“This is it,” Georjina’s voice came over the earpiece.
Alex looked at the worn, simplistic-looking building in front of him. “You sure this is the right place?”
“Do you think my tracker on my gadget is wrong?” Georjina snapped. “Do you really think I could be wrong about my own gadget? My gadget?”
“It could be with that attitude,” Alex mumbled, rolling his eyes at how easily annoyed Georjina got when it came to her gadgets.
“Geez, someone’s a bit sensitive,” a faint voice came from beyond Georjina’s own. Alex recognized it immediately. It was Justin, his best friend. A squeaking sound could also be heard in the background, and Alex assumed Justin had just entered the room Georjina was in. “Can I talk to Justin?”
Georjina sighed. “Not now. Focus, Alex. We’ve only got one shot at this before we get stuck here forever.”
“-and overdramatic.” Justin’s once faint voice now sounded much closer.
“I’m not!” Georjina exclaimed, exasperated. “We’re trapped in a world that is completely different to ours, and our only way back, namely my gadget, is inside that building! And if you don’t get it right now, we’re gonna get stuck here forever!”
“Like I said, overdramatic,” Justin commented. His voice was now clear. “Hey Alex, I’m gonna be here to help too.”
“Thanks man,” Alex said over his hidden microphone. “I really appreciate it.”
“Oh, so you appreciate him, but not me,” Georjina snapped. “I’d love even a simple ‘Thanks, Georjina, for making such an awesome gadget that will save our lives’ or ‘Thank you, Georjina for-’”
“Did I mention self-centered as well?” Justin interrupted.
“I’m not self-centered, I’m desperate.” Some clicking noise from a mouse. Georjina took a deep breath before continuing. “Okay, so the gadget piece is towards the left side of the building. The tracker can detect something is covering it.”
“Alright, I’m on it.” Alex quickly entered the building, eager to get this over and done with. As much as he hated how annoying, sensitive, and sometimes self-centered she was, Georjina was right. The three were stuck in a world that was nothing like theirs.
In their world, most people were hybrids— meaning half-animal, half-human. Each special hybrid species had their own special talents and abilities. But the three didn’t have the qualities that their own was known for, making them outcasts in their world.
Georjina was essentially too smart for her own good. The fox hybrid was known for her crazy inventions and gadgets, which was in stark contrast to the rest of her kind, who were more known for being politicians and government strategists. Justin was a cheetah hybrid who couldn’t run. He had this strange illness that made his legs extremely weak. He was seen as a disgrace in his family for not being able to run- since that was what cheetah hybrids were known for. Alex was a fish hybrid. Which meant he still had a fishtail in his hybrid form, which he was bullied for, since most hybrids were land animals.
They had lost their hybrid forms when they came here. They didn’t really understand how. In fact, none of them could really remember how they had got into this world. Just a vague memory of a flashing light, a swirl of colours, and then the three of them were suddenly in the middle of a large city.
But as much as they were despised in their world, there was still no place like home. Alex missed getting to spend time with his siblings, and he knew that Justin and Georjina had things they missed as well. Alex often wondered if they would go back to their hybrid forms if they made it back. But right now, that wasn’t his concern. He had to make his way out of this world first. And to do that, he needed to get Georjina’s teleportation gadget.
Inside the building, there weren’t as many people as he had anticipated. Just a couple of people scattered here and there, and this light-haired lady sitting at a front desk.
“How’d the gadget get in here anyway?” Alex whispered, not wanting to make it obvious he was talking with someone over an earpiece.
“It’s a teleportation gadget,” Georjina replied. “It kind of glitched and teleported on its own.”
“That’s really convenient,” Justin said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Putting all my trust in a random device that might not even work.”
Georjina shushed him before moving on to give Alex directions. “I hacked into the security cameras, and I’ve got my tracker. The gadget is covered in sand, near a painting on the exhibits on the right, in a mini-section thing with ‘S’ paintings. Or snakes. I’m not sure.”
“Got it.” Alex began walking towards the area that Georjina had described.
