Daisy isn't a Superhero

Welcome to the Jungle

I cracked my eyes open, squinting at the ceiling. The moment I did, I wished I hadn't; my head pulsed and I felt dizzy.

I started to piece together what happened before I fell asleep.

My eyes shot open and the blinding light made the back of my eyeballs ache. I blinked stupidly.

I was lying on my back on a dark green velvet couch. The room was fairly tight. Definitely an outdated apartment, probably on the east side of the city judging by it's antiquated architecture and the sounds of traffic humming through the left wall.

Without moving, I tried to see every corner of the room.

I could hear a fire crackling on my right, but I didn't dare peek over the tall side of the couch, so I stared at the two walls I could see plainly, in front of me and to the left.

There was a jungle patterned wallpaper plastered neatly on all sides of the room. On the lower half of the walls, there was a polished walnut wainscoting.

The room was very clean, but cluttered, with odds and ends filling up nearly every inch of spare room.

Whoever owned this place must have been well-traveled, there were several pieces of uncut jade here and there, interspersed with luminescent opals, rough chunks of what could be gold or uranium, and other rocks or gems.

My eyes roved from a Chinese incense burner to a variety of buddhas in different sizes. There were also maps placed sporadically on the walls, some framed, and others with torn edges.

It felt like something out of Sherlock Holmes's time.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, forgetting to stay still.

"How are you feeling, dear?" piped up a small voice from behind me.

I jumped and sat bolt upright, clutching a blanket to my chest in panic and twisting around at the same time.

I managed to gracefully trap my legs in the blanket and slide halfway off the couch all in one movement, all without managing to catch a glimpse of the person who had spoken.

"Oh dear," came the voice again as I sat on the floor dazed.

"Sorry," my voice came out a nervous squeak.

I cleared my throat and slowly turned around.

"Bah!" I jumped in surprise as I came face to face with a green woman.

She was small and tidy, her grey hair was smoothed into a soft sort of bun, not one of those tight ones that give you a headache and make you snap at children. It was the kind of bun that framed her face with the softest curls and swept back into a half-moon shape of silvery hair.

But the oddest thing about her was that every inch of her skin was a grassy green color. She looked like a walking leaf or maybe a chartreuse nymph.

"Goodness, child, didn't mean to frighten you," said the green woman.

She was staring at me, amused, with her ocean blue eyes standing in stark contrast to her green face.

I stared and tried to think of what the right thing to say in this situation was. I came up utterly blank, so I settled for looking away and trying to stare at something, anything other than the green woman.

"I'm Lila by the way,"

From my position on the floor, I tried to pretend like I didn't see the green hand she held out to me and stared very hard at a map of Thailand instead.