The Gateway

4. Miracle On Main Street

Foot traffic was horrible that afternoon. Miranda could barely maneuver around without running into someone. It wasn't a good time to be searching for something that was going to be impossible to find on a normal day, never mind when it was busy and hidden in a sea of strangers. She kept her eyes open anyway, bravely checking empty alleyways for good measure. She walked almost four blocks and saw nothing.

"This is pointless," she said out loud. Her statement earned her a few strange stares from people who happened to be passing by, but she didn't care. She wasn't worried about what people thought of her.

However, she hadn't thought about walking so much, or she would have planned better. Before she had left the house this morning, she had no idea she would be on her feet all day. If she had, she wouldn't have worn the shoes she had on now. Her stylish high heels were killing her feet, and she wasn't going to be able to walk around much longer, without resting. She had journeyed halfway down her fifth block now. She finished walking down the street she was on and then turned the corner on to the next one.

The street she was on now was Main Street. She recognized it right away because of the coffee shop on the corner and the courthouse just a few doors down. She passed those two buildings in no time. About one hundred feet away from the courthouse entrance, sat a bench. It was built there for people who were waiting to catch a bus, but it was the perfect spot for her to stop and take a rest too. She had walked so much that her legs were starting to burn like they were on fire. When the bench was finally within her reach, she hurried to sit down. It didn't take but a few seconds for her to close the gap between it and her, and she sat down quietly, taking the load off of her feet. She even popped off her shoes to let them air out and to give her tired feet a rest. It felt amazing.

Miranda sat there on the bench, observing every little detail of the people who passed by. Her father and grandfather were both decorated detectives. She had inherited their curiosity genes, plus the knack for noticing all the small details that no one else ever did. She noticed tattoos and facial markings, before anything else, rather than clothes and other mundane things.

She looked at the watch on her wrist. She always wore one to keep up with the time. Sometimes, if she was busy, she would let it get away from her. She had been sitting on the bench for five minutes when she finally rose to her feet. She needed to start heading back. She turned to leave. Two men were walking toward her, on the side of the street where she was standing. She thought they might get over and let her pass, but they didn't. Instead, she was roughly knocked out of the way by one of them. Her arms flailed, and she tumbled over, right back onto the bench. She got up again, once they'd passed, and dusted herself off. They would have watched where they were going! Angry, she was going to give them a piece of her mind. She whirled around.

"Hey!" she exclaimed. To her surprise, they stopped and turned around to face her. "Watch it."

There was an older man and a younger man, who looked more like a boy really, and the older man was wearing a scowl on his face. "You watch it, human," he spat.

Miranda stared at him. What a jerk! she thought. The next thought she had come right out of her mouth. "Somebody should teach you some manners."

The man's eyes narrowed menacingly. That was the wrong thing to say. He started toward her. The young man with him tried to grab his arm but was shrugged off roughly. Miranda was so surprised that she didn't know what to say. He stopped only inches from her. She wanted to know exactly what he thought he was going to do to her, in public no less.

"You really should be careful who you try to lecture, human," he growled. "You're insignificant to me."

Miranda arched her brow. She had never heard such nonsense in her life. Who did this guy think he was? "You say human like you're not one of us."