return to the classroom, you also knock everything down when you enter." Said the teacher in a serious tone.

"I'm sorry, teacher. I'll try to be more careful the next time I walk into the classroom."

After the teacher caught the boy's attention, the other students became serious and silent. They thought she would tell them off too if she caught them laughing. Helen felt sorry for the boy and thought about fixing his gaudy act. She stared at the skeleton and, suddenly, the bones levitated in front of the board. The loosened hooks snapped back into the bones, as if the skeleton was being repaired by invisible hands. In what seemed pure magic, they positioned themselves one by one in the right place; the skeleton rose and repaired itself. Everyone was frightened by what they saw. The girl kept her gaze focused on the bony structure as if in a trance, and suddenly she fell on herself, again realizing where she was.

"What is going on? Who did this? Is it some joke? Is that you, Anthony?"

"No, teacher. I don't know how to do this..." replied the boy, impressed.

The teacher was trembling with fear and sweating cold. She walked slowly toward the skeleton that was in a metal frame, hung by a hook at the back of the skull. She ran her hand over it slowly to see if there was any thin nylon thread or something. The students stared at her with wide eyes.

"It must be some line, like the one used in puppet theater or some magic trick. A student wants to prank me." She wondered.

Disappointed by her attempt to elucidate the case, she found that there was nothing. Not from above, nor from the sides or anywhere. She kept moving her arms around the skeleton, but there was nothing. She looked at the group and for a moment thought they would laugh at her reaction. But she realized that the students were scared, too. No one could explain what had happened. Two boys who were close to the bony structure looked at each other, amazed, when suddenly Helen became deconcentrated and the bone staples again loosened, causing the structure to dismantle, collapsing on the floor. The boys hurried out of the classroom. The paralyzed teacher could not help but faint. The other students imitated he other two's reaction and, in hysteria, left the classroom. Only Helen stood there, quiet, motionless in her chair, not knowing what to do.

The girl took a deep breath, drew in her courage, and left the classroom, walking slowly to ask someone to come help the teacher, and when she left, she saw the other students from the class who were watching her at the end of the hall. They, with wide eyes and compressed lips, pulled air into their lungs awaiting the unfolding of the case. To Helen's good luck, on hearing the buzz, other teachers, along with the principal and the secretaries, appeared. As soon as they saw the teacher fallen in the middle of the room, they came in to help her.

The principal decided that he would do an investigation into what had happened that day. After questioning several students and the teacher, the fact was considered as unusual, without explanation.

The principal decided to close the case so as not to scare the community and keep the good name of the school. Scary things could lower the place's reputation and decrease the number of students.

The school bus left Helen on the doorstep. The girl, upon arriving, found the whole family gathered for dinner. Because of their closeness, it was common for Merko, Zara, and Nicholas to gather the family to dine together. They believed that they were the only extraterrestrials living on Earth and the union between them was a way of protecting themselves and the members of their families. The girl arrived quietly, without her usual joy. She kissed each one on the table and remained silent. Everyone was surprised.

It was Zara who said:

"Hi, darling. Is everything all right? You seem different today... You always arrive smiling. Did something happen?"

Helen decided to tell her what had happened at school:

"Mom, today during Biology class, a student stumbled into the classroom, bumped into a skeleton and it dismounted. Then the boy fell on the table and knocked over the teacher; all the students began to laugh."

"What a clumsy child, my daughter!"

"But the worst came later. I don't know why the bones began to move in the air, in front of everyone, positioning themselves perfectly in their proper places. All the students became very serious and scared."

They all looked at each other in amazement. Nicholas commented with concern:

"What do you mean, dear? Have the bones moved by themselves?"

She nodded.

"I was afraid because I felt that I had done it myself. I focused on the skeleton and the movements occurred automatically. After that, the class became a mess, because everyone ran scared and the teacher even fainted."

"Darling, this is impossible, don't say such a thing. They'll call you crazy!" Lorena said.

Sophia gave a good laugh. However, Merko, Nicholas and Zara looked at each other worriedly.

"Do not worry, my dear. I'll go to school tomorrow and talk to your teacher to understand what really happened. What about her? Is she okay?" Zara said, trying to calm her down.

"Yes, mom. The teacher has recovered from the shock. Thank you, mommy, for helping me and going to school. But, please, don't comment on the fact that I was thinking I did it myself. The other students will mock me if they know."

"You can leave it to me, my angel, I won't say anything about it."

Finished dinner, Lorena and Sophia went to the living room to watch their favorite television series and Helen sat among them...

Merko, Zara, and Nicholas chatted in the dining room. Telepathically, they agreed that it would be necessary for them to go out unnoticed to discuss the occurred better. The grandfather blocked his granddaughter's telepathy, they wanted to talk alone with no worries or interruptions.

