WARNING: This story contains graphic depictions of violence and other mature or controversial themes/topics that not all audiences will find suitable. Please continue reading at your own risk.
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♪ Yes, I didn't talk to anyone. ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGXI3EJDwfj
♪ I was made fun of by everyone. ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg62ED2EnQ4
♪ It's something I wish could be undone. ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0fZRd8RGX0
♪ She asked me. I wish I'd had respond. ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnNUAV4HKWA
♪ But hear me out: We're all worth being loved! ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRT4dRVJOGf
♪ Please hear me out: We're all worth being loved! ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxK3POMXQx
♪ I'm crying out: We're all worth being loved! ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡggL8QgHJG1
♪ I have no doubt we're all worth being loved! ♪
♪ Please, I beg you all, let's become friends! ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ34hZeP466
♪ Let's not judge each other by what's been! ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpqQFyxHxRp
♪ It was years ago! It came and went! ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgK3ObAU0MU
♪ That's a past chapter! New one begins! ♪
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Something
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I'd been tainted. My mind and very being had been destroyed with the truth that I was... hated by them. Sometimes, when I had problems on my mind... like how I failed things with her and her allies the first time... I would take time to walk around and think things over. It was pointless, really. Perhaps it served as some sort of... distraction from the fact that I'd never be able to... undo my mistakes. That in itself haunted me... and I was helpless to stop the feeling.
They were unforgiving monsters I dwelled on... all the time. I ruined what could have been; that much was true. But I'd changed. I wasn't that shy... mute child anymore. I was a grown twenty-two year old man, soon to be twenty-three in just a few months. My name, you'd ask? Ikjot Nirvair Harsharan. And this... was my story.
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Something19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxUIjFqnPe
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Ikjot's Beginning
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It was the dawn of around six a.m. EST on Saturday, March 5, 2016, when I walked the streets of a city called Righteous Korrigan, located in a state called Unxia, in a country called Fletcher (we were an island country, miles away from the United States but the same land size).
Righteous Korrigan was, indeed, a beautiful city. Truthfully, there were far more charming cities to see in Unxia; but Righteous Korrigan was great for me because of its reputation for having the hottest women in all the world. Quite the claim, you'd say? Well, I knew its reputation to be justified, considering my own experiences in the city. No where else had I ever been where I saw so many hot women... and my beliefs were confirmed further when a girl I used to go to school with said, back on a social media page of hers in the year 2008, that Righteous Korrigan was where the hottest people lived. So for me, it only made sense as to why the woman of my dreams... was native to such a place.
Palm trees, along with big and bushy trees... filled many areas of Righteous Korrigan. And the city, like so many other cities of Unxia, had a beach. And the people who inhabited the city, at least the majority of them, were either smoking, drinking or doing both while they'd walk, travel by bike or scooter, or by car or... whatever.
Speaking of the people... if you were expecting them to dress like professionals... or maybe as if they were wealthy... that was not the case. They dressed as though they were free as the seagulls of our beaches.
For Righteous Korrigan natives specifically, most of them—maybe all—could tell that I wasn't a land mammal like them. Indeed, I was a Kudremukh cricket frog. And I used to wear things like polos and dress pants. But in the present, it was more along the lines of the "cool" standards for me to wear jeans, sports T-shirts and sports shoes... and I often wore long sleeves underneath to help keep me warm; I tended to feel cold when other people didn't. Yet even with my dress code changes... I still couldn't seem to earn back their respect—the respect of my old peers, I meant.
Rarely would you find anyone in this city, besides me, walking by themselves. Everyone was either a girl or woman walking the streets with her groupies, or maybe a few guys of those age groups doing the same. Our malls were typically filled with such festering cockroaches as their kind; though I believed the polite way of naming them was... cliques.
As for our daytime skies, they were a very light blue and typically very cloudy during the day. And the sun would typically be blocked off by those clouds, either indicating that it would rain soon or that it was just a usual cloudy day. Rain wouldn't come in the first place if it weren't for the skies becoming dark, the typically high winds becoming stronger, and back-to-back thunder claps. With at least twenty-five minutes or more of all those things, rain would finally come. Overall, Righteous Korrigan, and Unxia in general for that matter, was a tropical paradise. And at least, temperature wise... I didn't have to search trash cans for the next winter time sweater. Again... I was so glad that Righteous Korrigan's temperatures never dropped below the forties.
As I walked the city streets, I could see the sky slowly changing from black to blue. If I remembered right, and I should have from being in the streets so much, that blue would become lighter and lighter until the sky became pink, indicating that the sun drew ever closer to revealing itself before our town. The process would take some time, but walking helped me to pass said time... and meditate through the hauntings of my past, of course.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8cd6LdwBf4
A small ball rolled in front of me, thanks to a lady koala throwing it to her pet dog who missed. The dog ran past me and caught the ball in his mouth, right before the lady would walk to him and pet his head.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIvR4A0jLwX
Next thing I knew, five people—a fox, mouse, cat and two geese—rode their bikes, coming towards me in the distance. They all, luckily, passed me by, knowing I wasn't an obstacle to be hit.
I then heard some chirping. Looking up at a tree that was soon before me, I could see a mother bird swoop down from her nest and to the ground. She stood before a small hole... where a worm had stuck out his head and smiled at me. I pleasantly smiled back. I then saw a lady goose drive up in her car, throwing crackers in the grass for some other birds to swoop down and feed on.
As the sky continued to brighten, I looked to the side and saw a chipmunk holding a walnut and watching me, before he scurried to a tree and crawled into the tree hole leading to his home. Well... at least, unlike myself, he had a roof over his head.
From there, a black bear gardener appeared from behind the tree, holding a watering pot. Looking to the flowers beside him, he used his pot to drizzle them, all while carrying a pleased smile.
I looked across the street and saw a dog standing before a seagull... but not doing anything except smiling. The seagull smiled too, making me believe that they were good friends. Then came another dog from behind the seagull, but he too was also friendly. He brushed against the seagull with kindness, as did the seagull to him in return.
The sun, however, had still yet to rise... but you could tell it was on its way as the skies kept growing brighter and brighter, but still blue in coloring.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhz56Qnk2p
Just then, I could hear the sound of a vehicle approaching me from behind. I slowly turned my head, continuing to walk forward, seeing that it was a police car closing in on me. Luckily, however, the vehicle passed me by and stopped in the distance. The deer officer stepped out of his vehicle, walked near the lawn of a home and placed a smiley sticker on the mailbox. The officer seemed just as happy before he walked back to his car, got in and drove off.
I looked down and saw a lizard that was scurrying across the pavement before she crawled up a wooden fence and remained still. Apparently, she was allowing a fly to get on her back for transport. From there, the lizard continued to crawl across the fence, turned around and let the fly crawl down her tail and onto the fence, meeting a fellow fly before it. The lizard, realizing her work was done, crawled back down the fence and scurried into a hole. How kind of her to help something that could have easily been her breakfast.
At the end of the fence, I could see a yard with sprinklers standing in the grass. Click! ...Click! ...Click! they went. And, seconds later, a drizzle of water could be seen, struggling to pour from the tiny sprinkler holes. That water slowly started to rise, higher and higher, until it eventually sprouted into the air. The rest of the water throughout those sprinklers did the same and, very soon, the grassy yard was being watered by all of the working sprinklers. And as I continued to pass this sighting, I could see a rainbow slowly form in that yard from all the water.
By now, as I looked at the sky, its coloring would slowly change from blue to orange. From there, I knew that orange would become lighter and lighter until I could see the peak of the rising sun, and many birds would fill the skies while all of that happened.
Also, a truck passed and it was playing a song that I found really catchy. I started to dance and jig, but quickly controlled myself to only shrugging my shoulders up and down. I didn't want to get too caught up in the moment. A past experience... taught me that, the hard way.
Continuing to walk, I could see over hundreds of little tree frogs hopping towards me, following each other in a straight line down the street. For my species, there were large frogs like me who walked on two legs... and small frogs like those who hopped on all fours and were kept as pets since they were not intelligent enough to talk, unlike the large frogs like myself. Some would even use the small frogs as food; but I and the other large frog people of my culture did not see our small brethren that way. We'd never keep small frogs as pets nor treat them as food. They were meant to be free just like us large frogs, we believed. They were like family to us.
One of the younger small frogs, in the back, became too tired to keep hopping with the others. Fortunately, an older small frog stopped his hopping to look back and see what had happened. He hopped in the opposite direction of the other small frogs, came to the tired youngling and decided to lift her onto his back. From there, the kind older small frog hopped fast to catch up with the others, all while carrying the youngling with him. Those little amphibians.... They had the right idea on how to uphold civility.
Across the street, I could see a cheetah police officer standing before her vehicle while being approached by a squirrel bank robber. The bank robber held a sack full of money in her hand and stopped before the officer, handing it to her. The officer, after taking the money and setting it atop the trunk of her vehicle, held out her arms for a hug. The bank robber, in response, hugged the officer, and the two seemed to be good friends from there. Seemed no arrest would be made, and the robber would go free so long as she had learned her lesson about stealing.
Little did I know that, right in front of me, a jogging fox woman, accompanied by her pet dog, was approaching me from the distance. I was kind of afraid that she wouldn't stop running, and I'd have to move out of her way. But instead, upon getting close enough to me, she and her dog stopped, as did I. From there, the woman stepped to the side and signaled for me to pass them, which I found very kind. I walked past her but not without waving to her with thankfulness. The woman and her dog waved back before continuing their early morning exercise.
I looked up and saw how much of a bright orange coloring the sky had. Out of curiosity, I turned my head to see that peak of the rising sun in the distance. Yes, at last, it would begin to shine upon the city, bigger and bigger, while rising into the sky.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡACpzryTHkl
The shadows over Righteous Korrigan were slowly fading away as the sun's light consumed them. The reflections of light from glass windows of houses were becoming visible. The birds and seagulls continued to chirp, not anything less than appreciative of the beautiful morning spawning before us all.
Traffic would slowly start to increase, since more and more people had jobs to go to as the time passed by. I stood at the end of the corner, waiting for the red light to turn green. Once it did, I could safely cross the street without fear of being ran over by a vehicle. It only took ten seconds from there for cars to resume motion, but I was already on the next sidewalk by then.
***
By noon, when I was still walking the street and... well, still had nowhere in mind to go... I saw a block party going on in the distance. I... quickly recognized a lot of faces there.
And it didn't take long for me to recognize... that old crush of mine, talking with a friend of hers whom I recognized as well. The two of them sat at a table with an umbrella, shading themselves from the sun. That friend of hers was Farrah, drinking but not smoking, unlike many of the other surrounding partiers who were doing both. Farrah was a sheep with white hair down to her shoulders. Her round earrings occasionally invited the sun to my view, though I didn't request its company.
And the woman seated across from Farrah was... of course... still my crush, even after all this time. She was a thin and tall bear with lemon-colored fur, a small white nose and orange hair down to just past her shoulders. Her name: Xandra Quenelda Daud. Indeed, she had been my crush ever since the year 2006, and the longest lasting one compared to others I'd had before her.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rs6yaw7Tv
Even now in 2016, I still had feelings for Xandra. I still found her to be the most beautiful female on the face of the planet. I always dreamed of her being my girlfriend... but I just didn't know if it would ever happen, given my past mistakes.
Many other people were sitting at those tables, while others preferred to stand and talk with their friends. I couldn't believe it. Was it a mirage of some sort? Were my eyes deceiving me? Was I really seeing all of these familiar faces, in one sitting, for the first time after so many years?
At first, I didn't even want to go over to them. I knew none of them wanted to see me. Heck! I knew they all hated me! Why, you'd ask? Well... from me standing up to the guys who bullied me back in middle school, to the fact that I was "ugly," "weird," a "loser" or "creepy"—according to the many of them—for drawing fan art of my crushes... and, of course, due to me being such a quiet and shy, timid person back in our middle school days, it just... all made them turn against me.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89ToPA4Frv
I felt like just walking away right then, so that they wouldn't even see me. It felt so... strange that while I constantly longed to see them again, I chickened out at every opportunity to do so. I just didn't want to risk incurring their wrath, whether that wrath would involve them making fun of me or telling me mean, hurtful things. I... knew how ruthless they could—Hmm?19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡywrrE7HVHa
I puzzled, seeing Xandra get up from the table and holding something in her hand... but I didn't know what it was. She walked over to a tall lemur guy with hair like a black tumbleweed, dressed as if he'd just walked off the beach. Although I couldn't see it from my distance, he also had silver braces along his teeth.
Xandra hid whatever she held behind her back before happily kissing the guy's cheek.
That... broke my heart. And seeing his appearance helped me recognize who he was: Zane Rousseau. I knew about his name and relationship with Xandra from a few social media profiles of hers, where she'd post such information to. He seemed like a nice guy, based on the photos I'd seen of him and her being happy and laughing while he'd carry her in his arms. From swimming at the beach, to hanging on the street or near alleys, Xandra and Zane would spend quite the funnest of times together. But... that was about all that I could infer, based on those social media photos alone.
And soon, Xandra revealed from behind her back what she was hiding. It looked... square and thin. I could hardly tell from my standpoint, but Xandra held it right to Zane's face. He apparently asked her for it, but she rejected handing it over.
I then saw him get on his knees, seemingly begging her.
And all Xandra and her friend did was laugh at him.
What... was going on? Zane kept crying until he sat his face right on the pavement, letting his tears soak the ground. He briefly looked up to Xandra one more time and begged something, only for Xandra and Farrah to continue laughing at him. Zane slowly stood up, turning away from Xandra and started walking... toward MY direction! OH, MAN! I was in hot water now! I especially knew I was in hot water when Xandra and Farrah kept happily shouting to Zane, "Loser! Loser!" Still... faintly hearing her voice in between Farrah's... I remembered how wondrous it was to hear that spry angelic voice of Xandra's.
Provoked by their teasing, Zane kicked over a trash can on his way to me while he continued crying, looking at the ground.
As for Xandra and Farrah, they walked back to their table, laughing and talking—possibly about how funny it was to mess with Zane like that. Meanies....
I stood there in fear as Zane stopped before me—man, just my luck! But... he didn't take his anger out on me like I thought he would. No. What a relief. He hugged me and said in a whimpering tone, "Please, man. Help me out. Please."
"What's... wrong?" I said with puzzle, patting his back and feeling it was only appropriate of me to do so, given his sadness.
"Please..." Zane continued his plea. "She's gonna do it. My mom died from cancer a year ago. And now, the bear with the orange hair over there, she wants to..." and he paused. "Please, man.... I don't think she'll listen to me. But she doesn't know you. Maybe she'll... listen to a stranger instead of me." His tears continued to wet the blue sleeve on my shoulder while he pled, "I only... hope it can work. But, please... don't let her do this."
I asked him, "What... does she want to do?"
Zane, slowly lifting his head up but still filled with tears in his eyes, held me by the shoulder and started escorting me over to the block party.
I was still skeptic about going... but I guessed I didn't have a choice at that point.
"Something horrible..." Zane responded to my question while he still cried, continuing to walk me on over. "I honestly don't... know what I did to deserve it."
"Yoo-hoooooo!" Xandra teasingly called out to Zane. She was holding up four photos of a middle-aged lemur woman with glasses and big, poofy and curled black hair. While Farrah just kept laughing at the teasing, Xandra went on to tell Zane, "Ooooh, Zaaaaaaane! Don't you want your photos...?"
As Zane continued to escort me over to them, I could look around and just see the angry faces of my enemies. For the ones who recognized me, they started whispering amongst each other, talking about me in secret. Again, judging by their expressions, they were, indeed... anything but happy to see me.
"Why are you showing your face around here again, Ikjot?" angrily asked Orabel Nyla Nunan, a white horse with short blonde hair and roughly my same short body height. She was one of Xandra's old colleagues. And so Orabel walked over to me, stuck her cigarette in her mouth, took it out and blew a big puff of smoke to my face.
While I coughed from that smoke, they all laughed at my reaction. Well... all of them except for Zane.
"GO TO THE UNDERWORLD!" Orabel told me in laughter.
"Don't you ever think we're tired of you?" Piper Kough, another old colleague of Xandra's, asked me. Piper was a golden mouse with short side-parted light-brown hair, wearing dark shorts and a crop top (like Xandra, Farrah and many other women at this party). I'll admit that back in 2005, there was a point where I had a crush on Piper; but... I had to give in to my deeper longing for Xandra by the year 2006.
