"I was born with someone else's face."

This feeling will never leave him, not tomorrow, not next week, not ever. The mirror reflected back to him a pair of gleaming purple eyes that he had never seen before.

"This isn't my face. Theodore O' Callaghan the Second, who are you?"

The room was deafeningly quiet. The tiny lamp's light taunted him with an unfamiliar face, the white walls mocked him, and each water drop departing the tap drove him insane. He shifted his gaze from side to side. Face immaculate, eyes gleaming with a rainbow of purple hues; a dashing face of a man he had never seen before. He had been in the bathroom for fifteen minutes; he should have left five minutes ago like his usual responsible self, but he was feeling brazen today, which was unusual for a man who had never been late in his life.

Every click of the clock rang in his mind; the steady, rhythmic ticking drew his attention to the wall and the small clock that sat there. It took a while for the position of the hands to sink in, but once he did, the numerals on the face-

"Oh, Christ!" the blonde man exclaimed

He cleaned his pale face again before snatching the towel and racing out of the bathroom, his wet peach blonde hair spraying droplets all over the place. His stomach grumbled with hunger, but he ignored it in favour of a short cup of coffee. Only fifteen minutes before work, the clock struck seven forty-five. He rushed towards the front door, ignoring his stomach's incessant growling as he ruffled and wrung out his faux-hawk hairstyle hair.

The man groaned and pushed through the door, saying, "A holiday would be nice."

“Come on Duchess! Come on Princess!” he opened the door and let his two blonde silken Wind hounds lead their way out.

He strolled down the street with one in his pocket, his pace quick, his gaze fixed on the pavement in front of him as he carefully stepped on matching stones.

An elderly merman in front of one of the houses perked up at the sight of him as he strolled down the road. As he stepped closer to the fence that lined the pathway and gave him a wave, he continued to do so to every neighbor that greeted him.

With a dismissive hum, he observed the sky and the town people around him. 

Centaurs were wearing their vests that said “Taxi” on it, Small entrances just for pixies and other tiny creatures, a herd of Pegasus appeared out of thin air and flew past them right above their heads, the wind shook the tree and leaves of spring stormed high with the wind while the town folks try to collect themselves from the sudden appearance. Theodore chuckled at the local granny whining about the mess that was left behind. However, his smile faded as soon as he looked away.

Theodore's mind slipped back to the future, as it always did on his way to work, ignoring the people's enthusiasm. He's nearly finished saving for all the tickets; just a few more weeks and he'll be on his way. Just a couple more pay cheques to go.

He wasn't in good shape. He hadn't got any sleep in days, and it was starting to show.

His thoughts frayed when he trod on each of the lighter brick stones on the route, and just them. As a dragon flew above him and into the clouds, the ground darkened. As his mood continued to deteriorate, the morning groups of workers grew thicker around him. While the sought to thread his way through the mob, his concentration was divided between the bricks beneath him and the continuously shifting mass of people.

Then there's was a face.

A face that had a faint resemblance to someone you know, but was otherwise unrecognizable.

As he studied the other figure, a man wearing yellow Lennon glasses, ash brown hair with pink and green stripes, and jade like eyes flashing behind the tinted glass, time slowed.

 “Who are you?”

As he was forced aside by the crowds, the figure dissolved into thin air. Every time he turned around, he couldn't find the mystery man.

"Odd.”

He attributed it all up to his lack of sleep and nourishment after several minutes of standing in the moving crowd and analysing what he saw, shrugging off his worries until he realized he was still practically late to work.

He returned his focus to the bricks and continued walking. As the aroma of early blossoming flowers and newly cut grass reached him in unison, the bricks shifted from a combination of filthy red and washed out orange to a more polished shade of grey. The capital golden letters reading "O´Callaghan Orphanage" gleamed brightly in the early sun on the sign mounted over the sleek glass set of windows. He pushed open the see-through doors and raised his eyes to the ceiling. He made it in time despite the fact that the clock read eight.

When he returned his gaze to the entrance surrounding him, he was surprised by an oddly empty space.

There was no worker at the front desk, no children running about in the lobby, and even bugs that the kids dragged in while looking for new mates. He took another step into the room, searching for any signs of life.

"Hello? Aunties? Bailey?  Where is everybody?”

Above him, the lights turned on. People came out of the shadowy corners of the room all around him, shouting "Surprise!" as they piled in.

He jerked his head up surprised, on the verge of a mini-heart attack.

"Happy 24th Birthday, Theodore XOXO!" was written in purple, glittery frosting on a messy white cake clearly made by the kids that appeared from the midst of the crowd.

Even though he wasn't in great form, he appreciated everyone's efforts.

“Awe, you guys are the sweetest!” His mood shifted as if on command, he gave warm hugs and thank-yous to everyone involved, up-beat trailed from the corner of the room, he danced with the kids and pretended that everything was fine.

