Chosen: The Path of Heroes

Four

After school, Zuri immediately left the campus and started walking home. He headed down the sidewalk with his pack over his shoulder, looking up every few moments when a carful of kids from the school rolled by. The cars all brimmed with loud music, chatter, and laughter. Zuri could hear them even when they turned a corner and zipped out of sight.

He drew in a breath, sighing it out.

He wondered if he'd ever be one of the cool kids riding with the car full of friends, probably all off to have food at some hangout and planning for activities later that night.

Oh, it's just rubbish, Zuri. You don't need all that, anyway. You came to high school early because you're smarter than most and you deserve to be here, and it doesn't matter what anyone thinks of you. The important thing is studying.

"Study, study, study—that's all I do." The boy answered his inner voice. He smirked and kicked a small rock. It skipped the sidewalk before settling in a sprig of grass. "For once..."

For once, you'd like to be normal and do normal things, such as hanging out with friends. But you're not 'normal'. You've felt different your entire life, like an outsider. And you're really beginning to see that now...

First the pen, then the trembling corridor and snapped open lockers.

Zuri wasn't sure how, but he knew he had something to do with those two incidents. Intuition burrowed in him, and he just felt it.

The Joneses lived about a mile from McCallie High. Zuri reached the intersection and went right on Geyer Street. It was a straight shot to Woodbine from there, Zuri's street.

August days in St. Louis were very hot and sometimes very humid. Zuri worked up a mild sweat as he trekked for home. He'd lived in this neighborhood his whole life (so he thought) and it was just fine. The people were friendly, the yards were clean, and the trash man always came promptly on Thursdays. As far as suburban life went, it was ideal.

He came up on a truck parked along the street. The logo for a well-known internet service provider was painted on it. The ladder and safety box at the rear of the truck extended beside a nearby telephone pole, and a man in an orange vest worked up there.

Zuri shielded his eyes and peered up curiously as he walked by. The sun poked through the treetops, distorting his view of the workman for a moment. When the glare receded, Zuri sucked in his breath and stopped cold.

He stared up at the creature.

It looked like a reptilian man. A snake's head, perhaps a lizard's, with large green eyes, the pupils forming black slits. Instead of human skin, it had red, gray, and green scales. It still wore the workman's uniform and hardhat.

The creature slowly rolled its head on its shoulders and turned creepy, vivid eyes down to Zuri. Its mouth opened a bit, revealing many pointy teeth on the top and bottom. The thing appeared to be grinning. A forked red tongue shot out and wiggled.

Zuri turned to bolt and ended up running into someone. He almost yelled out but didn't. He was breathing hard.

The person he bumped into smiled down. A human-looking person. A mailman. He adjusted his bag. His expression transformed from a smile to one of concern. "Are you okay, kid?"

Zuri spun back around to stare at the thing up in the maintenance box, but it was gone. Only a man was there. The human workman. He paid attention to neither the boy nor the mailman.

"Kid? What is it?"

Zuri faced the mailman. "I...uh...nothing. I have to get home."

He started off.