Invisible String

Peace

Your first day on the job was a lot more exciting than the job actually was. Dorothy had been able to show you what being a ranger entailed. Most of it was watching for fires where fires shouldn't be, and helping map out some areas that hadn't been accounted for. You blinked and two weeks had passed. You were able to meet with Dorothy's boss and had been hired on as a temp for now. Dorothy had somehow managed to get you some identification so you could fly under the radar. You didn't even want to ask how she was able to get you a birth certificate or a social security number. You assumed she had to call in a few favors from some old friends from the war.

But even if the job itself was slow paced and at times boring, you had started to grow passionate about it. So much so that you longed for it even on your days off. That had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that the "Maltobots" would poke and prod you for entertainment when their teacher was busy. Like right now.

You were stuck on a haybale playing the damsel in distress for a "learning exercise". In reality you were a victim to their game-like shenanigans. The game of the day was "capture the flag", except the "flag" is a "human" and can "be hurt or die if thrown" so "don't so that."

Hashtag, Twitch and Robbie were pretending to be Decepticons while Jawbreaker, Thrash and Mo were the Autobots. Nightshade was doing their best to judge the "match". Your job was to sit still and wait for someone to either "save" you or "capture" you. The game had started to divulge more into the six kids play fighting and less of anyone trying to capture you, so you were relaxing and playing on a phone the Malto couple had been so gracious to borrow to you. You were instructed to make a footprint so that if someone looked into you, it didn't look like you had just fallen into this dimension.

Robbie had shown you some popular social media hubs. You posted a few artsy photos and friended some people you didn't know to make it look realistic. You noticed the people here seemed happier than your world. There weren't any wars going on and the people all seemed trusting and kind. You hardly saw anyone fighting in any comment section and the only hostility you had seen was towards the Cybertronians. It seemed that most humans had come together in the wake of an otherworldly alien war.

You heard Nightshade sigh and mutter something about why they were even asked to judge if the six others were just going to stop playing the game. You looked up to see the kids take off to the pasture. Not complaining, you laid back and continued to scroll on your phone. The app you were using was akin to the plethora that existed in your world, so it was easy enough for you to learn how to use it.

A few quiet footsteps caught your attention. You glanced up to see Mo curiously walking over to you. She quietly watched you with her head in her hands. and her elbows propped up on the haybale directly across from you.

"What's up, pipsqueak?" You chuckled as she rolled her eyes at you. She was smart for a nine-year-old and you had grown close to her in the short time you had been around. When you were younger you had always begged your parents for a little sister, but your wish was never granted so you were happy to play the role of the bigger sibling here. You were content with how things had been turning out lately but there was a growing guilt in your chest that was starting to overpower the calm that had started to take root. It was nice to finally be in a place that you felt you belonged, but you hated that it happened to be a place you didn't actually belong in.

"What's your world like?" You were taken aback by the question. The kids had never shown much interest in the place you came from, so you didn't have an answer lined up. The first thing you thought to was how much you hated your old job and how much time you had spent working. Flashes of the old news stories you'd see and hear about flickered in your mind. You didn't want to tell the kids about the horrible things that happened in your world, the terrorism and wars, and fear that you saw and felt everyday either on the news or in the big city you lived in. These were not kid friendly topics. But you didn't want to lie to the children.