"Does he ever 'think?'" questioned Helena Zita Xaver—Xandra's one-year-younger sister—to Piper. Helena turned to me with a pause and said, "More like, doesn't he know we hate him?" Helena was a bear with wavy licorice hair, red lipgloss and lemon-colored fur like her sister, though she was much shorter in terms of body height—shorter than my own in fact. Going back to what I said earlier about Righteous Korrigan being the city where the hottest people lived, it was indeed Helena who made that post in 2008 on her social media. I suppose she would've known best, considering her peers always considered her to be the most beautiful person among them.
"Ikjot?" puzzled Xandra, pausing to think. And after the passing of nearly four seconds, she looked away and said, "Never heard of him." Then she sipped some of her drink, just to mock me. She then observed the woman in those photos and laughingly commented, "Ewwwww, how ugly!" And Xandra just outright laughed some more before telling her friend, "Doesn't she look ugly, Farrah?!"
With a nod, Farrah happily said, "Yeah, she looks like a dog!" And despite how unfunny that joke was, you'd better believe those two laughed at it.
"Hey!" laughed Xandra, nudging Farrah's arm. "My dog looks waaaaay better than that! Haha!"
Zane, finally making it with me to Xandra, cried and continued to beg, "Please, Xandra. Please don't destroy my mom's photos."
"Wait," I puzzled to him. "You mean... that lady... in those photos, she's..."
Zane sniffed with grief, rubbing his face with continuous crying. He said, struggling to speak with how upset he was, "That's my mom."
Man... I didn't know what to do. I really didn't. I mean... there I stood before the woman of my dreams, and she was about to escort this poor guy into nightmares. But I couldn't just stand by and let her do it; not if I myself had a heart.
How strange. I thought Zane and Xandra were boyfriend and girlfriend since college, at least the last time I checked. Now it seemed like she completely hated him. How could this happen? What changed? I honestly didn't know. And... why would she pick on someone so nice as the kind of guy that Zane clearly was? If I knew the usual type of men in Righteous Korrigan, they were the ones who'd beat and make women cry. At least... that was the sort of domestic violence I'd overheard from next door, from a time when I was staying at a hotel in this city. So, if... Xandra was privileged to not have a bad man like that in her life, I thought the least she could have done was treated Zane, a good man, with love and respect. And if not with love and respect, she could've at least treated Zane with some basic dignity. It was like Xandra saw this man who loved her so much as... something lower than dirt; something to be toyed with, for that matter....
"Please... Xandra," cried Zane, getting on his knees. "Please... I beg of you. I beg of you! Please... please... please don't destroy the photos of my mom. They're all I've had to remember her by since the day she died from cancer." From there, Zane could only cover his face in the pavement again, breaking down with more tears.
"What's that?" happily teased Xandra before she sat three of the photos down on the table, keeping only one in hand. She slightly stretched it, continuing to tease, "You want me not to destroy any photos of your mom?"
"Yes, Xandra, please don't," begged Zane, still crying with his face on the ground.
Xandra smirked and told him, "Well, Zane, it's just 'cause you don't want me to destroy any photo of your mom..." and she leaned down towards him, laughing as she said, "that I'll destroy all of 'em."
Everyone, including Xandra and Farrah, laughed before Zane continued to beg, "Please... Xandra. Please don't... harm them."
"Huuuuuuuh?" teased Xandra, pretending not to have heard him the first time. "What's that? You say you want me to destroy all of these photos as I was goin' to do anyway?"
"Please," Zane begged, shivering and turning his head up to her with his teary eyes. "Please, Xandra. I'm looking you in the eyes. I'm looking you in the eyes and begging you. Begging you with no other desire but mercy itself." He crawled towards her.
Xandra laughed at Zane's crawling, and the others laughed as well. "Wow!" chuckled Xandra.
Making an L with her index finger and thumb, Farrah teased, "What a loser!"
"Please," Zane continued to beg Xandra, looking her in the eyes with his tears. "Please... Xandra... I beg of you." And he set his face on the ground again... and begged, "Please... don't destroy the pictures of my mom."
Xandra happily blew a raspberry at Zane, making the others laugh some more.
Zane told me, "Kid... please. She isn't going to listen to me. I know that...." His lips tightened in. His eyes shed more tears. "Please... try to make her understand...."
I'd heard stories of how mean Xandra was, always had been and always would be. I wondered, was there really any way to make her 'understand?' Regardless, I couldn't just stand by watching Xandra and her friends picking on the poor guy. I told Xandra, though I was reluctant to say anything at all for fear that she would hurt my feelings, "Um... Xandra?"
"Yeah?" she asked me, uninterested and not even looking my way; she just shuffled through the photos in her hand while looking down at them. She then picked up a soda and started sipping through the straw attached. It was obvious she could have cared less about what I was going to ask her.
Still... I wasn't going to leave Zane to suffer, even though his pain wasn't physical. I was in his shoes once. I knew just how much it hurt to be verbally abused not just by Xandra, but by so many other people as well. And so, I said to her, "Um... Xandra? Could you... um... I mean, just so you can help this guy out... give him back his photos?"
Xandra stopped sipping her soda and looked back at me, laughing while she said, "Eeeeeewww, so the loser really is talking to me."
And while everyone laughed at what Xandra said, Piper laughingly asked me, "WHY DON'T YOU GO BACK TO YOUR POND, IKJOT?!"
"YEAH!" happily concluded Graysen Yearling, another old classmate of Xandra's. Graysen was a short squirrel with a cherry-red buzzcut that reminded all while he seemed meek, he could pack quite the sting.
"HEY, IKJOT, WHY DON'T YOU DO YOUR FROG DANCE OR SOMETHING?!" laughingly teased Orabel, causing the others to laugh as well.
I looked down with sadness and shame.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjY2o0V01T0
Xandra laughingly told me, "YEAH! Remember how DORKY you were at those dances?!"
Orabel and Xandra were referencing something else I regretted from my past. Remember how I danced for the music playing from the truck that passed me earlier? Well... Xandra and Orabel were referring to a different type of dancing I used to do back when we were middle schoolers, in hopes of impressing Xandra and her colleagues. A dance where, as they explained, I'd hop up and down on all fours like the... frog that I was. It was instinct. It's what I did when I felt happy. And them making fun of me for it in the present, just as they had done in the past, helped me reaffirm that I would never do those dance moves again. Back then... I thought that they genuinely enjoyed my hopping. And indeed, they did; I just didn't... know that they were enjoying it in a mean-spirited way.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKUJCaV27J
But years later in the future, I had changed. No longer was I scared of socializing with people (so long as they spoke to me first, instead of me having to speak to them first). And no longer was I doing... 'dorky' things like hopping on my all fours. They were surprised to hear me talk back when I said, "Make fun of me all you want. I know the differences you have with me. I know the problems I've caused you guys." Zane, still with tears in his eyes, intently listened to me as I continued, "I know I did some pretty terrible things. Yet here you all seem to believe I wouldn't regret them, even now to this day? Of course I have. I have my regrets. What I did was wrong, indeed."
Looking down at me with tears still in his eyes, Zane told me, "Little guy, why do you... think you did something wrong?"
"Huh?" I looked up Zane's way, puzzling to his words.
"You're a frog. Hopping is... your culture; don't let them or anyone put you down for that."
"Tch," I remarked, looking down with regret. "My culture made me the laughing stock among these people back then."
"That's their problem," said Zane, still standing up for me.
But he... didn't understand. I had to be according to what they wanted, if I ever hoped to fit in with them... and especially if I ever hoped to win Xandra's heart. Yes. Even with what I saw her doing to Zane here... along with other mean things she'd done before... I still had feelings for her. I knew she was only... doing these things because of how I had hurt her before. I looked back to Xandra and said, "I was foolish for all that hopping and stuff. It was an embarrassment and a disappointment, to say the least. I take full responsibility and I'm sorry. I'm just so sorry... truly."
"So what?" said Xandra with a smirk, before sipping more soda and talking with her mouth full, "That doesn't mean we'll forgive you."
Though I was very displeased with how rude Xandra was being to me, despite my efforts to apologize, I had no choice but to continue doing the best I could to set the record straight. I saw it now. Yes.... This was no longer solely about helping Zane; it was about... helping myself as well. I was tired of living with unnecessary guilt that I didn't deserve if I was truly sorry for something I had done. I just wanted... their forgiveness. And it was the forgiveness of the beautiful Xandra, and her beautiful fellow women colleagues... that I wanted most. Their levels of beauty... made me feel so worthless by comparison. I was nothing compared to them... I knew that. And that's why I desired so much to be accepted by them. To be cared for by them. I just wanted so much to be their friend. I often cried myself to sleep... knowing all the opportunities I missed out on back when we were children. Even when... Xandra tried talking to me back in those days, I'd never respond to her. I hated myself so much for that. I just wanted... another chance.
I just hoped I'd be able to convey my feelings through what I'd tell them next. I indeed always struggled with speaking my mind if it wasn't through prewritten words on some paper. Having the right words flow on the spot just wasn't me, but I was now left with no choice but to try. "You don't have to forgive me," I told them all. "But holding hatred for someone, over something stupid at that, is... wrong, isn't it? I said I was sorry. All I want is forgiveness." And my expression turned from stern... to sorrowful. "The forgiveness of... you guys."
"Yeah?" challenged Orabel. "Tell that to me when you're not a total backstabber. You sided with Wynfred over me when she and I got into a fight!"
Wynfred told me, "And you just weren't worth my time anymore." Wynfred was a light-brown doe with a white nose. Her white hair was shaped like a mop, parted in the middle. She wore a black crop top, white shorts and gold sandals.
"Just not worth your time?" I wanted to make sure I had Wynfred's reason correct.
"Mmm-hmmmmmmm," Wynfred assured me with a gleeful nod.
"I see," I told Wynfred. "Even though I always listened to your problems. I was always kind to you in that way. Yet when I kept telling you how I devalued myself so much over how I failed things with Xandra and... was nearly at the edge of suicide... you told me to 'go tell someone else about my drama' and stopped replying to me."
"Because it was annoying, Ikjot!" said Wynfred, folding her arms in irritation. "I kept tellin' you that she was just mean and that you were never really gonna get her to like you; but you kept insisting there had to be a way, which is why I gave you that advice on what to wear and how to act."
Narrowing his eyes in deep empathy, Zane thought, She... shut him out, even though he was on the verge of suicide?
I went on to tell Wynfred, "You still eventually came back talking to me one night though, once you were grounded from using your phone and needed a friend to talk to!" I reminded her... eventually tearing up in my eyes. "And yet, even after that... you eventually drifted away from me. Around a year later, you even ignored the friend request I sent you on that new social media platform you had transitioned to. I don't get it.... We ended on good terms; we had made up over the whole me being dramatic thing. Yet you still declined my invite...."
Wynfred folded her arms, smiling at me. "Maybe I just didn't have further use for you."
"Ah?" I puzzled.
At the same time, all of them—Zane excluded—laughed at me.
"Yeah," said Xandra before sipping some more of her drink. Then she stopped and went on to tell me, "Wynfred didn't have any further use for you. And me? I felt so disrespected over you not responding to me, back when I asked you if you liked anyone at our school. I even told you we weren't gonna tell anyone your secret, and you still didn't tell me nor the other girls sittin' with me and asking either." Then she thought, I can't wait to see how he reacts to that one. Hehe! Makin' him feel guilty about that when really we knew he wasn't gonna respond anyway; we were just bored n' he was an easy target.
In response to what Xandra had just told me, I bowed on one knee. Propped my right fist on the concrete.
Xandra and Farrah briefly puzzled... and Xandra looked Farrah's way, laughing to her, "He's seriously bowing to me?"
"What a loser," Farrah said smiling while the others—minus Zane—laughed.
Disregarding their mockery of me, I maintained my posture and told Xandra, "...I am... so sorry. That very scenario you mentioned... the one where I didn't respond to you... I was such a disrespectful fool for that. That was the day you and your class were going out to that skating rink after school, wasn't it?" I started tearing up... knowing that was a time when we were free, younger and without adult worries. And I... let the opportunity slip through my fingers. I told her, "Xandra, that was... the perfect opportunity for me to become friends with you. And that was when I had finally realized that it wasn't any other person I liked except you."
Xandra folded her arms with a straight face, listening to me. "Don't say anything right now, guys," she told everyone around us. "I wanna hear the little guy out." And she thought again, Haha! Oh my gosh, look at him cryin' over somethin' that wasn't even his fault!
Zane too was looking down at me and quietly said, "Ikjot...."
I went on to tell Xandra, "I foolishly... sat there with my head down, nervously keeping my mouth shut as if I couldn't talk. But you and your girls, you all kept being so patient with me. I didn't deserve that patience but... you were kind enough to give me that anyway. My sister Vinanti, she was sitting right there at my side, constantly mentioning to you all that I was just shy and... if I remember right... you told my sister that you and your girls understood that, and that it would take time getting me to speak up."
Xandra just kept looking down at me. After a few seconds of silence, she hand-gestured with saying, "Yes, and...?"
And to that, many of the surrounding people giggled... but not Zane who still looked down at me and was visibly concerned.
I sighed deeply... and said, "Xandra, you and the other girls... after minutes and minutes of trying to get the answer out of me... finally said it was fine; that I didn't have to say who it was." My eyes became a bit teary. "I know I... messed up my childhood, constantly acting so weird and creepy like that... around you and the others. I know I can... never get back what I... threw away by doing that." And while I spoke, the tears were... finally flowing. It was as if I watched the concrete like my own little world, not even knowing if I could face the one before me. "I'll never... be a kid again; I'll never be able to go back in time and actually respond to you and the others back in our fifth and sixth grade classes." My tears kept falling... as I went on to say, "..." No. I couldn't. I sniffed, covering my mouth. My concrete view was blurring as the water built up.
Xandra thought, And now to gaslight him. Xandra sighed and said, "Ikjot, you... made me feel small, you know... with what you did back then."
I kept sniffing, trying to hold my tears back but I couldn't.
Xandra thought again, And now to really make him think it was his fault! Haha! And she told me, "I would have... likely even been your friend, if only you hadn't constantly ignored me." Xandra looked down, not at me but the sandals of her feet, solely to avoid eye contact. "But... that is your fault, Ikjot."
"Don't you get it, Ikjot?" asked Piper with folded arms, frowning. "Nobody's going to forgive what you did."
"No," said Yosef Heiner, sternly nodding. Yosef was a white rabbit with short light-blonde hair, wearing a green crop top and long baggy blue jeans.
Zane looked to them all and said, "Why can't you all forgive this guy? What does he have to do to be forgiven?"
Xandra smirked, looking aside while saying, "He can go jump in the nearest lake for all I care. Or at least long enough to drown."
The rest of my old peers laughed to Xandra's words... while I whimpered more, watching the concrete with my lips quiver from what she said.
"Yeah!" laughed Orabel.
"Come on, Xandra!" Zane told her, mad. "That's such a CRUEL thing to tell anyone!"
Xandra laughed, covering her mouth, "Come on, Zane, it's funny!"
"He's crying on the ground over this and you're just mocking him!" Zane retorted, lifting a fist.
Xandra scowled, stepping out of her seat and approaching Zane. The surrounding laughter slightly settled.
"Ah?" puzzled Zane, watching Xandra approach him.
"Huh?" I puzzled, seeing Xandra pass me.
Xandra stopped directly before Zane, looking up at him. "Don't raise your fist at me, big boy." She gently touched and lowered his knuckle. "Now keep that down or we're gonna have a problem."
Zane looked down, not contesting or saying anything; he just... kept his sad eyes on the concrete.
Xandra folded her arms, closing her eyes and turning around to walk back to her seat. She soon made it back and sat down, keeping her arms folded and looking at Zane.
Zane sighed and held his hand out, gently. And he told Xandra, "I'm... sorry. Now... please, just... let me have my mom's photos back. After all this, I promise that... I'll never see you again. Just like you told me you wanted, remember?"
Xandra smiled again and said nothing for quite the few seconds. She soon picked up and held one of the photos Zane's way... and said, "Fine.... Here."
Zane slowly reached forward.
Xandra happily pulled her hand back at the last second and told him, "WHOOPS!" making the others laugh as Zane fell to the ground. Xandra went on to teasingly tell him, "Too slow!"
