Monday was Krista's favourite day. Even though people seemed to look down on her for partaking in her forbidden love, she always woke up on Monday mornings with a sense of renewal -- like every Monday was a chance to be a whole new person for another week. Of course, she was always the same boring barista every week, nothing ever really changed but that didn't stop her from feeling reinvented every seven days.

At least, nothing ever changed until this particular Monday.

Her alarm went off at six o'clock and Krista pulled on her skinny jeans and a gray hoodie, then went to eat her breakfast. She nibbled her toast and pushed her eggs around the plate with her fork but... something didn't feel right.

Oh God... am I pregnant?

Krista put her hand on her stomach and did some quick mental math. When everything seemed to add up she still pushed the plate aside. Being content with the fact that she wasn't with child did not bring back her appetite.

Before heading out, Krista lifted her purse over her shoulder and grabbed hold of a full black bag of smelly garbage. She had procrastinated too long in bringing the thing to the dumpster, like she did with most domestic tasks. Unlike any other form of housework, however, her reluctance to bring the garbage out was not driven by laziness.

The building Krista lived in had five other apartments, and everyone shared the same dumpster. The problem was, the landlord was currently arguing with the owner of the private company which collected their waste. This led to a giant pile of rotting food and solid garbage which made the alley beside her building entirely disgusting.

With her breath held and her nose plugged, Krista tossed her garbage onto the small mountain and quickly sprinted away before the inevitable scurrying of rats which feasted in the dark space. She hated the alley more than anything else, and the diseased vermin didn't help its case.

As Krista darted around the corner, still staring over her shoulder at trash mountain, she barely registered the flash of light in her path. An angry driver honked his horn and Krista's head spun around just in time to see the silver sedan skid to a stop. Standing in the middle of the road was a tall man, clothed only in a loosely wrapped garment which looked to be made of linen and animal pelts.

"What the hell are you thinking?" The driver screamed as he got out of the car. "You coulda got yourself killed!"

The man in the street lifted what looked like an old shepherd's crook and held it firmly between himself and the driver. He rambled off some unintelligible syllables from a language Krista didn't recognize and the driver's face flushed with anger.

"I don't know what kinda gibberish you're speaking, but there ain't no room in my neighbourhood for a freak like you."

"Hey!" Krista leapt forward as she saw the driver rolling up his sleeves. His fists were balled into tight knots and the oddly dressed man had his big stick held high over his head. "What's going on here?"

"Stay outta this, lady," the driver said.

The other man turned to Krista and bowed his head. He then gestured to the driver and continued to babble on, apparently unaware of the fact that he was not being understood.

"Look, bud, this guy is clearly not from around here." Krista gestured to the man's odd clothing. Close up she could see that he was covered in delicate tattoos that wrapped around his body. "Just, cut him some slack okay?"

"If I gotta go through you to get to this freak I will."

"Um..." Krista chewed the inside of her cheek and hesitated. She didn't know either of these men, perhaps it was better to not get involved.

"Help him." Krista spun around as she heard the whisper behind her ear. There was nobody else on the early morning street so she turned back to the driver.

"I get it, he's weird, and he almost got you both hurt, but is it really worth messing up your nice shirt? I mean, look at him, and look at you! You can clearly take the guy no problem, but you must know how hard it is to get blood stains out."

The driver looked unimpressed by Krista's attempts to calm him. His muscles tensed and so did hers.

"What do you care, anyway? You know this freak?"

"No."

"So move aside before I force my way through."

"Help him." The voice said again and Krista gulped, refusing to step aside.

"Alright, bitch, you asked for it." The driver's fist sailed through the air. It slammed into Krista's face and she didn't budge, didn't even register the pain. "SHIT! Damn it! Oh God that hurts!"

Krista backed away as the man cradled his broken hand. Her eyes grew wide and the string of nonsense pouring from the oddly dressed man suddenly stopped. The long stick swept up out of nowhere and slammed against the driver's face, which sent him stumbling backwards.

"You're both fucking freaks," the guy said as he climbed back into his car.

Krista felt the spot where she knew the man's fist had made contact with her face. There was no pain, no swelling. She dug a compact out of her purse and inspected the skin, there was no bruising or mark of any kind which would indicate that she'd only seconds ago been hit by a man twice her size.

