I Have Risen

Permanent Borrowing

       My eyes dart around behind my magazine to find something worthy of stealing permanently borrowing. There are countless people in the busy streets of New York, each more naive than the last. I shield my eyes from the brightness of the afternoon sun and temporarily relax in the light Autumn breeze. But from the distance, a booming voice interrupts my peace. A tall man wearing a business suit appears, screaming into his bluetooth, and trampling the people in his way. A glistening rolex watch on his wrist catches my eye. Jackpot.

I nonchalantly run into him and spill my coffee.

"I'm so sorry sir," I flail, starting to wipe his stained shirt.

"What is wrong with you?" He exclaims, "Do you even know who I am?"

A small grin tugs on my face as I stroll away without a trace. His gleaming watch feels heavy in my pocket.

Walking amongst the towering, reflective, abandoned buildings of I see myself in the glass windows. Average height, brown hair, and regular clothes. Invisible; the perfect little thief.

Except, under these contact lens are my heterochromic eyes. One is a warm brown, the other a hazel with flecks of gold.

Suddenly, there was a cry two blocks ahead of me. Usually I steer away from commotion, but then I saw that the wailing came from a little girl. A large circle of men surrounded a woman and her child.

I push through the gorillas to shield the mother and her child.

"Whoa whoa boys," I laugh, "don't you have something better to do?"

I gesture to one of them, who harbored an extremely hairy face.

"How is it possible to grow that much hair? Somebody call national geographic because I just found bigfoot."

An inhuman growl comes from Wookie's stunt double. It's like an animal that you know you shouldn't provoke. But just to annoy him I caress his facial hair.

"It's like your face has its own fur coat."

"Leave. This is between us." Was the gruff response.

"Sorry Sasquatch, but this is not just between you and her." With a smile I take out the watch from my pockets and dangle it in front of their eyes.

"How could you afford that?" Chewbacca asks, mesmerized by the decorative diamonds.

"I couldn't." A grin peers from my face. "I'm the bandit wanted by the police. Whatever you boss is paying you, it is nowhere near the price on my head."

King Kong and his goons lunge at me. I doge their punches and sprint away from the little girl and her mother.

"Get out of your cocoon, you hairy butterfly, and come dance with me." I wink.

In the now vacant streets four large men trail behind me. Rain starts to drizzle in the darkened skies. Sounds of splashing from their feet and the rain fills my eardrums. Adrenaline courses through my veins. I turn a couple of corners, to throw them off my trail.

"You're so hairy you look like Harambe!"

And just like Harambe you are about to get shot.

I reach into my holster for my gun. But from nowhere, a paralyzing pulse of pain from my back washed over me. Not now! I scream internally. Desperately needing shelter, I turn into an unknown alley.

A golden aura hazes my vision. Everything is blurry. The more I rub my eyes the more disoriented I become. The walls are too high to climb, I am caged. They were the predators; the prey cannot escape.

I try to hold my ground, but the headache just intensifies. My knees become weak as they buckle underneath me.

"Not such a smartass anymore, are we?" Someone shouts at me.

"Let's reschedule this, bigfoot. I promise you I'll let you catch me some other day."

I hear vile laughter, then a shot. The bullet whizzing through the air came closer and closer to me.

No. I commanded to the shot.

The bullet suddenly fell on the ground, just inches from my face.

    Dumbfounded, more guns are fired in vain. The bullets don't penetrate me.

    "What are you?" They whisper through horror soaked lips. Faint footsteps running away into the distance brought me temporary comfort.

    My perception of time is askew. Too exhausted to move, I feel the descending rain soothing my skin. After what seems like a numbed eternity a blurred figure leaps down from the building. My mind was racing, screaming at me to run with the little energy left. But my limbs were paralyzed from pain. I felt foreign hands lifting me, bringing me away from the alley. The last thing I remember were a pair of golden eyes, just like mine.