I knew all too well that this was Xandra's boyfriend... or, apparently, former boyfriend, as things stood. Regardless, I just wanted to... find out more about what was going on here. I slowly got off my fist and knee, soon standing upright and wiping my eyes... and said, "So... Zane, what's... What's the relationship between you and Xandra...?"
Zane looked down sadly and said, "Xandra and I... well... we were once boyfriend and girlfriend—"
"Once!" interrupted Xandra before waving the photo back and forth. "Not anymore, loser."
Zane growled a bit... and went on to tell me, "Xandra and I were happy together. She said I was the guy of her dreams. She told me how sweet I was. She told me how much she loved me. Little did I know that it... all meant nothing, the whole time."
I couldn't believe it. So, Xandra just... led this guy on? Gosh.... But I nodded with stern understanding to his words.
Zane went on to tell me, "A month ago... my mother was on her last in the hospital; she was ready to die. Before she went, she told me to keep the pictures of her and me when I was still a little kid." Zane sniffed. "Xandra knew about this. She was standing right beside me as we both... watched her die together." And so, his eyes started filling with tears. "From that day on, I decided that I would take those photos to my college with me... every day. Then, five days ago, I looked in my dorm room to discover that they were missing. I searched my drawers, class folders... everything. I wasn't successful. Now... today... when I was still very sad about not finding them... I come here to Xandra, kissing her cheek, and she shows me that she had those photos the whole time." More tears ran down his face. "But she refuses to give them back."
"You know it!" proudly said Xandra before giving Farrah a high-five.
Hearing Zane's story, I looked to Xandra and said, "Xandra... please... just give him his stuff back. I understand you have beef with me, but that's no reason to take out your anger on other people."
"Naaaaaaaah," playfully said Xandra, observing the photo and rolling her eyes. "I think I'll keep his stuff n' destroy it. And when I get home..." and Xandra picked up the other three photos, waving all four of them in front of Zane's face, "I'll burn these only memories he has left of his mom... on a hot stove."
Zane could only cry harder, fearing all hope was lost.
Xandra and the others laughed at his pain, finding it funny that he was suffering.
And I knew now that... the only reason that Xandra was... hurting this guy and so many other friends she'd had before... was because of how I treated her. I made her... feel small when I didn't respond to her questions and greetings. Yes, this was... all my fault. I begged her, "Please, Xandra... he doesn't want this!"
Looking through the four photos, Xandra teasingly told me, "Then why does he keep asking for them?"
"You know what I mean..." I said, not amused by her treating this so humorously. "Please... stop this. I'm the one who hurt you!"
"Wait..." interrupted Zane, "Xandra... if you won't do it for me... will you at least do it for my younger sister? Please... she has liver disease—"
"Uh, yeaaaah," Xandra interrupted him while rolling her eyes. "I know that because I've met her? Oh! By the way, I'm figuring since your mom is gone, you'll be the only one around to support you and your sister, right?"
"Well... yes," said Zane, still teary in the eyes.
Xandra laughed while saying, "No you won't."
"Eh?" puzzled Zane.
Xandra took another sip of her soda and said, "I made multiple accounts on multiple websites to post slandering articles about you." Zane's eyes widened with shock as Xandra laughed and went on to say, "After all the stuff I've posted about you, you won't even qualify to get a janitorial position in the workplace; much less any other job." She smirked, leaning down to his face again. "I wrote that you were were the world's most dangerous bank robber, murderer, woman beater and pervert." As Farrah giggled, Xandra got even closer to Zane's face and went on to say, "I also said you'd been to every country in the world and committed these crimes over and over again, but managed to somehow keep your criminal records under the rug until your helpless victims, a.k.a. me who made these stories up, would rat you out on the internet for everyone to read."
I said with a serious look, "Xandra... how can you be so sure that someone's actually going to believe tha—"
Xandra laughed and told me, "Oh, don't worry! Everyone's believing the stories!"
Zane cried, "XANDRA, YOU COULD GET ME ARRESTED!"
Xandra and the others laughed before she told Zane, "I know, right?! And if you can't get hired, your economy will fall so low to the point where you won't be able to pay for your apartment rent. From there, you and your little sis will lose the apartment, starve and be on the street forever!" From there, Xandra and everyone else laughed with joy.
Tears, now more than ever, escaped Zane's eyes as he stared blankly with sorrow. His face read: I don't know what to do now. Where will I go from here? How will I survive? I'm doomed!
"Awwwww," Xandra teased Zane. "Boo-hoo!" Nudging Farrah by the shirt, she continued, "Look, Farrah! Look at him cry!" and laughed.
"Awwww," teased Farrah. "He looks so sad." She pretended to wipe tears from her eyes and teased, "Boo-hoo!" much to everyone laughing again.
"N-No!" cried Zane, setting his face on the pavement. He looked up to Xandra and exclaimed with great sorrow and many tears, "WHY?!"
Rolling her eyes with a smile, Xandra replied, "Because of Ikjot." And she looked my way. "I wouldn't be hurtin' people but... he made me feel small."
Zane just watched Xandra with his wide, shivering eyes, still shedding tears. "You can't... possibly be doing all this because a boy didn't reply to you back in the fifth grade."
"Shut up," calmly said Xandra, looking back Zane's way. "You'll never... know how that feels, bein' ignored like that when you were just tryin' to talk to someone you liked."
I couldn't believe it. She... loved me and I... made her hate me by not responding to her all those years ago. She turned evil... because of me.
Xandra thought, Man, it's so fun lyin' to this kid! Hehe!
"Xandra, you've... you've ruined my life over something like THAT?!" cried Zane.
Xandra and the others laughed even more.
"Hey, you get used to it," Orabel, with a calm and collected smile, told Zane. "She ruined mine years ago, but you don't see me crying over it, do you?"
I'd heard that kind of statement before.... Someone's own pain meant nothing to someone else because they went through it themselves and felt it was nothing to cry over. I told her, "Did you lose your mother, Orabel? Do you have a younger sibling with liver disease? Did anyone set out to ensure no one would ever hire you for a job, ensuring you'd starve on the street?"
"Oh, shut up, Ikjot," said Orabel, not even looking my way. "This is none of your business. Why don't you get lost?"
Everyone else agreed with Orabel in their own indistinct, happy complaining. "Yeah!" said some of them. "Get out of here!" said others. "Go swim in your pond!" said a few more.
I said, "Look... I keep telling you, this isn't about me. This is about Zane. This is about how you all take pleasure in his pain! This is about how you find it funny that his life is over, thanks to you!"
Xandra laughed, "Awesome!"
"Xandra!" I told her. "You know this is all between us but... please! Don't hurt innocents over something I did!"
Keeping a smirk, Xandra slammed her glass on the table, got in my face and said, "I'll hurt whoever I want!"
Following my stern pause, I went on to tell her, "...Zane is the best boyfriend you could ever have."
Xandra proudly corrected, "Was the best boyfriend I could have—which is why I got rid of him. Since he was so nice, I figured I'd repay him by ruining his life."
"Ruin mine!" I cried, looking Xandra in the eyes. "I'm the one who hurt your feelings all those years ago!"
Xandra laughed, pointing at me, "Look at him cry!"
And the others, minus Zane, laughed at me too.
Zane slowly leaned up, having calmed down a bit and said, "Stop... being a bunch of bullies and please hear me out. Xandra... though my life is ruined now... and my little sister's... there is one request that I have from you. Please... I beg of you.... Please, don't turn it down...."
"That depends," Xandra replied to Zane. "What's the request?"
Looking Xandra in the eyes with his own sorrow, Zane begged, "Xandra... can I at least... have our mother's photos...?"
"Um... we don't share the same mother...." said Xandra, rolling her eyes with a smirk while the others chuckled.
Zane, though he knew she was still messing with him, told Xandra, "I mean... the photos for me and my younger sister...."
"Hmmm...." teasingly puzzled Xandra. She looked to Farrah and asked, "Now what photos do you suppose he's talking about, Farrah...?"
"Gee, Xandra..." replied Farrah, playing along, "I don't know. What photos is he talking about...?"
Zane continued to be patient. "I'm... talking about the photos of my mother."
Xandra continued to tease him by pretending to puzzle about what he was saying. "Oooooooooh!" she said with a smile before showing him his mother's photos. "You mean these photos...?"
"Yes...." Zane pled, still holding onto his patience.
"Well..." said Xandra, setting almost all of the photos down on her table. The one she kept in hand was a photo of Zane and his sister, celebrating their mother's seventy-first birthday. Xandra then held onto the photo with both hands and said, "I was thinking I could destroy this picture..." causing Zane's eyes to widen as she continued, "and I will."
My eyes also widened as I feared for what Xandra said she'd do. I knew it all too well.... She was going to tear that photo in half!
***
Zane, very frightened of Xandra's next move, said, "Xan... Xandra, please... please don't...." Zane covered his face in his hands and cried, much to the laughter of the others. "Please..." he pled, "don't destroy... one of my mother's photos...."
"Oh, okaaaaaaay," said Xandra, teasingly sounding disappointed. She continued with a smile, "I'll just destroy all of them."
"N... Noooooo!" cried Zane, causing Xandra and the others to laugh at his pain. He continued to cry, "But... But my little sister with liver disease—"
" 'But—But my little sister with liver disease!' " teasingly mocked Xandra before laughing with the others.
Zane continued to cryingly beg, "Xandra... my little sister will soon die from this disease.... Please...? The least she would want is to remember our mother before she goes—"
"Wow! No way!" interrupted Xandra. "If she has liver disease... then who am I to try and make her feel any better with the little time she has left to live? I'd rather her die as upset as possible." Zane's eyes widened as Xandra went on to tell him, "You see, your little sis means nothin' to me." Smirking, Xandra bent down to the kneeling Zane's face and continued, "She never deserved to live in the first place... because she's worthless. I hope she dies as sad as possible." She chuckled while finishing her words, "The sadder she dies, the more of a laugh I'll get out of it! I mean, it'll be so funny!" Zane was getting angrier and angrier, and Xandra could see that. Therefore, Xandra went on to tell him, "I want your sister to suffer." And she chuckled, "It'll give me a good laugh." Zane just kept getting angrier as Xandra said, "Hey... when she dies... can I come to her funeral? I'll be more than happy to point and laugh at her as she's buried in the mud."
But even after Xandra provoking him to snap, Zane retained his temper. At best, he reached for the photos; he didn't even try moving his whole body forward to grab them.
Xandra smirked more while thinking, Big mistake, Zane. Then she yelled, "The big mean man is trying to hurt me!"
And Zane's eyes widened, shivering with his shock.
"Help, help!" happily yelled Xandra while two muscular gray cats came running out from a nearby alley. Their thick dark-gray brows were furrowed and their sunglasses made me think they were... bouncers for this party; maybe guards. Xandra went on to yell, "Oh, please, someone help!"
The two guards grabbed hold of Zane's arms and pinned him against the nearest brick building wall.
"NO!" pled Zane. "PLEASE, LET ME GO! LET ME GO! PLEASE! PLEASE, XANDRA! PLEASE DON'T DESTROY MY MOTHER'S PHOTOS!"
Xandra looked Farrah's way and thought, Hey, you got the cops mind-controlled into not noticin' any of this, right?
Not looking at Xandra, Farrah nodded and thought back, Yeah, they won't be messing this up for us.
Xandra smirked and thought back, AWESOME! Hehe! Then Xandra looked to the two guards and asked them, "Why aren't you guys punching him for moi...?"
The guards paused and looked to each other, not sure whether or not they should do such a thing....
Xandra slyly smiled and told the two guards, "Of course, I... understand if Zane is too strong for you guys to handle."
"Hey, what?!" snapped the first guard.
"No way!" snapped the second guard. "We can take this clown; no problem!"
Xandra happily said, "Oh, I knew it!" She punched the palm of her own hand with a vicious grin. "Beat Zane to a bloody pulp. If he's in physical pain, while also feeling the pain of watching as I destroy his mom's photos, I'll be so elated!"
"What?!" I said with shock and widened eyes.
The first guard nodded and drew back his fist, preparing to punch Zane right in the face.
I said, "Please.... Please, guys, don't!"
"XANDRA, PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!" begged Zane with wide, frightened and tearful eyes.
"Do it...." said Xandra, speaking in a calm voice with a soulless expression.
"NO! NO! PLEASE!" cried Zane as the first guard launched his fist forward, punching Zane right in the cheek and sending many teeth flying from his mouth.
"NOOOOOOOO!" I cried in an echo throughout the area... while Xandra and the others laughed.
Zane cried, "AW, COME ON, XANDRA! YOU KNOW I WEAR BRACES! MY MOUTH'S GONNA GET CUT UP IF I GET PUNCHED IN IT!"
Xandra picked up her soda and took a sip before laughing, "I know, right?! IT'S GONNA BE SO AWESOME! Which is why I want the next hit to be directly IN YOUR FACE! HAHA!" And she told the two muscular guards, "WOO! HEY, MAKE SURE HE'S FACING YOU DIRECTLY! MAKE HIM BLEED A LOT!"
The second guard nodded and drew back his fist.
"NO! NO!" pled Zane, bleeding from his mouth.
Just to make sure Zane would hold his head still, the first guard grabbed hold of it and kept it stable against the wall.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ1GWJjwYVb
Zane, screaming for his life, continued to beg, "PLEASE! PLEASE STOP! PLEASE STOP! PLEASE STOP!"
"COME ON!" Xandra cheered on the two guards. "YOU GUYS ARE BIG AND STRONG MEN WHO CAN DO ANYTHING YOU PUT YOUR MINDS TO! ZANE CAN'T STOP YOU!"
The second guard nodded as he plunged his fist forward and right into Zane's mouth and nose, causing them both to bleed.
Xandra, while the others laughed, whooped, "WOOOOOOOOO!" and cheered, "YEAH! HIT HIM AGAIN! HIT HIM AGAIN!"
I cried and shouted, "STOP IIIIIIIIIIIIT!"
Zane, now crying more than ever with eight of his teeth missing, a bloody nose and a bloody mouth, screamed, "PLEASE! STOP!"
The first muscular guard laughed, "Ahahahaha-ha!" while drawing back his fist.
Xandra cheered, "YEAAAAAAAH!" and told that first guard, "KEEP IT UP! DON'T STOP!"
"I SAID STOOOOOOOOOP!" I yelled, running towards the two guards while tears flew from my eyes. I immediately threw a punch right into the first guard's back, only for him to be unharmed by my assault. I became shocked that my attack had no effect.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQINSeTyIk9
The first guard growled angrily, turning his head... before kicking me in the stomach.
I couldn't believe it.... His kick was so strong that I fell to my knees and couldn't get up. I never felt a pain like it before! It was like all of my bones were broken, yet they weren't! Either way it went, I would no longer be able to try helping Zane. I was... paralyzed.
Xandra whooped, "WOOOOOOO!" and cheered, "YEAH! IKJOT'S A FAILURE!" Then she told the two guards, "COME ON! YOU GUYS CAN DO IT! I WANT TO SEE SOME MORE BLOOD! KEEP BEATING ZANE!"
With that, the first guard powerfully swung his fist into Zane's face again.
"AAAAAAAH!" cried Zane. "PLEEEEEEEASE!"
Next was the second guard who once again drew back his fist. He too then plunged it forward into Zane's face, busting more teeth out from Zane's mouth and making some blood spill onto the pavement.
"WOOOO!" cheered Xandra. "NOT ENOUGH BLOOD! COME ON! PUNCH HIM HARDER!"
The first guard once again pulled back his fist. He then swung it forward, right into Zane's mouth and made more blood spill onto the pavement.
Xandra whooped, "WOOOOOOO!" and said, "THAT'S NOT ENOUGH BLOOD! DON'T LET ZANE THINK YOU GUYS ARE WEAK! SPILL MORE!"
As the day went on, the two guards continued this punching routine. After the first guard would punch Zane in the face, the second guard would do the same.
Xandra kept commanding to those guards, "MORE BLOOD! MORE BLOOD!"
And more and more blood it was that spilled.... The more Zane got punched, the more blood that would wet that pavement. Soon, the blood began wetting the two guard's faces. It was as though it would gush out farther and farther, so much that it even began splashing the faces of the cheering people around them.
Xandra, now envious that these people were getting Zane's blood on their faces while none of it wet her own, said, "HEY, WHY AREN'T I GETTING ANY BLOOD ON MY FACE?!"
"Ah...?" puzzled the first guard to Xandra.
Zane kept crying, now even louder since he was in so much pain. His eyes, nose and mouth were all bloody. His blood was leaking from his mouth at that point, forming a small puddle on the pavement below his dangling feet.
