Walking through the streets of San Diego, I was headed for the park – the favourite place of my host. She used to come here before we took over... I hated the souls for this. Hate was not an emotion a soul should feel, but I could not help it – I had gotten too attached to my host. She did not resent me as she should, but instead was curious for what I was and was sympathetic with me, of how much I longed to be human.

I was quite short in her body, but I managed perfectly, it seemed like it had always belonged to me. Then I remembered, to me, it had. It was all I had ever known. This was my first life. I had never left the planet before. Born on Earth, and I had no desire to leave. So, I lived at just over a height of 5ft; my host was unable to remember trivial things about her – her name and exact age were a mystery, but my first healers guessed that it was in the mid teens. They named me back at the healing facility, basing my name upon my features; my impossibly pale skin and my dark, dark brown hair, so dark it was almost black, but entirely natural – it gave the impression that it reflected blue in certain lights. The name they created was 'perfectly suited'... The dark features representing night, the paleness almost like a moon in that sky. They called me Sky of the Night. In my recent bid to act as human as possible, I rearranged my name with my host's approval to Skye Knight – using the same concept but with the name depicted in human names. I was quite pleased with this match; I fumbled through the memory as I had gotten to the park,

I spread out in the sun by the lake and closed my eyes, daydreaming of life in the human world. My host had known something was up, and therefore she had lived prepared for our onslaught – hiding most of her possessions under the floorboards in her parents' house. They had gone before her as hosts and she never saw them again before they came for her too. I now thought of the novels I had read of hers, troubled romances, full of violence and passion. Human emotions were so elaborate – I craved them so badly. I couldn't bear the thought of having to move to another world like the Flower World; our old professor, Wanderer, had taught us about the plain tranquillity there before disappearing many months ago. The love the souls gave was very open, there for anybody to absorb. I wanted a love like that of a human, the one I read in the novel, having to really work for it, let it feel rewarding and for no one but the two of us.

For over a year now, I had never come close to this. Obviously I could never achieve it exactly, I doubted there were any humans left, and if there were, they would be more inclined to shoot me first. Instead I would enjoy my solitude away from the social souls and search for someone who felt the same as me. It was a long shot, but I had forever to search.

There was a slight breeze coming up over the lake, it cooled my skin pleasantly, contrasting with the beaming sun. I was still dreaming when a shadow engulfed my body, causing me to squint upwards. There was a lanky blonde boy stood over me, grinning shamelessly. I scowled at him; my host had recognised him vaguely a few months ago as her old boyfriend. My host however did not feel compelling emotions anymore, so there was nothing about me or her that felt drawn to the boy – he was perhaps a few years older than we were, and evidently he was leading his life according to his host body's desires. It was quite infuriating, him hovering around me in his free time. He just never seemed to get the message. Of course I couldn't tell him the exact reasons why he was so repulsive to me, they would think I had a resistant host and would remove me to a different host. The complete opposite of what I wanted. He settled on the grass next to me, and I followed a butterfly with my eyes and focussed every ounce of my attention on it as it twirled through the sky. I thought more of a dream trip I wished to take my host on – I thought it would be good for the both of us – a road trip to fulfil her previous interest in photography; a little site seeing through the continental US would be a joyful experience. I had put off the trip in the hope of something interesting would happen back here at home, however, in that routine the best thing that had happened were Professor Wanderer's classes, but now even that had vanished.

Whilst Fall droned on beside me, I made up my mind. It was still early; I could be headed off this afternoon. I leapt up immediately with a new excitement, bid Fall a quick goodbye and started to sprint towards my little apartment. I pushed the thought of his slightly disheartened face from my mind – I was beyond the normal happiness. But of course I would be going alone – solidarity was suited to me, and not the way of the Souls. It felt Human, and therefore right. Barely a few hours had passed when I was placing my guitar in the back of the rental car, the last item to be packed. I was going to head through the desert first – by the time I had driven there it would be dusk – a great photographic dream opportunity whilst I was still stocked up well with refreshments and other supplies. None of my neighbours were around when I pulled out of my street, I presumed this was best, no one to question me whilst they were out completing their callings...