"I was taken away after I was just born in a hospital not on this continent. From what I was told, I was put on an airship high above my home world. When I was very young I could remember my parents faces but now they are forgotten. Professor Ivory was the great uncle to the Professor you know; he had associates take children all around the world to create an immortal superhuman. All I can remember was waking up and seeing myself float in a machine after a lot of pain. That old man had done it…"
I was four years old and I was able to recite the epic Beowulf by myself. At the age of five, I ran laps around the laboratory twenty-times in less than twenty seconds. I only spoke to Professor Ivory and his assistants and thought less and less about my real parents, wherever they were. I would run errands for him around the ship we were on and when I wasn't, I would always press my face against the huge glass window in the hallway. Everything about the sky fascinated me, the clouds and how the weather affected them. When there were grey clouds, the ship would rock back and forth and rain splattered the window. When the sun came out, everything was serene-it all fascinated me, the Professor's first superhuman that was powered by Chaos Emeralds.
When I completely forgot about my parents, I asked Professor Ivory why my skin was darker than his, and that was when he told me I wasn't related to him or any of the assistants on the ship. I felt sad and alone for a while and for days I would sit by the window, playing with the oversized lab coat the professor would have me wear. When I reached the age of nine, Professor Ivory stepped in my sleeping quarters while I laid on the bed. "Have you slept?"
"Not in years. What is it?"
"We're having someone come up from Earth, my brother's daughter. She should be coming around nighttime so can you keep this room clean and activate the bed next to you?"
"Fine." I sat up and went to the wall, opening the digital pad behind the lamp. Three, eight, seven, nine was the password and I hit the extend button on the screen. The wall retreated back and from the side, a bed flipped out, along with an extra closet set, dresser, and more bedroom accommodations. "What's her name? How old is she? What country is she from?"
"You can ask her that when she arrives. She'll be here for the winter so feel free to ask whatever you please while being polite," he tapped my forehead, a habit he did when I was "being cute". Someone new to talk to other than people in lab coats, it made me excited. I hurried out of the room, my sneakers banging against the floor as I ran to the window. Taking my seat by the window, my thoughts ran rampant through my mind. Who was this girl, would we be friends, would she like the sky as much as I did, would we figure out what the clouds took the shape of together? Would she be a superhuman like me or would she be like a normal kid? Would she wear a lab coat too? I was too naïve and foolish back then but I enjoyed wondering.
Once the sky became dark blue, I felt the ship shake a bit. I saw outside that there was a plane landing on our wing, maybe carrying the new visitor. Excitedly, I ran down the steps, running along the strip without a sweat. I knew where to turn, where to go-the sliding door opened and Professor Ivory was shaking hands with a girl with a complexion darker than mine. She had suitcases in her hand and on her back, smiling politely at Professor. "Don, this is my niece Angelica. Take her bags please."
"I'm Don," I stuck my hand out. She glowered at my hand before warily shaking it. "Just give me those bags." She put them on the floor and I lifted one of them on top of the other and pick both of them up over my head. "I can show you where your room is, follow me." I ran out, looking behind me to see if she really was following. Her skin was the color of darkened amber that had been grey-tinted, her hair in an intricate pattern I couldn't really describe until she told me about it later, and at the top of her forehead, grey hairs were sprouting. I showed her to our room, putting her bags on her bed and then I jumped on her bags. "So how old are you?"
No reply. "Where do you come from?"
No answer. "Why is skin kind of grey?"
A scowl formed. "Do you speak English? Latin? Español? Parlez-vous françes?"
Refusing to stay in the room any longer, she stormed out, leaving me just sitting on my bed. I really thought that she might have been from the country where I came from and couldn't speak English. Or maybe there was something wrong with me. I stepped out of the bedroom and saw Professor Ivory escorting her towards the lab. "Would you like anything to eat?"
"I'm not eating anything," refused Angelica.
"But you're not well. I can have my assistant cook something, anything you'd like."
"I said I don't want anything-now leave me alone!" Professor Ivory took her arm and patiently brought her to the laboratory as she was kicking and screaming. Her long twisty hair swished around like a tornado.