Xandra continued, "HIT HIM AS HARD AS YOU CAN SO I CAN GET THE MOST BLOOD ON MY FACE!"
The two guards looked at each other with puzzle... then back to Xandra while the first guard told her, "But, Xandra! If we hit him too hard, he might not be alive to see you rip up his mom's pictures!"
Xandra made a sad face and said, puzzling, "But... I thought we were friends...."
The two guards looked at each other sympathetically.... They knew that Xandra was their 'friend,' and that they'd do anything for her because of this. The first guard looked back to Xandra and said, "Very well...."
Xandra happily said, "Aw, thanks! ...Now make this guy suffer."
With a nod, the two guards said, "Whatever you say, Xan!" and looked back to Zane. "Alright, Zane..." the second guard said while drawing back his fist, "prepare to be whooped!"
Zane could do nothing except keep crying in pain.
The second guard swung his fist, this time with more strength and much faster than before.
"NO! NO!" begged Zane before having his nose busted, causing almost twice the amount of blood to gush onto the faces of the two guards and everyone else, except...
Xandra gasped and said, "HEY, NO FAIR! EVERYONE ELSE IS STILL GETTIN' BLOOD EXCEPT ME! PUNCH HARDER! COME ON, HARDER!"
The first guard drew back his fist.
Zane pled, "PLEASE! XANDRA, PLEASE STOP THIS! XANDRA! XANDRA!" And Zane screamed, "AAAAAAAAAH!" while the first guard swung his fist forward, busting Zane in the mouth. More blood gushed forward, splattering onto more faces in the crowd while Zane screamed and cried in pain.
"I STILL DON'T HAVE ANY!" complained Xandra. "KEEP HITTIN' HIM!"
As for me, I was still too weak to help out. Whatever amount of strength that first guard used to kick me, it was something I just had no choice but to succumb to. My body still felt the same as it did before....
***
After a long day, the sun was setting and the beating continued. By now, the blood had gushed so far that it was splattering onto the faces of everyone at the party—even Xandra, finally.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGNWbd6J30
"HAHAHA, YEAH! HURT HIM!" cheered Xandra, now with her face covered in blood. "BREAK SOMETHIIIIIIING!"
Such... hatred from her. I... I just felt like such a piece of dirt for... taking who was once an angel and turning her into this demon. If only I hadn't made Xandra feel like she was lesser than me all those years ago back when we were kids. How could I... hurt such an innocent girl so badly back then? Why did I... do something so horrible to her? I... deserved my gut punch for it... if not more.
The first guard drew back his fist and punched Zane in the mouth, splashing more blood onto Xandra's face—which she enjoyed. She enjoyed the fact that Zane was getting beaten. She enjoyed the fact that he couldn't defend himself. She enjoyed the fact that he bled from getting beaten. She enjoyed the fact that he cried from getting beaten. She enjoyed the fact that blood spilled every time he was hit. She enjoyed the fact that he felt pain. She enjoyed the feeling of his blood splattering on her body. She touched her hand to her cheek and, seeing Zane's blood on her fingers, laughed in showing it to Farrah.
Farrah, whose face was also covered in blood, laughed as well.
Next was the second guard who drew back his fist and slammed it into Zane's nose, making even more blood gush onto Xandra's face in the distance.
Xandra laughed even wilder than before, enjoying the feeling that came with Zane's blood shedding all over her.
As the two guards continued to beat Zane, it wasn't just Xandra's face that was being covered with blood anymore. Her off-gold sandals, her purple and white crop top and black shorts, the pink flower in her hair; everything on her was being coated in Zane's blood, and she was enjoying every moment of it. The proof in that was how she kept laughing from it all, loving the fact that Zane's body was being used for the purpose of making her wear more blood than the others. Twisted as that was... maybe it was her way of feeling like she was valued again... considering how I made her feel so worthless before. I just... wish it could have been me getting that beating; I was the one who ruined her. It wasn't... poor Zane's fault....
Zane's face was now bleeding from more places than just his eyes, nose and mouth. His forehead was bleeding. His cheek was bleeding. Practically everywhere on his face was an opening for blood to pour out onto the ground. And speaking of the pavement, many of those blood puddles were now present. On the two guard's shoes, clothing and the many other people of the block party, blood was there....
Before the second guard could punch Zane again, Xandra said, "WAIT!" The second guard paused as Xandra got up from her chair and began inspecting everyone at the party—at least, as many people as she could. She checked their clothes, their faces, all to compare to her own. After realizing she didn't have the most blood on herself, compared to everyone else, Xandra complained, "UGH!" then told the two guards, "NEVERMIND! JUST LET ME STAND RIGHT BEHIND YOU GUYS SO I CAN GET THE MOST BLOOD ON ME!" The two guards looked to each other curiously as Xandra ran to them and said, "OKAY, KEEP PUNCHIN' HIM!"
The second guard warned, "Xandra... we're really trying not to kill this man before he can see you rip apart his mom's photos. Can't we just stop and get to that?"
"Oh, he'll live!" sternly said Xandra before getting up in Zane's face. "He'd better live because I don't do killings! I'd rather him live with the pain than for death to relieve him of it!" She giggled, "What's the point in that?"
Regardless, the second guard still had his doubts. "But... Xan..."
Looking down with her fake sadness, Xandra said, "Oh, okay... I guess I'm too dumb for you guys to care about...."
With both guards feeling sorry for her, the second guard said, "Oh, no-no; not at all, Xandra!"
"We'll get his blood now!" said the first guard.
The second guard nodded and looked back to Zane, pulling back his fist and preparing to swing.
Zane, still crying and very bloody by now, told the second guard, "Wait...."
"Huh...?" puzzled the second guard.
"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!" said Xandra. "PUNCH HIM!"
The second guard nodded to Xandra's orders and pulled back his fist some more, preparing to swing.
"WAIT! PLEASE!" pled Zane before the second guard swung forward, busting Zane in the right eye and drawing more blood. "AAAAAAAAAAAH!" cried Zane as more blood than ever splashed onto Xandra's face.
Overfilled with joy and excitement, Xandra laughed, "AHAHAHAHAHA!" and cheered, "YEAH!" She whooped, "WOOOOOOO!" and told the guards, "KEEP PUNCHING! KEEP PUNCHING!"
And so, they did.... The two guards continued to beat Zane as Xandra ordered, making more and more blood gush onto Xandra than anyone else in the crowd... even me who was right next to Xandra and still unable to help poor Zane.
***
By nightfall, the beating had ceased and Xandra was practically dripping with Zane's blood—no, GLAZED with it! She ran to everyone, showing them how much blood she had compared to them; she even bragged about it!
Zane, still being held to the wall by the two guards, just looked like the picture of death at that point.... Between the stains of blood and the blood still spilling, his face was red all over. He could barely keep his eyes open and seemed as if he were to be hit one more time, he would have died for sure.
I cried nonstop, feeling guilty that because of me... Xandra grew up to hurt this man like that. Of all the... evils I'd heard of Xandra committing, this was... the worst I'd seen from her. I never even... heard of Xandra being evil until... after that first time she and her girls tried talking to me and I didn't respond. It was just all... making sense more and more all the time that I... was responsible for all of this.
"What should we do with him, Xan?" asked the second guard.
Standing before two other women, Xandra replied, "Um... HELLO?! I'M SHOWING OFF MY BLOOD TO PEOPLE?!"
The second guard said again, "We... are wondering what to do with Zane, Xan...."
Rolling her eyes, Xandra replied, "Oh... him...." She walked to the table where she left the photos and said, "Just give me a sec." Making it to the table, she picked up the photos in one hand, her drink in the other, and walked back to the two guards. Staring Zane in the face, Xandra set down the four photos and teasingly asked, "Hey, how you feeling?" while knowing all too well Zane's answer. She sipped her soda, showing she didn't care about his pain and suffering, making the others laugh at her carefree and heartless attitude. Soullessly looking Zane in the face, Xandra set down her drink, picked up the photos and showed him them. She said, "Say goodbye to the only memories of your mom...." As the others laughed, Xandra set all four photos to the ground before her feet. She then picked up the first. It was a photo of Zane at five years old, with his mother strolling him in a red wagon.
Though Zane was so brutally hurt by now, he was not too weak to cry. This was, after all, the only memories of his mom in Xandra's hands... and Xandra was about to 'rip' them apart, one by one.
Though I too was crying from this, my pain could never amount to the pain of Zane. This wasn't my mother; it was his. How could I understand the pain he was about to endure—no... the pain he was already enduring? I couldn't.... I couldn't begin to understand a pain that wasn't my own, and Zane didn't expect me to. All I knew was... I wish I could had done more....
"Here goes photo one," said Xandra, purposely ripping it in half as slowly as possible, just to make Zane feel more pain and cry even more.
Everyone... except Zane and I, of course... laughed as the photo was now in two halves.
Xandra let the halves fall to the ground and whooped, "WOOOOOO!" and said, "How cool is that?!"
Zane could only cry at that point.... I didn't even think he had the strength to say STOP! anymore....
It was up to me now. I had to be the one to end the madness. Though still unable to move, I weakly begged to her, "Xandra... please! Please, don't do this! Have mercy on him!"
Xandra, snickering and ignoring me, picked up the next photo as I pled, "XANDRA, PLEASE! STOP THIIIIIIIIIS!" I yelled so loud that my voice echoed throughout the city... and I bet I used up whatever little bit of strength I had left to do that.
The photo Xandra currently held was one of Zane and his mother, celebrating the birth of his younger sister at the hospital. Xandra told Zane, "And here goes the next! BUH-BYE!" She slowly ripped it in half, once again for the pleasure of watching Zane cry.
"NO!" Zane cried. "PLEASE! XANDRA, PLEASE! XANDRA, PLEASE! XANDRA, PLEASE STOP!" he cried more, watching the photo slowly get torn in half. "NOOOOOO!" cried Zane even more as Xandra laughed, having fully ripped the second photo in half. The two halves fell to the ground, right on top of the first ones.
Seeing him cry, Xandra pointed at Zane and laughed, teasing, "LOOK AT HIM CRY!" and the rest of her followers laughed at this also.
I could no longer yell... but I still kept begging her, "Xandra... please, take this out on... me!" Tears escaped my eyes while I closed them, grunting... before I told her, "I... I didn't reply to you all those times; this is all my fault! I hurt... you."
And all Xandra did was laugh while I continued begging her to stop the cruelty. She picked up the third photo, one being of Zane's mother reading him and his little sister a bedtime story when they were still in elementary school.
"Xandra.... XANDRAAAAAA!" begged Zane, continuing to cry while Xandra and her followers laughed.
"Woo!" elatedly said Xandra, teasing Zane about all of this. "Just look at that nice tear..." she teased more, slowly ripping the third photo in half.
"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" begged Zane, crying even more.
"Yeah! Yeah! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH!" teased Xandra, soon fully ripping it in half.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" cried Zane before Xandra would drop the two halves to the ground.
"And now..." said Xandra, reaching for next photo (being of Zane's mother's seventy-first birthday), "the final photo...." And Xandra grabbed hold of it, slowly lifted it from the ground and waved it before Zane's eyes, back and forth, just so he could savor the horror of what she was about to do....
Zane could only cry at that point. He didn't understand how someone could hate him so much... to do this.
Xandra soon held the photo still and asked Zane, "Can you see it clearly? Is it visible enough?" Then with a straight-face, she tilted her head sideways. "I know your sight's probably failing from all the punches."
Zane's only response was spoken in tears. At this point, he was so upset that he couldn't even speak. The torture, the doom he would face from starvation and being homeless, the destruction of all he and his sister had left to remember their mother by... it was just too much to bear for him to even remember how to speak at this point.
Xandra looked to the others and said, "What do you think, y'all?! Can he see the photo nice and clear?!"
"TEAR IT UP, XANDRA!" cheered Xiomara Ximenez, one of Xandra's old friends. Xiomara was a tall (a good bit taller than Xandra) skunk with short white hair and curled bangs, and the back of her hair was tied in a small bun.
"RIP IT NICE AND SLOWLY!" teased Ilana Symington, one of Xiomara and Xandra's old friends. "YOU KNOW THE DRILL!" Ilana was a white horse, a bit shorter than me, with dirty-blonde hair in a short ponytail; and a big mouth and teeth, even by horse standards. Back in 2005, she was my first crush back at our school until... a good many months later when I'd have to admit to myself that I liked Xandra more. Truthfully, it was how kind and cool Ilana seemed to be that attracted me to her... before I learned how she really was.
And just the fact that Xandra wasn't my... first choice, back at our school... meant that I was already making her feel unwanted even back in those days. Again... this was all... my... fault....
Responding to Ilana, Xandra laughed, " 'Know the drill?' Wow! That's such a dorky saying, Ilana!"
Scratching the back of her head, Ilana laughed, "Ahahahaha!"
"Right, Xan!" laughed Xiomara.
"TEAR IT UP!" cheered Ilana before everyone would cheer, "TEAR IT UP! TEAR IT UP! TEAR IT UP! TEAR IT UP! TEAR IT UP! TEAR IT UP!"
Their cheering continued as Xandra turned to Zane with a soulless smile. Holding the photo with both hands, she bent it in an awkward motion that could have easily damaged its structure.
I begged her, "Xandra... stop...! Please... don't do this! Please...! What is the reason for this...?! What has he done...?!"
"He did nothing wrong," said Xandra, looking down to me with a bright smile. "He was the best romantic partner that anyone could have asked for." Then her smile turned sad. "I wouldn't... be this way if a certain boy back in 2005 had just... treated me as a person, y'know?"
My eyes widened, shivering. She once again... confirmed it. Oh, Zane, if... only I could go back to those days and... not belittle that poor child. The woman she'd become would not have... been this way.
Zane, still too sorrowful to speak, could only watch with tears as Xandra kept the last photo in plain sight of him.
Xandra smiled back to Zane and said, "Buh-bye!" before slowly pulling her hands away from each other, causing the photo to begin its tearing.
Zane's only way of begging Xandra to stop, at that point, was his continuous crying.
Xandra, having no heart thanks to me, only enjoyed Zane's pain. She took joy in hurting him. She proved that with the laughter she showed from his crying. She proved that with the laughter she showed from him getting beat up, courtesy of her commands. She proved that from enjoying his pain that came with her ripping every single one of his mother's photos in half, one by one.
Zane screamed and cried as Xandra continued to pull her hands away from each other, making that rip travel down the photo even more. Further and further away Xandra's hands went, as did the rip, slowly tearing his mother's last photo apart. The further down that rip went, the louder Zane screamed and cried as if it were the destruction of his own body.
Xandra paused her ripping, just to hold the photo closer to Zane's face and show how it was halfway done getting damaged. "Here, you see?!" Xandra joyously asked Zane. "Can you see how damaged it is now?!" To her first guard, Xandra asked, "Can you hold me up?"
The first guard nodded and picked up Xandra in his right arm, holding her above the ground.
"Put me to his face," Xandra told the first guard.
" 'Kay!" said the first guard, nodding and moving Xandra to being up in Zane's face.
Xandra held the photo directly in front of Zane's face and said, "Do you see it...? Do you see it, Zane...?"
Zane cried louder and louder before turning his head down, refusing to look at the photo anymore.
Xandra paused.... She leaned aside to rub the second guard's chest and asked, "Can you punch him for me...?"
Under her temptation, the second guard nodded and punched Zane in the stomach.
Zane's head jerked back up, forcing him to look forward while he coughed more blood onto Xandra's face.
Xandra whooped, "WOOOOOOO!" and said, "MORE BLOOD!" and whooped again, much to the cheering of everyone else. Keeping the half-damaged photo in front of Zane's face, Xandra went on to tell him, "Huh?! Do you see it, Zane?! HUH?! DO YOU SEE IT?!"
Zane screamed and cried, having no choice but to keep his eyes forward and watch as Xandra would once again place both hands on the photo.
Slowly pulling her hands away from one another, Xandra once again forced the photo to bend in an awkward position and continue its tear. She kept pulling the photo, one end bending away from the other more and more, and slower and slower, just to make sure Zane would savor the moment; the moment where his mother's last photo would be destroyed.
Zane could only cry in pain and agony, still unable to do anything more to make Xandra understand that he didn't want this to happen.
I weakly said, "Xandra... stop...! Stop this madness... please! He doesn't deserve this...! He doesn't deserve this...!"
