Shallow

She was not really shallow like so many in her community thought. From very early on, evoking any conceivable mind state with ease was something for which she lacked no talent, and as a result became a natural resource to which she would turn on occasion. The facility with which she would change herself so thoroughly from situation to situation astounded the folks that knew her so that the image of who she truly was was obscure to them. In fact, none felt that they really knew her at all so that while she had placed many of them into her confidence, none had ever taken her into theirs.

This was a tremendous anxiety for her. For community was valued in a way difficult to understand, for the Field had collapsed individual life. Imploded it. The information age was coming to a close and the specialized, fragmented world of the Western Mind had once again become one great grassy plain. Too void to take in at a glance. Full of predators and hidden danger. To be alone was to be forsaken. To be alone was to be devoured. So she leaned on the others and even on their children. But the rhythm of mutual support, the alternation of give and take always eluded her. It became a haunting sound that echoed all around but never within. Within there was only silence, as if the void of the Field was taking slow possession of her and would not, she knew, ever let her go.