Flounder Boy

Chapter 2 - Looking for John

Kyran woke. The window was open. He never remembered opening it. Perhaps it was never closed.

The moon was fiery bright, but the night had chilled him to the bone. He didn’t feel himself. He scooted up onto his elbows and against a-- He jumped to his feet and swerved away from a tall wooden structure. He swore he saw someone. His chest was so tense that he couldn’t breathe.

He slowly neared the structure and a foot suddenly appeared in his gaze. He continued towards it. Then a hand appeared. A knee. A shoulder. A face. Was that… was that his reflection?

It was clear. Not transparent, just more refined than the stillest of waters.

He wondered if it were some strange water that they (whoever they happened to be) had entrapped or enchanted. He dragged his fingers against it. It was cold. Most enchantments tend to be warm and full of life. Perchance it was a dark enchantment. But he couldn’t fathom why this would be considered dark. It was crisp and beautiful like the current moon.

Was that really what he looked like? He lifted his hand to brush back his hair. His fingers were lost in a cave of black locks. And through his dusty grey eyes, he noticed something that he could never see in the surface of waters.

Little soft brown speckles upon his cheeks that traveled in a caravan over the bridge of his nose. He smirked. How funny. He had never seen them on anyone in the sea below.

All the mermans and maidens were without blemishes. It was believed that the mystical waters had protected them from the harsh rays of the sun. And because the humans spent their days basking in the sun, they were darkened by its enchantments.

With faces like porcelain, they assumed that Kyran had spent much time in the sun for his skin was drenched in tan. And with black hair whilst everyone else had light shades of hair. And with strange silver scales whilst everyone else well, didn’t...

He was strange.

He refused to eat fish.

He chased them instead for fun.

He drew on nearly everything with anything he could find.

He daydreamed while he floated upon the water's surface. 

He spoke with an accent.

Strange was worrisome. (As were enchantments.) No one seemed to like how odd he was. But then again, no one knew where he came from, even he. That is, until the great fish had told him that he was from the land above and that he was charmed (which, of course, would have been frowned upon by the sea kingdom.)

Though no one in the kingdom of the sea said anything, they all communally shunned him. But with him being friends with the Princess, no one ever dared to say a word. However, they sure all became fairly proficient at glaring at him when she wasn’t looking.

Obviously, no one liked him, or how he looked or not knowing where he could possibly have come from, except the Princess, who didn’t seem to notice. Perhaps, she didn’t care. But he liked to think, she cared more about him than how he looked or acted or had once spoken. Then again, perhaps he was wrong. She did 'fall in love' with the Prince, after all.

He cringed. He held his stomach as he looked up towards the window.

It was either very early morning or late night. Who knew, but he couldn’t patiently wait around to find out. He closed the window. All that mattered now was that he was awake, starving, and having a strange feeling. He hadn’t had anything to eat since... well, since that small, partially-eatin turkey leg.

As much as he felt he was going to starve, he thought he was going to explode.

He couldn’t possibly be sick. Could he? It hit him so quickly, so suddenly. Maybe it was something he could only get as a human.