Human Being

Out of Ordinary

"Exhausted!"

That was the only word I could muster after coming home from work. It seemed like today I was completely drained. Unlike usual, my boss assigned me to the night shift as well. I was supposed to be off by 6 PM, but out of nowhere, he asked me to cover for 'Dered'... or was it 'Deret'? 'Derek'? Whatever his name is. After all, I've never been close to him. We're just coworkers. I work the morning shift, and he takes the night one. It's that simple. We're just cashiers at a local convenience store. It's not that hard.

Still, for some reason, he's been ditching work a lot lately. As far as I remember, he's juggling work and college. Strange. I've never attended any kind of college myself.

"What's so hard about studying and working at the same time?" I muttered irritably.

With no real skills to my name, I was stuck with this kind of job. I wasn't accepted anywhere else because I lacked the so-called "experience."
"Experience, my foot!" I grumbled. Back in the day, you just had to prove you could handle the job, and you'd get paid.

All my life, I've been earning money through sheer hard work.

If this keeps up, I'll have to ask my boss for extra pay. There's no way I can keep going like this forever. I get tired too.

"Damn boss. Damn Dered," I cursed inwardly.

Still on my way home, the night felt unusually long. Suddenly, a strong gust of wind hit me, making me shiver. I glanced at my watch-it was already 2 AM. The sight of the clock only fueled my frustration, and I found myself silently cursing my boss again.

That crazy boss! He didn't even care about my protests. I'd told him countless times I couldn't do night shifts, but he never listened to me. Instead, he trusted that liar, saying his situation was more important than my concerns.

I quickened my pace as I neared the alley up ahead. Because of my low pay, I could only afford a rundown house near an unsafe alley. In short, coming home late at night always felt like a gamble to me. That's one of the reasons I didn't want to work the night shift, but now I couldn't use that excuse anymore. Even though the alley was infamous for its pickpockets and thugs, who often lurked there waiting to rob passersby, I had no other route.

Once, I'd been mugged and almost humiliated in front of those thugs. But ever since that incident, the alley had been eerily quiet whenever I passed through. They seemed terrified of me after what happened "that time."

Back then, I think they assumed I was just a helpless girl, making me their perfect target. After robbing me of everything I had, they demanded I strip for their "entertainment." That night, much like tonight, I was already exhausted from working all day. I tried to walk away, muttering under my breath, too tired to care about my belongings. I figured I'd just find replacements in some junkyard if I got lucky.

But one of them grabbed me and started tugging at my clothes. That was the last straw. My patience snapped, and I did it to him.

I don't usually resort to that, but in this body, I lose my temper quickly. Before I knew it, I had acted. His friends froze in shock at what they'd just witnessed. It happened so fast, leaving only his clothes in a heap on the ground. Then they bolted, screaming, leaving me alone. Luckily, they'd dropped my bag, so I didn't have to look for a new one after all.

Again, it wasn't their fault for thinking I was just an ordinary girl. It's not like I told them the truth. Because, well, I'm not a human.

When I finally reached my house, I fumbled for the key in my pants pocket. I usually don't keep my house key there, but over time, it became a habit because I tend to forget things easily. The sound of the door unlocking was like music to my ears. I was ready to collapse onto my warm bed.
.
.
.
.
.
.
To be continued

Hello, this is the author. Thank you to everyone who took the time to stop by and read. This is my first work on this platform and sorry if there is spelling errors since english is not my first languange.