“What am I even doing?” he asks himself.
The streets of a struggling neighborhood are pleasant as always. Though even the shadiest streets of Germany aren’t the worst streets to lay your eyes on, they’re still a safety hazard for certain folks. The apartment next door is being excavated because the previous tenants left such a mess that it became a health violation leaking into neighboring apartments.
“Still… A walk every once in a while is good for my studies, right?”
As a 19-year-old young man, Shen is plagued by not only his studies but also his obnoxiously controlling parents telling him how to live his life. Those few hours of peace he gets by having a little nighttime stroll are incredibly soothing and almost heal all wounds. Yet these hours he gets to himself to think about anything other than his studies are always spent on an empty mind or worrying about what is expected of him.
“This summer has been hell but I still managed to pass with flying colors. Wish I hadn’t spent that little break picking up a few more hours… Not like it’s my choice to begin with…”
Not having to adhere to some kind of dress code is exhilarating. His boss can’t tell him that shorts are unprofessional even though he’s mostly standing behind a counter, never ever letting customers see his lower half. His parents have somehow conjured up all kinds of excuses as to why he should dress as if he’s heading off to work at the Pentagon. Professionalism is what they claim to be the reason behind this farce when, in actuality, it has always been about control.
“You can all just go fuck yourselves…”, he grunts to himself.
“Should I head home? If I stay out too late, she’ll take away my paycheck, right?” He’s a grown man working enough hours to pay for his own necessities and a third of the rent, yet he’s still worried about his parents taking away the money he earns.
“I guess it’s time. I just hope she doesn’t get up for a piss or a cup of water.”
His thoughts regrettably wander to the past as he continues his whimsical life.
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It’s just like any other day at school. Surrounded by a bunch of loud and immature 7th graders, Shen is quietly sitting in a corner, keeping to himself. Some are playing cards, others are chatting, a few are just lying on desks, and a pair of forgetful fools are trying to do homework.
“They’re stupid anyway! Just because our teacher is sick doesn’t mean that we should fool around!”, he thinks dejected simply because no one wants to interact with him.
“When they get in trouble for being too loud, I’ll have something to laugh about!”
“Hey! Let’s get some snacks. I’m sure you’re bored of just moping around while scribbling away,” exhales Felix, a little defeated by another lost round of Uno. Since Shen is a friend of his and unoccupied, he’s dragging him along on his little adventure.
“Aren’t we gonna get in trouble?”
Shen can’t help but worry about what would happen if some petty or vindictive teacher caught them at the vending machines outside of designated hours. Felix blabbering on and on about some movie he had just watched in the cinema wasn’t helping. Him talking as loudly as humanely possible probably only added to his anxiety. Everything went smoothly until Felix decided to take a random detour to the toilets leaving him with a bunch of candy bars, tiny bags of chips, and drinks.
“Should I go back? But he told me to wait…” He can’t just leave behind his only friend, even if that friend wouldn’t mind him going ahead and waiting in class.
“But I’ll get in trouble! How would she react to a call?”
Yet just as he returned, a teacher stood in the doorway lecturing his class on their guffaws. He returned just as she was finishing her little lecture, while Felix had gone into hiding to avoid getting reprimanded. His friends had texted him about the situation but not Shen. It somehow had slipped their minds that he had gone along.
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“So what do we have here!”, she snarls. His English teacher, the person who always was quick to tell him that she could not understand a word he said, is the one giving a speech about how she’d never had such a rowdy and disrespectful class in her entire career in teaching.
“Uh, I-”
“Um, uh, ah… ” she says, mocking him.
Experiences like these were common as he was growing up. The only thing he can recall from the aftermath of this event is being humiliated and getting his phone confiscated for several weeks by his mother.
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On his way back home, he takes a shortcut through a park known for its sketchy visitors, only to be met with an odd figure that seems too friendly to be a part of this world. He seems to be picking fights with random junkies that are just going about their night.
“Come on, fucker! You’ve got more than that in you! You don’t wanna be beaten by one of those oh-so-horrible fags, do you?” This boy is almost as pale as the moon, picking fights with people in a different weight class, and a head shorter than the tallest guys there. Ferocious and fearless, this little chihuahua is facing people that you shouldn’t provoke.
Shen remains a bystander wondering whether or not that kid is going to turn out okay. One of the junkies, easily above six feet and way over 200 pounds, gets up to face the pipsqueak knowing he could bury anyone that size. Slurring his words, he barely throws a punch as he slips over air. The kid had vanished meaning all the momentum of a fat drugged out behemoth is being launched forward to help him faceplant.
“How did he…?”
Suddenly, the boy descends just a little taller than before looking more like a guy in his early twenties. Other than dashcams there are no cameras that could record this encounter. No one will ever believe what just happened.
“I should go back to bed…”, he tells himself as he quietly walks away.
Powerwalking straight home, he starts to wonder whether he should head home. He just witnessed something magical, and he’s just going to leave it at that?
“No! I was just imagining it because I’ve only been having four hours of sleep.”
He wasn’t born with any special skill or power that comes close to this person floating and vanishing like a magician performing on stage. He has his duties, and he cannot indulge in these fantasies.
“But…”
But there exists a longing for more. His face twists and contorts as he wrestles between an encounter that could lead to an uncertain future or obeying the authority figures in his life just a little longer. Shen’s heading down a solid path with two years of uni behind him and several internships below his belt. But he could also finally have as much fun as he always wanted to. Or he could just talk to this person and take it easy instead of expecting such a grand derailment from what could be a simple conversation.
He jogs back, hoping the mysterious stranger hasn’t left yet. Shen arrives just in time to witness his shenanigans come to an end. The magician is growing tired of the endless attempts to hurt his brilliance and decides to just break that man’s leg with an audible crack. Shen awkwardly jogs by, terrified, while regretting his decision.
“This was a mistake! WHY did I go back?? I manage to power through years of school and university with almost perfect grades and I end up dumb enough to head back to this…”
“You’re just going to jog by?” the magician asks. “Aren’t you interested in what I just did?”
“Huh? I’m busy,” Shen answers, trying to keep him away.
“What am I saying?? I came back to talk, right?” Shen thinks.
“I’m sorry for bothering you then…”
His opportunity is about to take off with ginormous bloody wings.
“BUT!”, he yells.
“But if you don’t mind me asking, what are you?” he says a little softer.
Only now does he get a good look at this mystery person. Pale skin more akin to the moon, black hair, a red sclera with a black cross as a pupil, pinkish freckles that are barely visible if not for his pale complexion, black nails, no shoes, worn-out shorts, and a cloak… If not for his height and a few features that don’t make him baby-faced, you could dismiss him as a strange young boy. There’s something strange about his aura and his gaze speaks of curiosity.
“What is it?” he asks.
“I’m sorry for just calling out to you like that, but could you please tell me why you can fly?”
“Aha… Can we talk about this some other day? I need to go…”
But before he can take off, Shen grabs his leg and attempts to keep this strange magician grounded. He’s simply shaken off like a toddler clinging to one’s leg and stumbles over himself, yet he attempts to hold onto the magician again.
“Why?”
“Because you haven’t answered my question.”
He ponders for a second before giving Shen an answer.
“Because I can. Now… would you let go of me? Pretty please?”
Shen won’t budge, nor will he falter. Something deep within him tells him he should continue to hold on. Whether that is safe or reckless is entirely irrelevant.