In the space, there were several paintings of snakes on the walls. There was a description near a massive painting, which described an ancient mythology story of snakes by the desert in spring. Alex smiled. He loved cultural stories, and how it was always so interesting to hear them from different cultures. His grandma used to tell him stories of the hybrid people of their world, and how hybrids first started living in their world. He didn’t find them boring or uninteresting as some people his age but found them entertaining and fun to hear. It was another thing he missed back in his world, which encouraged him to keep looking for the sand that Georjina said her gadget was buried in.
It didn’t take long to find. There was only one painting with sand underneath it. He assumed that it represented the desert sand, affirming the quick story he read.
Alex quickly grabbed the gadget, buried underneath the sand below the painting. He cleaned it off on his shirt. The gadget’s metallic surface eventually became shiny again, with a light green blinking light on its side. Alex surmised that the light was the tracker.
He looked around. It seemed as if no one had noticed him taking it. He began to make his way to the exit.
Alex was about to make his way out of the area when Georjina’s voice came over his earpiece. “We’ve got trouble,” she said. “Remember the lady who was at the front desk? Well, she’s coming your way.”
“Hide!” Justin’s voice called out frantically.
Not knowing where else to hide in this tiny building, Alex noticed a little passageway covered in black sheets. There was a sign at the front, Alex could only make out the word “warning” but had no time to read the rest of the sign. He mustn’t get caught messing with a painting at an exhibit.
The passageway led into a small corridor that continued to a dark room, with the front bumper of cars, with headlamps.
An audio clip began playing. He heard someone swearing, as if to a person, as the headlights on the cars began to flash. More words, more swearing. The words being spoken became no longer words, but judgment, bullying, and racism.
The more he listened, the more heated the racist comments became. Alex couldn’t take it anymore. He stepped out. His palms were drenched in sweat, and he was inhaling and exhaling like someone on a ventilator.
“Alex? You there?” Georjina’s voice sounded genuinely concerned. “The coast is clear now; you can get out of there.”
But Alex didn’t pay attention. Listening to that little snippet of audio had triggered something in his brain. His mind started to play a memory that was buried deep within him…
The sing-song tune. “Fish out of water, fish out of water!”
The boy who pointed to a poster. “Go back to your aquarium, fish boy!”
The girl who he had tried to compliment. “You smell…as bad as the fish market!”
Alex tried to avoid remembering the horrible memories and was trying to take deep breaths to calm himself. It wasn’t working.
“You good, bro?” Justin asked.
Alex didn’t respond. Instead, he left the art gallery as quickly as his feet could take him. At least he had feet now. He wouldn’t be judged for his feet. But he knew his friend Justin would be. The poor guy, still in his wheelchair despite how much money his parents spent trying to fix it. Alex would never forget what that person who had belittled Justin on their last trip to buy a couple things for his birthday.
“Oi! You! Stop wasting our government’s money with your stupid disability!”
Alex wanted to hit the person, bash them on the head, shake them and demand, “What’s wrong with having a disability?!” But Georjina had told him that doing so wouldn’t benefit him, Justin, or anyone else. Alex was furious that he couldn’t do anything about it. And Justin refused to go to that place again.
Now it was at this weird exhibit. Apparently, there was a problem with this world, too. It seemed as if one could never escape the harsh comments given for not being “normal”. It didn’t matter if it was about your family, your physical capabilities, the colour of your skin, or where you were from. It didn’t matter where you went, be it a first world country, the poorest country in the world, or even a different universe.
You would still be judged for being different from everyone else.
Megan Ashley Cardenas is a fifteen year old living in one of the most isolated cities in the world. She often has the most confusing yet still epic dreams which she takes inspiration from. No, not like coins of inspiration from that one Google Arts and Culture game: just inspiration for her next story…or song. Yes, she likes writing songs too, but don’t look her up on YouTube for them- songs are top not-so-secret projects for entertainment of the people she chooses. Unlike her stories, which are usually openly shared to literally anyone who is willing to read them. Maybe sometime you’ll find her on the empty streets of Perth screaming “DOES ANYONE WANNA READ MY STORY?”
"arizona glossy snake, arizonanatter, brillante arenicola, california glossy snake, desert glossy snake, eastern glossy snake, kansas glossy snake, mojave glossy snake, painted desert glossy snake, texas glossy snake, western glossy snake" by John Fausett is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.
