I'm not the only one? ((Josslyn))

Talia had been in a lot of places. Seattle, San Francisco, Miami…but she’d never seen a city as big as New York. She had been fine in Miami, since there were lots of pools to clean, but then she’d heard that hotels in New York have pools that need cleaning, and no one to clean them. Talia figured she’d clean them, and earn some customers that paid more than the occasional mom who wants to clean the pool for a party or something like that. She had enough money to pay for a plane ticket, and had spent the entire flight planning what she’d do when she got there. First, she’d explore New York for a bit, then decide which hotels she should try first. Hopefully, she’d find somewhere safe to sleep, and wouldn’t get attacked by these people who wanted a “perfect world”, whatever that meant. Talia got off the plane, feeling like she was starting a whole new life.

She had only brought a backpack of stuff with her, and her staff, of course. That had been kinda hard to get past security, but she’d manage. It was basically a big blue stick, what was the harm? Well, except for the fact that it could give you a migraine, and some serious bruises. Talia could vouch for that. She walked around for a bit, her eyes as big as saucers.

After a few hours of walking around, and after eating what Talia considered lunch and dinner, Talia stopped at a plaza with an interesting fountain. It had the water and everything, but it also had a weird orange thing in the middle. Talia went to go sit on the fountain, dropping her pack, and setting her staff on the ground carefully. She dipped her hand in the water, and gave a sigh of contentment as she felt the cool water. She scooped up some water in her hands, then looked around. No one was paying attention to her, so Talia decided to throw caution to the winds, something she’d done only a few times before, mainly when she was new to a city. She started fashioning the water into a ball, making hand motions, but also thinking about what she was trying to do. When she finished, she whispered, “Hello,” into it, and let go. The ball suspended for a second in midair, before it dropped. When it hit the water in the fountain, it exploded, leaving an echoed ‘hello’, ringing in midair. Talia smiled, and turned back around. Time to keep moving. Of course, she hadn’t seen the person walk up behind her, and who was now blocking her way. Talia’s eyes widened, had they just seen that? “Um…I can explain,” she said timidly, wondering how she was going to talk her way out of this.