Background: I, for those who don’t know, write stories and roleplay (they are basically the same thing; roleplaying is simply collaboratively writing a story). I also enjoy handicapping and tortur—I mean, providing my characters with limitations so they can grow through the course of the story.
Therefore, I also know a great deal about psychological disorders, diseases, and others things of that ilk that an ordinary person does not. One such condition is called “Synesthesia”.
TL;DR: I write stories and research psychological disorders/mental conditions.
Imagine this.
You, for the very first time, are going to school. You’ve only ever been homeschooled, in your little home that tasted of burnt brown and amber. You had wanted to go to public school for so long now, but your mother had thwarted every attempt. However, one particularly pink and lemony-smelling day, she announced you would be attending public school starting next winter. You were, and still are, ecstatic.
The biting scent of anxiety stings your tongue as you take your first few steps onto the school grounds; even the soothing presence of your mother— a sweet woman whom smelled of cherry blossoms and birdsong— couldn’t calm you. Snow lay thick on the ground, piling up in massive heaps. The pristine white was set afire by the sun’s bright rays, twinkling and sparkling as if there were gems embedded deep in its surface; it was bedazzling to behold. Tinkling notes chimed in your ears as you observed the stunning dance.
Great fir trees, draped in white like majestic kings of the past, rose from the unmarred ground, looming over the school buildings. The shadows they cast were stretched out and skinny, as if someone had taken hold of them by their ends and pulled it like one pulls taffy. Wispy clouds of ice powder spiraled down from branches as light breezes swirled through the trees.
The snow grasped onto the buildings, smoothing over and softening rigid edges with a light layer of fluffy white. Icicles hung from window ledges, glistening blue and white. A chill hung in the air, bringing with it the cold, sharp scent of rain and snow. You take a deep breath and exhale happily. Your school smells of crisp whiteness.
The bell rings, disturbing the peace (which felt like linen and tasted like hot cocoa) and along with the harsh sound is the odor of burnt plastic and charred meat. You wrinkle your nose in disgust, before widening your eyes as students pour out of doorways. The throngs of people disorient you, and the rowdy chit-chat is quickly becoming unbearable. Even worse, the marching band starts playing somewhere; the shrill caterwauling of flutes, the blustering booming of the tubas, and the raucous screaming of the clarinets didn't help stave off the oncoming headache. You feel as if your head is going to burst from all the new scents, sights, and sounds.
You give a cry of shock as great bursts of colors explode and pin wheel in front of your eyes, and a cacophony of noises ranging from elephants to whistles deafen your ears. The scent of oranges and sewage assaults your sensitive nose, and your body tingles as soft caresses, crackly static, and coarse linen run up and down along your body. Your mouth fills with the bitterness of chocolate and the subtle sweetness of tea. The sensations overwhelm you and the next thing you know, you’re face down in the snow.
The above piece was compiled by taking some of my stories, dicing them into little cubes and nuggets of info, and reattaching them in some semblance of a small story. I do hope you weren’t too confused and that I modified everything and changed the tenses and point of view accordingly.
Anyways, synesthesia is a condition in which a person’s sensory systems were far more entwined than normal. Ranging from simply tasting or hearing colors to the rather severe example that I showed above, this conditon usually doesn’t hinder any part of one’s life. In fact, some say it helps one expirebce the world ina more fulfilling way.
Like this page to see last weeks false fact! There isn’t a false fact for this week.
Oh, and please give feedback on whether you prefer the old format or this one. I’m testing a few things out; I’ll make changes depending on the response I get.
--Aki (C_Z)
