The People Zoo

Invisible (adjective) withdrawn from or out of sight; hidden.

I'm sitting in a room. There are others around me, but they pay no attention to little old me, their focus is elsewhere. Sitting back in my chair, I nibble at my sandwich and make no noise. I watch everyone else, silently. I wait. Slowly, the feeling of being watched wears off. The people stop turning their heads to look in my direction, gauge my reaction. Slowly but surely, I'm becoming invisible. A little longer, and no one will notice me at all. I can get up, move around, do anything. No one's head will turn, no one's eyes will even flutter away for a second from whatever grasps their attention, be it the girl they have a crush on, the boy who disgusts them, or even the teacher who grudgingly entertains them.

No one realizes it, but I am the only one in the room who possesses control, self control. Others are under the tyrants of their deepest desires, of temptation, of despair. Me, I am free. Free to watch and laugh (internally of course, as to not break the spell) at their pure absurdness, their desperation for acceptance and approval. I pity their inability to see beyond their insignificant issues in life: the rumors, the romance, the rows.

And yet, I am a hypocrite because I know that the second the spell is broken, I will be as ignorant as the rest of them, making the same fatal mistake. It is only when I am invisible, when I am behind the glass, watching the people zoo from the outside, that I have the proper perspective to truly understand, to laugh at the imperfections of humanity.

The power of people watching is extraordinary in the hands of a writer, but devastating in the hands of a teenager. Combining both results in insanity. I guess that means I consider myself one of the insane.

But how many brilliant minds do you know who were normal?
Personally, I know none.