Love Me Some TV

There was something strangely enticing about sun rise. Not the brilliant, blinding light from the sun; no, that blazing orb could blind a person. But it was the way the air smelled, the way everything had an almost blue tint, well... Almost everything. Alice Taylor gave off a light all her own, a sometimes gentle white glow that could light up a room, and it prevented that pretty blue haze from coloring Alice in that pretty shade.

Of course, Alice didn't mind it much anymore. But when she was a little girl, a little glowy girl, she had been jealous of the people that didn't glow for that one reason.

It might be the reason she was never awake any time near or around dawn. Soon after one p.m. was the perfect time to wake up. Her shift on stage didn't start until after sunset anyway, when the last bits of light were being chased away by shadows and there was that creepy feeling that something was lurking just around the corner, waiting. So there was no real reason she should have been awake at seven a.m., walking to the Strong Man's tent to see what the news had to say this morning.

There had been several interesting installments in the Mutant World recently, some, if not most, had made it onto television and into the news papers. There was so much distaste for the Mutants that it made Alice a little wary. It was a wonder no one in the Deep South had come looking for Alice when she wasn't on stage, even if it was just to see if she really glowed like that or if it was some sort of illusion, like Sophie, The Bearded Lady. People got crazy sometimes.

Alice could have watched the news after her appearance. She could have been cozy and comfy in bed. But no. Strong Man had the only still working television left in camp, and he only ever let other people in to watch it for the morning news. He was such a stingy lummox, even if he was her Uncle.

There was already a group of people just kind of loitering around outside, waiting for.. well Alice wasn't entirely sure what for. She pushed Larry the fire eater out of her way and arched one eyebrow at him when he started to complain. He smiled instead, "It always gives me the chills how your eyes glow like that, Alice. So bright it's like you don't even have real eyes." His voice sounded like he smoked for his whole fifty nine years of life; but having his throat scorched every night for more than thirty years was bound to have lasting effects.

"I can see well enough to notice the soot on your clothes." Alice said as she smiled back. She made a vague gesture at the other people standing in front of Strong Man's tent, leaving a trail of small orange bulbs lingering in the air, "What's with the congregation?"

Larry scratched the side of his face, his nails scraping against his whiskers, "Well. Pete's not here."

That was strange. And for someone that had grown up in and around a sideshow, Alice had a warped sense of what was strange and what.. well, what wasn't. She put her hands on her hips and turned in a circle, confused. Larry noticed and let out a bark of laughter.

"Makes no sense to anyone, Glow Worm, calm down. Pete's probably just gone.. somewhere not far. Fido's looking for him."

Alice sighed and tucked her hair behind an ear. Fido wasn't really the Cajun woman with the scary powerful stomach's name, but Larry had taken to calling her that when she found his long missing left shoe hidden within the Dog Faced Boy's trailer. He didn't really have a dog face, but he sure acted like man's best friend. Some problem from childhood or something, Alice didn't remember. But Fiona (aka Fido) wasn't a tracker. She just had common sense.

Common sense says a missing shoe is probably missing because of a dog or misplacement, and it also says that Strong Man only leaves the vicinity of his tent when he's showing off his strength to the normals. Something wasn't right.

Alice pushed a hand through her hair, leaving a trail of small orange bulbs behind as she did so that winked out of existence. She started to imagine the worst. But as soon as her fingers were scratching the back of her head, she relaxed and gave up worrying about Strong Man. She shrugged mentally to herself and walked past Larry to the part of the tent that was the entrance and moved the flap aside to go inside. It was tv time. And she wasn't going to miss any news this morning worrying about Strong Man.

He was a big man, very robust and sturdy. He could take care of himself, where ever he had run off to. He didn't need people worrying about if he was lying dead in a ditch somewhere.

Alice's natural light illuminated the darkness of the tent, but no one else followed her in. She took an apple from the fruit basket on the center table, turned on the television, sank into the sofa and kicked her sneaker clad feet up onto the coffee table. Yeah. She was getting her fix of television this morning, no matter what.