Syn Rya got home, kissed his wife, and began to dance around with her mixing the waltz with the salsa. He looked like a cross between a drunken cat and a monkey getting electrocuted.
He had an aura about him now as if he knew that he couldn't live the moments of now as if they would last forever. Then he abruptly collapsed in his seat, pulling her down with her.
"Who was the stranger?"
"What was that red and blue stuff?"
"What made him help me, or what made….her…help me?"
That baffled him beyond belief and eventually, he started to reflect on his life.
What was it about him that allowed him to cheat death? Then he came to the conclusion that it wasn't anything "he" did. No.
It started June 22, 2006, the day he was born. That day a shadow appeared over the hospital, but it went unnoticed. In Gazy, a rainy cloudy day is normal.
He grew to be a clever boy, but that is when his trials really began. He was going to the same elementary school his mother went to. She would always say something about the familiar felt safer than venturing out and getting hurt.
On his first day walked in with five number two pencils, two black pens, a pack of colored pencils, eight packs of paper, and five binders with pouches on them.
If he were honest that all felt like overkill so he started back to his mom.
From the eagerness and sadness on her face, he already knew it was futile. She was old-fashioned and believed that it is better to have too much of something than to not have enough of anything.
As overzealous as she was, she had a point.
Who would have thought a woman who thought a smartphone was a device given to conspirators who came from alien ships confiscated by the government in an attempt to overtake the earth could possibly express to you any astute advice that actually made sense.
To him, his mom was a beautiful, caring, and smart woman but the city saw her differently.
Her name was Elsa Rya and well, she was fifty-four. With no ambitions for herself, she was determined to push her son a success.
She was uneasy when she dropped him off thinking that he would be too scared to stay but contrary to that thought he immediately went from dependent to self-sufficient in a matter of seconds. Her heart broke slightly watching him so grown up.
A dark storm cloud etched over the horizon and it was the second time his mother had seen a cloud similar to this. She who figured herself to be an empath began to stir with stress and worry.
"Syn Rya, if you can forget to kiss your mama, I guess I can forget to make your lunch every day," She said.
So naturally, he ran back to her shouting "Sorry, mama".
"Oh, it's alright sugar, now get on to class. I love you to the moon and back." Says Mrs. Rya.
"Yes, Ma'am I love you too, mama." Says little Syn Rya.
There he sat in class with twenty other children who had all known each other since preschool. Syn had not been to preschool on the grounds that he was too small and smart to be there. Or that's what his mother claimed.
So instantly he felt like an outcast, the classic outsider. Then the exact instant he began to sink in his chair, she appeared.
Debby Mai, gray-eyed, amber-skinned, long and flowing hair curled to perfection, darling Debby Mai.
"HI, I'm Debby. You must be Syn. Can you please..." says Debby.
"What do you need," he said eager to make a good impression.
"OH, give me my face back, she misses me." Says the girl.
His impression of her fell instantly.
His world was shattered and he didn't understand. Why would she be so nice just to reject him? All he could hear was the class break into a childish chatter and a roar of laughter.
So he said, "Why would I ever stare at you? You're mean. My Mama said, 'Mean people were abducted by aliens, and cannot help being mean. It was hardwired into them.' So why would I ever talk to someone who was abducted anyway? Riddle me that." He hated that he couldn't come up with a better comeback. Alien abductions, really?
The chatter paused as they waited for her reply.
And so she replies, "Kid, you're weirder than a cowboy at the north pole."
"And you aren't," he asked her.
Unexpectedly, she moved to sit by him.
Little did he know it would be the birth of an incredible friendship? She had tried to bully him but he stood his ground. He was strong, so she respected him.