Emrys surveyed his new surroundings, hunting for just the right person. On one side of the car was a group of four black teens. They were all talking loudly, cursing every other word. It seemed to be the new norm for every teenager all over the world. Across the aisle from them was a middle aged man and what appeared to be his young son. The man kept looking over at the teenagers with a worried look on his face while his son slept.

 

Emrys couldn’t read thoughts, but he could sense what the man was thinking. It seemed to fill the very air on the car. His biases against the boys of a different race practically bled out onto the floor between them. Emrys’s own olive skin tone didn’t really match any one race in particular. He had designed his body that way and perhaps if he wasn’t so weak, he would lighten his complexion a bit before he talked to the bigot. Regardless, he had his cane. Again, he would have to make due in his weakened state.

 

Emrys moved towards him, each thump of his cane was masked by the rail noises and the teens talking. Something in the man’s peripheral vision caught his eye and he looked out the window. It was nothing but a mere trick Emrys learned long ago. When he turned back around, Emrys was sitting next to his son. The man jumped back and opened his mouth to say something. Emrys put one wrinkled finger to his lips.

 

“Shh. Let’s keep the boy asleep. It’ll be much easier that way. ” Emrys raised his cane so that the man could see the globe atop. He sensed that the man could become violent and Emrys didn’t want that. . . yet.

 

“I understand your concern. No. I have no children of my own, but I was one a long, long time ago. You feel threatened. You feel you need to protect your child. There will come a time when that may be true, but sometimes, children will surprise their parents. They can take care of themselves just fine if you let them.”

 

The globe’s insides swirled and the man looked on. His son continued to sleep. The teens took no notice of them.

 

“I want to tell you a tale. I’ll make sure to keep my voice down. We wouldn’t want to wake your child.”