"I KNOW!" happily exclaimed Xandra. "THAT'S WHY I'M DOIN' IT!"
"No you're... not!" I cried so loud that my voice was horsening. "I hurt your feelings all those years ago... and now committing acts like these are the only way you know how to cope with the pain!"
Xandra sighed, briefly looking down... before looking back up and telling her guards, "Excuse me one moment."
The two guards nodded to their leader's words.
Xandra giggled while leaping out of the first guard's arm. She came flying down with her elbow aimed... at my back. And so she elbowed my back, causing me to cough some blood while she giggled.
"BLAAAAAAH!" I sounded while my limbs spread out in reflex.
Xandra kept giggling, "Hehehehe!" while getting off me to stand straight up again, looking down at me.
Her followers and guards were laughing at me too.
Xandra told me, "Maybe now this little hopper will stop talkin' to me?" And while I grunted in further pain, Xandra turned away from me and leapt back up... and landed in the first guard's grip, all while retaining that last photo in hand for Zane to see.
Zane kept crying, louder and louder while Xandra continued, "Yeah... that's right... CRY! CRY!" and laughed, "AHAHAHAHAHA!" Xandra continued to cheer, "CRY, YOU LOSER OF A MAN! HAHA!" while ripping the photo more and more.
"Noooooooooo!" I weakly exclaimed with sorrow.
Finally, with Xandra's hands continuing to pull the photo in opposite directions, the rip fully made it down to the bottom, forcing the photo to fully tear in half.
Zane finally cried, "NOOOOOOOO!" as Xandra and everyone else laughed about it.
Xandra now held the photo in two halves, keeping them in Zane's plain sight while she whooped, "WOOOO!" and said, "Look at that!" Observing the two halves, she continued with another whoop, "WOOOOOO!" and said, "YEAH! Fully destroyed! Look at that!" She pushed the first torn half in Zane's face and said, "LOOK AT THAT!" Pulling it back as Zane cried more and more, she pushed the other half in his face and said, "LOOK AT THAT!" And Xandra laughed again, "AHAHAHAHA!"
And Zane cried even more.
I couldn't believe what had happened that day.... I couldn't believe it at all. That was truly evil at its finest.... And before I could think more about it, I could hear Xandra laugh again, with everyone else, and say, "LOOK! HE'S CRYING!" Xandra released her grip on the first half of the photo, letting it fall and said, "There goes this one..." while Zane continued to cry. She then released her grip on the other half and said, "And there goes this one..." letting it fall as well. "Can you crush 'em for me...?" Xandra tempted the first guard.
The first guard nodded and set his boot on top of the two halves, scrunching them around the pavement and destroying the halves even more.
While everyone cheered, Xandra whooped and said, "YEAH! That's the spirit!" Xandra looked Zane in the face and said, "Too bad about your mom, huh...?" As Zane continued to cry, Xandra said, "Hey! Hit him again!"
The second guard nodded and drew back his fist.
Closing my eyes with streaming tears, I begged Xandra, "Please, stoooop!" I still couldn't scream with how weakened I'd became between that guard's punch and Xandra's elbowing.
The second guard did not listen to my begging. He slammed his fist right into Zane's nose and caused tons of blood to gush onto Xandra's face.
Xandra whooped with excitement and said, "YEAH! WAY TO GO!"
Zane could only cry in return, looking down at the ground again.
"He's not facing you again..." the second guard told Xandra.
"Doesn't matter," said Xandra. "Oh, by the way, I want his life permanently ruined. Can you strong men take away his ability to use his arms ever again?"
Zane paused with fear... and weakly begged, "Xa—Xan... Xandra, no...! No, please...! Please, please don't!"
"Xandra," I kept crying, "this is tooooo muuuuuuuch!"
But Xandra just laughed, "Hahahaha!" and told her guards, "Do it!"
The two guards nodded and both grabbed hold of Zane's arms, tightly as they could.
"AAAAAAAAH!" screamed Zane, already feeling the pain.
"CRUSH 'EM!" laughed Xandra before everyone would start cheering and laughing too.
"Xa—Xandra!" I cried and weakly begged her to stop while I shivered in place.
Zane weakly cried, "N—Noooooo! Noooooooooo!"
The two guards did as Xandra commanded, squeezing Zane's arms tighter and tighter... until his bones made snapping sounds. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" cried Zane with all his might as Xandra and everyone else kept laughing at his pain.
I cried, "Wha...? What...?! N-No...! Nooooo!"
But Xandra and her allies, of course, refused to listen to me.
"Stop...!" I kept begging regardless. "Stop...!"
But Xandra would only reply by laughingly telling her guards, "YEAH! SQUEEZE 'EM HARD!"
And the guards did as Xandra asked, squeezing and squeezing as more of Zane's bones were heard breaking all over his arms; and the sound mixed with his prolonged cries and screams. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" he cried, continuing to feel this very pain in his arms while Xandra and the others kept laughing.
"KEEP SQUEEZIN'!" Xandra commanded.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" cried Zane as Xandra laughed and started punching the left side of his face. And with her connecting punches, she happily told Zane, "YOU'LL... NEVER BE... ANYTHING!"19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDoJ4hs8kAl
Between Xandra punching him nonstop, and his arms being broken by the two guards who continued to squeeze them, Zane nor I knew which was worse.... But considering Zane's severity of injuries compared to my own, I had no right to complain about anything... other than me being responsible for all of this horror.
***
An hour later, when there was nothing left to break in Zane's arms, and his left cheek was completely red and swollen up like a balloon from Xandra's continuous hits, Zane could do nothing but cry in pain... just as he'd done the whole time from his unnecessary punishments.
As for Xandra, she didn't stop laughing, nor did everyone else. Continuing to laugh, Xandra pointed to Zane and teased, "LOOK! HE'S SO UGLY, HIS FACE SPROUTED A TOMATO!" and she laughed again.
I couldn't believe this happened.... Xandra, I... I failed... you....
Believing it was okay to do so while Xandra kept pointing and laughing at Zane, the first guard gently set her back down to the ground.
To this, Xandra grew displeased, made a fake cough and asked him, "Um... why aren't I going to be carried home by you guys...?"
"Oh!" the first guard realized.
"Of course!" said the second guard before picking Xandra up and carrying her over his shoulder next.
The two guards, along with the rest of Xandra's followers, started walking away.
Looking back to Zane with a smile, Xandra laughed, "Hope you and your sister rot on the streets, loser!"
"Yeah!" said Farrah, following them.
To this, Zane could only keep crying.
Xandra pointed and laughed at Zane, teasing, "LOOK, HE'S DOIN' IT AGAIN!"
To Xandra, the second guard carrying her asked, "Hey, Xan... tell me, we already ruined his life by taking away his credibility for jobs. Was it necessary to ruin his life even more by taking away the use of his arms?"
Xandra laughingly replied, "NOPE! THAT'S WHY WE DID IT! HAHA!"
The second guard paused and said, "I... see...."
"Hmm," said the first guard with a nod.
I couldn't believe it.... After all of this, they all walked away as if it was nothing. I could see Zane... his bloody face, his broken heart, his tears, agony; all sorrow on the outside and inside showed in his face. It was a miracle that he could still manage to stand on his feet.... He certainly had more resilience than myself. After all, it only took one hit from a single guard to render me useless... and Xandra elbowing my back was just the cherry on top. Ugh, just the cherry? As in... weaker than that gut punch I received? Even in my mind, I couldn't... stop belittling her; I just wouldn't quit hurting Xandra's feelings... and thus causing her to hurt others in return.
Zane looked to me, still crying and said, "Thanks for... being by my side...." And with that, he slowly walked away, unable to go very fast after all the pain he went through that day; nor could he wave goodbye because of permanently broken arms.
I didn't know what would happen to him.... I didn't know what would happen to his little sister.... Where would they go...? Without being able to qualify for any job in the world, Zane Rousseau was truly doomed to starve and die; him and his little sister both. It was all thanks to... the monster that I created....
***
Two hours later, though I was still very injured from earlier, I was so angry to discover that I could finally find the strength to stand again... because I wished that could have happened earlier so I could've helped out poor Zane! Regardless... I still felt weak... and believed that a good walk to a place I knew would help me to forget what happened that day. No, I didn't want to remember it. I didn't want to remember the way Xandra treated Zane, despite how good of a boyfriend he had been to her. I didn't want to remember all of the unnecessary bloodshed. I didn't want to remember something that I... caused. Zane and Xandra would have still been together and happy. Heck... Xandra would have been my girlfriend all this time... if only I had made the move in replying to her back in the day. She would have had no reason to turn evil....
But... like I said, the place I was headed to would help me to forget everything that happened because of me that day. It would never come across my mind again... ever.
***
Located around two hundred miles from Righteous Korrigan's coast, there was an island called Sanne, a land very similar to Righteous Korrigan—only it didn't rain as much as Righteous Korrigan, the skies weren't typically as cloudy and none of its residents smoked, drank or did anything like that.
On this island, there lived a twenty-two-year-old female cat named Marta Loranne Grey. Her long hair was more of a dark gray than black, with just one bang between the middle-parted area. Her fur and nose were sort of a cream color. She sported a blue unzipped sweater with a casual T-shirt and long-legged jeans. For as long as she could remember it, Marta dreamed of having a significant other. But alas, Marta never once came across a guy she liked in that way. For a guy whom other women saw as the hottest dude alive, Marta would not be impressed. Even guys who were not so hot, in the opinion of many, Marta would deny them too.
And Marta wasn't always in a wheelchair... but her older sister, Tiane, changed that... back when Marta was a preteen. Marta used to have so many bandages to the point where one could see no detailings such as what type of clothes she wore, what type of face she had; none of those things. But by the time of Marta's adulthood in her early twenties, the beatings hadn't happened for quite some time, so many wounds had healed... minus the broken legs.
Tiane decided that if she beat Marta too much, she'd kill her... and would have thus put little Marta out of her misery. And Tiane wouldn't stand for that, so... she eventually retired beating her little sister. In Sanne, there was no health insurance offered... and Marta's parents paying out of pocket for medical expenses was impossible, considering that Tiane stole their father's government-issued credit card. So various hospitals on the island, pretty much all of them, would only give Marta free treatment for so long... before they'd all soon decide that enough was enough.
Sanne's government eventually decided that the recurring bills of Marta's family's home were getting too expensive to keep up with... since the government had to keep paying back expenses that Tiane was making on their father's credit card too. And so, Sanne's president—a gorilla who kept himself dressed in the boldest suit, befitting of his ego; his name was Gordon Plowe—decided that Marta and her parents would move into a small cottage, where their only night light would be a lantern... and they'd at least still have running water, like they were used to.
"It's... strange," said Marta, looking down in her wheelchair while seated beside the moon in a window.
"Hmm?" puzzled Marta's friend, Ram, who looked to her. Ram was Marta's age and... she too was in a wheelchair, courtesy of Tiane's past doings. She was a light-pink bear with blonde and short middle-parted hair tied in a high and spunky ponytail, facial acne and occasionally dressed like a ranger from the old west. But presently, she sported a short-sleeve white polo, blue ankle-length skirt and black tennis shoes. And she was a bit taller than Marta, even with the two of them in seated positions.
Marta was silent for a couple of seconds... and said, "Even though Tiane has... finally decided to leave us alone..." and tears filled her eyes, "I still can't find..." and her voice began to break, "peace...."
"Marta..." said Mrs. Grey (Miriam Grey), Marta's cat mother who resembled her daughter... minus the more portly shape, wavy hair, eyeglasses and the white T-shirt with black shorts. She too was in a wheelchair... courtesy of Tiane's past brutality.
"Sweetie," said Mr. Grey (Chad Grey), Marta's cat father who was also portly but had short and spiky dark hair with a mustache. He wore a blue polo and off-green shorts, and was in a wheelchair due to... yes, Tiane.
Ram said nothing. She looked to the window and finally told Marta, "Do you think your... prince will come now to rescue us, Marta?"
Mr. Grey sighed and said, "Marta... I finally need to... say something about this."
Marta kept her eyes on the moon, but her ears on her father's words.
"You've had..." he went on to say, "many opportunities to have a boyfriend; even a husband by now. But... you just keep rejecting every single person out there. Don't you realize we... need someone new in our circle?"
"You're saying we're not enough..." said Marta, looking down with irritated closed eyes.
Mr. Grey suddenly looked sad and responded, "Sweetie, that's not what I meant."
Marta looked her father's way. Her eyes were reopened with a piercing yet not meant to threaten glare. She said, "Accepting just anyone, just because they'd have the money to support us in our situation..."
"Sweetie," Mr. Grey said, "what if it's not the money? What about... the physical strength? Perhaps they could take down Tiane then... and get our freedom back. Surely they'd be worthy of your love if they saved us?"
Marta looked away from him. Her head was down again, her eyes closed, brows furrowed and visible blushing on her face. "He has to... be physically attractive too, Dad; it's... just my preference."
Then the four of them heard a knock at the door. All turning their heads the way of the sound, Marta fearfully whispered, "Guys, do you... think that's—"
"Tiane?" fearfully whispered Ram.
"Guys!" firmly spoke a feminine voice from outside the door... but it didn't sound to them like Tiane. "It's me, Penelope."
"Ah?" Marta remarked, visibly stunned.
"President Plowe's daughter from your old school?" Mrs. Grey asked Marta, looking her way in puzzle.
The door opened to a female rabbit of white fur who was seemingly around Marta and Ram's ages. She sported a blue ball cap turned forward and light-brown, fluffy and wavy long hair down the back of her gray shirt and darker gray sweater, almost to her black shorts.
The one who opened the door, however, was a smaller woman rabbit of gold fur who carried Penelope. A woman who looked like a little flake of snow with that winter time jacket. Yet her long and somewhat blonde, maybe a bit dirty blonde hair reminded one that springtime was on the horizon.
"Simona," Ram called the smaller woman by name, "I gotta say, you're sure dedicated to be carryin' Penelope 'round all these days."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Penelope.
Keeping a straight face to Penelope, Marta quickly elbowed Ram.
"Ow!" remarked Ram.
Marta said, "We do... appreciate you coming over, Penelope. But how? I thought your dad didn't want you to risk getting hurt by my sister anymore."
Penelope sighed and said, "You wouldn't believe the debating I had to endure with that old blowhard. Let's say he's definitely meant to be a politician." Then Penelope's eyes narrowed with rage; she just had to address the wheelchairs like elephants in the room. She told them, "Look at you guys.... If only I hadn't let my dad control me all this time."
Marta strolled herself close enough to gently hold Penelope's arm... and told her, "Penelope, look... don't blame yourself, okay?"
Penelope looked down and to her side, to not face Marta with the guilt she felt.
"You and I," Marta went on to tell her, "we know my sister was too formidable. You did your best... and I didn't expect you to keep getting beat up behind me."
"Yeah," said Penelope while looking the way of Marta's other friend, "well, obviously, Ram had the courage to keep getting beat up behind you, no matter the cost. I just... wish I could have stood up to my father the way I needed to." Penelope then reached into her pocket and pulled out a credit card with the name PENELOPE M. PLOWE engraved on it.
Marta noticed that card and said, "Oh, cool; your dad got you a credit card?"
Penelope nodded and said, "He did. And it's all yours."
Marta took a moment to process what she'd just heard.... "Wait, all... mine?"
"Your family and Ram's family can share this; it even lets you deduct money in cash at any terminal on the island."
"Ah...?" Marta puzzled with wide eyes; and Ram, Mr. and Mrs. Grey were also stunned.
"It's not like the other Sanne credit cards that let you use them solely electronically," Penelope went on to explain, despite seeing their bewilderment.
"Penelope," Marta said, "you're... actually giving this to us?"
Penelope nodded and told her, "Use that money to get a hospital, any hospital, to repair your legs, guys." And she put the card in Marta's lap. "Don't even worry about the cost; I can't begin to mention how many zeros are in the dollar amount on that card." Then Penelope lifted one hand and snapped her fingers. "Simona! Take me back home."
Simona nodded and said, "Yes, Penelope." And with that, she started walking Penelope away from them.
Marta said, "Penelope, wait."
Simona stopped walking her.
Penelope looked behind herself and puzzled, "Huh?"
Marta said, "You... don't have to give us all your own money; I'd feel awful just taking this from you, especially since you're my friend."
Penelope's eyes widened. "I'm your... friend?"
Ram laughed, "Ah-hahahaha!" and said, "Penelope, of course yer our friend!"
