A/N: Okay folks, I know this doesn't appear to be a Phantom fiction at this point, but I need to introduce some characters before I can get into the plot. Erik won't be around until the scene is appropriate i.e. France, Paris circa 1881, but I hope you will still consider trudging through this to get to the good stuff i.e. parts with Erik. It all had a significance, so I hope you can be patient. Well, I hope you enjoy this...

And it would honour me if you reviewed. Thank you!

Bored Desperation

Julian

It was autumn again, and peering beyond my window this time provided nothing different than countless other times, even if the trees hadn't been the same last year or a hundred years ago. I took no interest in the V-shaped flock passing a grey cloud, the foreshadow of a cold, white blanket, annually arriving, melting to spring; followed by a summer of lush green expanse, offering my interest nothing new to dwell on. Yes, there were times that I made the snow stay all year or others when seasons came annually but I had tried it all and was bored beyond belief.

In the recent years, my purpose had begun to elude me. I was going mad with trying to keep myself occupied, and the harder I tried, the more in vain it seemed to be. At this point I had almost lost track of time, spending so many centuries playing, not utilizing time to the fullest. Had I ever? Of course time was much more easily wasted without a guilty conscience if there was an unlimited amount allotted to you. But it really failed to inspirit my motivation. I simply yearned for something new, something fresh; unlike I had ever seen in my thousands' worth of years in existence. I had only hoped that I wouldn't have to go beyond the familiarity of my little universe to seek out what ever it was I needed.

It had been years since I had watched a human, and as cliché as it would sound to one, I owned a mirror that reflected any plane of existence or reality that I wished. With a small grunt I touched my mirror's surface, my mind drifting from one pathetic person to the next. Humans irritated me with their pathetic self-pity, their habit of becoming complacently comfortable with mediocre lives. I wasn't sure what if was that I was searching for, but of course I would know if I should see it. Mentally I controlled what I saw; limiting the criteria to shorten the search – perhaps if the ideal candidate came along, I could play around with them for a while, make them squirm, make them grateful to be alive. Perhaps I would choose someone of high authority, so involved in their own ego that they would go crazy from my tricks. That thought delighted me as I've always been curious about humans' trivial sanity, their realities teetering on the smallest nuance. Change one thing, and the outcome was comedic. It really had been a long time and I wondering why this idea hadn't occurred to me sooner.

Which one to pick? Which one is lucky enough to be my little hamster?

The city I picked was overcast with heavy rain clouds, thunder just rolling in. Randomly I picked a girl, in her teens, scurrying from the first few droplets that were threatening to turn into a downpour. Just as she thought she had time to run around another block, I rushed the cloud and ripped in open myself. Her black, wiry curls hung soaked, and I was pleased when her expression caused me to chuckle. I never would have expected so many curse-words to come out of such a slight, petite young girl. Her eyes lit up to the sight of an approaching bus and she began to run towards the stop nearby. With a slight gesture of my hand her pocket mysteriously sprung a leak and her change scattered about the wet sidewalk. More lovely curses came out of her mouth, but I was beginning to feel slight sympathy for the girl, when I saw her teeth chattering. I allowed her to recover her change just in time to get onto the bus, but playtime was far from over.

When she got off the bus, she only walked a short distance before coming to a little community of houses stuck together, row upon row. What horrid living conditions! How can someone choose to live so close to another? Anything smaller than a castle would not have suited my preferences.

"Oh my God, you're all wet!" A face peered out through the crack of the slightly opened door.

"June!"

In response to the shriek that came from the human I had been observing, the girl from within abruptly pulled her inside.

"Gees Elisa, what happened?" Her friend asked in awe as she made sure to lock the door.

So her name was Elisa… Elisa shot her a baleful look, "What do you think?"

Her friend, June showed her palms defensively, "Hey chill – do you want a change of clothes and we can put your clothes in the dryer." There was no verbal response but once June gave her the change of clothes and a towel, I remained where I was, lest I be witness to more than I would have wanted.

To keep myself occupied during the time of Elisa's absence, I watched her friend as she sat on her bed, strange wires coming out of her ears, with a thick, tattered book in her lap, amongst scattered sheets of papers with scribbles. She was making jerky movements between subsequently pressing buttons on a small device when she wasn't holding her pencil to her mouth and mouthing words into it.

How long had it been? Ninety-something years?

I watched this scene with keen interest for a moment, realizing what a difference a single century made for human kind; how different they had become since the last time I saw them.

June was not as willowy as her friend, her hazel eyes appearing dark as she struggled with whatever she was writing. She didn't seem to be enjoying herself. My curiosity got the better of me and I slid through the pane of my mirror, which acted like a portal, bringing me into the same room as I had been observing. I moved to stand beside her to look more closely at what she was doing. It was Mathematics. And it appeared she had erased her problem often. Next to it on the margin, I noticed a doodle of a cloaked shape, shrouded in shadow. Interesting…

An instant later when I whiffed out air amusedly, she turned, her eyes shooting up to look at me, but I knew that she only saw empty air.

Or did she…?

"Strange…" she grumbled and returned her attention to being frustrated with the problem at hand.

Had she seen me come through into her world? That was impossible…yet, she heard, or saw, or felt something.

My heart was racing at this point, when her friend, my hamster emerged from the hallway. She climbed onto the bed and sat against the wall beside June, who was still suspiciously eyeing the space that I was occupying.

"What's wrong?"

June momentarily questioned her own sanity before answering, "Do you ever get the feeling that you're not alone?"

Her friend didn't look as though she considered the question, and simply shrugged. "Do you want to watch a movie?"

June closed her Math book in resignation, releasing a huge sigh of relief, "If you stop being a grouch." She answered simply, without delay.

So? What do you think so far? I know, I'm sorry, there's no Erik yet… but he's coming!! It's just a couple more chapters without him and it gets into our favourite character and storyline…