treat? “That just ain’t right,” she muttered and then grinned at her words. She’d also been picking up on the human dialect, listening to humans talk and sometimes asking them what they meant.
Humans always seemed—she had to search her brain for the right word—freaked out. They always seemed freaked out when she popped up to them and asked what they were saying and what it meant. “They all need to be cold,” she said and then shook her head. That wasn’t right. “They all need to freeze. Dammit,” she huffed because that wasn’t what she’d heard one of them say to her. “Chill,” she practically yelled and ignored the stares. “They all need to chill out,” she said with a grin. She was totally dying it as a human. People probably couldn’t even tell she wasn’t human—that’s how bitchin she was at it.
Several days had passed since she’d arrived in the human realm. She imagined the elders were up in arms because they would have discovered Lyra’s body a couple days ago. The thought made her smile. She smiled as she skipped, walked, and ran across the human realm called the United States. Perhaps Thadrick had done her a favor in some way. She had been ignorant of how amazing the human realm was, but now she was free. She could do whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted.
At one point, she’d been running and crossed what she’d learned was a state line, which meant she was going from one territory to another. The sign had read “Welcome to Iowa.” She had no clue who was naming their stuff, but they needed to remove them from their position and appoint someone who understood that some words were just dumb. She looked around and thought, instead of Iowa, this land should be called Land of the Golden Corn. That had a much better ring to it.
Later, Myanin had come to a mountain that was carved with the giant faces of four men. “Why are those faces in the mountain?” she asked a woman who had been taking a picture with what Myanin thought was called a cell phone.
“It’s Mount Rushmore,” the woman said, as if that should mean something to the djinn.
“Okay,” Myanin drew out. “But why did they mount their heads up there? Did they do something great? Did they slay many enemies? Did they build civilizations that ruled over all?”
The woman look confused and then shrugged. “I guess. They’re founding fathers.”
Myanin nodded. “Ah, so they’re the creators of your race. Your fathers. I understand.”
The woman’s eyes grew wide, and she practically ran away from Myanin mumbling to herself.
Myanin watched the female’s back as she skittered away and hopped into one of the large steel transportation devices. “It’s official,” she said. “Humans are the dumbest beings ever.” She paused and then corrected. “Except for the one who made cotton candy. That human has some level of intelligence that is acceptable.”
She continued her walk/run across the states, stopping occasionally when she found something interesting. It was on day four that she ended up in a city lit up with so many lights that she wondered how anyone knew when to go to sleep. The sign read “Welcome to Las Vegas.” “Why are they always welcoming everyone?” she asked out loud. Myanin found that since she had no one to speak to, she did a lot of talking to herself. “Don’t they realize they could be inviting an enemy into their territory?” There was a person standing in front of the sign, taking a picture on their phone. Myanin walked over to the human male and tapped him on the back. She’d found through trial and error that it was better to make herself known instead of just appearing in front of them. They seemed less frightened that way.
He turned to look at her, and his eyes widened a bit. Though they didn’t know she wasn’t human, the prey in them knew that she was a predator. “Can I help you?” he asked.
“Probably not. Your kind never seems very helpful, though I don’t think that’s totally your fault. You’re just inferior to other species. But I’m going to ask you anyway because I enjoy disappointment.” She pointed to the sign. “You humans welcome everyone into your states and cities.”
“H-h-humans?”
“Yes, humans. That’s not what’s important. You welcome everyone into your territories. Don’t you realize how foolish that is?”
“Foolish?” the man said, his words once again coming out wobbly.