Later, Myanin had come to a mountain that was carved with the giant faces of four men. “Why are those faces in the mountain?” she asked a woman who had been taking a picture with what Myanin thought was called a cell phone.
“It’s Mount Rushmore,” the woman said, as if that should mean something to the djinn.
“Okay,” Myanin drew out. “But why did they mount their heads up there? Did they do something great? Did they slay many enemies? Did they build civilizations that ruled over all?”
The woman look confused and then shrugged. “I guess. They’re founding fathers.”
Myanin nodded. “Ah, so they’re the creators of your race. Your fathers. I understand.”
The woman’s eyes grew wide, and she practically ran away from Myanin mumbling to herself.
Myanin watched the female’s back as she skittered away and hopped into one of the large steel transportation devices. “It’s official,” she said. “Humans are the dumbest beings ever.” She paused and then corrected. “Except for the one who made cotton candy. That human has some level of intelligence that is acceptable.”
She continued her walk/run across the states, stopping occasionally when she found something interesting. It was on day four that she ended up in a city lit up with so many lights that she wondered how anyone knew when to go to sleep. The sign read “Welcome to Las Vegas.” “Why are they always welcoming everyone?” she asked out loud. Myanin found that since she had no one to speak to, she did a lot of talking to herself. “Don’t they realize they could be inviting an enemy into their territory?” There was a person standing in front of the sign, taking a picture on their phone. Myanin walked over to the human male and tapped him on the back. She’d found through trial and error that it was better to make herself known instead of just appearing in front of them. They seemed less frightened that way.
He turned to look at her, and his eyes widened a bit. Though they didn’t know she wasn’t human, the prey in them knew that she was a predator. “Can I help you?” he asked.
“Probably not. Your kind never seems very helpful, though I don’t think that’s totally your fault. You’re just inferior to other species. But I’m going to ask you anyway because I enjoy disappointment.” She pointed to the sign. “You humans welcome everyone into your states and cities.”
“H-h-humans?”
“Yes, humans. That’s not what’s important. You welcome everyone into your territories. Don’t you realize how foolish that is?”
“Foolish?” the man said, his words once again coming out wobbly.
“You should have sentries placed at all of your points of entries. Anyone seeking entrance into your territory should be questioned and searched.”
“Sentries?”
Myanin’s head tilted as she narrowed her eyes on the male. “Are you monosyllabic?”
“I… I’m not sure what that means.”
“So, now I need to give you a lesson on your own language as well as on how to protect your territory?” Myanin sighed. One minute the humans seemed ingenious, and the next they were like flies that ate dung. “Can you at least tell me where I can get some cotton candy?”
He frowned and looked even more confused. “Cotton candy?”
“Damn the hell of shit,” Myanin cursed. “Be gone.” She pushed him away from her. “I’m afraid your lack of sense might be contagious.”
She glanced up at the bright sign that was screaming at everyone, whether their intentions be ill or not, to come and do something with squares that had dots on them. “Why can’t all of their inventions be as awesome as cotton candy?” She shook her head and then started walking toward the bright lights of a street lined with tall buildings. The lights seemed to draw people in like moths to a flame. The humans almost appeared mindless as they walked with open mouths and bright eyes, hypnotized by whatever it was that the city offered. Perhaps the square with the dots was some kind of drug? They had drugs in the djinn realm that were coveted because of the effect they had on the mind. Some of their kind were known to go a little crazy from all the information they kept in their minds, and they gave into the draw of the mindless drug.
When she reached the first illuminated building, she saw lights moving in a running motion, up and down the height of the structure. Loud laughter and carousing spilled out from within. Okay, now she just had to see what had the humans in such spirits. She walked through the open doors, and her senses were assaulted with more lights, a cacophony of sounds, and a smell that shouldn’t exist. It was musty with a burnt undertone. She saw a burning white stick hanging out of a woman’s mouth. The end of it emitted a trail of white smoke that rose and hovered in the air. Myanin rushed over and grabbed it from the woman’s mouth, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it with her boot.
The woman gasped and then shouted, “What the hell, bitch?”
Myanin looked up from the burning stick. “I just saved your life, female. You would be wise not to refer to me as a female dog.”
“I can smoke if I want to. They’re my lungs,” the woman bit out.
“I care not for your lungs. That stick was on fire and would have lit up your face as bright as the lights in this place once it reached your skin,” Myanin said. Did she really have to explain this to this woman? “Human flesh is flammable. That means you burn up,” she added, because the woman probably didn’t know what the word flammable meant.
“It wasn’t on fire, you tall-ass freak,” the woman screeched. “Don’t you know what a cigarette is?”
Myanin frowned. “This word cigarette is unfamiliar. Are you saying you were holding the burning stick in your mouth on purpose?”
The woman raised her brow and crossed her arms in front of her chest. “It didn’t just jump into my mouth all by itself.”
“My apologies.” Myanin realized she’d just stomped on the woman’s property. “Regardless of the fact that I’ve never seen something so utterly dim-witted in my existence as putting a burning object in one's mouth, I should not have damaged your property.”
