“What do you mean, you’ve got all your senses?” Adam asked, frowning at me over his walnut cake and coffee.

I picked a walnut off his cake and chewed on it as I looked around the beer garden. The pub was more raucous than usual, everyone excited to share what they were ‘lacking’ this year. People around me laughed as they struggled to find their pints in front of them, using their hands to ‘feel’ what was on their table. Others were using impromptu sign language to convey they couldn’t hear nor understand what their companions were saying.

Senseless Day came only once a year and it came with trepidation for some, reverence for others, and, strangely, excitement for a fair few too. I never got that part. Why would you be excited to lose a sense?

Still, for some people, I guess it was an adventure of sorts. And as I sat there watching people gesticulating about their mishaps of the day, I couldn’t help but wonder why *I* hadn’t lost a sense today too.

“I can see, I can hear,” I said, “I can feel, smell, and taste.” I shrugged and took a swig of my freshly made lemonade.

“Huh,” Adam said, watching me as though I was some sort of curious experiment, “maybe you’ll make the news. Katie Tulip keeps all five senses on the Senseless Day.”

And then it happened. Suddenly, I felt an intense heat behind me, almost painful. Flames and muffled screams invaded my senses, to the point where I ducked low in my seat and covered my ears.

But just as suddenly as the sensation overcame me, it disappeared. I looked behind me - nothing. Everyone was carrying on about their day as though nothing had happened.

“You alright?” Adam asked, a bemused smile on his face, “What’s the matter?”

“You didn’t feel that? You didn’t hear?”

“No, what?”

But Adam’s words were drowned out by a huge explosion. I was thrown forwards into Adam, who tumbled backwards. Pandemonium struck, people screaming, others lying on the floor moaning or unconscious. And what I had just experienced played a second time, but this time the millisecond experience stretched out, without ending. And this time, it was real.

—

The man in the white lab coat peered over his glasses at me. We sat in a clinical, white room with no windows, but flooded with full-spectrum light that mimicked the sun, so bright that it hurt my eyes.

“And to confirm…. these premonitions… they’ve remained ever since?”

I nodded and bit my lip. I’d experienced premonitions ever since that day. Sometimes it was seconds before, like in the beer garden. Sometimes it was days before, or even weeks, months. There was no way to tell.

“You’re a rarity, Ms Tulip. A rarity indeed. Only a handful of your kind exist in the world.”

“My kind?” I asked.

“Indeed. You see, people think that Senseless Day is about people losing a sense. It is harrowing for some. For others it garners respect for their disabled counterparts who must navigate their lives without that sense every day. But for a very few, it ignites a new sense - a sixth sense, if you will. And for you it is premonition.”

“There are others… like me?” I asked, feeling a sense of relief.

“Yes,” the man said, sitting back in his seat, “in that they develop extraordinary abilities on Senseless Day. But their ‘senses’ vary. The good news, is that you will be trained to harness your powers, Ms Tulip. To use your gifts for good.”

He stood up, and handed me some sort of welcome pack, “You’ll be staying at the Institute from now on. Your induction begins tomorrow. Be ready in the foyer at 8am tomorrow. Everything you need to know is in the pack there.”

He looked at his watch and gestured towards the door, “Now if you don’t mind, I have another appointment to attend.”

I stood up and hesitated, “Wait, I never agreed to attend any institute.”

The man walked over to the door and smiled grimly, “Oh that wasn’t a request, Ms Tulip.”

I watched in horror as two armed guards entered the room. “Ms Tulip, please come with us.”

I had no choice, he said. Well, that was five years ago. And I’m here to tell you, that I did. And I still do.