manda . r a i

[EXTRAORDINARY]] PAGE TWENTY

"Light the room Sandra," Zanderia commanded.

"What do you mean light the room?" Sandra couldn't see anything in front of her. It reminded her of the dungeon she was in with the creature with red eyes. The heavy blanket of darkness weighed upon her. Her eyes strained to see a tiny speck of light, but couldn't find any.

"Well....?" Zanderia paused and waited for Sandra to act.

"Okay..." Sandra closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. C'mon Sandra, you can do it. Just put a little light to the room, that's all, no biggie. She imagined a bright white light surrounding her, and tried making the light bigger, engulfing the room. In her mind, the bright light lit up the room, and Sandra could feel the heat of the light playing on her skin. She opened her eyes and was surprised to find herself blinded by a pulsing white light in the corner of the room. "What? What happened?" Sandra raised an arm to shield her eyes.

Zanderia turned to face her, also shielding her eyes from the light. "You did it Sandra, you did it." She gave Sandra a small smile and snapped her fingers. The light instantly disappeared and they were plunged back into the inky blackness.
"Good job Sandra, shall we continue?" Zanderia's voice came through the darkness.

Sandra nodded, but then remembered Zanderia couldn't see her. She opened her mouth to speak but was instead interrupted by Zanderia.
"Very well Sandra, let's proceed," Zanderia grabbed Sandra's hand and led her through the dark.

"You see, Sandra, really the whole point of this training is to strengthen your mind. When you strengthen your mind you can do practically anything. For instance, you can move things with your mind, something ordinary people have always marveled at, and wanted to do. However they can't because most of them are too skeptical. At the back of their minds is always that little voice that says 'I can't do this'. See you Sandra, you aren't as close-minded as most people, you accept it for what it is, and you don't try to figure out how it works. That's a good thing, sometimes, mind you. Sometimes you should know how things work. But this is one thing that you should just accept, or else it won't work. Do you understand?" Zanderia walked briskly in the dark, Sandra had to double her pace to keep up.

"Yes Zanderia, I understand," Sandra was glad to see light at the end of the dark tunnel they were in.

"Excellent. You must walk a little faster Sandra, we're almost there," Zanderia led Sandra into a dimly lit room. "Here you will practice moving objects with your mind, now that you've mastered most of the other abilities."

A table stood at one end, against a stone wall. A small fire burned in one corner, crackling as it devoured leaves and twigs. Small objects raging from dinner knives to spoons to thimbles lined the tabletop. Some large objects stood at the other end, a bucket of water and a small hand-held broom among them.

"So what do I have to do?" Sandra asked, eyeing the things on the table.
"First of all Sandra, clear your mind free of all thought. I want it empty. Relax, and breathe," Sandra did as she was told, Zanderia's voice filled her mind. "Great Sandra, now imagine yourself physically moving it. Visualize a direct connection with the object. Focus on it Sandra, focus. Keep going Sandra, that's it. More brainpower now, put yourself into it. Come on Sandra, you can do it." Sandra imagined her hand picking up the knife and moving it to the right. Her eyes burned and her brain hurt from the concentration. She felt beads of sweat forming on her forehead. C'mon Sandra, you can do it. Move it Sandra, just movie it. Sandra felt like her head was going to burst from all the mental exertion. Pressure throbbed against the front of her head. Then suddenly she heard Zanderia cheer. "You did it Sandra! You did it!" Sandra saw that the knife was now at least two inches from where it originally was.

"I did it! I did it!" Sandra laughed with glee. She eagerly went on to the spoon next to the knife.

"Great Sandra! Now put the fork next to the knife, directly next to it," Zanderia instructed.

"Okay," Sandra once again concentrated on the spoon. She felt the familiar throbbing pressure behind her forehead. Her eyes burned as she concentrated on the fork.

"Just relax some more Sandra, don't put so much pressure into it. Relax, and be very simple about it. Tell the fork to move," Zanderia's voice floated into her head.
Sandra cleared her mind once more, and focused on the fork. Move fork... move over there... she imagined the fork getting up and moving over next to the knife. To her surprise, it did just that. The fork had moved over to the knife. "Wow, that wasn't as hard as before," Sandra said amazingly.

"Yes Sandra, that is because this time you didn't put so much pressure on yourself. When you do that, then your brain actually constricts you from doing anything of that sort. You should be free and relaxed, just do it very simply. It will be easier as you go on, don't worry," Zanderia patted Sandra on the back. "Now Sandra, something much more difficult. I want you to materialize something. Make a plate appear next to the knife. Just try Sandra. Relax yourself, let go, just make it appear."

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