Chapter 6: The Crowd and the Clue

6

I spent the morning in the study, trying to crack the flaw. My coffee went cold, sunlight crawled across the floor, but I barely noticed.

No visible flaw. I tried other angles.

Maybe it’s their voice, or how they never blink at the right time.

"Make the humanoid an alien? Too obvious."

I scratched that idea. Rachel would hate it.

"Different insides? Early humans wouldn’t know."

I scribbled ideas and rejected them all. The wastebasket overflowed with sticky notes.

Frustrated, I realized I needed real faces, not wooden dolls. Inspiration never came from staring at the walls.

I grabbed my denim jacket, earbuds, and headed out.

I called an Uber to the amusement park—the biggest in town, packed with a zoo, science museum, and a Ferris wheel towering over everything.

On weekends, it’s a madhouse: families, teens, tourists, everyone chasing fun. The smell of funnel cake and popcorn hung in the air. Somewhere nearby, an ice cream truck jingle floated above the noise, while a family argued over which ride to try next.

The sun glinted off the Ferris wheel. People jostled for space, kids in souvenir hats, lines for lemonade snaking around corners.

"Perfect place to people-watch."

I found a sun-warmed bench by the carousel, letting the chaos wash over me. It felt good to be invisible in the crowd.

I scanned the sea of faces, eyes darting for inspiration.

To my left, a clown with cartoonish makeup sold balloons. The kids weren’t scared—they just wanted another balloon sword.

The clown’s shoes squeaked as he worked. He winked, his smile too wide, but the kids didn’t care.

I scribbled a note: "Obvious weirdness isn’t the answer."

To my right, a woman sat stiff-necked and blank-faced, ignoring her family’s photo op. Maybe she was just tired.

I watched for a second, then crossed her off my list. Everyone has an off day.

Suddenly, a voice piped up beside me.

"Hey, want your fortune told?"

A girl with pigtails and a long black dress smiled at me. She had a table with tarot cards and a sign: "$2 fortunes: Love, Life, Mystery!"

Her eyes sparkled, like she still believed in magic.

I grinned. "No thanks."

She shrugged, undeterred. "Give it a shot! I’m good—love, career, supernatural, whatever."

She waggled her eyebrows, trying to tempt me. I almost caved.

"I’m looking for someone," I said.

She leaned in, suddenly all business. "Who?"

"Someone who looks human, but isn’t."

She didn’t laugh. She just tapped her chin, scanning the crowd as if she might spot one.

Then she asked, "Looks human? How?"

"Exactly the same on the outside."

She laughed, covering her mouth. "Impossible. Even twins aren’t the same."

She pointed at the crowd. "My mom says you can always tell twins apart. Nobody’s exactly alike."

Whoosh—

A breeze rattled the maple tree overhead. Two leaves drifted down.

One landed on my knee, one by my shoe. Both were red, almost identical, except for a tiny notch on one.

My heart jumped. I grabbed both leaves.

The veins traced slightly different paths. I held them up to the light, watching them glow orange.

"What did you just say?"

She blinked, as if she’d forgotten. I held up the leaves side by side, thinking: Maybe that’s the answer I’ve been searching for.

"I said nobody in the world is exactly the same."

I stared at the leaves, mind racing, as the noise of the park faded into the background.