Pitch black darkness surrounds me as I lay down on my bed staring at the ceiling, the clock ticking away on the wall, trying to sleep like other normal Human-Hybrids, attempting to fix and adjust my biological clock, but yet again, it's another failed attempt.

Today is my first day at work and I didn't get any ounce of sleep.

I mean What did I expect? Most of the time I'm up through the night and sleeping through the day. With me being a nocturnal owl human-hybrid it's almost impossible to sleep at night.

This isn't the first time. With no hope of falling asleep, I sigh and get up, stopping the alarm clock a while before it went off, I might as well get ready and start my day.

Standing up I spread my wings to stretch them out.

Usually, I don't bother turning the lights on while getting ready, since I'm a nocturnal owl hybrid my eyes can enhance and adjust to the darkness. But since Batricia -the Personal Assistant I'm replacing- advised me to cover my dark circles with makeup, I've watched several ZooTube tutorials on how to color correct and conceal dark spots, making special time for my makeup routine every day.

Once I had breakfast, prepped and packed my own lunch, I finished getting dressed, then checked the content of my bag, put on my sunglasses then left my apartment.

Although it was quite early, wearing sunglasses protects my eyes from the sun and strong electrical lighting, my eyes are already sensitive as it is, and the lack of sleep makes it worse. You never know when you'll face a very bright advertisement, these bright screen Ads can be really blinding.

The sunglasses also covers the dark bags under my eyes when I need them.

I walk to the train station, although it's super early there are people waiting on the platform to get to their destinations.

"She's super hot," I heard someone say a few meters away, another perk of being an owl human-hybrid is the acute hearing, "would definitely mate with her," the person continued to say.

His companion scoffed, "You're way out of her league, an angel-like her wouldn't go for a frog like you."

"And neither for a bloodsucker like you," the frog clapped at his mosquito hybrid companion.

As they moved away from the ad screen, I turn my head around to see who they were talking about, and I can see a commercial for Zootoria Garden playing with one of their lingerie supermodels, Dyveke.

Zootoria Garden is a lingerie, clothing, and beauty brand catered to human-hybrids, they're known for their sexy pieces, and their annual fashion show with supermodels dubbed as angels.

All of Zootoria Garden's supermodels are hot and sexy models, Dyveke was no exception.

I turn my head away from the ad and look ahead as the train approaches the platform, once the train stops, the train doors as well as the barrier doors open, allowing for people to get on and come out from the train.

The barriers were installed after the election of our new human-hybrid president when crime against certain groups of human-hybrid species skyrocketed.

I may fall into one of these groups of species, but human-hybrids are too afraid of the curse of misfortune to do anything about it.

Once inside the train, people move to the carts next door, even those who were already there from the previous train station.

Sometimes I sit by myself, other times I'm accompanied by other Owl human-hybrids, depending on the time or area I'm heading to.

We don't really interact, I mean, after all, we are strangers to each other. still, one time a human-hybrid was about to walk into the cart but turned around and ran away when he saw multiple owl hybrids in one place, then the people after him, some people got in the carts next door, and others refused to use the train at all and stayed behind, waiting for the next train to arrive.

It's a quiet journey, filled with the rattling sound of the train, I switch stations when I have to and walk the rest of the way to the company.

People avoided me, avoided coming closer to me, making way for me to pass through without touching, or bumping into them.

Because of who I am, if something goes wrong, I'm the first one to blame.

This is something I've gotten used to over the years... just kidding, I just mask it very well.

This is something that I'm really insecure about, and it still hurts me and kills me from the inside even more every time someone blames me or uses my hybridness against me.

And for that reason, I have no friends.

... well, I did have one, or I thought I did, but deep down he was like everyone else, he exploded and blamed everything on me.

He added to my insecurities, not like there're many people who approach me to befriend me, but those who supposedly do, I think they only do it out of pity, just like him.

And to those who manage to hold a civil relationship with me, I'm always anticipating that same explosion.

Always asking myself, is this it? Is this what will make them explode? Is this what will make them blame me for their lives not going how they wanted them to be?

I scan my ID card which I've received two days ago in the mail with some neatly written notes from Batricia, it contained information, rules, and instructions to follow.

There are four elevators, As I approached one of them, people spread to the other surrounding three, even if it meant they arrived late they wouldn't want to risk it.

I used to be considerate of people and would wait for another elevator to get down, but that was a waste of my time and to be honest, I got sick and tired of being nice, why do I have to be the one who always thinks about others first? What about me? Does no one think about me? All they think about is 'how to avoid the Owl human-hybrid?'

I sound like a narcissist, talking about me, me, me. I'm pretty sure if I were to complain about it, no one would give a shit, I'll probably be told to grow up, it's one versus one hundred.

Being by myself with no one to talk to has been both a blessing and a curse.

I've questioned myself multiple times, I've questioned my skills, my worth, my truth, my feelings, and my presence in this life.

