Ugh...

I had been walking for who knows how long to who knows where. I didn't even know if I was actually going anywhere, it all looked the same. Same sand. Same trees. Same road with cars. Same, wait what? Woah! I had been walking by a road and I didn't notice. It looked like I was getting close to a town. With renewed hopes, I kept walking. I looked around as I continued, the wild desert kinda stopped and civilization just started. It seemed kinda odd.

A sidewalk started. It felt nice against my feet. Goodbye rocks and hello cement. To my left was the road, and to my right was a part of the desert that was all cleaned up. There was nothing there, just a cleared up patch of land. I stopped to sit at a bench. There was a sign next to it that read Welcome to Oasis. It was still hot, good thing the bench also had a little roof cover for shade. Guess it was regularly hot around here if it had a roof cover. I laid back for a bit, resting my eyes...

"Kid you gonna get on or what,"

"Huh?" I dozed off. There was suddenly a bus in front of me with the driver looking at me like I was homeless. Like with some sympathy but really didn't care.

"Simple yes or no, hurry up kid I don't got all day."

"Um, I-I don't have money,"

He checked me out again.

"I feel charitable today, I'll give you a pass this time. Now get on before I change my mind."

"Uh, thank you sir!" I said very nervously. No wonder he took pity on me. I got on the bus. The driver didn't give me any more attention. I looked inside, only one more rider. She was tying her hair in a ponytail when she turned to me. For a moment we locked eyes. It was like time stopped for that one moment. I had never seen her before, but looking at her I felt like I knew everything about her.

"Unless you wanna break something you better sit down!" The driver yelled. It kinda startled me, I was so in the moment. She jumped slightly too. Then she gave me a sour look and she put on her headphones and turned away. I sat down by a window. An aisle away from the driver, and several aisles away from her.

"All right, here we go," the driver announced as the bus started to move. I turned to her, but she was looking out the window. I started to do the same. Everything looked kinda dark due to the tinted windows. The bus was moving pretty fast. Except when the bus had to stop, there wasn't much time to look at anything. Just a few glimpses, but not enough to learn where's what or what's what. Not that I was trying, I just stared blankly out the window as we moved.

"Bus stop #2, Downtown! You getting off pretty eyes!?"

"No!" I quickly shouted back. His yelling caught me off guard again.

Neither of them noticed my sudden yell. Though it seemed more like they didn't care. The driver just closed the doors and continued driving. I was starting to think he had something against me. She was still just sitting there, listening to I didn't know what. Maybe she really hadn't notice.

We started entering the main part of town, or at least I thought it was. There was lots of shops and people walking around, so it must have been the main street. I looked around. There was a mess of useless stores. Jerry's Donkey Supplies one store sign read, it seemed like anyone could do anything here.

We stopped at a café. Or was it a juice bar? Or a tea place?...Or a soda hangout? It looked like a little bit of everything. Tea & Pop the sign read, probably a place that focused on drinks. If it wasn't, than maybe I was hopeless after all.

The girl got up, and started to head to the opened door. She took off her headphones, and she whipped her hair just as she passed me. It was too sassy to be convenient timing, but what could she had been trying to tell me?

"No no, it's probably nothing," I whispered to myself. I didn't let it bother me too much.

She stopped at the door, "Thanks for the ride Earl."

"No problem Gavi, just be careful out there, it's a tough world full of hurt."

"Yeah I'll keep it in mind, bye!" She got off the bus. The driver started driving once Gavi started walking away. I quickly turned around, I saw her entering the building before we were too far away. I kinda wished she was still there, that way it wouldn't have been just us two. I felt the growing tension in the air. It was going to be a long ride.

After another while of driving around, he stopped the bus again, this time by a park.

"End of the line!"

"Huh? What line?" I responded meekly.

"This is the last stop, now get off! This ain't a merry go round!"

"Okay!" I responded. Sheesh, no sugar here. I got up and started heading out. Even walking felt like a giant task with all the tension in the air. I slowed at the exit, only to hurry out the door. I wanted to say thank you, but I had the feeling he didn't want to hear me say anything anymore. I stepped off, and he started doing his routine to leave. He left as I started to look around.

