Creature (CENTURIES series: Book #7)

5

Working with Charlie – as I had predicted – was something very interesting.

When he arrived here the first day, he was like a scared baby; new to the world, afraid of everything. A few days later, though, he was behaving like a little kid. For once, he loved cartoons, after having sat down and actually payed attention to what was happening. He also loved candy now that he had tried it. One night I had woken up and heard rustling coming from the kitchen. When I went down there, I had found Charlie robbing the candy cabinet, a pink look on his face when I had caught him. I reprimanded him and sent him off to bed again.

But now, as the the first two weeks had gone by smoothly, without any more wild surprises or midnight candy-hunts, he was slowly becoming what you would call a 10-11 year old child. Somewhat matured, but still a kid, nonetheless.

"So Charlie," I said that Monday as I watched him carefully tie his shoes on the bench by my front door. "Are you sure you're ready for today? This is your first time allowed outside. There's going to be a million new impressions and I just want to make sure you're up for them."

Charlie looked a little nervous, but he assured me he was OK. "I am ready for it. Where are we going?"

"We are going to go to the mall today, to shop for food," I said, zipping up my coat. It was a bit windy today. "There's going to be a lot of people, but they're not going to know who you are. They shouldn't bother you."

"What about..." He looked up at me and let his magenta eyes flash at me. I understood his concern.

"Purple eyes aren't a normal human eye color," I obliged. "That's why I thought you could wear these for today." I held up a pair of simple black rayban sunglasses to him, a pair I was sure would suit his sculpted face. "They'll shield your eyes from the public and also dim the light a little, which is good, considering you're not used to the direct sunlight."

Hesitantly, Charlie took them, and after a little guidance, he placed them on his nose and then looked at himself in my hall mirror. "I can't see my eyes, but I can still see."

I nodded and smiled a little. "Clever, right? Alright, so you think you're ready to go? The mall is a couple of miles away, so we're going to drive there. You okay with that?"

Charlie nodded again. With no more room to stall, I therefore opened the door and out into the world we went.

~~~

Why did I just know that taking Charlie into the world would be like taking a child to the aquarium?

He was glued to my car window, watching everything and everyone as we drove through the city, with the same expression a kid had when staring into a tank full of weird, exotic fish. Eyes big and mouth open, he observed the world glide by him.

"This... is..." Charlie choked on his words and instead just pressed his hand to the window.

Only in this very moment, I realized how much of the world most of us took for granted each day. I tried seeing it through his eyes for a moment; Everything was new, only some things he had seen through pages in a book or digitally on a screen. Now, as the sun tried to peak through the thick clouds and created a beautiful luminous effect, I smiled, truly appreciating how beautiful our Earth was.

But of course, there was so much more than just seeing the world for the first time to Charlie. It was seeing everything; Houses, buildings, people, trees, roads, birds, dogs – I could go on forever. If the window had been open, he would've been catching flies; His mouth was a chronic state of open.

I pulled into the parking lot of the mall, finding an empty lot. After turning off the electrical engine, I turned to Charlie who was still looking around, now watching the humans walk around with their shopping carts and bags. "Are you still feeling okay? We can turn back around if this is becoming too much for you."