Penelope looked down sadly and said, "But I wasn't there for you guys when you needed me all this time. If only I'd—"
"Don't gaslight yourself on that, Penelope," said Marta, shaking her head. "You and I both know you would have just ended up like us; permanently crippled, had you kept getting beaten up by Tiane."
"How dare you say I got beaten up by Tiane?!" viciously snapped Penelope.
"Ah!" gasped Marta, while her parents and Ram also became shocked.
"I've told you over and over," said Penelope, "I only allowed that dumb freak to get the better of me; it was just to help a loser like her feel better." Penelope looked down with closed eyes, a raised brow and smirk. "Heh! I'm generous like that."
Smiling and rolling her eyes, Marta said, "Of course, Penelope."
Smiling also and looking up at Penelope, Simona nodded and added, "Oh, but Penelope is generous, Marta! She lets me carry her around and serve her, just like I always love to!"
Penelope folded her arms and blushed, smiling and looking aside. "You embarrass me, Simona. Just take me home."
Ram then puzzled on something and said, "But... wait."
"Hmm?" puzzled Penelope, looking Ram's way.
"Huh?" puzzled Marta, doing the same.
Ram went on to say, "Tiane still polices the streets, doesn't she? If we're caught rolling our ways to the nearest hospital to use this card, she could beat us and take Penelope's card from us..." and Ram looked down, "just like she did to her own dad."
Simona curiously said, "Ram, didn't you hear?"
"Huh?" puzzled Ram.
"Simona!" Penelope shouted down to her. "You know I'm the one who wanted to give them the news, right?" She turned up her nose. "You can give them more news next time."
Simona smiled and said, "My fault, Penelope!"
"Just get on with it?" asked Mrs. Grey, looking concerned and not caring who'd give the news.
Penelope turned down her nose, facing them and said, "A few of Tiane's friends told me, but... she's apparently left the island since a few days ago. Told them she was taking a flight to Righteous Korrigan."
"Righteous Korrigan?" asked Marta. "Also WOW!" she said with the biggest smile. "Ahahaha! So we FINALLY won't be bothered by my big sister anymore?!"
Penelope shook her head with furrowed brows, closed eyes and replied, "Not for now, it seems. I only wish I could have creamed the oversized brat before she left." And she reopened her eyes. "But, yes; Righteous Korrigan, Unxia. She says there's a person of interest there she'd like to do business with."
"Business?" asked Mr. Grey. "She found some kind of job overseas?"
"Did she give a name?" asked Marta, growing more curious.
"Hmm," hummed Penelope, slightly clutching her hand over her mouth. "Only name she gave them was of the person she's apparently meeting with. Let me try remembering; I think it was... Xandra?"
***
Meanwhile... somewhere in outer space... there was a planet called Ifnuar. And on that planet... lived a being known as Acplait. And I didn't know it, but... he was my doppelgänger. And for him... it was Tuesday, February 25, 2025 (yes, the planet Ifnuar seemed to follow the same calendar as Earth; only years and months ahead by comparison).
Acplait had a greenish, large and round head with what looked like a dark green and spotted egg on top of it. His pupils were white, his sclera dark-green and there was some kind of shelling of green blends around his mouth area. He had pointed ears that kind of stuck out like antennae, a yellow and cyan chest plate, a bright-green box that served as his mouth, and darker green arms and legs that were super skinny. He seemed to be about my same five-foot-six height. But he was nine years older than me.
Then there was Trerchry, Acplait's imaginary friend ever since the year 2003... and eventually his wife, once Acplait turned eighteen just like she'd always been. Trerchry had green skin (albeit slightly leaning toward a dirty green), light-green and big hair that was more like a blob than hair with two large antennae on top and four other antennae dangling from two roundish parts of her hair near both her cheeks. Her pupils were big, dark-green and had a bit of a shine to them, with white sclera. She was a bit shorter than Acplait and had a light-green tail with a bulbous tip, just like the rest of her antennae. She wore a black and loose shirt with sleeves just slightly down past her elbows, a gray undershirt with the neck near her jaw, dark-maroon or purple-ish shorts, gray leggings that went halfway down her ankles, black socks and gray shoes. Her height was five-foot-three... unless you'd count the two thick antennae sticking out from her head that were a part of her blobby hair, which would make her seem much taller?
Trerchry was near Acplait's bed... at least in his mind. But what wasn't fiction for Acplait was the fact that he... actually was on his deathbed. He contracted a disease quite common to the planet Ifnuar; a disease that made the body more prone to not moving until... everything, including the internal organs, would stop working.
Trerchry whimpered, kneeling beside Acplait and keeping her hands in prayer while she said, "Acplait... you are my husband; I don't want to lose you. Why can't it be these parasites instead?"
Looking over to his wife, Acplait hoarsely replied, "Trerchry, we've... been over this." And he coughed a few times.
"Sweetie, please," Trerchry said in worry, leaning closer to Acplait and petting his neck. "Don't get upset; not over my hatred for their kind. They're beneath us, Acplait. They're mere insects compared to what we are."
Acplait looked away and up at the ceiling, still not agreeing with his wife's views on life forms throughout the cosmos. "Everyone deserves being loved... and everyone is worth something."
Trerchry narrowed her eyes in anger and told Acplait, "You may be human like the rest of them... but you're the only one above them, nonetheless. That makes you worth something and the rest of them nothing."
"And that racism makes you no better than them," hoarsely replied Acplait. His eyes looked all the more tired. "All life is precious, Trerchry. Even for those who've hurt me... I don't look down on them as 'parasites,' as you call them. The beauty in humanity is that people can change for the better. They are fully capable. And although I won't live to receive an apology from these people... it's because I know they're capable of doing better that I... leave this world not feeling hatred for them... but love."
With increasing tears in her eyes, Trerchry came closer to Acplait's face. Her lips were nearly touching his right pointy ear. "Acplait, please... I don't want you to go!"
Acplait hoarsely replied, "I don't... want to go either, Trerchry. But what's the point in living? I didn't talk to anyone in my childhood... and it caused them all to grow up hating me."
"Forget about them..." Trerchry said with her eyes narrowing, shedding tears. "You did your part, Acplait! You tried asking for their forgiveness and they didn't forgive you! So whose fault is it at that point?! It's theirs. They just... hate you for no reason and that makes them the trash; not you!"
Acplait narrowed his eyes, just looking up at the ceiling while he said, "No, Trerchry... I am the trash."
"STOP!" cried Trerchry, closing her eyes as more tears escaped her. "STOP, STOP, STOP, STOP, STOP, ACPLAIT!”
"Trerchry..." Acplait responded.
"Ah...?" Trerchry puzzled, opening her teary eyes to him.
Acplait shedded tears, just watching the ceiling. He soon said, "I may be... a failure, but that doesn't mean that everyone else has to be. You can... travel between realities, correct?"
Trerchry nodded sternly while humming, "Mm-hmm." She knew Acplait had asked her this question multiple times before but would never lose her patience with having to repeat herself. Hearing him ask simply gave her more chances to hear that voice of his that she adored so much. Trerchry went on to tell Acplait, "Now... grant you, I must have an opening, like a portal or something as the gateway to whichever reality I wish to enter."
Although Acplait had a plate covering where his mouth would have been, he technically used that plate as the mouth itself. But nothing like a smile or frown could ever be seen... even though he was weakly smiling after Trerchry's statement, knowing her dilemma and the easiest way she could resolve it. And so Acplait told his imaginary wife, "Trerchry... the one called 'Ikjot Harsharan' possesses a hidden power known as a 'Poison Dart Unraveling.' If he unleashes that power... it will result in a portal between our world and his, but only from nearby my body.... You can then use that portal to enter Ikjot's world and... technically be with me all over again."
Trerchry smiled with sympathetic hope while her tears kept falling. She told him, "Acplait... it's not a matter of 'if' but 'when.' You are an amazing husband no matter the reality, and I know you will unlock this power."
Acplait weakly smiled... and said, "Trerchry... thank you for being the one who decided to be my... romantic partner, despite my... past...." And with that, Acplait said no more. He seemed like a statue, more still than he already was. His chest no longer heaved up and down... not even in the slightest.
Trerchry said nothing. She frowned... with her upper face shadowed. After moments of silence... she finally said over his corpse, "It should have never came to... just one female outside your blood relatives appreciating and showing you kindness." Then Trerchry rested herself on Acplait's corpse... and said, "Oh, Acplait.... I'm going to make them all pay... by showing them that you can be loved." And with that... Trerchry would remain vigilant... for the day that the portal would show up.
***
Back on Earth and in Righteous Korrigan, Unxia, I had to forget the past; the past of Zane's beating. No. No, I said I wasn't going to remember it.... I was at the Young Horseflies Hangout. It was a small building, dark like the others along its stretch of the street; but anyone passing would see its name lit off and on by the miniature bulbs that spelled it out in gold. It was a place I'd visit all the time when looking for love, let alone taking my mind off things.
I sat on a bar stool with the counter before me, and the koala bartender who offered me a refreshment. "The usual water tonight?" he asked me while wiping down an empty jug.
"Sure, Jim!" I replied with a smile.
Jim was pretty much the guy I saw catering at that hangout for every time that I visited. He wore his usual candy cane colored hat and polo. He smiled with that gray mustache of his. A rather short fellow he was; maybe my same height. "Coming right up," Jim told me while making his way to the fountain.
Meanwhile, I heard some giggling aside of me. As I turned my head, I noticed it was a young orange cat woman with long and very thick blonde hair, with bowl cut bangs. Her clothing was classy as a dance floor night. "Wow..." she teased, "you still don't drink?"
I wasn't at that hangout solely for the purpose of drinking water or dancing to some music with a spinning disco ball; I was there because I was still single and looking. Knowing that hangout was practically the base for single people like myself, I could never screw up my chance of having a girlfriend if a female were to talk to me. So instead of telling this lady something rude for her tease, I took it as her just having fun like everyone else and replied, "No..." while looking down with a sad nod.
"Well, here you go, kid," said Jim, returning with a glass of water in his hand. He sat it before me on the table. "One cold glass of water."
"Thanks, Jim," I said before drinking some.
The lady then scooted down a few seats until she sat directly beside me. "So..." she said, leaning over to me, "what's your name?"
"Ikjot," I replied. "You?"
"Maricela," she said. "I'm twenty-one, and you?"
"Twenty-two," I replied before drinking some water—just to seem cool in front of her, of course.
"Cool," she said. "So, you come here often?"
I laughed lightly and said, "Only every week." I was going to say more, but anything further that would come out my mouth would've been a question like, So, are you single? Or maybe a compliment. And from numerous experiences I had in the past, my love interest would feel I was lying if I complimented her—at least in the case of numerous women I'd met on the internet. And it was because I knew that outcome... that I had to keep my mouth shut. Rather than assuming I'd have to say more than what I'd already told her, I had to keep my hopes up that Maricela would be the one to keep our conversation going. And I... felt so bad about this. Here I was replying to Maricela, yet when Xandra needed me to reply to her... I didn't.
Noticing that I seemed short on words, Maricela said, "So... what are your interests?"
Typically, that question would stump me at times. It would take time for me to remember the interests I had, considering I didn't even know if they truly "interested" me. So I used an, "Uh..." pause to give myself time to formulate my interests in my head, and as quickly as possible. I then told Maricela, "I like using the computer." But something told me that wasn't the greatest response I could have given her.
Maricela kept a straight face and said, "Cool, what do you do on the computer?"
"Well," I said, "I watch videos, go to chat rooms—"
"Whoa-whoa, hold up. You use chat rooms?!"
With that remark, I knew what was about to be a relationship was already over... until Maricela continued, "Sweet! Me too!"
I was surprised. Out of all the women I'd met in person, I never thought I would have met one that used chat rooms like me. The reason why is because all those women I knew preferred to meet people in19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPxiScj2iyt
person; not online. "Awesome!" I replied. "So, what are your interests?"
"I like being villainous," she replied with a mischievous smirk.
I found her statement as one completely new to my ears and maybe even weird. But I liked weird, even though weird women had a habit of betraying me too. Still, I'd give her a chance to prove she was better than that. "Villainous?" I asked.
"Yup!" she replied. "The antagonist RULES!" she exclaimed with glee.
I now understood her. She really was a weird one. Definitely not the type of personality I would see every day from a lady... which is why I decided to drop my doubts of her loyalty, just a tad bit. "Sweet!" I said. "Um... curious, what kind of villainy?"
She immediately shushed me and whispered, "We villains gotta lay low."
"Oh... got it," I said, definitely knowing by now she was a weirdo—which I liked. I whispered, asking her, "So what kind of villainy do you do?"
Maricela happily looked away, folding her arms and said, "Can't tell you anything unless you're villainous like me."
"Hmm, what if you teach me how to be?"
Maricela told me, "Sure!" and got off her barstool. "Follow me."
As she went walking, I got off the barstool and followed her into the other part of the hangout, which was a dance room. Music played, courtesy of the DJ and his discs, and the only thing keeping light in the room was a spinning disco ball hanging from the ceiling. The floor was filled with people dancing as Maricela and I saw it all before us.
"Follow my lead, sidekick," she whispered to me.
And I kept following her.
Maricela walked behind one of the other ladies in the room and said, "Hey, Lela!" And as Lela turned her head, Maricela continued, "That outfit is so damaged, it's beyond repair!"
Lela was a light-brown bear with short brown hair and thick bangs, wore a white dress down to her ankles, short-sleeve pink V-neck and was a good deal shorter than Maricela. And as Maricela laughed, I felt sorry for Lela who walked off with a look of disappointment.
But at the same time, I also knew that siding with Lela would have probably meant siding with someone who would never like me, whereas it was obvious that Maricela did like me. So I had no choice but to be on the side of the bad person. But that was the flaw with me. It always had been. As long as I believed a woman liked me, even if she was cold towards others, I'd be drawn into the pressure of trusting her. And although this was a terrible way to be, considering it wasn't a good principle to hang out with a jerk, it was just the way I was. I think it all came from my desperate need to be with anyone I could get, considering I believed myself to be the ugliest male that ever existed... and the chances of someone truly liking me would be a matter of pure luck, especially since I ruined things with Xandra who, never turning evil, would had been my perfect match.
"Okay," Maricela told me, "your turn to make fun of someone."
"Me?" I puzzled.
Folding her arms, she said, "It's the only way to prove you're worthy of being called a good antagonist, my faithful sidekick."
Yep. Just by the way she said that, I could tell she was a special case. Once again—I liked it!
"Okay, let me take a look..." I said, scanning my eyes for who I could insult.
"Hold that thought, sidekick!" she said, stopping me before I could find someone. "Let's go to that Lela lady and make fun of her some more instead."
"Sure!" I said, not questioning Maricela's decision. The right thing to say would have been, I don't know, Maricela. This doesn't seem right. But I knew the slightest slip of my tongue would surely ruin any chance I had of being in a relationship with19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeCv7YBWKvn
this woman. And considering I lost Xandra, I had no choice but to try finding a new flame. So I had to be one hundred percent perfect in my footing with Maricela, no matter the costs. I followed Maricela as she headed Lela's way.
Making it to Lela, Maricela told her, "Hey, Lela. My sidekick has something to say to you."
With an annoyed sigh, Lela replied, "What do you want now, Maricela?"
This was it. The moment I'd actually insult someone I hadn't even met before. For all I knew, this could have been the nicest woman I'd ever met and I was going to turn her down for a jerk. Regardless, a bird in my hand was better than one in the bush. And Maricela was definitely in the palm of my hand.
"Hey, Lela," I said. "You really should have thought twice before having your... hair that way." And that's all I would say. Because, in the event that Maricela would have proven to only be making me make enemies just so I'd have no one upon her dumping me—if Maricela would do that, of course—I'd at least have not said anything too hurtful to Lela. And from there, Lela and I could let bygones be bygones; and we could become a couple after that. My past failures with women and not having better judgment, of course, conditioned me to think this way.
"Come on, sidekick!" Maricela gleefully cheered me on. "Don't hold back your evil!"
Seeing her express high hopes in my abilities, I couldn't let Maricela down. So I had no choice but to kick it up a notch... despite my precautions. "Lela," I said, "your looks aren't any better than the looks of others in this club!"
"Weak..." said Lela, unimpressed.
"Ikjot!" cheered Maricela again. "Give her all you've got and I'll promote you from sidekick..." and she wrapped her arm around me and made bright eyes, "to supervillain!"
