[b]THULILE[/b]

Thuly woke up startled. [i]’What, where?’[/i] Then she realized it was Vincent’s voice that had ripped her from her dream. She was so relieved. Relieved to be back in the real world and relieved to be amongst her friends. Her dream had teleported her back to the day that Thulile had been allowed to join this odd pack of misfits. 

She remembered that day, three months ago, vividly. The weight of the wounded dog across her shoulders, the police sirens coming nearer and nearer and this same beat up truck driving towards her. She’d yelled at them, pleading them to stop and save her. And they did, they had. She remembered what happened next only vaguely, as the mist of fatigue had weighed her down. When she discovered that her companions had mystical powers, they wanted to drop her off somewhere. Thuly’s natural inclination not to trust anyone, meant she hadn’t revealed her own power yet. But somehow being part of this group of misfits felt right. So, gulping away her nerves, Thulile had given them a taster of her power. It had been rather impressive to see this petite girl lift the back of the truck off the road a good three feet. It had been convincing enough, and they had taken her in. 

Now, all these months later, Thuly had proven her worth. Her power had manifested in unexpected and unpredictable ways. She liked the way it felt: being part of a team. It was the first time she’d experienced this. 

Then she looked over to Vincent, from her perch on the passenger’s seat. [i]’What had he said? Theme parks?’[/i], she wondered. Then Eli leaned around the side of the truck: "We need to get a new ride man, this hunk of junk is gonna croak on us someday soon and I'd rather it not be when we're trying to get away from the grunts." Then he snorted: "I give it ten minutes of being in one of those theme parks before we get attacked by some sort of evil clown". “Whoah, WHAT?!” Thulile asked. She hadn’t been in a theme park ever. Eli’s last remark shattered the glittery, pinkish, jingle jangle image she had been painting in her mind. The idea of being ambushed by a terror clown didn’t appeal to Thuly whatsoever. 

Still, she had gotten used to Eli’s murky sense of humor since he had joined them these last couple of months. Regaining her composure, she straightened her back and smiled bravely: “Clown or no clown, let’s check out those theme parks!”