They resolved to talk aloud so that Lorena could hear:

"Honey, I'm going to the market near the square to buy coffee for me to prepare for you later. I know you love coffee after dinner, and unfortunately, ours is over. Do you want to join me? I don't like to walk alone at night." Zara proposed.

"Of course, I'm going with you," said Nicholas.

"Good idea, Zara, I like a coffee after dinner too. May I go with you?" Merko asked.

"Yes, you may!" She answered.

"Well, will everyone go?" Lorena asked amusedly, listening to the conversation from the room where she watched TV. "I'd love to go with you and take a double date!"

At that moment, Merko, Zara, and Nicholas looked at each other; if Lorena went along, they couldn't talk openly about Helen's extraterrestrial nature.

"Mom, it's not that I don't trust my sister alone with Helen, but I think my daughter needs a more authoritative figure with her. If you want to accompany my wife and your husband, I'll stay here with Sophia because I don't think it's a good idea for the four of us to leave."

"Oh, no my son!" Lorena said worriedly. "No way. You can go, I'll stay here and take care of the girls."

"Okay, honey! We'll be back quick." Merko said.

So, the three of them were able to go out alone. They decided to go on foot to buy coffee in a market near where Nicholas and Zara used to live. On the way, they talked about Helen. Each day, the girl was closer to knowing that she was different from other human beings and they needed to do something about it.

"It seems to me that Helen is developing telekinetic skills very quickly. I have spoken to her through telepathy, and if she doesn't know how to deal with these powers, she'll be very confused and this may hinder her mental development. After all, she's still a child. We urgently need to teach her how to deal with these skills."

"Besides, I think the most important thing is to avoid getting the attention of humans from this time about our presence," Zara said. "We have a problem here too. It will be very difficult, after nearly 11 years, to explain to her the true secret of her identity. We expected her to reach pre-adolescence to shape her human personality. Is now the right time? Shouldn't we wait a little longer?"

"She already has the peculiarities of our hybrid race. The powers will manifest with more strenght, since she is the daughter of an extraterrestrial with a hybrid. She'll certainly have the power of telekinesis and, like all of us, will soon be able to read thoughts easily. This could make her very upset. The truth is: One of us will need to tell her who she really is before the Alpha-Omega team or other secret extraterrestrial investigation agencies can track extraordinary events at school or anywhere else and reach us. She needs to be protected and to learn how to take care of herself."

They bought the coffee in the market and on the way back they continued the conversation.

"Let me tell her about planet Life and our true identities," Merko said.

Nicholas looked seriously at him and replied:

"No, Merko. This is a very delicate mission and her mother is the right person to tell her the whole truth. Normally, the person who has the closest affinity to the female daughter is the mother. Women's preferences are very similar, as well as the freedom to talk about issues that are common among them. This is my opinion."

"I'm glad you remembered I'm her mother! I'll figure out a way to tell her the facts about our condition at the best time. All things have a more correct way of doing them and the most appropriate time to happen."

"It's all right. As Helen's parents, you'll know what to do," Merko said. "But don't leave me out of this; I really like my granddaughter and I know I can help her get used to the peculiarities of the telekinetic powers."

"Zara, my love, it's up to you to break the news, but I really think it would be nice if we were all together! I have an idea for the whole family to be around to help her face the difficult time and it will still be a birthday gift for her."

"Tell us, honey..."

"Let's go on a trip for her birthday. So, in two weeks, before her birthday, she wins the trip as a gift, and we will go with her; and then she'll discover her true origin."

"I think that's an excellent idea," said Merko, who was anxious to be around at the time of the revelation.

"Let's take our daughter to the place she would most like to see in the world: Japan," said Nicholas.

"I thought the idea was great, Nick. But who will pay for the trip?" Zara asked.

"I insist on paying the tickets. I've been keeping some savings with my security company and can perfectly afford the expenses." Said Merko.

"Then we'll arrange everything. I have a friend who has a travel agency. I'll check the tickets and the necessary documents. Do you remember him, Zara? Sanches..."

"Yes! Of course, I remember... He graduated with you from college and, how is he?"

"He is fine. He's married and has two boys. He opened a tourism business and I'm sure he'll be very happy to help us with the trip."

Merko interrupted them:

"There's a secret base in Japan. You'll like to see it. We've built it in the past to hide the ships while we were on missions in asian zones and Siberia."

"Merko and his surprises!" Zara said.

"Now I'm curious. I want to see this base!" Commented Nicholas.

