My name is Skye, Skye O'Shea. I'm 17 years old, and I am a teleporter. When I teleport, I feel like I'm free, the only time I do feel free in the world that I was living in. It wasn't a bad world, well it wasn't bad enough to run away from. It was a confusing world, a messed up world.

I felt like I would be able to touch the sky when I would fall from a tall building, or even from a trapeze bar. I was trying to make that moment last when I would fall for a moment or two. It was a rush to teleport, a such through my chest and stomach almost like I could fly. If only I could feel that constantly.

If you haven't figured it out already, I'm a mutant. I'm a mutant living in San Francisco in 1964. My mother, very sadly to say, died in childbirth with me. I only know her from the pictures my father has of her, he wasn't the type to get rid of her forever and move on. He really missed her, every once in while he would look at the pictures and I could see a tear or two rolling down his face. He told me that she was a teacher at the university when he met her, she taught art and history. She was the love of his life, and nothing was going to change that.

Until I came along. When I was very little, almost two years old, I teleported for the first time. I was in my crib wanted to be with my father after having a nightmare, and the only way I know this was from my father telling me. I thought of him, being in his arms and being safe, and then the next thing I know I was in his lap and no longer in my crib. It was a utter shock for my father, for he thought something was seriously wrong with me.

And it wasn't until I was 4 when I found out I had a second power, being able to shield myself or others from harm or anything touching them. Mostly, a force field, something I heard from watching fantasy shows on the TV involving puppets and cheap effects. But it was the same thing with me, I would throw up my hands and a shield would come out from my fingers and go around me. At first I thought I had to throw out my hands, and I still do. Having two powers pushed me out of the label of being normal, I was far from it.

My father, named Steven, was a policeman in San Francisco. AFter he found out that I was a mutant, he didn't reject me like I thought I knew. He knew what I was for a while until I knew myself when I was 7 to 8 years old. He protected me, tried to make sure I wouldn't teleport in front of people. For he was afraid, like I was, for what people would think or do to me if they found out that I was a mutant. It was a rare subject to talk about with neighbors. No one talked about it even, and when they did, mutants were seen as people with diseases and sickly, pushed aside and ignored by the rest of the world. My father didn't want that for me, so we lied to the world and made me normal.

It wasn't hard to try and act normal, even though I knew I was odd. I would go to school, come home from school and then do some gymnastics. One of the perks about being flexible and doing flips in the air, was that it made teleporting a breeze. Every once in awhile at night, when the city was dim in the wee hours of the morning, I would round around the rooftops and through the alleyways. It was like I was a superhero in the comic books, like Batman or Superman. They were running around like the city was their playground, and it was mine for a moment or two growing up.

I was alone most of the time in school. Kids were afraid of me since my father was a policeman, not to mention that I was a bit odd. Kids knew that I was different, with my auburn hair and pale skin, something you'd hardly see compared to the other girls at my school. But I didn't mind not having a good amount of friends, in fact I was mostly alone.

All Alone.

I would made my teenage years more productive. There was a local circus by the bay area, and they were quite popular with the locals and tourists. By the time I was around 14 years old, I was okay with who I was and I knew that I wanted to make some money. My father was making money, no doubt in that, but I needed money for myself so that I could run off to college as soon as i could. I needed to leave the city and go somewhere, anywhere from here. Circus money wasn't much, not much at all. but the more I stayed with it, the more money I would make. But I had one problem with this plan.

Where was I going to go?

I had no relatives, none to go to that wouldn't like my mutant ability. My family knew, and they decided to keep it quiet like my father. But unlike my father, they hated me because of it. So I was basically on my own, and I had nowhere to go to really. But I wanted to escape from the city, find some place where I knew I was normal.

I am now 17 and working behind my father's back at the circus. He didn't think of the circus as a noble profession. But when he would work the nightshift, I would work three shifts at the big tent, 4:00, then 7:00 and then 10:00. I had my own act, a disappearing act. I would be very high in the air, almost touching the top of the tent and then jumping into a tube that was the same length of me. I would teleport and end up under a trap door under the stage, popping up with a puff of smoke like the Wizard Of Oz. It was a hit, according to the circus coordinator. I did another act, involving the trapeze and two other performers. But I wasn't the only mutant in the circus, there were others in there as well. One was the reptile man, his skin was covered in rough skin and his slitted eyes, resembling a snake almost. There was another one that could shoot out fireworks from her fingers, making her seem like a magician. It was nice not to be the only mutant, not to feel alone and be excluded.

But I was still wanting to have something more in my life, rather than working in the circus and trying to sneak past my father. I knew he loved me, I knew he wanted to protect me and give me the world. But I had to see it for myself. I wasn't satisfied with my life.

I remember one afternoon when my father was getting ready to go to work that evening. I was watching him get his gun in his holster. He was a young man, both of my parents were young when I was born, almost 21 really. He was 38 years old, on his way to being a captain on the team and having plenty of respect from his fellow policemen. He had brown hair that was waved and slicked to the side. I inherited the wavy hair, but my hair was more auburn. My mother's hair was a light blond, almost a tint of red. But my hair was auburn and I had my father's dark green eyes. I was sitting on the windowsill as he got his belt on and walked over to me.

"Regular shift tonight?" I asked him aloud as he smiled at me and rested his hands on his belt. He nodded his head and kissed my head, making me smile slightly as I had my arms wrapped around my legs. I was looking down at the busy streets below, seeing the cars roll by and the people walking back and forth.

