Raise Your Hand N C U Pt 01

Rayne was in a rush as she ran up the stairs to her dorm room. The 18 year old had just transferred in to New Chicago University and had barely had time to move her stuff into her dorm before having to run to class. She hadn't even had time to meet her roommate. She was just about late for class but hoped that she could at least swing by the dorm room to meet her.

As she finally got to the room she took a moment to catch her breath. Meeting new people always made her nervous, but she had to control it if she was going to make a good impression. So she held the door knob in her hand and took a few slow deep breaths, put on her best smile and turned the knob to walk into the room slowly.

She never got a chance to introduce herself. Inside was her new roommate Klaire, sitting on a papasan chair reading a book. As soon as the door opened the book slammed closed and a scowl washed over Klaire's face. "I assume you're responsible for this mess?" She asked, rising from her chair and pointing to the pile of moving boxes that had previously been in the middle of the room but had now been moved to Rayne's bed.

Rayne's attempt to make a good impression died. As she looked at all of her stuff, which had been haphazardly thrown on to her bunk, she was about to respond out of frustration at having her stuff moved. But Klaire cut her off. "Let me get one thing straight with you, missy. This is MY room. I worked hard to get this room all to myself only to have you assigned mid-semester out of the blue. You're only going to be here long enough for me to find you a new room, and that's it!" Klaire stood, pointing at Rayne with her hands on her hips and huffing at her. Rayne thought it was odd to see so much fury in a frame so tiny. Rayne wasn't exactly tall at 5'2". In fact she was shorter than just about everyone she knew. But Klaire had to come in at 5 foot even, if that.

Rayne was still struggling to process what had just happened. She tried to formulate a response, but before she could Klaire, once again, cut her off. "Look, I'm going for a walk to find someplace quiet to finish my book, when I get back I expect your stuff to be put away!" She pushed past Rayne in a huff and slammed the door on her way out.

Rayne just stood blinking at the door for a few moments before whispering "Hi... I'm Rayne... Pleasure to meet you."

--

Half an hour later Rayne was climbing stairs again, this time to the back entrance of her lecture hall. She had tried to clean up as much of her stuff as she could, as quickly as she could, but it took longer than she had hoped and her psychology class had already started. "Perfect way to start the first day of class" she thought as she slowly turned the knob on the lecture hall door and pushed it open. The hall was your typical auditorium style classroom, seating for about 200 but only 100 or so seats were actually filled. She snuck down three rows and took up the first seat in the row right on the aisle.

It wasn't until she was safely in her seat that she started to look around the classroom. At the front of the class the professor was sitting at his desk, boredly skimming through a book, while a young woman stood in front of the class. She looked like a grad student, older than the rest of the students but still in her early 20's. She had blonde hair that went to about her shoulders. Behind her was a brunette and another blonde, with curly hair. The girl in the front was giving a lecture about something so Rayne quickly got out her pen and paper to try and catch up.

"... It's a brain state in which suggestions and imagination take over. Anything you can imagine can become real to you. Anything you believe to be happening, or have felt in the past, or could imagine feeling in the future, can be experienced with hypnosis." The grad student said matter of factly.

"Hypnosis?" Rayne thought to herself in surprise, "well I came in on a wierd class. I expected something more serious than this in my first psychology class. Oh well." She returned to taking notes.

"All you have to do to experience hypnosis" the blonde grad student continued, "Is open yourself up to the idea of trying something new. Of allowing yourself to experience hypnosis. Maybe it's your first time, maybe it's your 100th time. Just make a decision, consciously or subconsciously... to be hypnotized now."

Rayne was jotting down the points that she could while trying to get a grasp on the grander scope of the lecture. Things like "open yourself up", "experience hypnosis" and "make a decision to be hypnotized now."

"Now wherever you are, no matter what you're doing, playing on your phone, taking down notes, reading a story, you can focus on my words now." The grad student at the front of the class took a breath and started to slowly pace. "And what I want you to do now, is to simply focus on what I'm saying, and just let yourself pick one hand, to continue doing what you're doing. Whether it's scrolling on your phone or taking notes. You can manage to do that with just one hand. And while you consciously focus on what you're doing with your primary hand. I want you to subconsciously focus on your other hand, on your other arm."

Rayne thought this sounded a bit odd, but then again so far everything had sounded a bit odd. But she, like everyone else here, focused on the hand she was writing with, and let her subconscious mind focus on her other arm.

"Just let your subconscious mind start to... imagine... what it might feel like if your hand was a balloon, filling up with helium. That it was slowly and gently starting to get lighter and lighter. That you could, almost in the back of your mind, hear the helium inflating the balloon. Hear the sound of the gas being filled into your hand. Into your arm. If you could start to imagine your fingers starting to rise up. Even just a little bit. Once it starts to rise up just a bit, the rest is easy. Just let your hand fill with helium, you probably won't even notice your hand starting to rise, ever so gently. Ever so easily."

Rayne was completely focused on taking notes, she didn't notice anything happening to her left hand. Most people wouldn't. But, like most people, something was starting to happen.

"Once that hand starts to raise up just a bit, once it starts to move up, up, up. It starts to move faster and faster with every word I say to you. It's ok for you to just hear my words slowly sliding into your mind. You can pay attention to them, or completely let them slide away, either way every word makes your hand get lighter, and lighter. And soon your hand is so light that it's going to start to float. This can be a strange feeling. Some people even laugh a bit. It's ok if you let out a little laugh now. Laughing only helps us all to relax just a bit more."

