Yesterday night I came across a boy on Waldorf Ave. It was no time of night for a child to be out, I thought to myself through the haze in bloodstream. Excuse me little boy, I asked, but what are you doing here so late at night?
The boy had very dark hair and very pale skin. He had huge black eyes and an oversized sweatshirt. He was crying without tears. I’m not a boy, he told me, I am a monster. If you know what is good for you you will live me alone. Surely you must have a family somewhere, I said to the boy, I’m sure someone must be looking for you, someone who loves you.
Nobody loves me. I am alone and I will always be alone… because I don’t belong in this world.
You know, I said, I don’t belong in this world either. I sat down in the street. I used to be a pilot, in the air force. I was in combat with my navigator. We were hit and it didn’t look like we were going to make it. We had someone on our tail. The sky was clear that day but I could see a small patch of thunder clouds just in front of me. As we got closer it became clear that what I was looking at was a hole in the sky. The plane that was following us pulled up. We flew into through the hole and into a storm. We made a sea landing and a small fishing boat picked us up. My navigator didn’t make it back to shore. He had been hit in the neck. I tried to contact the base but nothing went through. When I finally got ahold of the United States air force they said that they didn’t have me on record. When I showed them my and my navigator’s identification they said it was fake. They took everything. I buried my navigator by the beach. As the years went on it became clearer that I was no longer living on the same earth I had lived on before. Almost everything is exactly the same, but there are a few unmistakable differences. The way my favorite restaurant makes its coffee. The logo on my favorite brand of cigarettes. I don’t have any family or friends in this place. Not any real ones anyway. Not anyone who would defend me when people call me a liar. I guess they just don’t have people like that here.
I, the boy began to speak, I had a family back home. They were nice. They took me in even though they knew that I wasn’t like the others. They taught me things and told me stories. I miss them. The boys mouth was a horrible frown. I could see the pain in his heart. I reached out for his shoulder. He jerked back and made an awful noise. He teeth seemed sharper than they should have been and I could smell blood on his breath. I pulled my hand away. Leave me alone. That was the last thing he said before he turned away. He ran away then. I wanted to tell him to wait, but I was afraid.
I was afraid because the way he moved through the darkness seemed more like a monster would move than a boy. I wonder what has become of him. I wonder what it was that separated him from his family. I wonder, will he grow into a monster or into a man?
The Lunar Fox Press 