The Visionaries

3

I was alone. It was crowded and busy. People walked all around me. I was hungry, the last thing I ate was a squash flower quesadilla at my nanita's yesterday.

"Mama?" I yell. "Mama?"

No one seems to pay attention to me. Where did my mother go? I walk around aimlessly. I feel someone tap my shoulder. I turn to see a police officer smiling at me. He asks me something in English. I don't know what he's saying nor do I remember. He motions me to follow him. I follow him. I don't understand what anyone is trying to tell me. That is until a nice looking lady walks in.

"Hey, baby. You speak Spanish?" she asked. I nod. "Okay, where is your mom and dad?"

"I don't have a dad." I say, ever so casually. I didn't. He never appeared in my life and my grandparents didn't have a clue who he was. I never thought of asking my mother,not that she'd tell me either.

She looked concerned. "Where's your mommy?"

I look at the lady again. "I don't know. I can't find her. She left me in the bathroom."

"She did? Did she say anything before she left?" the lady asked.

I think back to the last time I saw her. She was panicked, grabbing paper towels and wiping the sink of the bathroom.

"Look at me, Alma." she said, throwing them away. "Walk out. Don't talk to anyone or interact with anything, you hear me. Just walk away."

"But why, Mommy?"

"Just do it, Alma!" she blurted out. She grabbed me by the arm and pushed me out. "Get away!"

"Mommy, why?"

"Go!!!" she sounds more like an annoyed older sister than my mother. "Get out, I don't wanna see you again!"

I started to walk away in tears. She sighed and looked away, heading in a different direction.

When I returned to the flashback, my face was wet and the lady's hand was on my shoulder.

"She said she didn't want to see me again." I say.

Fuck. That was not what I was trying to relive. I used to cry at night and wonder why she abandoned me. Why she uprooted me from my family just to abandon me. I wipe my face and get up. No more tears. I get dressed and head downstairs for breakfast. Norrin is cooking eggs, Aaron is trying to make flour tortillas, Dany has the table set, and Bree is trying to fix the TV.

"Good morning." I say.

"Morning." Norrin said. "Want some eggs?"

"Sure." I say.

"Scrambled, over easy, or sunny side up?"

"Sunny side up." I reply.

The TV changes to something else.

"You're all up." she says. It's Maddie, our leader. "Norrin, I'm surprised you're not asleep."

"I wish I was." they respond, grinning.

"Well, you guys have an assignment." she smiled at us. "We got word about a project that the government has been performing experiments on dead humans. We need you to find out as much as possible on what exactly they're doing and what the purpose is."

"Wooooo....espionage!" Aaron said. "I get to be James Bond. Minus all the blatant sexism and rapey behavior."

"You? We're in this together." Norrin said.

"Then what are we?" Aaron asked. "The Native Justice League?"

Maddie chuckled. "Not a bad name but that's probably copyrighted."

"I'd say we're more of Robin Hood and his merry band of men." Dany said.

"Anyway, back on track to your mission. Our contact will be expecting you at seven pm tonight outside of the Crystal Manor." she said. "Don't be late."

"Got it." I say.

"Good luck." Maddie said. "You know where to turn everything in."

"Alright, thanks." I say. The screen turns black.

I stared at Norrin and then at the others.

"So how are we gonna do this?" I say. "They're gonna be way more of a challenge than some basic security team."

"Well, we do have something they don't have." Norrin said. "Powers."

"You're right but we have to use them wisely." Aaron said. "We're still humans after all."

Dany sighs. "We'll figure something out but in the meantime, someone has to get some supplies."

"I want to. We need to get more beading stuff anyway." Bree says.

"Fair enough and we need to get more bean seeds. This year's crop didn't do so well." Aaron said.

"Then you two go." Norrin said.

"Sure." Aaron said as him and Bree left. I decided to go up to the roof access. It was hidden in a way that it got enough sun but hid us from the view of planes. There were boxes full of corn, squash, beans, peppers, onions, garlic, and cucumbers. There was also a greenhouse in a corner where we planted stuff during the winter. There was another alcove you could reach by a rope bridge where we planted flowers and herbs. Sage, thyme, basil, oregano, and other stuff grew in boxes while all of the girls had a flower crate full of flowers we liked. Bree had sunflowers and roses. Dany had bougainvilleas and oleander. I had marigolds, or cempasuchiles, as I'd known them and milkweed for the monarch butterflies.

There were various monarch butterflies on the milkweed. I smiled at them, admiring their beauty. There were a few dying marigolds. I lifted them up and closed my eyes, focusing energy on them as they slowly arose back to life.

"Thought I'd find you here." Dany said.

"Of course, this is my spot." I say.

"Our spot." she grins. She stares out into the canyons. "Can't believe we're here. Did you ever check the chicken's water by the way?"

"I didn't." I say. "Did Aaron and Dany leave already?"

"Yeah, they did, like a hour ago." she stares at the roses. "Do you miss your old life sometimes?"

"I do but there is nothing for me to go back to. The floods took everything from me. I loved my family but I guess Creator loved them more than I did. He took them to a better place." I look down. Dany squeezes my shoulder.

"It's okay. We're your family now."