Color - Turquoise (Patreon)

Almost nothing had changed about the old neighborhood. It had the same houses, the same trees, the same shops that I remembered from ten years ago. The sights, the sounds, even the smell of a damp road after a rain took me back to my teens.

I hadn’t been here in seven years. I left for university and my life took off from there. I got my degree, landed a good job, and traveled around the world supervising construction for a major restaurant chain. It was a total coincidence that my job brought me back here.

“Richard is that you?” A kindly old voice called out to me from a shop on the street corner. It was Mrs. Jewel, a permanent fixture here in town. She had been a resident for as long as anyone could remember.

“Mrs. Jewel, how good to see you again!” I exclaimed. I wasn’t lying. There was something welcoming about seeing her old face.

“Richard, look how big you are! You’ve grown into quite the man. It’s been so long since you left, I thought you forgot about us.”

“I’ve just been busy Mrs. Jewel. School kept me busy, and now there’s work, and when my parents moved away there just wasn’t much opportunity to come back. But I’m here on a job today, so I decided to check out the old town.”

“Oh, not much has changed dear. Most of us are still here, just a little older. Say, why don’t you stay for dinner. I was just closing up shop.”

“I don’t want to be a bother,” I said in protest. She always went too far out of the way for guests.

“Nonsense. You loved my cooking when you were a child, and besides, Turquoise will want to see you.”

That name brought back memories. Jewel was a child of the 60’s and the free spirit of the hippies never quite left her. She named all of her daughters after gems and Turquoise was the youngest. She was also one of the only mutants in town, a draconic looking girl with scales that fit her namesake. I used to play with her quite a bit as a child, despite being a little older.

“Is she still living here? I would have thought she’d have moved away by now.”

“Ah, not everyone is so eager to leave this old down. She’s taking some time off before going to college. She wants to apply to Port Solei University, really get to know her fellow mutants you know, but she also doesn’t want to leave little old me alone. I told her its fine, she should chase her dreams, but she still wanted to stick around while she was considering options. She’s going to apply next year though. Anyway, she can catch you up herself,” said Mrs. Jewel beckoning me inside. “Come in, come in! Take a load off.”

Mrs. Jewel’s hosue hadn’t changed a bit. It even smelled the same, that familiar musty smell of dust and old pressed flowers, accentuated by her classic homemade stew. The modest kitchen table was already set, surrounded by the same wooden chairs I sat on when my feet didn’t reach the floor. It didn’t take her long to put out an extra floral pattern plate for me. The whole scene took me back.

“You look happy Richard,” said Mrs. Jewel with a shaky old grin. She ladled me a big helping of stew over a mound of mashed potatoes. “Has work been going well?”

“I can’t complain. It pays well, keeps me busy. Traveling gets lonely though.” I took a big whiff of the plate she put in front of me. I missed this. “Honestly, I didn’t know I missed this old place so much till now. When you travel as much as I do you really miss having a place to call home.”

“Oh, silly boy. This is your home! Sure, you may have left a while back to chase success, but your heart stayed here. I can see it in your eyes. Now, dig in before your stew gets cold.”

“Thanks Mrs. Jewel,” I said greedily helping myself to the meal.

Just then the front door swung open. “Hi Mom, I’m home!” I heard a familiar voice say. “I’m beat, is dinner ready?”

“Turquoise! Come in. Sit down. We have a dinner guest.”

“Oh who is it?” she said entering the kitchen. She was… different than I remembered her, more mutated and much more grown. I still remembered the glimmering blue scales and deep blue hair. Her tail was longer than I remembered, and she seemed to have an extra small set of arms which must have grown in while I was away. Her feet had changed too, mutated into claws which looked almost like high-heels. She had this almost feral beauty to her.

It took her a while to recognize me, but I could tell when she did, because her cheeks turned flushed red.

“Hi Turkey,” I said with a soft smile.

“You don’t I don’t like when you call me that,” she said with a gentle smile back, sitting down at the table to join us for dinner.