I

Leanne hated to admit it, but the condo was actually pretty cool. The one side was made entirely of glass that gave an amazing view of the city and there were three bedrooms, which meant she wouldn't have to share a room with her little brother. She hesitantly stepped closer to the window and tried to see how high they were, but even peering down with her nose pressed against the glass didn't let her see the entrance of their building.

"Creepy," Leanne murmured, moving away. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was beginning to droop. Leanne's parents and her brother, Lukas, had gone out to fetch some supper. She'd opted to stay at their new place to unpack her boxes while they were out, but so far she'd only managed to set up a mattress on the floor with a sleeping bag and pillow. Her bed frame was being shipped to New York from Africa, along with all their other furniture.

Instead of unpacking, Leanne had been wandering around admiring the different atmosphere of their condo. It was very different from their home in South Africa. For one thing, here everything was painted in a crisp white; even the wood floor boards! The rooms were airy and much bigger with humungous windows that overlooked a stunning city view instead of rainbow flowers and veld.

She hadn't realized the city would be so cold, though. It was a good thing that they sometimes got cold winters back home, so she had some clothing that would be suitable for the dismal weather. At the moment, she was clad in a pair of tracksuit pants, her oversized bathrobe and a pair of her favourite fluffy, striped socks. Unfortunately, she hadn't found her slippers yet. They'd been stuffed in an unmarked box that was now stacked in a corner of her new room. Her bedroom was the last door down the hall. It was also painted white with matching floor boards. Her temporary bed was set up against one wall and her cell phone was plugged into a socket in the wall. The room was nice, with an adjoining bathroom that connected with Lukas's bedroom. The sucky thing was that just outside her bedroom window was a fire escape.

She looked at it distastefully; she couldn't wait to have that window bolted and barred, and her curtains put up. Then she'd be sure that no weirdoes' would be stopping to stare at her as she slept.

The front door opened and Leanne walked out her bedroom at the same time that her family came into the condo. Her mother was short with cropped dark hair. Her thin arms were wrapped around two brown paper bags. Behind her mother came Lukas. His blond hair was spiked up at the front and he wore a pair of baggy jeans and one of his band t-shirts. Their father was dressed casually in blue jeans and a button-up shirt. His glasses were perched on the end of his nose, looking as if they were going to fall off at the slightest movement. His brown hair was dishevelled and he didn't look very happy.

"City drivers," He complained loudly, "They're worse than the taxis!"

Leanne smiled and went to help them carry the parcels in. They'd gotten groceries for the week, as well as pizza for supper; her mom hadn't felt like cooking. They stocked the fridge and minibar. They'd never had a minibar before and they didn't drink alcohol, so they'd decided to fill it with bottles of water. It was kind of cute.

Since neither their dining room table nor couch had been shipped yet, the four of them settled down on a blanket on the floor in a line with their pizza to look out at the city lights. That was one of the things Leanne had been looking forward to for the move. Everyone spoke of the lights as being alive. She had never thought that her dad's work would one day bring them to the Big Apple. When she was little she had thought it was named that because it was in the shape of an apple, now she knew better, she thought…

After eating, her parents went off to bed. Lukas and Leanne hadn't been enrolled in a school yet (as the move had been so unexpected and unprepared), so they were on an unofficial holiday until the new term. Their mom was quick to point out that they should probably find jobs to fill their time as she wouldn't allow her children to be lying idle around the condo all day.

Leanne shuddered at the thought of being stuck with her brother all day every day for the next two months. Sure, she loved the twelve-year-old boy with his excessive hair gel usage and baggy t-shirts, but they just didn't get along well for more than two hours at a time.

When Lukas took out his laptop, Leanne decided to call it a night and headed to her room. Her eyes were fixed on her bedroom window as she plopped onto her mattress and began brushing her shoulder-length brown hair with her fingers. Then she pulled off her socks, clicked off her light and wriggled down into her sleeping bag.

She knew she'd been lying there for a long time when she heard her brother stamp his way to bed. Her hazel eyes were staring at the ceiling; the pristine white starting to give her a headache. She was slowly fading into sleep when a shadow flew over her. She suddenly felt awake and she sat up and looked out her window. Leanne frowned when she saw no one out on the fire escape, but when another shadow passed over her she lifted her gaze to the stars that shone between her building and the one next to it. A few seconds later, two more silhouettes leapt between the gap of the buildings.

Leanne slowly detached her cold fingers from the window and sat back on her legs, blinking. That was something you certainly didn't see every day, even if you were from the other side of the world. She shook her head, as if to free it from the illusion of flying people.

Two minutes later she'd attached a blanket to the window with tape and she was back in bed with her head hidden beneath the folds.