' ' '
I went to the study on the upper floor and found Angelica on the loveseat, hugging her knees. She looked like a rabid dog that was backed into a corner; she intensified her glare when I came into the room. "You like the library?" I asked, picking up a book from the desk. Only angry silence lingered in the study. "How many books have you read?" She uncurled herself and left the room in a hateful silence. If she didn't like me, going to bed was going be bad. And it was-as I lied awake in my bed, I kept my eyes on her, the room dark except for the moonlight coming in from our windows. I wanted to ask her another question but she would've just glared at me with her ashy hazel eyes. When two hours went by, I heard her sleeping softly, whistling peacefully. I used that as my chance to get a better look at her. But when I hovered over the bed, she hollered and screamed, kicking the sheets off and slamming the bed. I backed away, and left the bedroom to call the Professor. He along with two other assistants named Mildred and Ruth, rushed into the room and pulled her out. She was in Mildred's arms, flailing like a fish out of water while clutching Mildred's shoulders. She was screaming about incoherent things and I went to my spot by the humongous window in the hallway, gazing out it silently as she continued to cry all the way towards the lab.
The next morning, I looked for her in the study but she wasn't in there. I checked the dining room-a refrigerator, a few chairs, a stove and a bar table without the alcohol behind the counter. She was eating very little of her pancakes that Mildred made. "They're good, you can eat them." She picked up a cut-up piece and then nibbled on it. "See? You can eat everything you want. Do you like pancakes?"
When she looked at me, I could see bitterness in her eyes and I felt her hatred for me. The first time Angelica spoke to me, she said-
"Don! How's my little specimen?" Professor steps in, hands behind her back. She looks inside the cell and smiles seeing Mia. "Sleeping Beauty is finally up. Two more tests to run on you and your time here is over." I know exactly what she's talking about-Mia will be disposed of when Professor gets what she wants and I'm not sure if I would like that. When I carry Mia out-she is too weakened to even stand properly-and she steps into the orb, she instantly collapses onto her knees as the machine starts up. "Professor, she just woke up. Is it safe to just put her through this?"
"What kind of world do you suppose Mia came from? A world that has people with only blue hair?"
"What're you getting at and what does it have to do with Mia?"
"I'm curious about how her world works. I'd like to see it," she replies seriously as she leans forward to the glass window separating us from Mia. "Or create something similar to it. I don't know yet."
"Do you know how to use one?" I nod sullenly as I accept the pad wrapped in yellow plastic. Of all the days it could have came, it happened when I woke up. My shorts were stained with deep crimson when I woke up but thank goodness my shorts are black. If I hadn't gotten in the way then it would be my mom helping me get through this, not Don my kidnapper. The Professor donated spare underwear and had my shorts put in the wash and complained that Don was making her waste her electricity. I'm sitting in the cell, my bottom half wrapped in a towel. I want to tell him thank you for everything, I realize how embarrassing it is for a guy to deal with this kind of feminine stuff. Nonetheless Don continues his story. "Angelica said to me…"
"I hate you, I hate these men in the coats, I hate these pancakes, I hate this ship, and I hate this entire world," she threw the plate filled with pancakes at my feet, but I dodge quickly. Swirling off the chair, she pushed past me and left the dining room. I bent down to pick up the syrupy pancakes with my own hands and threw them in the garbage-disposer. As I wondered what I did wrong, I felt someone's hands on my shoulders. I hoped it was Angelica but it was old Mildred.
"Trying to make a friend?" she asked pitifully. "She's a very sick girl Donny, you can't do much for her. She'll die soon."
"Die? I can't die."
"But everyone else on this ship can. Angelica is very sick and doesn't like to eat a lot. There's only one thing she'll eat. Would you like me to tell you?"
"I don't care," I replied as I took her hands off me. Mildred laughed heartily at my childishness. Whatever a mother was, Mildred reminded me of that.
"Is it because I'm different?" I asked her.
"Oh no, not at all. She spat at me earlier so rest assured it was not you. I'll help you talk to her by making her favorite food. Do you want to know what it is?" I nodded eagerly and she whispered it in my ear.
J.G.P.
Flashback party over here, hope you like.