I was by a park now, and I saw a building not too far away. It was a church, and it looked like there was a picnic going on. I could smell the food, it was intoxicating. My stomach growled with the delightful aromas. It made me hungry. I must have been obvious about it, as I saw some people waving me down to join them. I didn't want to be greedy, so I tried to signal them no. Then my stomach growled again, and I decided to take up the offer.

As I started walking towards the group, the people who invited me were smiling from ear to ear. They looked so nice and caring, at least compared to others I've met around here.

I walked past the church gate. And then, it started. I felt like I was being burned alive. I was just standing there, yet it felt like there was fire under my skin. In panic, I ran back. Then it stopped. It was weird. Trying again, I slowly edged towards the gate. Nothing. One step past the gate, and I was overwhelmed by a horrifying sensation of burning pain again. I felt heavy now too, and my heart ached. I kept jumping back and forth, trying to figure out what was happening. Each time I did it, the pain got more intense. Eventually I had to stop, it was both physically draining and mentally exhausting.

"What's wrong with him? He's acting like a mental clown."

"It looks like he's in pain, but there's nothing I can see that can hurt him. What's going on?"

"Hm...ha! What if he's a demon and the church is hurting him every time he tries to come near!"

"No no, that's silly. He's just a boy,"

"AH! Why does it burn!?"

"Then again, the devil can be deceiving sometimes. C'mon! Let's help protect our holy home!"

I was trying to catch my breath from all the burning when they started mobbing. It was terrifying, they were all yelling 'Get the demon!" while holding their Cross jewelry out towards me. I ran away as fast as I could. Like my life depended on it and I'm pretty sure it does at this point. Not knowing what else to do, I ran into the park. Hopefully I can shake them off. I kept running and running but I could hear they were still hot on my tail. Luckily for me, I did get some distance from them. Stopping by a tree, I took a little break to catch my breath. It didn't take long, a minute later I was ready to keep sprinting.

"Oh? Why are you running so much?" A lady nearby asked to me. She was sitting on a bench. She didn't look worried or panicked, she seemed calm but I could hear the concern in her voice. Her soothing voice.

"I'm trying to get away from those people! They're trying to kill me!"

"There he is! Get him!" The mob was catching up, I was about to start running again when the lady stopped me with her cane.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of this. Hide in that trash can till I say so,"

"Um, but, but what if,"

"Do you wanna see tomorrow or not?"

"Yes ma'am," I said as I climbed into the trash can. There wasn't much trash, but it smelled terrible. It wasn't too big a trash can, I tried squeezing down so they won't notice me. The lady stood by me, probably to help hide me. The mob was close now,

"Excuse us lady, have you seen someone running through here?"

"It's Ma'am to you, and plenty of people run at a park. Be specific,"

"Um, a teen boy with raggedy clothes, um, weird green eyes and uh..."

"Oh c'mon! She doesn't know anything! Let's just hurry before he gets away!"

"Well how rude! I may be a little old lady but don't confuse my kindness for weakness, he went that way!"

"He went that way! Let's get him!!!"

I heard them running off again. I stayed in the trash can for a bit, just to make sure they were really gone. That and she said not to get out till she said so.

"Okay, now you can get out," she said as she fixed her rather crazy hat. I got out and started dusting myself off,

"Thank you so much! I didn't think they were ever gonna..."

"Oh! My! God!" She cut me off mid way. "Your eyes! I recognize that dark green anywhere! No wonder they chased after you so relentlessly!" She was hysterical.

"Um, should I start running now?"

"No no no my dear child! Come with me back to my shop, I'll show you what I'm talking about,"

"I just met you, you helped me and now you're acting like those church people, I think I should be running now." I don't trust her, she may have possibly saved my life but she's acting crazy. Too crazy. I was about to run off, but somehow I couldn't move. It was like I wasn't in control of my own body anymore. She snickered,

"It wasn't an option, it was a command. Come with me, and then you can run off if you want,"

"But I," I stopped mid sentence. Her glare was intimidating. It looks like I don't have any choice in this, I hope she won't try to kill me or something.

"Okay, I'll go with you."

"Good, follow me." Suddenly I was in control again. She started walking, now was my chance to run. But I didn't, I followed her. She might be the one messing with my mobility, wouldn't want something undesirable to happen. Both now, and when we arrive.