Having no one to talk to about all this, I've become my own shoulder to cry on.
It's tiring, but the more I do it though, the more my tolerance for bullshit is decreasing and sometimes I feel like my feelings are shutting down, I'm becoming numb.

I try to not let people's words get to me, but sometimes when it's too much I have to reassure myself, that it wasn't my fault.

Anyway, what kind of business does an owl human-hybrid have, working as a Personal Assistant? Someone who "brings bad luck" shouldn't be working in the assisting field or any field in general.

It is out of my own selfishness, I'm looking for vindication, although I have been hurt while working as a PA by my previous bosses because of my unluckiness, whenever I accomplish something by myself, without counting on my luck, knowing that I've done my hardest and seeing the results afterward, I feel vindicated.

There's nothing wrong with being lucky and using your luck to your advantage.

But What makes me sad and disappointed is the stigma other human-hybrids have against Owl hybris, they don't accept the fact that we're unlucky ourselves, and can not have any impact or control over other's luck.

They just want someone to blame instead of blaming themselves and taking consequences for their own actions and choices.

The elevator dings signaling its arrival at my floor.

The floor was quiet except for the sound of a clicking keyboard, coming from the opposite direction of my desk.
Probably someone working overtime.

I took out my journal and started preparing for the day, reading and arranging the files by color code from important and urgent to the least important and can be delayed, I took my work phone which was also included with the rest of the things that were sent to me by Batricia, all the important numbers I needed are saved in there beforehand, I'm really amazed by her organization skills and work ethic, from what I heard about her, she refused to start her maternity leave until she was a day or two close to her due date.

I draft a message to my new boss, introducing myself and sending him a soft copy of his schedule for the day, I also send one to my boss's driver.

People have started coming in and staring at me, probably because I still had my sunglasses on indoors and for the fact that I am an Owl hybrid, I can tell that some of them are going to stir some bullshit.

Ignoring their stares I continue prepping for my day, I enter the break room and start making coffee and following the recipe that was given to me, looks like my boss is very picky about his taste.

I was in the midst of making the coffee when one of the employees came in, looked at me, then at the coffee I was making and backtracked out of the break room.

I can already guess what is going through his mind and what are the events that could happen, They happened before, and they could happen again.

I never really used the break room for myself, it's always for my employers, I always avoid them, I've had people blaming me for having an upset stomach after eating their own homemade food, or stealing their food when you can clearly see the described leftovers in the tin basket of another employee.

As I said before I never use the break room for myself, I prepare my lunch box every day at home, I bring my own coffee in a large thermal mug, and my water in my gym bottle, they have no reason to accuse me, rather they saw me as the weakest and the easiest to blame.

After so much nonsense and false accusations during my previous jobs, I had to put a stop to it, using the security cameras and proving my innocence, I warned them that I'll file a harassment report against anyone who came to me with the same or any other bullshit.

I've been dealing with this kind of behavior at every workplace I've worked at, but with time my tolerance for bullshit has become short.

I place the hot cup of coffee on a plate with a glass of water, in case the boss doesn't want to drink the coffee I made or wash the coffee down with water, grabbing two coasters, I carry everything to his office, he should be here any minute now.

After placing both the coffee and the water away from the files and papers, I check my instructions one last time to see if I had any more tasks to do.

Water the plants.

I look around the office and see two plants placed on each side of the room by the windows, a small watering can Is on the window sill behind one of the potted plants, I pick it up and water the left plant, then I move to water the plant on the right corner.

My back was to the door office, I didn't notice when my boss arrived, I did think I heard something before turning around.

"...gel?" Someone said.

"Pardon?" I say as I turn around, I see how quickly his awe-struck facial expression drops to one of disappointment, and for a second, mine does too, before I collected myself, I have to act nonchalant but man does it hurt.

Ignoring the hurt, I put down the watering can and walk to his frozen body, I extend my hand to shake his, "Good morning sir, my name is Puma and I'll be your personal assistant for the next three months" I introduce myself.

He leaves my outstretched hand hanging "...You're an Owl hybrid" he says stating the obvious.

"..." mentally sighing, I drop my stranded hand.

"You're an Owl hybrid" he restated, his face clearly saying are you fucking kidding me?!

Another one, I thought.

I was actually disappointed, from my meeting with his PA I thought he was as open-minded and unbiased as she was, clearly, I thought wrong and from the looks of it, she hired me without telling him anything about me.

"Do you discriminate against Owl hybrids?" I asked.

And like everyone else he looked offended, he proceeded to defend himself, all of them began with the same excuses, so I never bother to continue listening to them, and he wasn't an exception.

I decided to cut him off and not waste both our time, "sir, let us not waste both of our times, this conversation is going nowhere, I'll be at my desk, call for me once you've collected yourself," with that said I walked away and out of his office.