In Between

Chapter Five: Floridian Sky

It was too bright—that was Kieran's first thought. It was too bright, but the brightness made it beautiful. It lit up every blade of grass, every rock, every puddle of water and made everything it touched seem more alive. The light was also incredibly warm. It swept over him as he stepped onto the ground and made him shiver in comfort. Kieran found himself presented with the dilemma of what to do first. Should he walk along the edge of the water and see if he could catch a water creature? Should he begin to explore immediately, perhaps by talking to someone on the beach? That last idea was particularly enticing, and besides, he wanted to know where exactly he was.

Quietly, he made his way down a small hill leading to the sand, pausing to look back at the portal. It was nearly invisible from most angles and almost completely concealed behind the wall of a large brick building. The foliage out front coincidentally helped hide it even further from view. Kieran hoped it would still be there when he came back.

He turned away and surveyed his surroundings. There were just so many colors. Many of the people were wearing outfits meant for swimming; the boys mostly wore shorts (Kieran wished he'd brought a pair with him) and the girls wore barely anything besides tight, colorful outfits exposing their arms, legs, and shoulders. Some of them wore even less than that. Kieran immediately tried to make himself scarce so he wouldn't draw attention to how overdressed he was.

The people he observed were so...different. He was fascinating by how they all looked different from one another. They had various complexions, some ranging from those similar to Kieran's to those closer to Mel's, and there were many others that he'd never seen before. He was pleased to witness a fair amount who had lighter shades of hair similar to his—one girl's hair was red, and there was even a boy with violent blue stripes in his. Still, the range of colors weren't the biggest differences about them; many of the people seemed to be too wide for the little outfits they had on, and some of them weren't pretty at all.

They weren't all perfect. With so many different shapes and sizes, they would be considered misfits in the Inbetween like Kieran and his friends. Of course, there were a handful who wouldn't turn any heads in the Inbetween—those who were beautiful and dark-haired and pale of skin—but mostly they were imperfect by the standards he was used to seeing. Kieran much preferred watching the people who wouldn't have fit in. It was certainly easy to tell them apart.

As he moved throughout the inhabitants he began noticing how many of them appeared just as curious about him as he was of them. Some of the girls, as well as some of the boys, seemed to be watching him even though he was trying to be inconspicuous. Maybe they can tell that I don't belong, Kieran thought, worried. The longer he thought about it, the more he was intuitively sure that he hadn't been discovered as an alien. It's because I'm too perfect, he realized with slight satisfaction. In the Inbetween Kieran had always been treated as though he were less beautiful than others—he was too soft-looking and off-color to be a good representation of his people—but here it seemed he actually stood out, if only because of his near-flawless features.

"Hey, aren't you too hot in those pants?" someone asked.

Kieran turned towards the speaker and saw a girl who was quite beautiful by his standards. She didn't have a swimming outfit on, but was dressed in a plain white T-shirt and blue jean shorts. Her skin was a shade or two darker than Kieran's, and her hair had the exact same golden tone to it, except it was very long and wavy whereas his was short and strait. The light from the sky made it shimmer, as did her eyes which were a shining, vibrant green.

I'm Kieran. What's your name? he asked mentally, but she continued staring at him, expecting an answer. He repeated the question out loud instead. Kieran felt for her mind, since it was clear that she couldn't hear his thoughts, but there was nothing—rather, she had a mind but it was closed off from him. She wasn't telepathic.