Beneath its veneer of intellectualism, liberalism and cosmopolitan outlook, Boston is a place teeming with Supernatural elements, so you'd think a Wolf-Woman like myself would feel right at home. The Supernatural mixes with the mundane quite beautifully. Ordinary people would be quite surprised to find out that members of the Blue Man Group are not what they appear, for example.
Walk into a classroom at Northeastern University and you'd be quite surprised to find out that the stocky, hairy Mediterranean-born gentleman teaching bored students about Greek Mythology and its influence on western literature is actually a Satyr. Yes, one of those half-man, half-goat little things that are so common in the myths of ancient Greece and Rome. They're no myth, and they walk among us. Deal with it.
A certain Olympic female swimmer hailing from Massachusetts is quite renowned for her beauty and athleticism, and has millions of admirers worldwide. I've seen her videos on YouTube and her interviews with CNN and ESPN. Take it from me, there's a secret to her success. She's actually a Mermaid. Yes, one of those half-human, half-fish entities that Disney made so famous in those old cartoon movies and television series it got so damn wrong.
Take it from me, a denizen of the Supernatural world. In real life, Mermaids don't go around looking for hapless sailors to rescue and seduce. Nope, they're more likely to eat you than rescue you, since their craving for human flesh is quite well-known, at least among us non-humans, but that's a story for another time. Steer clear of Mermaids and Mermen for your own good, though.
Walk around Chinatown and step into one of those various little shops catering largely to tourists, and you might see a little old Asian man with a harmless smile offering you charming little trinkets. Ordinary mortals like yourselves might see a harmless old Asian grandpa, but my Wolf's senses would easily detect one of the Jiangshi, a reanimated corpse not unlike the Zombies of western pop culture, but far more intelligent, cunning and dangerous.
The other day, I was hanging around Jamaica Plains, and walked into a neat little Afro-Caribbean restaurant, intent on sampling some tasty Haitian food. I'm addicted to Haitian cuisine, folks. The tall, handsome and dark-skinned, well-dressed young Haitian man working behind the counter smiled at me and I smiled back. Several of the female patrons were fawning over this handsome chef, but I knew his secret the moment I walked in and casually sniffed the air. Definitely non-human, and of a sort that I didn't spot too often...
"Orisha," I thought to myself, smiling as the chef's eyes met mine. In case you don't know, the Orishas are a breed of Supernatural entities hailing from the myriad nations of West Africa. According to West African myth and legend, they have vast powers and often go about in human form. I'm told that they can shape-shift at will, among other things. They are the intermediaries between the world of Man and the Realm of the Gods. Or something to that effect.
"What's your pleasure, sister?" said the handsome young Haitian man, whose name tag read Joseph. I smiled at him and ordered myself a plate of white rice, brown bean sauce, fried plantains and goat meat. Afterwards, I sat down and ate, taking my time to savor the meal and doing a bit of reading instead of obsessing with my phone like so many people nowadays. Time waits for no woman, so savor all of what life has to offer, I say...
"Great food, Mr. Joseph, thank you very much, I'll definitely be back," I said to the handsome Orisha, whose eyes sparkled bright yellow for a second, before returning to their usual brown color, as he cleared my table. Joseph smiled at me and I left him a generous tip. I wished him a good day, then got up and walked out of the restaurant. I could feel Joseph's eyes on me as I left. Had me smiling as I got on the bus and headed back to Boston proper...
Encounters like that no longer surprise or faze me in any way. Mundane folk like yourselves think that the creatures and entities of myth and legend are nothing more than fairy tales. And you are dead wrong. With so many Magic-Wielders, Vampires, Werewolves, Demons and Monsters out and about, disguised as ordinary mortals, Boston is a veritable playground for inhuman breeds. Sadly, it's my human half that feels out of place here. Case in point? Considering my new stomping grounds.
"Aisha, happy Pride Day," Sheila Barnstable says to me, flashing me that fake smile all too common to those fake-smiling, pseudo-liberal queers that I'm seemingly always surrounded by. Sheila is a former classmate of mine, and we both work at Talbot's inside Copley Mall. She greets me like a friend would, as if I didn't hear her talk of how she approves of the government's plan to ban citizens from certain predominantly Muslim nations from entering the United States. Queer white liberal racism is definitely a thing, ladies and gentlemen.
I guess I'm supposed to smile back at Sheila, and exchange pleasantries, and pretend not to have heard her bullshit. After all, I am a queer woman and according to the rules of politics, Sheila and I should be allies. Unfortunately, I'm a woman with a sharp tongue. And I believe in keeping it real. I think that I was absent the day they sat all the good girls down and taught them the fine art of diplomacy. Speak nonsense in my presence and oftener than not, I will correct you. You've been warned.
"Miss me with that bullshit, Sheila, I'm from one of those countries you and the Republicans don't like," I reply hotly, and everyone inside Starbucks looks at me. Shaking my head, I get up and walk away. Outside, the bustling Boston traffic greets me. Just another bright and sunny, kind of frosty day on Commonwealth Avenue, ladies and gentlemen. As a student at Bay State College, these are my new digs. As you can see, I don't always get along with the locals.
My name is Aisha Samatar, and I'm a young Muslim woman of Somali descent living in the City of Boston, Massachusetts. I moved here from my hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota, having had enough of the inter-clan wars pitting various Werewolves with their brethren. It's a miracle that the humans haven't discovered our secret wars by now. Luckily they've been disguised as gang wars, so for the moment, our secret remains safe.