Rayne thought she heard a few little giggles and chuckles from the crowd, and found herself letting out a little bit of a chuckle, too, before the grad student started up again. "Floating easily and gently. You may not even notice it. It's ok if you don't, and it's ok if you do. Whichever you choose to accept helps your hand to pull higher and higher. But soon it's so high... that your arm, if it hasn't already started to, starts to rise up with it. Slowly pulling higher and higher. It's so much easier to hold your arm, straight up. Even when it's light as a helium balloon, just holding it straight up is easier."

Rayne was furiously taking notes, and didn't even notice her body shift a bit as she kept focusing on her dominant hand.

"Just let go and let your hand raise higher and higher, so much easier once it starts to go up, to just let your hand go up, and up and up until it's straight up and down, straight up in the air. Right where it belongs. It's so much easier to keep it straight up, maybe your hand is just light enough to keep your arm balancing, or maybe it's so light... that it's pulling your arm up, up, up... You have all done very well now. Look around, see what you see?"

For the first time Rayne looked up from her notes. As she did, she heard several gasps escape her fellow classmates as it was clearly visible that just about everyone's hand was raised. In fact, even the two girls at the front of the room who were supposed to be assisting the grad student had both of their left arms raised above their heads. The blonde was giggling just a bit, but the brunette...the brunette's eyes seemed very glazed, very far away. She then noticed that the professor, who was still idly reading his book with his right hand, had his left hand straight up in the air. He didn't even seem to notice.

She continued to look around the room, what was originally assumed to be almost all of the students was quickly becoming all of the students, it was then that she let out her own gasp as she realized her left arm was straight up in the air.

In the front of the classroom the Blonde Haired Grad student just gave a grin. "Look at how suggestible you all are! And just in case there is someone who I don't see, someone whose hand is still down. You can see everyone else around you. Their hands up, raised high in the air. And you can feel your hand pulling up faster and faster now. Raising right up in the air. It's ok to just let this happen, to immerse yourself in this conversation, to let yourself become a part of this demonstration now. Just let your hand raise up easily, and gently, and proudly now." She smiled as she looked out at the classroom full of students. "You have all done such a good job. So much so that no matter how hard you try...try to low your arm...the more your arm will move higher and higher into the air. Go ahead, give it a try, but after a few seconds you'll realize, simply realize that for the time being your arm is stuck in the air. Don't worry, I'll lower it for you soon."

Rayne, as well as everyone else there, tried to lower her arm. But the more she tried to lower her arm, the higher it would go and straighter it would become. She started to furiously write on her notes. "OMG! I can't put my arm down! What the heck is going on? How is this possible?"

"Now if anyone here is finding that they really don't want to try the second part of this demonstration, you may lower your arm now. And simply continue to enjoy my words for what they are, education and entertainment." The blonde said with a smile "But the rest of you... the rest of you are going to take a little trip down the rabbit hole. Down into hypnosis. You can make your decision now. Anyone who wants to be hypnotized...raise your hand!"

Most of the classroom chuckled since everyone's hand was already raised, but Rayne was beside herself with confusion. She was trying to lower her arm, but it just wouldn't lower. "Hypnotized? But hypnosis isn't real! It's all fake how can she be..." Jotting down her notes as the grad student started to speak again.

"Focus on your arm, and in a moment your arm is going to lower...safely, gently. It's not going to fall fast, and it's going to lower in such a way that it will simply come down and rest someplace comfortable. Someplace gentle. Simply lowering slowly and gently to a relaxed position without hitting anything or landing too hard. But as you find yourself with your hand straight up in the air, you realize that you are linked, more than just physically to your hand. Your hand represents your mind. It's connected to your mind...and in a moment that hand is going to lower...gently and safely. And as it does your mind is going to sink, sink, sink...deeply down into a state of trance. You'll be able to focus on my words, able to pay attention to me completely and totally. But your mind will simply sink away into hypnosis. Deeply down. Relaxed and calm."

Rayne couldn't believe what she was hearing...a few minutes ago everything was ordinary and mundane, and now her hand, and everyone else's, was straight up in the air, and she was being told she was about to go into hypnosis, into a trance! She was frantically scribbling on her notes. "I'm going to be hypnotized? I'm going to be hypnotized! Am I already hypnotized?!"

The blonde continued "Focus on your arm, and on the count of three...your arm will gently slide down into a safe and comfortable position. One, ready to just let go, to let your mind relax and simply focus on my words, easily and deeply. Two, feeling your heart racing, curious if this will work, letting that curiosity get your mind ready. Get you ready to sink... Deeply down, safe and relaxed. Ready to sink, ready to fall, ready to let yourself sink safely down. Three... let your hand gently and safely come down to your side, or your lap. Feel your mind simply relaxing. Your body tingling and becoming fuzzy, and calm. Let yourself focus on my words. Focus and relax. And just sink deeper... and deeper... doing so well now. So easy to keep following my words"

"Letting your mind and body just stay relaxed... and calm... feeling so peaceful and at ease. And now, taking in a nice, deep breath. And letting your mind start to come back up. 1... Becoming aware of your surroundings, 2... feeling your body moving, stretching out. 3... mind clearing, aware of where you are. 4... Stretching out a bit ready to come back up. And 5... Wide awake." The blonde grad student said with a smile.

Rayne shot upright in her chair like she had just been startled awake. "What the hell?" she thought... "Did I just fall asleep in class?

To be continued...