Everyone in the congregation gasped, and a deafening silence took place.

My father immediately rushed over to my aid “Are you okay, son?” My father whispered in my ear.

“I’m okay”, I asserted, as the usher helped me get up.

“Are you sure?” he questioned and signaled to one of the ushers nearby “Get him a glass of water”.

I stood upright, and reassured, “I’m fine. I just lost my balance”.

The young man looked at me, wide-eyed. He looked on the verge of being in tears. How long has this thing been tormenting him, I thought to myself.

I laid my hands on the young man again, this time, pretending to use my gift. Then, I uttered a sentence that would sound so vague to the church, but the boy would understand what I meant.

“It’s going to be fine. It won’t bother you anymore.”

The young man simply nodded, “Thank you”, he said, his voice cracking. The congregation started to clap again.

As the ushers moved the young man from the line, I got a hold of his wrist and whispered in his ear. “I need to see you outside when the service ends”.

****

“I must say, watching your boy up there, being used by the Lord to help the worshippers in this church, was an exhilarating moment,” MaSonto spoke enthusiastically when the church service was done. She was one of the partners investing in my father’s church. She smiled at me and my father.

Pride was written all over my father’s face, as he boasted to her, “Yes, indeed, it is quite an experience. I’m quite thankful to the Almighty for blessing my family with such a gift. I am so proud of him.”

“I couldn’t help but notice when you were prophesying on that young boy, it looked like something had overwhelmed you. You looked a bit scared even” MaSonto recalled. She had noticed how freaked out I was when I tapped into that boy’s subconscious.

I come up with a flimsy excuse. “It must’ve been the tangible presence. As a vessel, one can hardly stand when the power flows through them.”

Surprisingly they seem to buy it. They’re convinced that it was because of the atmosphere of the supernatural that caused my fall.

As they chat some more, I look at the wide-open doors of the church. The boy was still waiting around, casually glancing at his phone. He then puts it in his pocket. My thoughts drift to what I saw in his subconscious. Something affected his sleep. No doubt, that nightmare must be the cause. It was an issue that needed urgent attention, and I was going to see it through.

MaSonto says her goodbyes to us and heads outsi6. I turn to my father. “Dad, there’s something that needs my urgent attention. I might not be back until tomorrow morning You don’t mind, do you?”

My father, without much of a hassle this time, says “Of course not, go right ahead. Just stay out of trouble, okay?”.

I scoff at his request, “Dad, I’m 23. I can handle myself pretty well.” With that, I walked outside.

The young man was pacing around, waiting for me to come out. As soon as he saw me walk to him, he cleared his throat. “You said you needed to see me?”.

“Yeah. I just wanted to sort out the whole nightmare thing”, I replied.

“Okay,” he said, sheepishly, “So, how are you going to do that? Are you going to conduct an exorcism on me or something?”.

“Er…,” I scratched the back of my head awkwardly, “Why don’t we start by getting to know you first…starting with your name”. I held out my hand for a handshake.

He hesitated as he brought his hand to shake mine, looked at me, and introduced himself, “My name is Simon”.