Since she was so patient with me and obviously understanding I was new to all of this, I finally decided to step up my insults for real this time. I said, "Lela, the lowercase 'l' in your name is thinner than you."
Maricela laughed, "Ahahahahaha!"
I smiled Maricela's way, liking the fact that I finally pleased her.
Lela, a bit annoyed even though she wasn't fat like I implied, told me, "Oh yeah, well you're the ugliest male I've ever seen!"
I couldn't believe it. I was deliberately making someone mad and they hadn't even offended me. This wasn't right. I knew it wasn't. But what was a man desperate for love to do?
"Tell her off again!" Maricela cheered me on.
While I felt uncomfortable about all of this and knew it wasn't right—unless this Lela was actually a bad person and Maricela was the good—I knew I had to please who would probably, if I played my cards right, be my girlfriend by the end of the night. So I told Lela, "If I'm ugly, that makes me beautiful compared to you."
"If you weren't busy being so ignorant, you'd see Maricela for who she really is," Lela told me before getting up in Maricela's face. "And that's a backstabbing, no good, two-timing freak!"
Maricela laughed with disbelief and told me, "Don't listen to her. She always betrays people and makes them look like the two-timers instead."
"Who's this again?" Lela asked Maricela, inquiring about me.
"Ikjot," I said to Lela.
Lela exclaimed to me, "Ikjot, you're an idiot if you're buying into Maricela's charms! She does this to every guy around here! Makes them think she cares then dumps them when she's done making a fool out of them!"
Now I was confused. I didn't know who to believe. Would I side with Lela over Maricela, only for Lela to betray me? Or would I side with Maricela, only to be betrayed by Lela? All I knew was, most likely, I would side with the bad woman by accident and once again, like so many times before, be left with a broken heart. I never could make the distinction between trustworthy and phony people. Why? Because the phonies were just too skilled at pretending to be my friends, that's why.
Maricela laughed with disbelief and said, "You're such a liar, Lela. You always are so this is nothing new. I wouldn't expect anything more from you—"
"Oh, drop the act, Maricela!" said Lela. "You always do this! You pretend to like a guy just so you can laugh at him once you show him he was only good for laughs—"
"Hello?!" said Maricela. "You already said that! Guess you can't come up with another lie?"
I couldn't just stand by and not back up Maricela. I had to do something so she'd know I wasn't the kind of guy who would leave his lady on her own to handle a fight.
"I think you're just saying the same thing again and again to buy yourself some time to think of another tall tale," I told Lela.
With an annoyed expression on me, Lela replied, "Ikjot... shut up.... Please."
"You're a total poser, Lela," Maricela told her, apparently disregarding the fact that Lela made a rude remark to me. But maybe her insulting Lela again was her method of defending me. Didn't know. Maricela continued, "The only reason you make other people look like the bad guy is to cover up your own dirty laundry."
"Oh my gosh, you are such a liar!" Lela told her. "But I guess that's only natural for you! Isn't it, Maricela?!"
This could have either gone on all night, or escalated into confrontation. So I had to squash it for the sake of my lady. Besides, in the probable event Maricela would leave me behind, I wouldn't have wanted Lela to be so mad at me that we wouldn't even have a chance together.
"Lela's obviously a bad person," I said to Maricela. "Let's go do some dancing and make her envious of our moves!"
"Nah," Maricela replied. "Let's make fun of her some more!" I guess what she really meant was, Ikjot, the whole point of this was for you to do some insulting to Lela; not leave her alone. So I had no choice but to swallow my good nature and be the bad guy Maricela expected me to be—even though I knew this whole thing was wrong.
"Sounds like a plan to me!" I told Maricela. Turning back to Lela, I said, "You're uncool, Lela."
"Whatever..." said Lela, annoyed and looking away before looking back to Maricela. "Just know, Maricela, that you're lame and no one cares for your drama." She walked off and concluded, "So go jump in a lake."
Narrowing her eyes with a smile, Maricela replied, "Unlike you, I won't even need a lifeguard." She turned around and went walking. "Come, sidekick!" she told me. "Let's go make fun of some more people! Mua-haha-haha!"
Again... she was weird. Regardless, I responded, "Coming, my villainous teacher!" and followed her. "Mua-haha-haha!"
...
Later that night, it was around one thirty-five a.m. when Maricela and I stood outside of the hangout in the dark. She was showing me her 'awesome' (as she called it) motorcycle.
"Check out my awesome motorcycle," she said, standing beside it. It was just a basic silver two-wheeler, in my eyes.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNw5Wt3kUnY
But I wanted to show Maricela that I cared for the things she cared for. So... "Neat!" I replied with an excited smile.
Maricela took out a helmet and said, "Wanna go for a ride, sidekick?"
"Definitely!" I said, playing along with our villainous role... even though I was secretly terrified of getting on a motorcycle. I personally felt safer in cars, but oh well. I'd do anything for someone finally willing to be my girlfriend.
"Awesome!" Maricela happily replied. "You wait here, sidekick. Your villainous leader's gotta make a pitstop!"
"Sure thing, Maricela!" I replied while she ran back to the hangout and went inside.
I patiently awaited her return... but it wasn't until thirty minutes later that I discovered she was taking a while. Perhaps she just tended to take a long time in the lady's room. Perhaps she was still waiting to enter; I knew the men's restroom at least had only one stall, so maybe the same held true for the women's. I peeked through the window to see what was going on. And when I looked through... I saw Maricela speaking to another man.
...Was I... overthinking this?
I slightly opened the door and politely asked, "Hey, Maricela. Are we ready to go yet?" But she said nothing in return. In fact, I felt as though I wasn't even there by the way she was acting. She continued talking to the man as though I said nothing.
Luckily, I realized I did exist when the man she spoke to asked, "Hey, who's that?"
Maricela disregarded his question while hugging his arms. "So tell me more about this secret skill you have," she said while walking away with him.
I knew what was going on... but I had to keep my cool. Instead of chasing behind her, I wanted to keep my politeness towards the woman who I knew loved me. "Maricela...?" I said, trying to get her attention again.
"Seriously, Maricela, who is that?" the man asked her again. But she continued to disregard his question and kept flirting.
It was as though I wasn't even there... and I knew all too well what happened.
Yes... once again... I was played by a female who I thought truly loved me. But maybe there was still hope for me. Perhaps that Lela lady was still hanging around. I searched everywhere for her, including the dance room, but found no sight of her.
As I walked out of the hangout, now with my face held down in disappointment, I quickly looked forward and noticed Lela getting in her car. I knew it would seem rude, creepy and maybe even desperate19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFFn4TE93X1
for me to run to her and ask her to hang out... but that's exactly what I did.
"Lela!" I shouted, running to her window as she prepared to insert her key in the ignition.
"Go away, you creep!" she told me.
I paused with shock before continuing, "Well... well, I was just wondering if we could—"
"Goodbye," she said, turning her ignition switch and starting the car... before driving off.
"Wait! Lela!" I pled while she kept driving away... and I knew she had no intent on coming back.
That night taught me a very valuable lesson: No matter what, I always wound up making the same mistakes. This wasn't the first time I wound up siding with the evil female, leaving the good female I could've had an honest relationship with in the dust. And, as usual, I got burned big time for it. As I stood outside the Young Horseflies Hangout, pacing back and forth with sorrow clear as my face, I felt a drop of water befall the tip of my nose. As I sniffled and looked above me, I could see the night sky was now covered with pink clouds. And from my experience, this could only mean one thing: Rain was coming and I needed to get to my 'home' as soon as possible.
I started walking down the sidewalk, looking around at all the sights to see in Righteous Korrigan. For one thing, that usual bus I'd always see was dropping by the other side of the street to pick up some people who either had night jobs, were doing something else, or that and more. Upon loading its passengers, the bus drove off.
I heard a loud noise above me, all too familiar, and looked up to find that an airplane was passing by. I wondered, do those things ever stop traveling? Guess not....
I passed by a doe mother and her doe daughter walking down the street. The daughter was trying to make her mother take her to the candy store. Of course, her mother either didn't have the money or didn't have the time to do such a thing. Or maybe it was the fact that, judging by what I saw, the candy store was closed. Poor kid.... Guess she was gonna have to wait until tomorrow.
Next thing I knew, I could hear the sound of a dog and seagull fighting. I started to run, hoping they wouldn't try attacking me too.
I finally reached the end of the corner, relieved to have escaped those two... but not so grateful for a car to pass by with a group of teens who laughed at me for looking homeless.
I pressed a button on the pole beside myself that would allow me to cross the intersection, just to ensure I wasn't jaywalking.
Now on the next sidewalk, I looked to a streetlight and noticed that its glow was flashing off and on. Apparently, it was either really weak or ready to go out. Right after I passed it, it went out. Figures....
A police car was approaching me from the distance. At first, it slowed down in speed, probably because the officer wanted to observe whether or not I looked suspicious. Luckily, I obviously passed his trust test, because he sped up to a normal pace and drove off. Phew....
Then I saw a group of women and one man, all bears, walking down the street. Those women were all fawning over the guy; I could tell by the way they were flirtatiously laughing and rewarding him with all sorts of compliments on his looks and fit physique. Where was my own reward?! When would I be obsessed over like that by women?! Then again... maybe he actually talked to those women back when they were all kids... whereas I didn't in my own past.
Everywhere I looked, there was another boyfriend and girlfriend loving each other. Some were kissing, some were playfully hurting each other and some were even performing illegal activities together—how crazy is that?! One of the couples even had the nerve to pass me by, on the same sidewalk, just to rub it in my face that I was the only single man in town.
As I walked, a guy goose passed by on his bike and threw a rock at my shoulder. Ouch! What was even more painful was the fact that he laughed while he rode off. Jerk....
Finally, I made it to another corner and headed into a dark alley—this is where I lived.
...
As the rain continued to pour, I was safe and sound in my cardboard box—a place I called my house, nowadays. I couldn't afford to buy a real home, or rent an apartment or even stay at a hotel. If you wondered how I got this way, it's... complicated.
Suddenly, my stomach growled. I knew it was time for what I called dinner: Trash. Crawling out of the box, I made it to the trash can, reached inside and pulled out a half-eaten apple. And what would dinner be without a refreshment of some sort? I stuck my tongue out and allowed the drops of rain to quench my thirst. And, of course, that apple and any other semi-eaten food I'd find in that trash can would be my meal for the night. The day-in, day-out street life was brutal, indeed. But the good thing was I knew how to survive... despite not having a dime to my name.
After feasting off of what I could find in the can, I looked down at a puddle of water before me. In that puddle, I could see my reflection: The reflection of a loser. A loser who was a loser because the only thing he was good at was getting his heart broken all the time. I closed my eyes in sadness, wanting to cry as usual whenever some female broke my heart. Sadly, I rarely... almost never could. The tears only seemed to show on the inside, which I feared would make people believe I wasn't as sad as I was letting on—but that wasn't the case. I was deeply hurt because for years, even before Maricela came along, I had the same experiences all along. It all started after one female (Xandra, still so attractive to me) deeply hurt me in the past. She pretended not to... know me when I tried reaching out for forgiveness for... being so shy. And what's more, the last person I tried telling my problems to (Wynfred) told me to tell my drama to... someone else. She was supposed to be my friend; but that experience proved otherwise. The past had a lot to do with what was now my bleak present. Regardless, my body was growing tired after eating and I eventually fell asleep, hoping a true love would soon come to repair what was now my greatly broken heart. Maybe she'd even give me some real, filling food for a change.
...Then again... who was I kidding? Even if she... did come my way, would I... still be longing for Xandra? She was... still the most beautiful to me out of all women out here. I just couldn't... stop hurting over how I ruined my life in rejecting her, back when we were kids and she tried... so hard to reach me.
***
By morning, the rain had stopped and the sun was shining through the plentiful clouds.
I soon awoke to finding what I believed to be my eyes playing tricks on me. Before my box was a plate of steaming grits, eggs and bacon, a second plate of pancakes and hash browns, and behind those two plates was a glass of orange juice. I quickly discovered it was no illusion; someone really did lay out a whole breakfast just for me! And though I was overjoyed with the excitement that I would finally, after so long, eat something other than garbage to start off my day, I couldn't help but wonder if this was a trap. My stomach told me to take the bait... but my brain said otherwise. Ultimately, however, it was my stomach that got the better of me.
***
It was at least an hour later when I finished my meal. I hadn't felt so stuffed in quite some time ever since the day I became homeless. I laid on my belly, resting beneath the sun until I heard the sound of someone munching and my trash can—the one I ate from—shaking. I awoke to this noise and saw a raggedy raccoon woman—apparently homeless, just like me—being the cause of this. She had square patches sewn on various parts of her off-green, dirty sweater and shorts; and the bulky cap she wore looked the same. As for her orange elbow-length hair: Dirt and dust throughout. I paused and said, "I see you're homeless too...."
She looked at me with her mouth full of garbage and said (with a blank expression), "Mmm-hmm...." and continued eating.
Apparently, she was too busy stuffing her face to want much (if any) conversation with me. Of course, it would've been hypocritical of me to complain about that, considering that I didn't like much conversation while eating either. I looked away and headed back into my box.
"It's sad being homeless and all," she talked with her mouth full.
As I turned around, she continued with a sad expression, "I never even knew my family." With a hopeful smile that she seemed to have a hard time keeping, and swallowing the garbage, she continued, "But... I'm alright, I guess." She hopped down from the trash can, walked to me and asked, "So what's your name?"
"Ikjot," I replied.
"Cool name!" she said. While I replied, "Thanks," she continued, "I'm Walter—" before pausing in unison with me and rubbing the back of her head. "Oh! Um... you first!" she said while I shyly replied in unison, "Sorry. No, after you."
"I insist," she said.
"Well, I said 'thanks' for saying my name was cool."
"No problem!" She held her hand out for a handshake and continued, "I'm Walter! Nice to meet you!"
"Thanks!" I replied, shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you too!"
"So how long have you been homeless?"
I looked down and said, "Since the time my paycheck couldn't keep up with my hotel rent."
"That's so sad..." Walter said while nodding with sorrow. As she sat next to me, she continued, "I'm homeless because... well, I never had a home. I never even knew my parents. I grew up homeless as a kid. Now I'm twenty-three and still homeless. Yup. I've been on the streets for years."
"Four years?" I asked, misinterpreting the word 'for' for 'four.'
"Nope!" Walter replied, standing up with a smile while a jingle started. "'For' years!" She continued in song, "♪ From the cops, I've ran away. Here on the streets, we always say, 'Hey, you! Look forward to a brighter day-ay!' ♪" While I nodded, she held her hat and continued, "♪ But we all know that's just a lie, 'cause poverty's ruling our lives. ♪" She held her hat out to a black bear passing by. "♪ If we had money, we'd at least make some change! ♪"
And that bear smiled through his round beard while dropping a few pennies in Walter's hat, continuing to walk off.
Walter walked back to me, rested her arm on my shoulder—which I liked—and continued, "♪ But pennies here and there can't take us to what's best out there. Day by day, we keep grindin' for more mon-eeeeey! ♪" Then, she pointed to a bunch of people on the other side of the street laughing at some homeless people holding up signs that asked for funds. "♪ But when we try to ask, all these dumb people do is laugh cause' they think we're just tryin' to be fun-nyyyyy! ♪"
I interrupted her song and said, "Well, I don't find it funny. I think the homeless are people in need and should be helped." And, of course, I said that so she'd know I was on her side—and thus probably become my19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ43gy3KzKPi
girlfriend! Yes, right now, that was all I could think about.
"Exactly!" Walter said before continuing her song, "♪ But we've found none who understand 'cause they bear riches in their hands and it drives us homeless bros so bat cra-zyyyyy! They say we're poor 'cause we're freeloaders and lazy but—♪ "
"Heya, Tracy!" shouted a male sheep as he drove past a cheetah woman he knew (who waved to him from her window).
"♪ They're just too cheap to share fund-iiiiing! ♪" sang Walter while tossing an empty beans can near that car. She then walked back to me, wagging her finger while she explained, "♪ They don't listen to us, no matter all these times we've fussed! ♪" She then held me close to herself. "♪ They're too focused on vanity and their luuuuust! ♪" Walter got up in my face and continued, "♪ If the rich shared their dollars, we homeless people could holler! ♪" She then sat on the sidewalk, played with a yoyo and continued, "♪ But they don't; that's why our ship's sailed! What luuuuuck! ♪" Putting the yoyo down, she stood up and signaled to a bunch of homeless bystanders. "♪ And that's why, like my peers—♪"
The bystanders happily sang while grooving in place, "♪ We tell yaaa, she's cheered—♪"
"♪ I've been on the streets for yeeears! ♪" happily sang Walter while grooving in place.