"How..." She touched her face again, then snapped the tiny mirror shut and dropped it back into her bag. Just forget it, Krista! She scolded herself and looked at the strange man. His face was painted the colour of dried blood and his big brown eyes were wide with wonder. He reached out to touch Krista's face as well but she pulled back. "Watch it, buddy!"

The man pulled his hand back and began speaking again, this time much quicker than before. He pointed to the sky and then wiggled his fingers in that nursery rhyme way that people do when they sing about the rain. He whipped his arms around him and imitated the sound of rushing water.

"Dude, I don't... are you okay? Are you, like... allowed to be outside on your own?"

The man's head cocked to the side and his face skewed in a way that reassured Krista her words were not being understood.

"Are you allowed to be--" Krista started repeating herself, only louder and slower. She cut herself off, though, and took a deep breath. "Can I help get you home?"

The man slammed his oversized cane against the ground, his expression was strong and confident. He pointed at his chest with his thumb and said, "Martu."

"Martu?" Krista repeated the word and tried to figure out what it could mean. The man jabbed his thumb into his chest again and repeated himself. "Martu, is that your name?"

The man smiled and pointed at Krista. When she remained silent he repeated his name then gestured for her to say something in return.

"Oh! I'm Krista." She put her thumb against her chest and smiled as she said it again, "Krista!"

"Kris-ta." Martu stretched his lips around the unfamiliar syllables as if they were solid matter.

"Yeah, I'm Krista, you're... Martu... I guess." Krista looked around, hoping that some sort of care giver for the clearly unstable man might be lingering somewhere on the sidewalk. "Look, Martu, we gotta get out of the street okay? Before another car comes."

Grabbing Martu's hand in her own, Krista led the man back to the sidewalk and he marvelled at an SUV as it rushed past them. He pointed after it and spoke in his silly language but Krista tried to ignore him.

"Is there someone nearby who can help you?" Krista asked, "do you live somewhere around here?" She tried another couple of seemingly simple questions before finally giving up. The man clearly did not understand a word of english.

"Fine, come with me. I'll get the police, or social services, or someone who can help you find the... locked ward you clearly wandered out of." Krista continued to lead the man by the hand as she made her way to work. She glanced at her own apartment building, only half a block behind them, but she didn't feel comfortable taking him back to her home. Besides, she was about to be late anyway.

As Krista led Martu along her six block route to work, he marvelled at the tall glass buildings around them. His amazement slowed Krista's pace and she huffed.

"Martu, I'm going to be late! Late! Do you know what that means?"

Martu scratched his head. He stared at Krista for an uncomfortable second before gesturing up towards the tops of the buildings and continuing on with his string of gibberish.

When they finally arrived at the tiny cafe, Krista heard the relaxed tone of her boss before he even turned to look at her.

"You're late," he said, but he didn't sound angry. "That's a total bummer."

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Just don't let it happen again, man." He turned around and his eyes grew wide as he took in the sight of the tall stranger. "Whoa, who's the dude?"

"I think his name is Martu but... I can't understand a thing he's saying."

Again Martu began imitating rain as he spoke to Krista's boss. He rushed around the aromatic space with his arms out wide and made splashing sounds with his voice.

"Looks like he wants you to take him to a water slide or something... Hey, you think this dude's a surfer?" He seemed to get more excited as the idea came to him. "Where'd you find him?"

"On the street... is it okay if he hangs out for a bit? I'm gonna try to get the police to pick him up." Krista watched as Martu became distracted by the display of muffins. He sniffed and reached forward, only to become frustrated by the wall of glass which separated him from the food. "I think he musta busted out of some mental institution or something."

"Far out..." Krista's boss smiled a big goofy smile, then held up his fist for her. "Come on, dude, pound it!" Krista sighed and slammed her own fist again his. He laughed and came up beside Martu. "Dude, you hungry?"

Martu scratched his head before pointing at himself. "Martu," he said then pointed at Krista, "Krista." Finally, he pointed at Krista's boss and said, as if it were a question, "Dude?"

"Yeah, man, dude. You can call me that." Martu had already turned away from the owner of the coffee shop. He raised his crook above his head but before he could slam it against the glass display case Krista rushed to stop him. "Dude, this guy is a total trip."

