Chapter 2

The next few days were spent holed up in my room because of the rain. It hadn't stopped drizzling since I had gone to the marketplace. I wondered what the midget scientist was up to. I decided to call him that, since he never gave me a name.

His height and face suggested he was about my age, but his eyes seemed so aged and wise. So I didn't know what to make of the kid—adult—whatever he was! I'm just grateful to him for taking my bags home for me. I got yelled at for them being soaking wet, but whatever. They got home, right?

I wanted to thank him, but the downpour refused to let me. But when I thought about it…what did a little water ever hurt?

I grabbed my black hood, the one with short sleeves as well as my favorite and headed out the door. I knew the search wasn't going to be easy though. I only met him for a minute, so I had no clue where he could be.

That didn't stop me. I ran from the borough to the marketplace searching for him. Why was I so determined? It didn't matter. I was looking over a ledge for him when I lost my footing.

Great, perfect situation to die in. 11 years old, searching for some person that I don't know a thing about. Well, at least I'll die in the rain, just like my parents…

My foot got caught on the ledge. Or at least that's what I had thought when I had begun to hover in midair. I looked up to see what I really caught my foot on, and it was a set of hands.

The hands were attached to a body, and to a mix of surprise and expectation, it was the boy from the marketplace.

I let him pull me up, obviously. I certainly wasn't about to let him drop me. When I was sitting ground level with him, he gave me the same blank look he had given me before. I didn't stutter this time.

"My name is Kiara. It's very nice to meet you, and thank you so much for saving me." I jutted my hand out for him to shake. "I also wanted to thank you for the other day, when you carried my bags home. It was a big help—"

He took off, without even shaking my hand. This time, I didn't chase him. I just sat there, dumbfounded. Last time I thought it was because he didn't want to look like a weirdo, waiting at my doorstep, but this was just plain rude!

Did I even want to see him again? Yes. But is it for the same reason? Absolutely not. Next time I saw him I was going to kick him so hard, he would remember to be polite next time. I sat on my bed. The rain had stopped the day after I was rudely rejected of a handshake, so clear skies were seen on the outside of my window. I considered and obligated to wandering around outside. I found myself in the Outer Gardens. A large fountain in the middle, flowers surrounded me, beautiful mosaic cobblestone; I guess it would sound like a dream to some people.

But to me, it was horrible.

I approached the red flowers to my right. They looked beautiful, as flowers always did. If my mother were here, she would have clipped some to put in our hair. And dad would laugh at us when we got home, saying we looked like Hawaiian princesses…

The memories were too much for me to take. I doubled over and cried. I hadn't cried since I got here. I don't even know how I got here. All I know is that I am here. Without my parents, without my home, without anything I'm actually familiar with. They even replaced my clothes.

"I'm alone, too."

The voice came out of nowhere, it startled me. I hadn't even sensed a presence. And there he was again, Mr. Midget Scientist, sitting next to me. His eyes were on the fountain ahead instead of me this time.

I quickly wiped away tears and tried to straighten myself. He held up a hand at my actions and looked me dead in the eye. "It's ok to cry sometimes."

At that moment, he was the only person in all the worlds I trusted enough to cling to and cry. He didn't make a motion to hold me, nor did he pull away, and that made me beyond happy. I sat there for what felt like eternity wailing into his lab coat and blubbering something about my parents and the unversed. It sounded a little something like "And they…*sniff* I can't…*sniff*…those stupid monsters-*sniff* just come in like they own the place and…*sniff* and now here I am….*sniff* and they took my clothes…*sniff*" So on, so forth.

It must have been a sight, but thankfully no one was around to see it. It was just me and him, all alone in the garden.

Once I cried my last, he stood up and offered me a hand. After I was on my own two feet, he was off again, without another word. I found it funny. The last 3 times I needed to be rescued, he appeared. And yet he's never told me a thing about himself. Not even his name. But it was obvious at this point that he doesn't appear on command, but rather where he is needed.

That night, I curled up in bed, and I could actually smile for the first time I had been to this world.