The People in My Head: Violet Jennings

Violet Jennings lived off goodwill and happy thoughts. Put another way, she lived on the streets in a fantasy world of her own creation. A car accident left her permanently brain-damaged, but the damage was such that she was the envy of the world. Endorphins constantly pumped through her brain, pain became a foreign concept. The world around her, filtered by her damaged brain, transformed from an industrial nightmare into an edenic paradise. Skyscrapers became mountains of flowers and grass. Cars became horses, cattle and mules. Lamp posts were trees of eternal fire, gleaming in the night and never burning down. The crowds of joyless people, thronging their way to and from the mountains, they were worshippers of some strange god. She never understood their devotion to the high places, because so much beauty and joy was to be had wherever she stood.

Food was not a problem for Violet. Large open troughs filled with feasts of strange design kept her from starvation. It was as if the world had been designed purely to keep her sustained and joyful. Whenever one of the strange cultists saw her eating, they would give a look of disgust, or chase her away. She could not understand why they would not join her in the banquet.

Occasionally eagles, giant dragonflies or winged serpents would pass overhead. She never hid from them, because they would smile down on her as they flew past. The whole world was in love with Violet Jennings, and she felt so privileged and wonderful that she could do nothing but smile and love the world back.

When the glowing white men came and took her to the strange chapel, she did not resist.. When they showed her to the cell that would be her home, she was not afraid. She looked at windows filled with colour, a room full of life and a bed full of rest. Filled with devotion, she gave thanks for her life and spent the rest of her days in joyful contemplation of all that she had received.

She was, as has been said, the envy of the world.