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Rapunzel · Dec 29, 2008, 11:50 PM

Twist, written by Brent when he was 14, and starting to develop symptoms of schizophrenia:

What I am about to relate to you is something very odd that happened to me. It may help scientists to understand the nature of our universe, though no one who did not witness it first hand could ever fully understand what happened completely. I am not the best one to describe what happened, but no one else was there, and I feel responsible to do my best and try. Almost everything I say will be nothing more than the closest substitute I could find.
My friend Keith and I were walking home one day early in the school year when we noticed a most peculiar object in our path. It was best described as a silvery-white sphere levitating above the ground. Even if I tried to look directly at it, my eyes could not focus on it. I couldn’t tell exactly where it was, except that it somehow was “above” everything in a totally new way.
Keith decided to examine it more closely, but when he tried to touch it, his hand slipped or rolled or something, and vanished into thin air. I couldn’t see a hole, but his hand simply was not there! He then “twisted” in a way that made me realize that higher dimensions were involved. I could still recognize him as Keith, but he did not look like anything that naturally exists in the way the dimensions are set up in our perception. Parts of him were appearing and disappearing, growing and shrinking, and dancing wildly all over the place. At the same time he stayed motionless and unchanged.
Then the whole situation became extremely odd. As his appendages flailing back and forth, I couldn’t watch any longer. I looked away, and saw birds in the sky flying back and forth. I remember those few minutes happening dozens of times, even though I think it probably only happened once. The multiple copies of him continuously dragged on and on flowing, melting, turning inside out, and making completely indescribable motions, his insides visible at the same time as his outside. Then, as if I were awakening from a dream, it all stopped. My friend and the object were gone.
Finally, I was able to make my body work, and I ran home. The rest of that day is missing from my memory. I wouldn’t and couldn’t let myself go back the same way the next morning. All day I went about my business like a mute zombie. After school, I had to go back. As I walked, I was able to think about what had happened. I realized that I didn’t remember any details about the last seven hours. People must’ve asked if I knew where Keith was, and when they got no response, thought I was acting really strange.
I began to behold yesterday’s event all over again. I still have no idea whether it was actually before my eyes again or if it was only an extremely vivid flashback. When I arrived at the spot, I saw nothing, something, and everything all at once. But it wasn’t strange. It wasn’t anything to me. I had become emotionally numb. That same day repeats for a week in my memory. I have no idea what went on in that time, but I must’ve subconsciously done everything I normally do, because neither my grades nor my health suffered.
On my first day back in the realm of awareness, I noticed people looking at me strangely. How long had it really been? What if I had lost all my friends for good? I couldn’t bear the thought. I didn’t know what would be the best way of going about letting them know I was myself again, so I just kept silent through the morning.
At lunch, I sat with my friends, wondering if I had been doing so while my mind was out. I finally thought of something to say: “Hi!” They all gasped sarcastically and looked at me.
“He speaks!”
“He’s ba-ack (poltergeist style)!”
Then my girlfriend, Loren, came over to our spot on the quad, not noticing how I was acting: “Guys ! I finally got through to Keith’s house! He’s not just sick, he’s missing! No wonder this guy…” She saw that I was acting normal again and listening to her ramble on about what I already knew.
“Hi, Loren. I’m back in the realm of the living, in case you didn’t notice. So it wasn’t on the news? Not exactly surprising, considering the war taking up all the media. Exactly how strange was I acting?”
“Strange enough, but you had a good excuse. Look at me; I was born strange! People accept me without an excuse! By the way, would you happen to know how he disappeared?”
“Uh, no,” I said, more seriously than I would normally answer such a typical Loren question. We had previously lost a couple of our friends to drive-by shootings, and knew it helped to joke about things like this, and didn’t think of it as disrespectful. Most people would know that question was a dumb one, but Loren was known for blurting things out without thinking first. She wasn’t really dumb, just strange. Besides, this time it wasn’t dumb, even though I wouldn’t have been able to explain the truth. At any rate, the others teased her for seeming so dumb.
After that, I was usually a quiet person. Not too exciting, but not so boring that I would lose my friends. I kept my mind off the subject, and had to use hypnosis to keep my sanity while writing this. If I read this after it’s published, I’ll have no idea I wrote it.

Here, Brent is shown at age 27. He died at age 29.

This photo of Brent was taken at UC Davis Picnic Day in spring 1991. He was 13 years old. Around this time, Brent was showing the beginnings of a functional decline typical of a schizophrenia prodrome. He was later diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 17.

Hopefully, this story will be helpful.