"I'll be back tonight no later than 6. I'll get some sleep around midnight before I go on patrol some more." He explained to me as he sat down in front of me on the seat by the window. I looked over at him, seeing him look at me and having a small smile on his face.

"Look, I know how hard it's been for the both of us for the past couple of years, but you have one more year in school until you can go off to college." He explained to me and I nodded my head. He knew as much as I did that I was not having a good time at school being a outcast and with no friends in true honesty.

"I'm just over trying to hide who I am, or what I am." I explained to him, twirling one of my long waves of hair around my pale freckled finger.

"I know you are, but you have to understand, I don't want you to be hurt, ridiculed or killed for who you are and what you can do. The world isn't ready." My dad explained to me and I nodded my head to his comment. He knew there were others like me, hell he did the research and found out from a couple of his co workers. He knew about mutants, and that there were thousands, if not millions of us out there living amongst the humans.

He kissed me goodbye and went off to work. I checked the time and saw I had a hour to get to work and start my three shows. I had to catch the trolly there and then I could teleport there by going into a abandoned alleyway and then being there in a second. I only used the trolly in case my father was on patrol and he would see me out of the house.

I ran into the alleyway and smiled, leaning against the wall and looking around me to see if I was being watched. From what I could see I was alone, and I then pictured the tree next to the tent, a large willow tree that has been in that area for decades. I couldn't picture the tent, it could move in a instant since we moved it on the count of weather.

THe way my teleportation worked was that I had to picture a permanent place, a place that wouldn't be altered for awhile, so a park or a monument. Either that or I would carry a picture around in my back pocket of my destination, and the picture had to be no older than five years. In five years a place can change, new trees or a new monument as well. If I tried to picture the tent in my head, or anything that could be altered or moved, I would end up in another place and a bad nose bleed.

I close my eyes and opened then, finding myself in front of the tent, at the backside really where the performances enter and exit. Whenever I would teleport, I could feel the wind around me swirl like I was in a tornado or a hurricane. I would teleport leaving a trail of black dust or soot behind me, so I dusted myself off of the stuff and walked over to the second tent, the performing tent that was already filled with the workers.

Pushing my way through the performers as I found my own spot near the left side, the other two mutants there already getting ready in their costumes. The male who had reptile skin was Connor, who was around 12 years old and was more like my younger brother who was close to me. He had black shaggy hair and bright blue eyes, very slim weight wise and always had a smile on his face. The other, the girl who could spurt fireworks from her fingertips was Dawn, another hippie child like me. I was named SKye and she was named Dawn, so we became fast friends.

"Where have you been? We go on in five!" Dawn hissed at me as she looked form her mirror to me. She had flowing blond hair past her shoulder blades to her mid back, already curled up and ready for the performance and a midnight blue leotard to boot. She was stunning as she placed glitter on her face and fingers.

"I had to talk to my dad." I replied back to her, getting to my own shelf of clothes and shuffling through to get my outfit. It was a black leotard and slippers, along with a ribbon to put in my hair and my gloves for the bar. I started to change and after I got my uniform on I saw Chase poked his head around from the bed sheet that was blocking the males and the females. He was smiling at me, his scales shining slightly from the lights overhead.

"You ready? It's a madhouse tonight." He said in his young innocent tone of voice. I poked my tone out at him and he giggled, moving away as we were told that it was time to start the show. I had two mutant friends, in the circus, where we were meant to be and will always be.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls, we invite you to watch and see for your very eyes the amazing disappearing act of our age! Your eyes will deciete you, you'll be in shock and amazement as you behold our very own...mistress of magical illusions! She will jump from high above into a barrel and...without harming herself...disappear! You don't believe me? Let me show you...Dustra!" The crowd applauded as the spotlight hit me on the diving board high up in the air I was barely touching the top of the tent and I smiled at the crowd to see. I threw my hands out in front of me, giving them a show and making me applaud for me.

I took a step towards the edge of the board, and the drum roll started. I could see the audience all looking up, sitting on the edge of their seats and watching my every move. I tried to act like I knew what I was doing, and as I took my jump, I heard them all gasp.

I tucked my legs towards me, bending in half and holding them close to me as I rolled in the air. I was falling towards the barrel and then seeing in come close. I closed my eyes, now straight and having my hands forward. I fell into the barrel and teleported, ending back up at the high bar above the board and laying out on it like I was in a lounge chair. The spotlight was still on the barrel as the ringmaster peered in and gasped. The audience was murmuring around them as I whistled aloud, hearing nothing else. The audience and spotlight was back on me and I smiled, waving at the crowd. The audience gasped and clapped as I smiled widely at them. I waved once at the crowd and then took out some dust from my spare pocket in my leotard. Time to disappear I said in my head as I threw the dust over my head, casting a mere curtain to block me from the crowd. I teleported once more, and landed under the stage right beneath the barrel. There was a trap door open under the barrel and I could see the top of the big tent.

The light was back at the top of the tent where I was. I looked over at the technical advisor and he nodded his head at me. He walked over with dust in his own hand, throwing it up through the barrel and he stepped on a button on the floor. The platform beneath me pushed me up and through the barrel. I landed on the floor gracefully like a ballerina and threw my arms out, smiling at the crowd and hearing them gasp, applaud and I smiled brighter.

This was my life, and I knew nothing else was going to come from it really. I was going to be stuck in this moment for the rest of my life, all because I can do a simple trick like a magician could do. I looked out in the audience and saw all of them clapping for me.

Well, all but one.