The next day, at school, Helen began to feel strange things, which intrigued her. Her abilities appeared without control and, sitting in her desk, started to listen to the thoughts of her classmates, all at once, like a crowd screaming in her head. She felt terrified because up until now she had believed she could communicate only with her grandfather in her mind:

"I'd rather have stayed home today than listen to this boring class of ancient history," thought a girl sitting in the fourth row.

"I hope the teacher asks something. I already read this subject and know it by heart. I will answer all the questions," reflected a boy, sitting near the teacher.

"What a boring class. I wanted so much to be home eating a hamburger and playing a video game!" Another student was pondering.

"What's going on with my head? Am I reading other students' minds? Or do I make these things up in my head? I need to talk to mommy urgently," thought Helen, worried about the thoughts that rose one after the other, until she began to lose control.

The voices mingled and she couldn't understand what they thought or what they were saying. The noise was interrupted abruptly by the teacher's voice, who caught her attention:

"Helen, are you listening to me?" The girl nodded, pale. The teacher stared at her for a moment before continuing. "I would like to know about the independence of the United States of America. Explain which were the motives that led our country to separate from England."

The girl heard the question, but the voices restarted to shuffle in her mind.

"I can't understand what you're saying..." she whispered.

"Do you want me to repeat the question?"

"No, teacher. Please ask another student, I'm not feeling well. I need to go to the bathroom!"

Helen ran down the hallway and the teacher followed her, passing another assignment for the students as she left the room. When the teacher reached the bathroom, she saw the trembling girl, washing her face and looking at herself in the mirror. She turned to her side and vomited. Then she looked at herself again in the mirror and thought:

"What's happening to me? Am I going crazy?"

Her thoughts were interrupted by the teacher:

"You aren't well! I'll ask the principal to call your mother to take you home, or maybe a doctor."

The school secretary called Zara, and soon her mother came to catch her. In the car, Helen began to open her heart:

"I wanted to talk to you about some weird things that have been happening to me..."

"What is it, my daughter? What happened to you?"

"Mom, as I sat paying attention to the class, I started to listen to the thoughts of the other children. Virtually everything blended into my mind and I made an incredible effort to focus on the lesson. I couldn't respond to a question from the teacher because I couldn't understand what she was saying. There were a lot of people talking at the same time inside my head. I preferred not to talk to anyone about it, because if I were scared, imagine how the others would be. Am I getting ill?" The girl trembled, imagining the worst situations inside her little head. Zara pledged herself. She knew her daughter had to know the truth.

"My daughter, everything in life has an explanation and I'm sure there is one for this too..."

"They say that schizophrenic people hear voices. Could this be my case? The other day I was with Grandpa in a restaurant and I could hear his thoughts clearly. It seemed that we were somehow connected by the mind. And he answered me. We talked through thoughts, mommy! I discovered that Grandpa can read mine too! Do you believe me?"

"Of course, I do my dear. You don't have problems. This is a power, a gift, called telepathy."

"Grandpa Merko said he would explain everything to me, but he hasn't given me any answers so far. He asked me to keep this secret. There are many doubts in my mind. I don't know if everything I hear is truth or the result of my imagination."

"Helen, some people in our family have that power. We can read people's minds. Me and your grandfather are going to teach you how to use it. Be patient and try not to read or listen to the minds of strangers in the meantime. We shouldn't invade the privacy of any human being except by mutual agreement. You know that some are born with certain gifts such as art, music, sculpture, photographic memory, etc. You have gained this one and will have to learn how to use it."

The girl was nervous at the revelation made by her own mother, who at that moment decided she didn't need to tell her the truth about her true condition. After all, Helen was a pre-adolescent with a personality in formation, a hybrid living between humans and with parents different from all the rest of humanity.

At night, Zara served dinner for her daughter and husband. While Helen did her homework, her mother decided to tell what had happened to Nicholas, who understood her reasons. They decided it was necessary to reveal the secret to the girl as quickly as possible.

Later, Zara went to the girl's room and put her in bed. She kissed her forehead and said:

"Good dreams, daughter. Don't worry, because when you learn how to use this power well, it will no longer be a problem and will become a solution. Don't be afraid and don't tell anyone. It's our family's the secret. Trust me, I will explain to you soon why this is happening. I love you. Good evening!"

"Good night mommy. I love you too!"

Zara turned on the lamp and left the room, leaving the door ajar.

Helen stared at her planetary model she had won from her grandfather and felt somehow connected to it. She had many doubts swarming in her head:

"Why does grandpa and mommy make such a mystery about this thing of reading thoughts? Who are we really? I look forward to hearing all about it. These are things that happen in cartoons, movies, and books. Why is this happening to me? Well, the first thing to do is to obey mommy and stop reading people's minds. I need to sleep..."

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