The discovery that followed...

It would account for an awful lot, my discovery.

When I think back to Thomas Raddison's 9th birthday party in 1988, for example. The party I didn't go to. Thomas was one of the cool kids and in the year above me at school, so to be invited was quite a significant symbol of social status, for an 8 year old. And yet, I decided instead to sit on the step of our front door, with my Dad, watching the lightening and counting the seconds between the flash and the crashing explosion of thunder. The excitement of sharing such a magnificent display of planetary activity, captivated by the ferocity, danger and beauty of it all. The sight, the sound, the smell, the emotion, the being, right next to my Dad. Tiny fragments of insignificance observing the mighty kingdom of nature. I was in my element! Who in their right mind would choose to be indoors playing a game of pass the parcel over that?!

Every other child that had been invited, it would seem.

I was shunned in school on the Monday following that. In fact, my two best friends, Lydia Smith and Paula Lenny decided they didn't need me as their friend anymore and excluded me for the rest of eternity. By eternity, I of course mean two weeks. Which was as good as eternity to an 8 year old.

School bored me. I didn't connect with the subjects and I longed for 3pm so that I could get out of there and rejoin my favourite world of imagination. School terminated my freedom of infinite exploration on a daily basis and slammed me down into a limited box of gloom.

At playtime, I'd join in with the kids playing KP (where you chase each other and if you get caught you can choose whether to be kissed or punched, hence 'KP'. I always opted for the latter.) but my favourite pastime was lying on the grass, with my feet lifted up so they were almost above my head, and I could pretend the world was upside down and the sky was in fact, the ground. I wanted gravity to be back to front so I could land on the clouds.

What was unusual to most seemed like obvious normality, to me. Now, I know why.

As an adult I couldn't understand why in meetings people would take themselves so seriously and talk for 15 minutes around the same point, saying the same sentences in slightly different structures, repeating the same message using a variant of the same words they'd just used. It was like a display, a show of superiority and importance, about subject matters that were as interesting to me as they were at school. A frustrating waste of time. I didn't talk for the sake of talking, I spoke when I had something of relevance to say. Forget the guff. Roll on 5pm so I can get out of here and rejoin my favourite world of imagination.

Work terminated my freedom of infinite exploration on a daily basis and slammed me down into a limited box of gloom.

I stopped watching daily T.V. It bored me. Space was my passion. How could it not be?! I joined an astronomy group and would look up at the night sky and imagine gravity was back to front, so that I could fall through the atmosphere and land in another galaxy. Recognising constellations, seeing Jupiter showing off his splendour, the magnificence of the moon and the miraculousness of meteor showers. Captivated by the infinite, incomprehensible complexity of it all. The sight, the sound, the smell, the emotion, the being, right there as part of the whole. A tiny fragment of insignificance observing the mighty kingdom of the universe. I was in my element! Who in their right mind would choose to be indoors watching T.V. over that?!

Lydia Smith and Paula Lenny, obviously.

It all makes sense now.

I was cleaning my apartment, in a little market town of Hertfordshire, listening to a random, American radio show, online. They started talking about a subject I'd never heard of before. They used a word I was completely unfamiliar with. It was as though they'd heard my thoughts because immediately the presenter went on to explain exactly what a 'changeling' was. I laughed. Only in America. Then for the next hour I entertained myself listening to the rantings of crazed lunatics talking about aliens replacing human babies with their own offspring whilst they slowly infiltrated planet Earth.

Hilarious.

At the end of the show, I decided to play some music and walked over to my bookcase upon which my iPod sat. I selected 'shuffle songs' and went back to organising my CDs in alphabetical order. The instantly recognisable sound of 'The Doors' filled the room and I realised, despite being a huge fan, that I didn't know the name of this particular track. I stopped, got up, and walked back to the bookcase. Touched the iPod to make it light up again and leaned in closer. My heart, froze...

Jim Morrison looked back at me, pointing his hand towards me as per the cover of 'The Very Best Of' and next to him, the name of the track...

'The Changeling'

Time stopped.

My brain particles splattered.

My soul was sucked up out into the universe, thrown at the speed of light into a parallel existence, did a cartwheel, numerous fucking show-off backflips and then hurtled me full pelt, back into the confines of my apartment where I found myself still staring into the screen of my iPod.

There's coincidence and then there's outright ridiculousness. This was the type that made me text my mother.

'Mum, this may sound like an odd question, but... when I was little, did you ever leave the room and then when you came back, maybe the following morning, thought I looked different?'

Her reply was instant...

'No Amy, you're not a changeling.'

AH HA!! GOTCHA! How could she POSSIBLY know I was referring to that?! She knew! And her reaction was a panic driven cover-up. That was all the evidence I needed. It was quite clear.

I'm a changeling.

There are loads of us, you know. Tiny fragments of extraterrestrial significance, observing the mighty kingdom of Earth, able to catapult ourselves onto other celestial bodies with the simple power of thought, and imagination. Most of whom don't even realise they're alien, but those of you who suspect, probably are. I'm in my element! Who in their right mind would want to be human, sat indoors, over that?!