Later that day, he managed to slip away from the sea of people after a short round of singing, a slice of cake shoved into his arms, and a few more birthday wishes from the older children, not mentally in the moment but grateful anyway.

He ultimately retired to his office, staring down at the sloppy cake in his palm, before sliding into his office chair and placing the slice on his desk and watched his dogs running around with the children in the garden.

With a fork, he poked at his piece of cake with the tip of it, the face from the crowd creeped back into his mind. He had to know who this guy was from somewhere. He appeared to be east-asian, so it couldn't have been a distant relative, a close family acquaintance or does he knows any male east-asian friend. He might have simply met the other in a store, but this felt more personal.

Strange...

A loud bang on his door drew his attention away just as the door flung open, showing Princess of the World herself, 'No Boundaries' Bailey, as she waltzed into his office. "Hello, Theo!" the blonde harpy exclaimed enthusiastically. “Happy birthday! Do you think I did a good job decorating the cake? What did you think of it? Be honest!"

Theodore blinked and smiled, attempting to push aside his lingering thoughts and recall anything other than the white and purple frosting. "Yeah! It was lovely, my love! "

She beamed up at him as she hopped onto the desk. "Did the like the unicorn or the dragon more?"

He said to himself, "... There was a dragon?" Nothing, on the other hand, escaped the owlet's notice.

She gave him a slight, annoyed pout as she rolled her eyes at him. “I bet you didn't notice the pink clown on it too!"

"Oh no! I thought it was so creative lad!" He chuckled a little, but she scowled back, her tiny arms crossed over her pink frilly top.

"There were no clowns, Theo! I lied, you have no idea what you're talking about!" He just huffed up and put his hands on his hips, as she flicked her hair and gave him a flat expression.

A curvy woman, with a pair of transparent white wings fluttering as she hovered into the room, put a few strands of her pink curly hair in a little bun and offered an immaculate grin that radiated through the expanse of the room, appeared as if on cue.

Carnation, to be precise.

"Hello, Theo! Hello, Bailey!" She waved to the small girl, who greeted her with a broad smile after hearing her favourite guardian's high-pitched, sing-song voice.

"Oh, oh, oh! Mrs. Carny! Today I ran out of your pretty wings glitter!" Bailey spoke up again, this time seizing Carnation's hand and hopping from one foot to the other with delight.

"Already? But I gave you a handful of it this morning!" Carnation objected to the little girl, who responded with a giggle.

"butttttt, Mrs Carny!! All of it went into the cake!"

Carnation looked at Theodore, puzzled, as she slowly connected the dots. "What Cake?"

"Silly, it's Theo's birthday cake!"

For a brief while, Theodore and his aunt exchanged gazes before returning uneasy smiles to the young child.

"My love, Only edible glitters belong in any food, these can be dangerous to consume... let alone being from someone´s wings..." Theodore was perplexed but tried not to sound rude to the five years old.

Theodore moved the slice away from him, while the fairy guided Bailey through the door with a smidgeon of glitter from her gleaming wings,

"Wonderful, honey," she said," Go ahead and play with your glitter. In a few moments, I'll be with you!”

"Okieee!”

"Bye!" 

 Carnation guided her out the door and she dashed across the doorway with her new glitter treasure. Carny proceeded to yell something about micro-plastic in the cake and swung the door closed.

"Right." She cautiously floated approached the desk and grabbed a picture frame lying towards the corner after a few heavy seconds of stillness. She looked up from it with a soft sigh, giving him a faint, almost solemn smile.

"Look at you, It feels just like yesterday.” she holds the picture of his first day at the orphanage, his hair messy, bags under his eyes, typically university student physical state. Yet with a smile, so warm it could light any room. It's what he's known for.

He gave her a nod as he looked across at her, then down at the picture she was holding. "I'm almost done with the money I'll need to book the flight, I'll be gone by summer." 

She repositioned the frame, this time adjusting the angle, so it sat perfectly. "You know, we're going to miss you." "Everyone here adores you."

“It's just a year, auntie.” 

He twirled the fork between his fingers before placing it next to the cake on the dish. "However, you and I both know that this is my entire life's ambition. It's my dream to go on this world tour.” 

His eyes were drawn to the window.

"I have to go places, observe things, photograph them in their most beautiful moments, and view the world in ways that no one else has ever seen before. All I wanted since I was a child”

She sat in front of him, her hand resting on his shoulder. “I am aware of that.” As he shifted his gaze back to her, she ran her thumb across his cheek. "That's why, while you're on the road, I want you and your dogs to be safe, and I hope you'll return to us soon."

He returned her smile with his own as he placed his hand on hers.

“I'll be back soon.”

With a tiny chuckle, she shook her head.

"Of course, besides. It is not like you'll be gone by next week!"