�Fists came like a whirlwind of fury. Why feel remorse for beating on the burlap bag? Those bullies didn�t feel remorse for people. Precious grain spilled from the sack. Father would be angry. Grounded for sure. An attempt to clean up the grain proved in vain. Mother came in. Sickness swept through the empty shell that was her body.
�Merie, did you do this?� She seemed shocked and slightly disappointed.
�Sorry Mom,� Merie replied her grey-blue eyes downcast. She knew this would not do. Merie would have to tell her Mother about the bullies. About the taunts and teasing that seemed never to stop. About the endless embarrassment and damage that occurred. Emotional damage and physical. How she longed to escape the paralysing glare of her Mother.
�Why are you so mad?� Merie�s Mother asked after a few stiff minutes.
�Well...um.... I don�t know,� Merie tried to lie her way out, which too proved in vain. Merie�s and her Mother�s eyes met. Her mother seemed to be able to look right through her.
�Tell me,� she persisted.
�Claria and Penlop were...well.... You know!� Merie mumbled.
�Bullying? Oh Merie, why didn�t you tell me?� Sympathy swept through her mother�s gaze and face like a venomous serpent. Merie could feel herself turn red from anger.
�Because it isn�t important...� Merie dropped her gaze. Now her father would be brought into this.
�Merie, this is the fifth time this week! You have been bullied every day! That is very important honey!� Reassurance crept into her mother�s voice. The screeching of brakes stop this on going drama. Merie started for the field. She started away from her Father�s questions and Mother�s sympathy. She ran from the field into the forest that was behind her house. On and on she ran thinking of what would happen to her if the world caught up. She stopped in front of a big old oak tree that was uprooted. Merie crawled into the old gnarled tree to see if reality could find her. In about twenty minutes or so Merie heard the crunching of dried twigs and leaves under heavy feet. Her Father was coming. A knock came from over top of were Merie sat in silence confirmed it. Reality had come.
�May I come in Merie?� a husky voice asked.
�I guess so...� Merie whispered more to herself then her Father.� I read from the book that my teacher had handed me. I stared hard at the book. What was my teacher up to?
�Do you like it?� Her voice was deep and soft. I shuddered briefly. I kept staring at the book. The teacher�s grey eyes turned bright blue.
�Does it remind you of something?� She asked me. She took the book back. I saw her pull back her flaming red hair.
�No, not really Miss Dunick,� I replied in my lowest of all tones. I did actually recognise the situation, it was happening to me. I felt horrible about lying. My nose twitched.
�Maro, this story reminds me of you. You are like Merie; you�re being bullied aren�t you?� At this point I nodded my head with my short brown hair going every were, �Maro, you�re a special boy, don�t let anyone mistreat you! Who is bullying you?� Miss Dunick was getting a louder but still soft voice as she talked a kind of crescendo. She was always like this.
�Miss Dunick, I am being bullied, but I don�t want to tell who, they�ll hurt me more than they already do!� I was now pointing at my newest black eye. It throbbed as though to acknowledge I knew it was there. My other eye watered.
�I need to know Maro, you�re parents,� and I interrupted her even though I wished that I hadn't.
�Miss Dunick, with all due respect M�am please, oh please, don�t bring them into this, I�ll loose my mind trying to figure what they would think,� pain flew through my chest. I tried to reframe from sobbing.
�Alright Maro, I won�t,� her voice had gone back to the quiet it had been before. I was racking my brain to find something to say, I wished Juilu Joanny were there. She was my best friend ever since we were only babies. She was a brawler though. She was always in trouble for some mess or another. When she got mad her brown eyes almost went black and that always scares me.
�Juilu, does she try to stop them?� Miss Dunick seemed to read my mind.
�Yes, Juilu does,� my answer was short and sweet.
�Well I can�t force the truth out of you Maro Doicheo, but you might want to go see Paluquo before he has a heart attack,� she pointed a long slender finger to the door. I turned to leave when Miss Dunick turned me around. I flinched in recognition of that movement.
�Watch yourself, you�re a very important person Maro, very important. If you ever need help I�ll be right here,� and with that I was aloud to go see Paluquo.
Paluquo was a E��T. Now, an E��T is a type of mystical creature, there name translated in to common English as a Mytonomi. A Myto for short. They looked like small animals or monsters but do not act like them because they live with humans. They came in a variety of shapes and styles. Paluquo was a rather plain little fellow with mint green scales that could turn midnight green if he felt upset or threatened. He was a Draguna. They�re kinda like a dog, and Paluquo was a black lab. I know that�s a lot to take in at once, but it�s better that you under stand what he is.
�What ya up to Mar? Are we gonna go a huntin�? We gonna go try and defeat the Uinop? Huh?� Asked the hyper little Myto. The interesting thing about Myto�s is that they choose you, whether you like them or not. Most people had a Myto but other�s didn�t. They were the Bulikos. They had that name because people and Mytos alike didn�t like them. I myself was almost a Buliko if it hadn�t a been for good old Paluquo. He chose me one weekend before I would have been given to the Bulikos. There was a Buliko camp just two miles from are town but that didn�t bother us, cause the Olbalts don�t talk to one another, but the kids did. In fact a few small maufia�s have formed.
I was part of the Tyquino maufia. What the maufia�s do is fight each other for supplies. The Uinop was a maufia made up of Bulikos. The Tyquino was groups of P�p�. P�p� are people who have Mytos. The Leader (Misheno Olpken) had a Sphinx Myto. That meant she was a strong thinker. She was a beautiful one with golden fur. Her name was Jopiniks. Misheno was similar in that she had soft brown eyes and golden hair. She was first in command. I was fifth in command but that doesn�t matter to me.
<-- Back Next --> Home