"Μητέρα! ατέρας! ά? έξ με φίλους . Θα είμαι πίσ για το μεσημεριανό γεύμα! (Mother! Father! I'm going out with friends. I'll be back for lunch!)" The young child called from the first floor of her small, Grecian house. Around her, her friends giggled and played, waiting for the okay that she too could join them in fun activities.
"Εντάξει , παιδί μου . Να είναι ασφαλής , σ 'αγαπώ .(Okay, my child. Be safe, I love you.)" A kind woman emerged from the upper floor and replied, kneeling down in front of her small child only to place a soft kiss to her forehead. The woman's dark eyes sparkled as she gazed at her child running away, playfully shoving and play fighting with the other children.
"Ωχ ! Ωχ ! Δεν τα μαλλιά! (Ow! Ow! Not the hair!)" A boy shouted and the young girl playfully stuck her tongue out at him, chasing after him as he ran away as fast as her skinny little legs could carry her. They weaved in and out of merchant's carts, causing the merchants to quickly get out of their way as they ran past, most smiling and laughing while others scolded them for getting in the way. They ran past houses and in between carts on the street, high-pitched giggles echoing around town.
The small village was abuzz in the morning light, with street vendors selling and elder children doing their chores. They ran past parents and grandparents sitting in chairs on porches, and ducked passed wobbly carts pulled by mules and donkeys. It wasn't a poor village by any means. It wasn't rich either, as the locals chose to stay away from the new technology the rest of the world seemed to be acquiring. There were no cars or telephones, very few houses had electricity and certainly none of them had air conditioning. The village itself was situated below cliff, houses nuzzled together in a rather homey feeling. The village couldn't grow if it wanted too; the river cut off their land. But nobody complained, because it was a happy place—as evident by the constant laughing and happy smiles on townspeople's faces.
The little boy, not much older than her, held a lot more energy in his skinny body, however. She soon found her self falling behind.
"Λουκά, περιμένετε ! Δεν μπορώ να συμβαδίσει! (Luka, wait! I can't keep up!)" She called after him, a hint of whine in her tone. The other kids of their group had been long left behind, as they usually were. She huffed and puffed as she rounded a corner, coming face to face with a dead end. She slammed into the wall, stumbling back on her butt. Much to her frustration, tears started to roll off the young girl's face, the pain from the contact making blurry spots appear in her vision.
"Oh my," A rough voice said behind her, causing her head to snap around to connect the voice with a face. "Little flower are you okay?" She didn't recognize almost any of the words coming from the man dressed in the business suit. But his clothes and words left her to conclude that he was from America.
"You speak…the English?" She asked between sniffles, gazing up at him with tear filled eyes.
"Ναι, αλλά έχ? μιλήσει , επίσης, τη γλώσσα του λαού σας. ού είναι η μητέρα και ο πατέρας σας , το μικρό? (Yes, but I also speak the language of your people. Where are your mother and father, little one?)" The man asked, bending over to pick her up and place her on her feet. His grip was firm, and looking into the man's eyes caused her to shake with fear. His dark eyes weren't the same kind, loving ones as her mother's. No, the eyes she looked into now were full of mischief and danger. She shakily pointed in the direction of her house, too scared to speak any further, and also too scared to look away from him.
"Very good," She heard the man say, though she didn't know what that meant. She retracted her hand to her side, nervously kicking her sandal-clad foot in the dirt.
"Θα πας να μου κάνει κακό? (Are you going to hurt me?)" She asked in a burst of confidence, watching as the man's shoulders started to shake with laughter.
"Όχι, το μικρό. ά? να βεβαι?θείτε ότι έχετε πάει σε ένα καλό σπίτι. Οι άνθρ?ποι ροστασίας Μαρτύρ?ν είναι μεγάλη στο να κρύβουν μεταλλάξεις. (No, little one. I'm going to make sure you go to a good home. The Witness Protection people are great at hiding mutants.)" He responded to her, motioning behind him with his hand and suddenly two more men in black suits appeared before her, slowly surrounding her until she was backed up against the building. New tears started to well in her eyes, tears of fear about how they found out, and tears of fear about where they were going to take her.
And as a man grabbed onto her arm, she started to glow. Her tanned skin turned a faint yellow color, and then it grew in strength, the yellow turning white and consuming her body until she glowed like a flashlight.
"Hide it! Take that thing away!" The first man in the suit barked orders and the two men holding onto her carried her to a small black box, barely big enough for her body. They threw her in, and just before they closed the door she asked;
"Μήπ?ς ο φίλος μου να σας π? (Did my friend tell you?)"
And then the door was closed, cutting off her brightness form the outside world. She felt the box shift, and pulled her knees to her chest. She heard movement outside of the box, and then a voice.
"Όχι, αλλά η μητέρα σας έκανε. (No, but your mother did.)"