The Lost One

Prologue

The bitter December wind ripped through the streets of New York City. The temperature had dipped into the single digits two days ago and it wasn't looking like it would be warming up anytime soon. New Yorkers were stubborn and resilient though. The sidewalks were only slightly less packed than a warmer afternoon which meant that people were still basically shoulder to shoulder as they hurried on their way. Almost every person was bundled head to toe in heavy jackets, gloves, hats and all types of winter gear, only a small strip in the bundles where the person's eyes peered out, squinting against the wind. It violently ripped hoods back and the ends of scarves as it blew through the throngs of people.

One thing was different though. While everyone always seemed to be in one long, never ending rush no matter the day, it was somehow worse today. Cali peered out through her own folds of scarf, wrapped tightly around her head and face. She must have had six layers on at least but she still felt the cold wind permeate, chilling her to the bone. Once again, she shivered violently as she waited on the curb outside of her apartment building. She had been standing here, trying to hail a cab for twenty minutes with no luck. She glanced at the clock on a post across the street for the thousandth time. Her arm was getting sore, and her fingers numb through her thick glove from the cold and also from holding it out and waving it around for so long.

New Yorkers were normally unabashedly loud and impatient by nature. It seemed, to Cali, to be a requirement of life here. But today it seemed to have increased ten fold in the bitter weather. She had watched as two men hailed the same cab and proceeded to scream profanities at each other as they both tried to open the back door. It almost got physical before the cab grew tired of waiting and sped off, nearly knocking one man down. Then the expletives were directed at the cab. One of the men tried to chase it for a few feet before it turned a corner. Grumbling, both men returned to their place on the curb, trying to hail a new one. Thankfully they stayed separated and managed to be on their way fairly quickly.

In comparison, Cali knew her flagging was weak. She watched as people basically walked into traffic to get the cabs to stop. She wasn't brave enough to attempt this tactic yet, especially because there were several occasions where the cab barely stopped. She had only lived in the city for three months and hadn't mustered up the courage to elbow her way to the front or jump into traffic just to get transportation as others seemed to be. She was content to wait in a more civil, safe manner but had to give herself plenty of time to do so.

Of course, there were other modes of transportation that were possible. She had taken the subway on a few occasions with her bubbly cousin Evie. Evie had been coming to New York a few times a year for most of her life. Her father was a lawyer and had many high-profile clients. He had two main offices, one in New York and the other in LA which is where he spent the majority of his time. He had to come here often enough, however, that he sometimes brought his family along with him. Evie confidently navigated the complex, underground metro system like it was nothing. She made it look so easy that the first time Cali had to travel on her own, she chose the subway. It ended in disaster with her taking the wrong train and ending up far, far away from her destination and also from her home. She hadn't been brave enough to try it alone again.

Then there was the bus system. She never had need to take a bus in the small, Hawaiian village she had lived for the past twelve years. If she did need it, there were only two or three destinations along the regular route. Usually, she just walked where she needed to go or hitched a ride with a friend's family. In New York the bus system was just as complicated as the subway. She had quickly decided that a taxi was her preferred mode of travel even if it came with difficulties of its own.

Unfortunately for her, today happened to be one of the coldest days since she had moved to the city with Evie. People seemed more eager to grab a cab to escape the cold rather than walking anywhere. There were a lot of people around her who were trying to get one and they definitely weren't going to take turns or wait in a neat line. Perhaps even more unfortunate, was the fact that today she was on her way to an important meeting at NYU as she was one of five candidates who were selected to potentially receive a prestigious scholarship. Each one of them had a time slot to discuss their background, academic goals and answer various questions as to why they were the best candidate. And she was running late for her time slot. Very late.