Leaving Home

Leaving Home

"Ma, I have to find out what those guys know and where they got their idea from. I mean, seriously. In the last two and a half years this," eighteen-year-old Katie holds up a comic book, "has become the most popular thing in the country. I don't want to leave you and dad, but this is something I need to know. Daddy, you understand, don't you?" she looks to her father.

Hiram heaves a heavy sigh and then looks to his wife. "Now, Ruth, I don't want her to leave anymore than you do, but Katie's right. The men who 'created' this character could have information about our daughter's… otherworldly origins." At his wife's soft sigh, Hiram turns back to his daughter. "Just always remember us, sweetie. You have made our life… interesting, to say the least." The small family shares a weak chuckle at that understatement.

Then Katie becomes conscious of the tone in her father's voice and exactly what he said. "Daddy, you make it sound like I'm never going to come back. Because you have to know I will. It's not like I have to take a long, tedious train ride. I have flown completely around the world in a matter of minutes. Coming home to visit you will take seconds, no matter where I end up."

"I know, Katie, but once you get to the big city you might not be able to visit as often as you like. You have to…"

"Hide my powers. I know, dad and I will." Katie finishes her father's sentence.

"But, honey, what about your hearing. Even here on the farm, in the middle of nowhere, you can hear everything. A city is so loud, it might hurt you." Her mother tries.

"I know that, too. But I can do the same thing in the city that I did here. Find a sound and concentrate on it until it's all I hear. If I do that, then it wouldn't take long for me to… recalibrate for the rest of the sounds. It's not like it's a totally new power." Katie laughs, and holds up the comic again. "Besides, if he can live in a big city, so can I." Her parents laugh at her joke.

"Katie, he is a character. You are real." Ruth points out.

"I know, but he can do everything I can. That's why I'm leaving. To find the men who created a character that… mirrors… my life so closely. I need to do this. For me. I love you two so much; I couldn't ask for better parents, but…" she shrugs, "I need to know where I'm from, what I am."

Ruth and Hiram nod and hug their little girl, all packed and ready to go off into the wide world.

________________________________________________________________

Leaving home was the hardest thing I had ever done in my entire life up to that point. Even now, it's up there on the list. Top five, at least. I was going into the unknown, and while I tried to put a brave face to my parents, I was terrified.

But, like I told them, I had to do it.

I had to find the creators of the character who was so like me.

***

I arrived in the dead of night. I didn't want to take the chance of someone seeing me. The first thing I noticed was that you couldn't see the stars. There were lights everywhere. There were so many that I was still worried about landing that I landed in an ally behind a dumpster.

The second was the noise. It was overwhelming. For the first thirty minutes I just sat down where I landed and cried. It was painful.

At first.

Then I did what I told mom I would do. The sound I concentrated on was this drip of water right next to me. I saw it when I stopped crying. I watched it drip until I could see the rhythm and then I listened. I pushed all of the other sounds away until all I could hear was the drip from the source and the plop as each drop hit the ground. It was so soothing that I fell asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, just a few hours later, all I could hear was… well, not silence, but what I figured every other person could hear. I mean everything was still there, but it was way in the background.

***

When I left, mom and dad gave me some money. I didn't know it, but since I found out I could fly, they had been saving a little bit along. They didn't want to really admit it, but they knew that I would leave one day, and when that comic came out, they knew it would be sooner rather than later.

I took what little I had and looked for a place to stay. I knew I needed to find some sort of job to be able to stay, but I also knew it was going to be tough. It was 1941 and technically the country was still suffering from the Great Depression. And I was a woman. But at least I was a quick learner. I knew I could learn anything really quickly and with my speed I would be able to do things faster.

I almost wished I could have been a reporter.

At first I stayed in this little hotel that had only one room and I had to share a bathroom with my neighbor. My second day in the big city I bought a paper and looked through the classifieds. I circled every secretarial position I could find and called to see if I could get an interview. Out of twelve places I called, only five granted me an interview. If I had lied, I probably could have at least interviewed at every business, but I was honest with them, told them I had no experience.

I had five appointments over two days, but all I had were my Sunday best to wear. So I found a… well they're called consignment stores now, and found a looks-like-band-new skirt suit that only needed a little taking in to fit me. It was a good thing mom taught me how to sew, or I wouldn't have survived.

I did all five interviews and was called back for two of them. Both wanted to hire me, but I could only take one. It was amazing. I thought it would take me a while to find a job, but by the end of my first week, I had one. I worked five days a week, seven hours a day for twenty dollars a week. It wasn't much, but it was a living.

Three months on my own, I was feeling pretty good. I visited my parents twice a week, mainly for the food, so I wouldn't have to buy any for that night. I was staying in that same little hotel, which only charged four dollars a week. I made friends with the other secretaries and they were helping me find a place to live.

That was when I found them.


A/N: Dun-dun-dah. Now, who an earth could I be talking about? As always, please review.