"Yeah, he's probably on some kinda drugs... or... not on the ones prescribed to him."

"Well, I like him." Krista's boss smiled and smacked Martu's back. "Krista, get the guy some munchies would ya? Maybe a latte or something. I gotta jet though, duty calls and all that businessman bullshit."

Krista sighed as the man disappeared, leaving her alone with Martu. She sat the stranger down at the table nearest to the cash register and put a muffin in front of him. As she called the police station, she watched the man sniff and poke at the food he'd been offered.

"Eat it." She mimed putting food in her mouth. "It's good."

As Martu finally nibbled at the corner, Krista was taken off hold and she described her situation she watched Martu's expression shift from mystified to delighted. He shoved the rest of the muffin in his mouth and tried to speak to Krista, which sprayed crumbs across the table.

"It's gonna take you how long to get an officer out here?" Krista turned around as she spoke angrily into the phone.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, someone will be with you as soon as possible, I assure you."

"I'm at work! What am I supposed to do with this guy while I wait?" She sighed as the person on the other line rattled off some more half hearted apologies. "Yeah, what ever, I'll find something to do with him." She hung up the phone and stared at Martu as he approached the muffin display again.

As her work day drew to an end, Krista went about the menial tasks involved in closing the cafe as Martu watched her.

"Have you ever had a latte before?" She asked, smiling at him.

"Lat-te..."

"Yeah, I bet you'd like it."

Krista noticed Martu watching her actions more closely now with nobody else around to distract him. He smiled at the hissing steam billowing around her. Finally she passed him a huge mug full of hot milk and espresso which made him smile as he wrapped his hands around it and breathed in deep through his nose.

The man took a seat as he sipped the hot beverage. A slow smile spread across his face. As Krista finished her work, he finished his drink and she sat with him.

"Well... I'm all done here but... I don't know what to do with you. I'm assuming the police will show up eventually." She drummed her fingers against the table and Martu watched them intently. He said something, then tried to imitate her action.

Krista laughed and pushed back her hair. "You know you're actually kinda cute, for a crazy person."

She stood up and so did he, the expression on his face much softer now. She smiled back and turned to lock the door. "If we're just going to be sitting around waiting, maybe we can try to get to know each other?"

As the lock slid into place Krista could feel Martu move closer to her. As he entered her personal space she turned around and tried to push him away but he grabbed hold of her. Like she had led him off of the street, he led her back to the table they'd been sitting at.

"Uh... what's going on?" She asked as Martu touched her hair. She suddenly didn't think that he was cute anymore. Martu babbled on and moved closer to Krista.

"Look, you gotta back off. This is not okay, you got that?"

Martu ignored Krista. She shrunk away from his intense stare as he pressed his body against hers. She tried to wiggle free but he was too strong. She batted at his broad chest but he grabbed her wrists and forced her hands down.

"Stop! I don't like this!"

She knew he wasn't listening though. He turned her around and she felt his hands exploring her body as she was bent over the table. Tears streamed down her face and she screamed for him to stop, but still his fingers squeezed into the waist of her jeans.

"Oh God, get me out of here, I wanna go home, I don't want this! Stop it! STOP! LET ME GO!" Krista struggled against Martu's strength. She wiggled and kicked her feet backwards in an attempt to deter him, but still she felt her pants being forced down. "Please just let me go!" She started whispering to herself now, growing exhausted from fighting. "I just wanna get out of here. I wanna go home..."

There was a pounding on the door. As Krista felt her body grow light she noticed a woman trying to get into the cafe. As she continued to cry and beg Martu to let her go, her vision blurred and she felt like she was being blown away in a strong wind. The last thing she remembered before the total and utter darkness was thinking, That girl's got pink hair... I wonder if I could pull that off...

And then she was falling.

The pile of garbage provided a soft landing, but the sounds of squeaking rodents did not help her feel safe. She never thought she'd ever be glad to see trash mountain, but despite the relief she still screamed and fought to be free of the stench. She tossed ripped open plastic bags aside and eventually tumbled out of the alley onto the sidewalk. She leapt to her feet, realizing her pants were still only half on, and darted for the entrance to her building.

How did I get here? She wondered to herself, still crying a torrent of hot tears, what's happening to me?