Verdigris Stars

Every night at midnight, the purple clouds came out to dance with the blushing sky before fading to cerulean depths scattered by amber and verdigris stars. Silas Eccru sat on the apartment roof past curfew, gazing up at the display, questioning the current trajectory of his life. The answer eluded him, his wings quivering against their restraining straps on his back. Collecting his things, he descended the fire escape, sliding into his open window. Landing upon this bed with a soft thud, he dared not remain outside past curfew, not as a Peculiar.

Exhausted, he pulled off his shirt and unbuckled the straps pinning his wings down. Groaning, his amber beetle-like wings released, flittering them gently to stretch them out; he rolled his shoulders and tried to relax. Plugging in his cell phone and removing his round glasses, he fell face-forward into bed. Sleep grappled him until dawn when the blaring sound of his phone’s alarm startled him awake. Reaching out from beneath the blanket, he slapped it to silence it, returning his room to blissful silence. Pulling himself out of bed, he dressed in his work uniform and ensured his wings were adequately pinned.

Taking care of his hygiene in the small bathroom, he went to the kitchen for breakfast. Pouring himself a bowl of his favorite cereal, he munched it contented enough as he scrolled his cell phone. Finally, he had a little time before his early shift at Mini-Mart; putting his empty bowl and spoon into the sink, he grabbed his wallet and keys and pulled on his hoodie. It should sufficiently hide his Peculiarity from the public. His work was only a couple blocks away, and he quickly walked to and from every day. He looked forward to licensing his wings in a couple of years.

Silas watched a man pursue a lady down the street; he bellows, “Stop, Peculiar!” as she gracefully leaps over a six-foot fence, coming to land on it, lithely as a house cat. She gives a low bow to her pursuer, who had only made it to Silas when it took her to cross the block. On the other side, Silas watched her disappear into a throng of morning commuters. Silas could not help but chuckle as the tomato-faced man walked away, muttering about how he was not paid enough for Peculiar Enforcement. Shaking his head, Silas could not help but feel a pang of admiration for her.

Clocking in at the Mini-Mart, Silas tied on his apron and made his way to the back. A handful of workers were already unpacking a truck. Looking to his manager, Val, a squat woman with short gray hair, she gave him directions, “Sorry, Silas, I know you don’t like doing it, but Donna called in again. Her kids are sick. You’ll be taking till.”

Silas cringed. He hated working the till; it was a too-public position, increasing the risk of someone realizing he was Peculiar. Once someone did that, he could kiss his job goodbye. The Mini-Mart employed many easily passable Peculiars, but he was found out, but they would be forced to let him go if he was found out. Restraining himself from grumbling, he nodded and went to the back office. Signing for the cash drawer, he took it to the front and logged in. He mentally prepared himself for the highs and lows of rush and painful boredom; there was seldom as speed between.

As the shop opened, he diligently stood awaiting the first customer. For a while, he entertained himself by trying to guess if the people making purchases were Peculiar. But then, he found his mind wandering further, an in-born longing to return to the home he had never been to, but his mother often vividly described it to him; the Hidden.

Magenta reeds sway gently in the breeze upon the banks of an amethyst stream. Sapphire patches of moss and grass filled with wildflowers of every hue. Resting in the shade of silver-barked trees. Their leaves send starbursts of prismatic light flittering upon the shadows below. The scent is somewhere between petrichor, damp earth, and herbs. Vermillion clouds floating in an amaranth sky filter the twin sun's light and magic.

“Young man?” An elderly woman asks, snapping Silas out of his daydream.

“How can I help you?” He questioned, pasting on his best customer service smile.

“Can you tell me the price of this?” She asked, passing him a can of wet dog food.

“Sure can.” He said, scanning the item, “It looks like they are fifty cents a piece. We’re having a sale today; buying a dozen is an extra five cents off per can.”

“Wonderful, wonderful,” She beamed, clapping her hands together. She pulled another eleven cans from her cart and put them on Silas’ conveyer.

“You’re going to have one happy dog,” He smiles, trying to make small talk as the woman digs her wallet out of an oversized purse.

“Dog?” She questions, pausing, “What dog?”

“You know, these are cans of dog food?” Silas frowned, narrowing his eyes, “I can direct you to the canned food aisle if you need.” He gritted his teeth, bracing himself for the woman’s meltdown, but it never came.

“Tastes fine to me, dear.” She muttered, handing him her debit card.

Silas shrugged, scanning the items and applying the discount code. Once she picked up her bag and headed out the Mini-Mart doors, he shook his head. If she was not Peculiar, she certainly was peculiar. The rest of his shift could not have been more uneventful. But, he daydreamed of something else. He remembered a national park just outside the city. He could stay there and avoid the curfew if he took a cab and an overnight bag.

The idea of an outing excited him, and he considered what he would bring as he packed. But, then, pulling on the backpack, it felt strange and heavy upon his bound wings. But, if he walked enough off the path in the forest, he could unbind his wings and fly. The idea had him giddy as he opened his apartment door. However, he did not expect to be knocked backward and for the entrance to slam shut again. Instead, he heard a female voice swear in a language he could not understand; the intruder sat on the floor with her back to the door, listening. Silas listened too.

There were men outside the door. When they passed, she looked up at him with wide yellow eyes. They were slit with cat-like pupils, a Peculiar, “Sorry, sorry,” She whispered, helping Silas to his feet, “I just needed to,”

“Who are you?”

“Best you don’t know,” She replied, “I don’t need a Mundane involved, thanks. Is there a way out of here? A fire escape or something?”

“Why are you running?”

She shushed him, “Give me a second. I need to think.”

Silas gave her time to collect her thoughts as she passed from room to room, seeking a fire escape. Silas could not stop her as she walked into his bedroom and said, “Eureka.”

“You know, I’m not Mundane,” Silas muttered as she climbed on his bed and opened the window.

“Yeah, and what is your peculiarity?” She scoffed.

Silas sighed, taking off his backpack and shirt, she raised her eyebrows at him, but then she saw the restraint straps.

“You poor faerie,” She frowned as he unbound his shimmering beetle-like wings, “Have you been binding them your whole life?”

“Every day,” He frowned.

She mulled something over momentarily and then snapped her fingers, “What’s your name?”

“Silas Eccru,” He said, “Are you ready to tell me yours?”

“I’ll tell you as soon as I can trust you, Silas. Would you like to join the resistance? We could use a flyer.”

“I’m in,” his impulse for something new got the better of him, “What do we do?”

“First, lose any technology you have on you, then we run.”

“Run where?”

“I know we can go to a place in the national park, but I don’t know how to get there from here.” She muttered.

“I can get you close, come on,” He said, dropping his cell phone on the bed. He slid out onto the fire escape and climbed up to the roof, waiting as the cat-like intruder followed. He felt it in his bones. It had to be fate that brought them together today.

The sunlight felt nice on his wings as they came to the roof. No one would see them up there, not until they took off. Then, taking a deep breath, Silas grabbed her around the waist and beat his wings; with a buzz, they were off. He flew quickly to the national park, dropping them in a clearing. Silas did no doubt that someone had seen them. It was a long way out of the city.

“Come on, Kitty,” He said, grabbing her forearm; Silas marched her out of the clearing, “We need to keep moving.”

The cat-like Peculiar looked like she might cough up a furball, but she followed him until her stomach settled and realized she needed to lead them to the home base. She stepped out before him and began looking for signs and landmarks to convince her they were heading in the right direction.

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