The Best Bride

6. CREEPY GUYS

I sat on a wooden bench in a park and observed the sky. There were still a few stars in the sky that was getting dull-reddish in appearance. The dawn was breaking. Soon it would be morning, perhaps the sunnier one. Then I'd be seeing and feeling the sun for the very first time in my life. 

I got mixed feeling, excited and scared. I had seen the pictures of the sun many times before, but I couldn't help wondering how it would look like from down here. Perhaps it would look like a full moon, huge and round, but in flaming orange - oh no! I must put on the Sunshield before it shows out of its hiding place.  

I checked out the park to see if anybody was looking at me. There were very few numbers of people jogging around but nobody was throwing any look to me. So I applied the cold cream on all parts of my body that the dress hadn't covered - face, ears, neck, hands, legs and all. However I didn't cream the body beneath my dress. I was confident the dress would block the sunlight and keep me safe.  

Now all I'd to do was wait - wait for the sun to shine. 

I'd walked all night until my feet had ached and found this beautiful park dotted with water fountains, benches and trees in places. Now I could sit patiently giving my tired feet a rest and see all the things around me in broad daylight. I hugged the bag tightly in anticipation.  

"All right there?" 

The speaker turned out to be a young man - a human - black haired and lean but handsome. I smiled back quickly since he was the first human to talk to me.  

"Oh, yes, yes," I answered, nodding at the same time. "I'm fine." 

"You aren't cold or something, are you?" 

I understood why he was asking me that. I put the bag aside fast and said, "No, I'm not. I'm just waitin -" I stopped myself before I could say aloud for the sun to come up, because, I thought, that would obviously sound stupid. "No, I'm just sitting, you know, resting. Thanks for asking anyway."  

He gave a nod before he could start jogging away from me. But then I stopped him.  

"Hey, wait!"  

And he came close to my bench again. "Yes?" 

"Umm, what's this place called?"  

He arched an eyebrow. "You really don't know?"  

"Yes." I should have told him first I was new in this town before questioning him anything. 

He let out a husky laugh but quickly stopped it. "You're in Kathmandu, and this is Balaju Park."  

Kathmandu. Balaju Park, I memorized the names. "Thanks." 

He just smiled, and then his eyes darted to my wings. "Mind if I ask you what's up with those wings?" 

"Oh, these wings are..." I racked in my brain to come up with a lie. "Are for stage show, you know. I'm a stage actor. And I'm wearing them because I was rehearsing my part here some minutes ago." Mentally I planned to say this to every human being who asked me about my wings. But I didn't think this jogger bought my lie; because his good look turned suspicious that suggest I was not right in mind or something. Without a word, he left.  

Morning light pushed the remaining darkness away and the golden light completely shone upon everything above ground. I hugged the bag again, and then felt the warmth of light on my Sunshield layered skin. I looked up at the sun, a huge ball of fire. The sun looked no bigger than a thumb from where I was sitting. 

The morning progressed and the city began to buzz with more lives and traffics. Also the sunlight began to feel hotter and hurt my eyes now. 

I stood up and went to sit under the shade of one of the trees in the park. I figured soon this would turn out to be a bad idea. The sun would shine brighter as the day progresses and would take over the shade too. If that happens, the sunlight would temporarily blind me. Worst, I could sweat and it could wash away the Sunshield, and then I could meet vampire-death.