NetsirkWriter

Corbin stood outside the brightly colored house as the van with the rest of his things pulled up. The movers seemed just as confused as the cabbie had as they opened up the van, clearly expecting Corbin to be a tenant of one of the two massive complexes on either side. Not that either of them would complain. The man might not have much, but at least they didn’t have to haul it up God-knows how many floors if some other tenant insisted on using the elevator. Not only that, but the young man absolutely insisted on helping them unload, easily handling boxes that it had taken both of them to load all by himself. They joked about hiring him for his strength, and he just laughed, leading them to his apartment. Neither human seemed fazed that the house seemed bigger on the inside. “Man, these complexes all have some kinda gimmick these days,” one of the movers said as he hefted a box from the van. He seemed to think the cheery little house was just another entrance to one or both of the huge

The shouting upstairs had started again. Ari looked toward his ceiling, pushing his half circle glasses up his large hooked nose. His upstairs neighbors had always been a bit volatile with each other from time to time, but the increasing frequency of the yelling worried the retired teacher. Shaking his head sadly, Ari attempted to return his attention to the newspaper in his hands. He’d met both young men before. One, dark-haired with olive skin and well-toned muscles, was considerate and accommodating, or so he seemed from Ari’s limited dealings. The other, all fake hair, teeth and tan, the older man tried to avoid. There was just something about that one that was all too similar to men in Ari’s past. Men who looked down on him for his scrawny build and different beliefs than their own, taking orders from a man who claimed he was “bettering the world.” Ari never believed a word from their mouths or his fake neighbor’s. “You really think anyone else would take a failure like you?”

“You’re sure you have everything,” the worried woman asked, watching her son load his life into an ancient VW van. “Yes mom,” the young man answered, looking up at his looming giantess of a mother. He watched as she worried her bottom lip with a large canine. Sighing, he walked out from under her shadow and released the charm keeping him small. She stood up as he grew, light grayish green eyes fixed on his deep emerald ones. She reached a hand out, attempting to flatten his fluffy sideburns for the millionth time, only to have them poof right back out. A small, choked sound left her as her son pulled her in for a hug. She clung to him, her only son, her baby Corby. With a squeeze, Corbin released his mom, tilting her head so she was looking at him. “I’ll be fine,” he murmured reassuringly, as much to himself as to her. He’d never been more than a few miles outside the Haven Network in his whole life. School field trips were limited to visiting other Havens and the human towns