Just myself

Chapter two - What if I...

The wind buffets my every crevice, sending me tumbling gracelessly through the air. When the ground is just fifteen feet from my face, I pull my arms into my sides and flip so that I am the right way up, controlling my movement. Then, when I am close to the floor, I land, as I have seen so many heroes do, with one knee to the floor, one at a right angle, holding me up, my right hand on the floor and my left held high behind me. I see why they do this. With my landing, every human on the pavement stops to video me with their tiny electronic boxes. I lift my head, placing a grin on my lips but keeping my eyebrows pulled down low, giving them both the villain and the hero.

After a few minutes, I stand, bowing slightly to my audience and receiving a few uttered laughs in return. I walk down the path, contemplating all of the good that I could fit in in one day. I could go to a homeless shelter, feed abandoned animals, give an orphan a home, maybe even make some friends. I retreat so far into my own thoughts that, when I return, I find myself down a dark, dank alley with no recollection of how I ended up here. I keep walking, brown leather boots stepping in puddles of the ugliest shade of brown anyone could ever have seen. The walls run with some kind of moss mixed with water that seems to drip from the plastic tubes on the side of the building beside me making me want to leave this alley as soon as possible. Thankfullu, after walking for some time, I come to an exit in the alley. 

It opens to a bustling street full of people of every age and size. A pair of teenagers pass before me, the male wearing some description of shirt with a pair of rough-looking trousers, the female wearing a skin tight skirt with a billowing blouse. They spare me not so much as a second glance as they go on their way down this street. I step in behind them, my boots making unheard noises on the cobbles, and follow them into a store where the walls are lined with strange coloured balls of powder which give off a smell so pungent that it assaults my nose with all the power of a Dragonfang to the throat of an invader. The store is full of young humans with every manner of hair including one girl who has every inch of her head shaved bar one the centre of her head where it is styled into an elegant quiff. 

I pick up one of the balls. It is a vibrant blue colour but has splashes of green, pink and yellow circling its middle and, when I pick it up, it gives off a strange dusty residue. I bring the ball to my nose, delicately sniffing it, then someone shoves me from behind. The ball hits my nose and I inhale some of the strange dust. My feet twist me around to be facing my unknown assailant. bringing me face to face with a boy. He is around my height with tousled brown hair and round glasses that sit on the bridge of his nose, covering eyes of a startling shade of amber. They widen when I turn, maybe in shock, and he begins to talk. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" He exclaims, bringing his hand to his mouth, agape in an O.

"It is not an issue." I reply, bowing my head slightly.

"You've got a little..." He points to his nose, seemingly trying to signal to me that there is something on my own.

"A little of what?" I ask, wiping it with my left palm. When I bring it away, there is a blue smudge streaked across it... the very same colour as the ball that I hold in my other hand. I mentally curse myself as I feel my cheeks flush slightly red. "Thank you, for warning me I mean. Anyone else may not have bothered." I replace the ball into its position on the shelf and hold my hand out.

He takes my hand in his own and I feel the callouses on the heel of his hand and the heat of his fingertips as he shakes it up and down. "I'm Aaron." He tells me, releasing my hand and stepping away slightly.

"Elizabeth, a pleasure." I reply "I have a question, if you do not mind, could you help me?"

He replies "Sure." and cocks one leg out in a relaxed stance, hands in his pockets.

"I have a day to do whatever I like and no one to do it with," I begin, slightly surprised that I have chosen this one to accompany me, "Care to join me?"

"Actually, I'm with my mum. Sorry..." He asks, a flash of sorrow passing over his eyes..

"It's perfectly alright, I'll just go. It was nice to meet you Aaron." I answer, stepping out of the throng of people and into the cold air once more. I continue down the road, stepping in small puddles as I go. 

My boots begin to make their familiar clicking noise once more as I reach an area where the people are much reduced in number. Grass stretches to either side of me, lush and green in the midst of the grey skies and damp concrete, occasionally dotted with weathered gravestones. As I walk, the path opens into a large circular area with an ornate water feature. It depicts three mermaids, beautiful creatures with long hair. They are nothing but grey concrete but one can only imagine the colours that they may really be. They could have long red hair, like the Disney mermaid, or pitch black hair like the mermaids of my childhood legends, maybe even the green hair that features within a book that I read, once, a long time ago. 

I sit on a bench, one leg over the other, and feel the cold seep through my trousers, waiting for what I think is to come. I sit for maybe ten minutes when I hear soft footfalls on the stone behind me.

"Elizabeth?" A low voice asks. I simply sit, not moving an inch, not giving away any sense that I recognise it. This person steps around the bench and stands in front of me, slightly to my left. "Hello?" The voice prompts once more.

I jump to my feet, suddenly and with no warning, and turn to face the voice. It is, of course, Mr Aaron. He looks shocked at my sudden movement and, perhaps, there's a little concern in his eyes but there I am too ecstatic to wonder why. "So, you have decided to follow me, I see." I state, placing my hands behind my back. He copies my stance and accent as he replies "Yes, I suppose I have. The only question is, what are we to do in your 'day of doing anything'?"