While she walked down the street with a spotlight shining on her, a crowd of homeless people (from her left and right) sang, "♪ She'll tell aaanybody... whooo wants to hear: She's been on the streets for yeeears! ♪"
Walter once again came to me, pointing to the distance and said (before I would turn my head), "♪ Take a look... over there ♪," pointing to a homeless man being pelted by fruits from kids. "♪ I tell ya', it's a scare! ♪" With my head still turned, she quickly stepped over to my box, signaling a crane to pick it up, along with the trash can I'd eaten from, before she continued, "♪ The way they treat us; it's anything but faaaaair! ♪" As I turned back to her, she stood before the spot where my box was—in hopes of blocking my sight from seeing it was gone—and continued, before putting a blindfold around my face, "♪ Though wealthy hearts are cold as ice, we homeless people remain nice! But look at how they make us pay, too, that priiiiice! ♪ "
"I wish I could," I said, interrupting the song's tune, "but I can't see anything—"
"But darkness?" she concluded for me. "You've got it!" Jumping up to the stars in space, Walter sang, "♪ It's our greatest fear; it's aaalways been here as long as I've been on the streets for yeeears. ♪" She then allowed one of the stars to carry her back to the ground while she took out a top hat and a cane. "♪ No matter what they hear, no maaatter my tears... I've been on the streets for yeeears. ♪" Pointing to three homeless people humming a melody to her song, she sang, "♪ Here the homeless siiing of their sorrows in anthem! ♪" Then Walter made Earth appear in her hands while she floated in outer space. " ♪ In the streets, this worldwide heap, ♪" and next, she was a milkshake grooving among the grooving, sunglasses-wearing outer space stars, "♪ it's the crem de la criiiiim! ♪"
Back with us on the planet, Walter came over to me again and held my hand as she began to dance. She sang, "♪ Haaaaangin' 'round me, you've nooooow seen it's clear, my friend, that I've been on the streets for yeeears! ♪"
Music and singing were two things I couldn't resist, especially if the song seemed like it would go on forever. So it was inevitable that I'd begin to fall under the influence of this jingle; I began to dance along and replied to her, "You said it!" And I was also glad that she called me her friend! Yay!
Spinning me around, Walter caught me with her other hand and continued, "♪ Hopefully to my pleads, people will adhere... 'cause I've been on the streets for yeeears! ♪"
"♪ She's been on the streets for years! ♪" sang all the surrounding homeless people.
"Four years?" asked a dog and seagull, sticking their heads out from inside a garbage can.
"Nope!" we all told the dog and seagull. "♪ She's been on the streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeets... for years! ♪" we sang in unison with Walter who sang, "♪ I've been on the streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeets... for years! ♪"
At that moment, my eyes were closed while I kept a big grin. Musicals just really made me happy, especially when I could be part of them. I then opened my eyes, realizing I still couldn't see anything but red. "Huh!" I said, unraveling the blindfold. "I wonder what this was..." And upon having the blindfold off my face and seeing what was going on, I gasped and exclaimed, "WHAT THE...?!" I saw a dump truck with my box and trash inside its junk carrier.
"HAHAHA!" Walter pointed and laughed at me from the driver's seat. "YOU BIG SUCKER!" With that, she went driving off with continuous laughter.
I couldn't believe it. I was fooled by a female... again.
But she was right: I was a sucker. I was too easy. I once again returned to a question I had before: When would it stop? When would I finally find a woman who was trustworthy and not a backstabber? Was it a fairytale in itself to have such a hope in such a cruel world as this... this planet Earth?
"Hey, did that lady just backstab you?" asked a feminine voice from behind me.
I sighed in sadness and said, "Yes..." while turning to who spoke to me.
She was a tall gold mouse—taller than me in fact—sporting a small sunflower aside her long brunette hair, and wore blue overalls. "Hmmm..." the woman puzzled. "Have you been backstabbed often?"
"Yes...." I said again, looking down.
"Have you been backstabbed by females or males?"
"Males—I mean, females." I occasionally stuttered on words I meant to say.
"HAHA!" She laughed. "Well... get over it."
My eyes widened in shock. "What...?"
"Yeah! Stop whining over your problems; no one cares! Just suffer in misery and kill yourself, failure."
"How could you be so heartless about my pain...?"
"Because you don't matter. You deserve to be hurt because you're... well, nothing." She shrugged proudly. "You'll never amount to anything."
I was growing... irritated with that woman.
"You're a loser," she went on to happily tell me. "A failure. A nobody. Why do you even exist? Kill yourself... 'kay?"
How could anyone be so monstrous? She was... quickly reminding me of the horror that Xandra had become. This woman was like a demon, speaking the same words I'd spoken to myself numerous times when someone I loved stabbed me in the back. The question was, was this evil going to leave me alone? Or would it try to drive me to an untimely demise?
"You're a loser!" the woman continued to happily tease me.
I said nothing, turned away from her and started walking away. And in that moment, I felt a rock hit the back of my head. "OW!" I exclaimed, holding my head before turning around to see that woman as the culprit, pointing and laughing at me after she'd thrown it.
"Why are you doing this to me...?" I asked her, trying to hold my temper. "What have I done to deserve this treatment from you?"
"Nothing!" exclaimed the woman with a smile, holding a bunch of rocks in her hands. "I just think you deserve torment eternally!" And she started throwing those rocks, one-by-one, right at me.
"OW—AH—AH—AAAAAAAAH!" I screamed before running away.
But she followed me, ensuring that I would never escape my doom. "HAHA-HAHA-HA!" she laughed, continuously pelting me with the rocks.
In desperation of trying to escape her, I quickly ran behind a building. But all she did was follow me again, continuing to pelt me with the rocks... now resulting in bruises on my body. Before I knew it, I was trapped when I came upon a barbed wire fence too high for me to jump. And before I knew it again, she was right behind me.
"Say your prayers, you piece of garbage!" she said before throwing a rock directly at my left eye.
"AH!" I screamed, holding my eye in pain while I fell to the ground on my knees.
"You do realize I'm not going to leave you alone, right?" she told me with a smile.
"You... monster..." I said before she kicked me in the gut, causing me to bend over in pain with a screech.
Normally, I could hold my own in times such as this. But with my diet the way it was—the way it had been since the time I became homeless—my strength had greatly depleted over time. "Why are you... doing this to me...?" I still held my gut and weakly asked her.
"To make you suffer.... Why else?" she replied with a look of evil delight. "And now..." she reached into her pocket for an electric razor, "we're gonna give you a well-undeserved haircut."
"No..." I said in a low, petrified tone while moving away from her until my back was against a fence. But she showed no mercy, shaving my head completely bald while I screamed, "NOOOOOOOOO!"
***
After the shaving, I was left in that same spot, beaten and bruised all over. My mustache, beard and scalp hair were all gone. And apparently, getting rid of my hair wasn't enough to satisfy her. After hours of beating me to a near pulp, that lady was ready to take her leave.
She snickered and said, "It's too bad. And here I thought you were actually worth something. Apparently, I was wrong.... You're worth nothing. You'll never be anything. You'll always be a failure to humankind itself. Give up on life.... Take yours.... You'll be doing yourself a favor." With that, she walked away with laughter.
To make matters worse, dark clouds now filled the skies and were ready to pour rain at any second... and so, they did.
After all the pain that woman inflicted on me, I was far too weak to even move my eyes, let alone the rest of my body to escape the shower. All I could do was lay there for hours....
***
The following night, the rain had stopped and the streets were filled with puddles of water.
A happy male deer, wearing a bluish-gray fedora (his antlers stuck through) and coat, approached me and said, "Hey there! Something really awesome is happening tonight!"
Clearly, he was either unaware of (or ignoring) the pain he saw me in; my bruises and whatnot. But regardless of all the suffering I endured that day, I couldn't let it affect me when it came down to socializing. "Awesome...?" I asked him.
"Yup!" he happily said with a nod. "There's a gathering in the fairgrounds at eight p.m. tonight! Really great people are going to speak on why living a life of purity is the only right thing to do!"
At last, a community of people dedicated to goodness. With all the villains I faced in my life, something like this would serve quite nicely to cheer me up. Though this gathering would probably not serve as a cure to all the darkness in the world, hearing people speak on living lives of goodness would have definitely made me forget my day's troubles.
"Um... well, okay!" I replied with a smile before he helped me stand up. Apparently, he didn't mind my beaten, bruised and filthy appearance; the way he treated me was as if I were in mint condition and not homeless. That made me feel very welcomed in his company; though I always longed for a female to treat me this way too in hopes that she and I would be in a relationship. Yes, all I had on my mind was romance. I didn't care about living in a cardboard box. I didn't care about eating meals from a trash can. All I needed was a faithful, trustworthy girlfriend and my life would be complete. And if that female happened to be Xandra, well... that would have been even better for me.
"So, where you from?" asked the stranger, guiding me to where he was going while we walked down the sidewalk.
"Um," I replied, "I've been three places in my life." I listed the states, counting on my fingers, "First, Olifat. Then here in Unxia. Then, Gwen; and now, I'm here in Unxia again."
"Gwen?" the man responded. "I hear it snows a lot up there."
"Yup!" I replied. "Well, mostly in the winter at least."
"So why did you leave Gwen?"
"Well, the winters were just too cold up there for me. Plus, the scenery—between the skies, trees, the sun, exedra—was just so drab looking compared to here in Unxia."
That was partially true in terms of my reasoning for leaving Gwen. But a majority of the reason was the fact that I'd heard how Righteous Korrigan, Unxia was quite the hot spot for my preferences in women... but you already knew that. I knew stating that reason would make me sound like a pig... so I kept it to myself.
In the corner of my eye, I couldn't help but notice all of the couples the man and I were passing. Indeed, seeing a fox guy and his cheetah lady having a good time with one another... made me envious, as usual. How come everyone else was in a happy relationship and, whenever I thought I was in one, it would end, leaving me single in a world full of couples; I wanted a girlfriend too—one who was trustworthy and faithful. I wouldn't even be in this mess of searching for 'the one' if only I had... accepted Xandra back in the day:
"Do you like anyone at this school?" Xandra asked me, straight-faced and sitting on a bench with her girls before me.
I kept my head down, not saying anything.
"We won't tell anyone," Xandra told me, shaking her head.
"Yeah," said Orabel, also straight-faced. "Your secret's safe with us."
And still, I said nothing. This would... be when they realized I was some mute. This would be... when they perceived me as thinking myself to be too good for talking to them. This would be how... Xandra perceived me as someone who thought he was better than her.
No, I was... going to break down in tears if I kept remembering how I failed back then. I needed to... look forward to what awaited me at the gathering. But I knew that... it still wouldn't undo the mistake I made all those years ago.
***
After ten minutes of walking and much conversation with the man, he and I arrived at the fairgrounds where the gathering took place. Music played. Many people held candles to the sky—some swaying them back and forth to the music—apparently awaiting a speaker to enter the small stage before them. I knew I had seen an event like this before... but maybe it was on TV.
"Nice play, huh?" asked the man that walked with me to the gathering.
"Oh, absolutely!" I replied.
Just then, we could hear the crowd cheer loudly.
"Here comes the first speaker!" exclaimed the man. "Woo!" he cheered, as did everyone else.
"Right on!" I said—and that would be the best they'd get out of me. Ever since my whole dancing like a frog incident back in 2007, I learned better than to get too excited about anything....
A fox on stage was adjusting the mike. He wore a checkered suit of yellow and orange blends. Finishing with his mike adjustment, he spoke through with saying, "How is everyone tonight?"
Everyone cheered in reply.
"Fantastic!" he said. "For those of you who are new to this gathering, I'm Mark Steven. Um, I've spoken here quite a few times. I'm kind of a newbie to all of this but... I'm getting there."
Everyone laughed.
"And what we do here is spread the word of purity to as many people as possible. You know, one of the things that come to mind when I think of goodness is respect, dignity, grace—but it's more than that." As people began nodding, he continued, "True purity comes from love, understanding, compassion and all the works. You know? And I remember when I was a kid, purity to me meant getting anything I wanted. And I was pretty selfish, you know? I didn't care for anyone but myself. But then, I realized the world around me. It was a world filled with evil people who loved to hate and hurt others, just for their own amusement. It was then I knew that I had no time to be selfish; but to be a friend to these victims of wicked persons surrounding even my own neighborhood."
On and on, he spoke about what was right and what was wrong. And about twenty or so minutes later...
"Uh..." Mark Steven was wrapping it up, "to conclude, I say we should be good because being bad is wrong; and if we see wrong being done to someone, we must stand up for that someone being wronged."
Heh.... Good luck; I tried that and wound up on my knees, watching an innocent young man get beaten to a bloody pulp....
Mark Steven bowed and said, "Thank you!" In response, the audience applauded him while he walked off the stage.
Not more than a few seconds after that, a short and older rabbit woman with puffy gray hair entered the stage and said, "Next up: Pede Lauren Miskelley." Then the woman exited the stage (while the audience applauded for the next speaker, Pede, to arrive).
As Pede entered the stage, I quickly noticed she was that same woman who last attacked me and shaved my head! I couldn't believe my eyes, but it was true! It was her! That same woman who was so evil was about to speak against impurity; like she would know what it meant to be good!
Pede eventually stood before the mike with a shy smile and laugh. "Thank you," she told us. "But tonight is not a night of cheering. For there are those in the world who cannot cheer. There are those in the world who cannot be happy. There are those in the world who don't even know happiness."
I couldn't believe my ears. How could she even speak on this topic when she was such a monster? I knew staying here would only make me angrier than I already was. I had to take my leave. I didn't even notify the man who brought me to the gathering that I'd start walking away. And by the time he realized it, I was already gone....
***
Though I didn't have a watch, I could tell it was somewhere between the hours of eleven and twelve at night by the time I got back to my home in the streets—minus my cardboard box and the trash can of food I once had. Thanks again, Walter....
One day, I would get back on my feet; but it would take love to help me stand. No, not the normal love as in just compassion that we should all have for each other, but the romantic type that included compassion and... so much more. I longed for that special someone to finally arrive and take her place as my soul mate. I said it before, I'd say it again: I didn't care about being homeless. I didn't care about starving to death. I didn't care if the only money I had to my name was worth as much as the empty pockets of my jeans. All I cared about was a woman to come into my life; one who'd repair my heart that was broken so many times before. I hoped she'd even have the heart to house and feed me real food instead of the... garbage that was currently my diet. Until then, my life meant nothing; and being homeless only made it worse.
And yet... I also knew that... deep down, I'd still long for... what could have been with Xandra... if only I'd spoken up.
Will Ikjot find his soul mate? Will Marta find hers? And is this menacing sister of Marta's, Tiane, on her way to Ikjot as we speak?! Find out in the next chapter of Something!
***
In the next chapter of Something... Ikjot comes across yet another love interest who seems to love him back. Could this one be true?
The woman held Ikjot close and continued, "Hey... you didn't do anything wrong. All you did was make a mistake."
And what's this? A scientist working on some kind of machine? And Ikjot's found himself in the middle of a planned heist?! The plot intensifies... next Something!
***
Something19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhrQQaWqLh
219Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmfeTgZSPd
Ikjot Meets Herbertia
***
♪ Yes, I didn't talk to anyone. ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNoDeErPZJN
♪ I was made fun of by everyone. ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPfNBCj6bDZ
♪ It's something I wish could be undone. ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK5LWr5VUZi
♪ She asked me. I wish I'd had respond. ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG6OAH6XAQ5
♪ But hear me out: We're all worth being loved! ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMwygtfwbT8
♪ Please hear me out: We're all worth being loved! ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVzwykaj6OG
♪ I'm crying out: We're all worth being loved! ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwRbD6w9QDG
♪ I have no doubt we're all worth being loved! ♪
♪ Please, I beg you all, let's become friends! ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ32gONlmYCJ
♪ Let's not judge each other by what's been! ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjMXEew0SHA
♪ It was years ago! It came and went! ♪19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjyljPuNOWT
♪ That's a past chapter! New one begins! ♪
***
© 2012 Trerchry.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKh3xcG6ynW
All Rights Reserved.19Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZ3YXmZDfu
