Bisera walked…well, more like pranced down the sidewalk. She had no real destination, but was having fun brushing her hand along the fences she past, making a soft ‘tap tap tap’ sound. She had just left the beach, and her purse was full of sea glass that clinked together as she went on her way down the boardwalk. Her hair was damp, it smelled of the ocean, and the bottom of her dress was wet from the waves that had splashed her feet. 

She loved the beach in the early morning, with only a handful of joggers on it, and no one else. The sound of the waves, far off seagull cries, and the sea breeze, along with the warm rising sun, was just like a mini heaven. She had gone for a swim, and spent a few hours hunting for sea glass, thought once more people came onto the beach bring their coolers, umbrellas, towels, metal detectors, shovels, and kites. In no time people would come with their dogs…that would not stop there barking at the sight of invisible Bisera. So she put her sandals back on and headed for somewhere else. 

Turning the corner she, she walked down the street a bit more, and then headed into an alley, that was relatively hidden behind the huge brick building’s open front gates, and the flower shop stands to the side. It was a pretty alley, forgotten to most except for the older humans who lived around it. It had with cobblestone steps, hanging laundry above, blooming flower boxes in the windows on each side, ivy growing up the walls, and a was home to an alley cat Bisera had come to call “Bowie”. 

This alley led its way to an abandoned looking building, thought it only looked that way to humans. It was actually a hotel of sorts for Shades, there was two or three in almost every city. This particular one was run by a Shade man named Cecil, who had a metallic green afro, one completely white eye, and two large ram like horns on his head, he considered it annoying to put on a human façade, and was not a big fan of humans in general so he bought the building about two hundred years ago and has not left the place since. Walking into the place was like a trip back to the 1800s, and the hotel was also know as to be 'The Plaza' of the shade world. 

Bisera had been staying at the hotel for the last two weeks, in room number fifteen, that had an overwhelmingly amount of gold used in the décor. Previously she had been in Oregon, living with her friend Olanna. Olanna had been living as a human for the last three years in Portland, she who ran her own art gallery under her human façade, lived with her human boyfriend James, and had a bet bird named Louise, was completely in love with being human. Bisera had only lived with her for about seven months, and the whole time under her façade as per house rules. But it had been a wonderful time. Oregon had been beautiful, and fun. Now she was here in California. 

She entered the hotel lobby, greeting Tita, one of the bodyguards who was there to scare off the odd lost human, who came upon the place. She headed into the champagne room, which was just a fancy name for the bar area. By night, you could have some of the world’s finest champagne, caviar and wines. By day, Shades could indulge in freshly baked pastries, light gourmet fare, and specialty coffees/teas. Sitting at the edge of the counter she ordered a ‘Golden Opulence Sundae’. Being a Shade, there was nothing like money, which the humans had, when a shade wanted something they would just get it, but in Shade only businesses giving something in return for service was polite, so she handed the bartender the dainty ruby ring she had found in 1912 in Spain. Rings were small and her go to form of payment for shade service. She had put the ring along with a dozen others in her purse this morning, knowing she would most likely be going about the city with shade destinations in mind. 

She ate her sundae, at the counter as the bartender mixed up cocktail for the lady that had just come in.
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Tony woke up hung over from last night’s pity party he had thrown for himself, lots of beer, and channel surfing, a few horror movies, and like six episodes of ‘scrubs’. Nicole had broken up with him…they had only been going out for a month, but it still sucked. Getting out of bed he stumbled groggily into his mess of a bathroom to pee, and find some Aspin in the medicine cabinet. It was a good thing he had no work today, his head was pounding. 

Walking over to his dresser he grabbed his last pair of clean jeans out and put them on clumsily, hitting his foot into the table. Tony never bothered folding his clothes so wrinkles was a given, he took off his shirt and tossed it in the overflowing dirty laundry basket, picking up a bunched up shirt off the ground he sniffed it, and decided it didn’t smell much, deodorant and some cologne would cover up the musty smell. 

Going into the kitchen, he opened up the fridge and drank the rest of the OJ from the carton, as he grabbed the leftover pizza from two nights ago and popped it into the microwave. Two day old pizza, expired milk, some beer, a half-eaten bag of Cheetos, leftover egg rolls, a box of pop tarts, and a tub of chunky money ice cream was all there was food wise in his house. Finishing his pizza, he ran his hand through his bedhead, and headed out the door grabbing his keys. His buddy Zane was a barista at the coffee place at the end of his block, and the ‘friend discount’ was a necessity for the amount of coffee Tony drank.