#17, Kyson

It had been a great day. I walk to the water’s edge, preparing to transform into Boto, in order to sleep. I have not yet found a home here in Salmon, I have my eye on one, and just need to work out the logistics of purchasing it without drawing attention to myself. In the Encante, while we are in the school, we are taught about surface life, and how to create false identities, set up bank accounts, etc. in order to insure a comfortable life above the water. This is a subject I excelled in, and fortunately have plenty of reliable identifications and funds set up from previous adventures, so creating my life here should not be too arduous, but it does take time, and planning.

I round the bend to where I have set up my makeshift camp hidden in the shrubbery, and stop short, seeing a girl on the bank of the river. She is dressed in athletic clothes, and appears to have just completed a run, as her breathing is slightly labored, and sweat is evident on her brow. I quietly step back into the shadows afforded me by the trees along this part of the river. I watch for a few moments. She is lovely, not in the striking way so many of the women I have charmed here on the surface have been, but subtly. I appreciate most of the female form, and hers is an excellent example. She seems familiar. It takes me a moment to place her, then I remember seeing her at school in the hallway. I noticed her, but not immediately, and our eyes had met for a mere moment, and then she went back to what she was doing before. This is an uncommon occurrence for me. Most creatures of the fairer sex can’t seem to get enough of me, and I have barely registered on her radar. Intriguing. I push the thought to the back of my mind, and watch for a few moments longer. Still writing and mumbling, she doesn’t notice me.

I retreat a little further, before turning my back, and make my way up the road some, where I can enter the water and transform without disturbing her. She was writing furiously in a notebook, and although I had practiced stealth, I doubted it was necessary, she was so engrossed in what she was doing, I don’t believe a herd of elephants would have been able to attract her attention. So serious. Watching her scribble away had made me want to throw that notebook in the river’s rushing waters, and help her lighten up and have some fun. I am good at that—having fun!

Instead, I change into Boto form, and swim back to where I had see her. I watch her mutter and scribble for a few more minutes, from my vantage point beneath the water, then swim down river to a calmer part of the river to catch a few hours sleep.