And I can honestly say that after years of quietly searching, I haven’t found anyone else like me. She is the only person in the world who knows I have it. I also have no idea how I got this “gift.” Since we were always concerned about how I would be treated if someone found out about it, Mom and I have kept my gift a secret. I could detect the fake IDs without caring about birthdates or pictures, no matter how well the forgeries were completed. And in high school, when carding someone at work for alcohol sales, I only acted like I looked at the customer’s driver’s license. I don’t have to guess how old Fido is I just know. There is just some unknown algorithm in my head that takes an individual’s heartbeat, blood pressure, and blood viscosity, and converts it to their age. But no matter the reason, I like the fact that bees don’t buzz me more than once.Īnd as for calculating a being’s age, I have called foul on many people who have lied to me about their real ages. I think it has something to do with the inflection of the tone in my voice. I don’t know how my gift works, and I’m especially not sure how animals understand me. If you want your husband to sit, same deal. I can get Fido to sit with just one word. If you want your dog to sit, just let me know. To give you a definition, I can mentally calculate the age of, and verbally command anything with a heartbeat. But just as a necromancer can control the dead, I can control the living. If you Google the word, it will pull back “liver cancer,” so again, I’m making the word up, just to give my gift a name. If you type livromancer into any document, the word will come up underlined as misspelled. From my earliest memories, I have had the chance to get everything that I have ever wanted.

I’m just not sure what happily ever after means for me. Everyone should have their own happily ever after, whatever their version of that is.

Eve brown book