“Elizabeth, it’s okay.” Graham was looking at me with sympathy. “It’s a big adjustment, I know, but it’ll be okay.”

“Wait,” I gasped, and put my head between my knees. I cupped my hands over my mouth and breathed into them, trying to head off hyperventilation. Several long minutes passed before the nausea and dizziness passed, and I could speak.

“Why can’t I see it? Why can I take a picture of it but not see it?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never heard of someone photographing Seconds but not being able to see them. I’m guessing it’s another way you’re glimpsing through half-workings, like I was talking about before. But why your development is working this way, I’m frankly not sure.”

He rubbed his face, thinking.

“You know, it might have to do with how late your abilities are manifesting. Most of us see through as little kids. About twenty percent get there as teens. Your abilities are appearing so late that you already have a set view of the world — what’s possible and what isn’t. Maybe your mind is resisting the ‘impossible’ things your eyes are taking in.”

“Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath, “I want to start seeing what’s in front of me. How do I do it?”

“Well,” Graham said, “let’s go have a chat with Bob.”

I followed Graham back under the maple. It was nerve-wracking to think that a creature like the snowman was out there, and I was blind to it. I kept expecting something to take a bite out of me.

Graham positioned me about ten feet from the tree’s trunk and suggested I sit. Then he sat down right next to the tree and proceeded to have half a conversation with nothing. It was bizarre to watch.

“How’s it going, Bob? … Really? Well, I’m sorry to hear that. When did you last hear from her? … Ah. No, that doesn’t sound promising. … I don’t think that would be the best approach, no.”

This went on for some time. Apparently Bob was having troubles in the love department. It added new meaning to the word “incongruous.” It seemed so absurd, it was hard not to get the giggles. I bit the inside of my lip and tried to sit still.

“Maybe she’d appreciate a small present,” Graham was saying. And then, after a pause, “No, that’d be too big. It’d make you seem desperate.”

“It makes you look needy instead of confident,” I said. “That’s sort of a turn-off.”

Graham stopped and looked at me. The weird thing was, I could sort of feel someone else looking at me, too. Someone big and sad.

Graham said, “Can you see him? Or hear him?”

I shook my head.

“Then why did you answer his question?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think I actually heard anything.”