Morana knows she's different from other people in more ways than one. Firstly, she's sixty-seven years old but stopped ageing in her twenties. Weird things have also happened around her right after she's wished for it. But most importantly, no matte...
I absentmindedly swept the broom across the floor in the aisle that held pasta on one side and sauces on the other. Not really gathering any of the dirt that had entered the store on people's shoes, like I was supposed to. Rather just swiping them from one place to another and back again. My mind was far too occupied by other things.
According to my ID, I would turn thirty next year. People had already started asking me how I kept my appearance so youthful. It was time again, though I didn't like it at all.
"Earth to Morana, earth to Morana," a voice said, breaking through my train of thought.
I looked up to find Dereck, my colleague and only friend, staring at me.
"What's up?" I asked.
He rolled his blue eyes at me. "You didn't hear a word I said, right?"
"Ehm..." I looked away because no, I had no idea he even had been talking.
"I said I'll be meeting a couple of friends for drinks and asked if you wanted to come along." He swept a hand through his blond hair and gave me a warm smile.
"Oh," I said. "Thank you, but I'm kind of tired. Think I'll just head home."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
His smile faded. "Okay, alright. Anyway, I'm done counting the register so we can lock up for the day."
I nodded and went to put away the broom and place my name tag in my locker. If Dereck had said that he would be doing something alone, I maybe would have said yes. But I wasn't comfortable hanging out with his friends. Or rather, they weren't comfortable hanging out with me. I could sense it by the way they looked at me, the tone they used when talking to me. Maybe they were decent people, and maybe they could learn to accept me. Or maybe they would end up convincing Dereck to not hang out with me. It was better to avoid them.
"See you tomorrow, Morana!" Dereck waved to me after having locked up the store.
I waved back before turning and walking towards my apartment. It was a Sunday and as such, the store closed quite early, so it was only a bit after two in the afternoon. It was quite a nice day with hardly any clouds, but a slight wind told that the Sacramento summer was coming to an end and fall getting ready to arrive.
While walking, my mind drifted to the decision I knew I needed to take. It was time. I should move and change jobs again. Possibly I should change town.
I hated it. I felt somewhat comfortable in my current life. I had Dereck to hang out with and the other handful of people working at the store seemed sort of alright with me. If I stayed around longer, one or two of them might become my friends as well. My apartment was decent. And working at the store wasn't super fun, but I'd gotten into the rhythm of it.
But I knew I couldn't stay for that much longer without arousing far too many questions. I probably should claim to be younger than usual with my new identity. Maybe go as far down as twenty-one. Not lower though, or I wouldn't be able to drink. That way, I could stay with the same people for about nine years before it got too weird.
I sighed to myself. Honestly, the worst part of it all was that I didn't know why I was sixty-seven years old but looked to be in my twenties. There was a lot about me that I didn't get. Like the fact that people seemed to be uncomfortable around me, no matter what I did. Or the weird things that I thought I had done that seemed to belong to a fairytale.
Like the ten birds, that decided to poop on one of my High School's biggest bitches. Or the frat guy, that bullied the younger students, who peed himself during a party. Or the handsy boss, that got puss-filled blisters all over his skin.
Of course, all of those things could have normal explanations. The problem was that I knew that right before all of them, and other similar things, happened, I had imagined it.
A part of me thought for a long time that I would one day find the door to Narnia or that Gandalf would show up on my doorstep asking if I wanted to go on an adventure. No such thing had happened, of course. And I had read a lot about different magical things, but I had such a hard time taking it seriously. Magic, wonder, and miracles didn't exist. At least not in my world.
I had been three months old when my parents had dumped me in a hospital deadly sick. So sick I had died, even though it had only been for a second. I hated that story, but one social worker had loved telling it to me and called me a miracle. She had been sure that I was destined for greatness.
After that, I had bounced from foster home to foster home. There had been no miracles, only the knowledge that I would have to change home and family again and again.
I wished I knew what it was that made it so that no one wanted me. I knew I didn't act up in the beginning. I always tried my best to be good and fit in. Tried to be perfect so I wouldn't have to leave again. It wasn't until I was thirteen that I gave up and started to not give a shit about whatever rules the latest family wanted me to follow.
But that was the thing. No matter what, I always made people feel uneasy. Dereck was probably the closest friend I had ever had, but it took some hard work to make him my friend. Three years of friendly conversations at work before he finally decided that I was alright enough to hang out with outside of work.
Oh well, I guessed I was destined to be alone. I was pretty good at it, really. And I had my turtle to keep me company. I had a dog once, but with my lack of aging, I guessed I would live much longer than a normal person. So when my dog died, I decided to go for a pet that would live longer.
So, just me and my turtle Leramidon. All that I needed in life. And I really had to start planning our move.
I wasn't keeping a good watch over where I walked or what was around me. It was a Sunday afternoon, after all, and the traffic wasn't super heavy. Or scratch that, traffic was basically nonexistent.
I just walked along, thinking about what place I would want to move to. I honestly didn't look around as I started crossing the street.
"Watch out!"
I turned towards the scream and saw a man running on the sidewalk in my direction.
I spent less than a second looking at him, but it felt like I stared forever. The only thing about him I registered, though, was the panic in his eyes. That panic made my whole body go cold.
It felt like the air pushed against my face as I turned it. But I managed to get it around just in time to see the gigantic red truck before it hit me.
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