City of Fate

Afternoon

Emelia sat through school distractedly. She kept thinking about the woman she saw in the alley. At lunch she slid into her usual table with Mason and Carol, who were pretty much her only friends at school. She filled them in on the events of this morning without embellishment. Mason's a tall, awkward kid of 15, all long arms and legs and shaggy, ruddy hair. Being their resident "I watch too many movies and read too many comics" friend, Mason said, "Maybe she was a ghost, or better yet, a special agent sent to watch you."

"Why would anyone want to watch ME, dumbass?" Emelia said smacking Mason on the back of the head playfully.

Carol chimed in, "I think you should get a knife or pepper spray or even a whistle because, if I was you, I would be worried about a weird lady creeping on you from an alley." She said this from behind her tuft of straight black hair, as she stared down at her phone. Carol's always in a perpetual state of paranoia brought on by watching too many crime docs. "Well, you should keep your head on a swivel in any case."

"I agree, but keep your mind open to the fact that it may be a long lost relative coming to take you on an epic adventure to achieve your prophesized destiny." Mason said, brushing his hair back from his face and looking Emelia in the eye with what could only be perceived as total seriousness. He always tended to speak in long-winded, run on sentences when making a "prophetic statement" like that. Emelia stared back with one eyebrow raised in disbelief. "What? It could be?!" He stated with a giggle. Then, they all looked from one to the other, waited a beat and a smile formed on Emelia's lips, followed by a raucous round of laughter from the friends as all the other students within earshot looked on quizzically.