Preliminary remarks.
Here is a little childish story for children.
- Southern Cat
Here is a little childish story for children.
It was a dark night of February, the winter hadn’t still left the pace to the Spring keeping the land cold from within.
Jela was walking with her little torch in the courtyard behind their little house lost somewhere in the woods around Olomuc.
- Jela, go! and be sure there are no Goblins in the courtyard before going to sleep.
Her father said like every evening after dinner.
That was the only way to have a bit of quality time with his lovely wife since the little kid tumbled into their lives.
The little Jela prepared herself properly for the task.
She grabbed a big torch from her father toolbox, the rake her mother usually use to take care of the garden, she stuck her head inside a little military hat and moved slowly towards the back door.
The backyard was dark and looked like a jungle to the eyes of the little Davy Crockett.
She opened her way to the big rose bush avoiding smoothly the dangerous spikes.
The area was clean.
Was time now to move forward to the giant children’s lake. She checked the parameter, the lake looked clean… but wait!
Something was moving upon the surface of the lake. Jela crouched down next to a bush making her breath one with the breath of the nature around her.
She moved silently from bush to bush until getting as close as possible to the suspicious being. It was fatty, just floating slowly in the opposite direction, the little head was looking at the house where her parents were resting unaware of the danger.
Jela gnashed her teeth and jumped towards the shadow hitting it with her weapon.
- Pfffffffffffffffiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa…
Screamed the little thing.
Jela dropped the rake and jumped instantaneously behind the closest bush, contemplating the scene from that safe place.
Everything seemed to be immobile, everything looked to be quite.
Whatever it was, now it was dead, she thought.
Jela stepped slowly towards the dead thing then she grabbed it with her little fluffy hands. It was a duck, a plastic duck, actually the duck of her little cousin visiting her that morning.
War requires victims sometimes.
She grabbed again her faithful shining rake and kept on walking to the last target, the border of her territory just before the wild forest of Olomuc. The stone bench was just beside the perimeter fence. A big bush was just rising behind it dropping a bridge between her land the no man’s land surrounding her house.
She climbed clumsily up to the bush to give the usual inspection to the surroundings like every evening. Then she saw him.
He was a big scary Troll. His thin long ears were emerging from the dark dirty hair. The big nose full of pimples was randomly placed between the big dark blue eyes.
The curious being was sitting on a rock just from the other side of the fence mumbling something.
Jela raised up from the bush with a serious look holding her weapon with no fear.
- What are you?
She said to the little being.
He continued mumbling without caring about the little soldier standing in front of him.
- I am talking to you! Are you deaf?
- What? Me?
He answered pretty surprised.
- Well. Do you see anybody else around here?
- Ok. But you are not supposed to see me. You know?
- But I do.
- Yes. You do. I guess human puppies can.
The big thing nodded annoyed.
- What is wrong... Thing? You don’t have to be afraid of me until you don’t pass this wall.
Said the girl.
- Aha! Now I am scared! Oh, so scared! You said that! That’s what is wrong, me being a… Thing.
- What is wrong with that? You look so big and strange and cool… and beside, you said people cannot see you. Probably you can see things we are not allowed to, play games we will never know, visit places we will never have on our maps.
- Yes. I can ride the sun rays with the fairies, swim in the rainbow until the gold pot and dancing with the stars for one week in a row since we neither need to sleep nor to eat. But nobody is ever going to like this big, ugly, fluffy thing! I wish I were at least tall as a normal human…
- Sshhh!!
Jela interrupted him.
- You shouldn’t say that! Mum says the angels could hear you, and when they hear you, if they say “amen” the wish will become true!!
- Pfff. Angels! They never hang out down here unless they don’t fall down during one of their stupid football matches. And beside, I really hope one of those lazy birds will hear that.
- I hope you are right… Thing. Now I have to go or my parents will be worried. Bye.
- Rupert… grunt! That’s my name.
Jela ran back to her house. Rupert stayed there for a while contemplating the silhouettes behind the windows, then he jumped back into the wood.
Another day passed another night came.
Jela, armed to the teeth like usual, was on the field for the usual inspection.
Everything was calm that night, the duck was back in its spot of the pond. Daddy had to buy a new one to stop the storm coming out from the eyes and the mouth of her cousin when he figured out his duck was passed away.
Jela walked across the garden and got to the wall where she met the funny thing the night before. No one was there. Everything looked calm and quiet.
Suddenly somebody stepped next to her from nowhere.
He was smaller but she could easily recognize him.
- Uhm… so looks like somebody was listening to you at the end.
She smiled.
- Grunt!! I’ve got still this ugly big nose and these… elephant ears.
- What should I say then? I’m not that tall either and I don’t think I am somehow particularly beautifull.
- What do you know about beauty? You spoiled little girl.
Jela didn’t like what the ex-big thing told her. It was the same thing her father was repeating all the time when she tried to take part to the conversations between him and mum.
She tried to look at Rupert to show him her disappointment but the horrible thing was admiring his new proportions in a mirror of water next to the fence ignoring her.
She walked back home dragging with her that disappointment that would have been erased during the night like all the strong feelings of the kids at that age.
And another night came.
The dinner was pretty long that day and daddy was a bit hesitant to leave the little girl going out for her inspections. But there was no way he could stop her.
Jela went out like usually and she was happy she did it because something incredible was that night just next to the fence.
A man. A real one. He looked about 50 years old like her dad, perfectly shaved and good looking.
- Hey little brat look at this. Pretty amazing isn’t it?
- Brat? Me??
She turned up her little nose.
- Anyway you really changed Rupert.
- Yes I did. Now everybody will like me. The men will accept me and all my people will respect me.
Suddenly Jela’s father popped out from the house walking fast towards his daughter.
- Jela! How many times I told you not to talk to people you don’t know? Especially if there is nobody around!
- My friend, don’t worry she was not talking to any unknown strange creature.
- And who are you?
The man with the big belly looked at the ex-disgusting thing now human shaped.
- You can see me! But that’s amazing! Don’t worry I am your friend, see? I am like you.
He turned around on his tip-toe happier than ever.
- Who the fuck are you! Are you a kind of retarded or what? Just get lost!
The big man grabbed the little Jela in his arms and walked back home.
Rupert was sad, disappointed. This was not the reaction he expected now he was so beautifully shaped.
He looked at the little girl jumping away from him in her father’s hand and he was pretty sure she had a couple of white feathered wings on her back.
He rubbed his eyes but it was dark, they were already far away and his sight was not as good as it was before.
He walked back to his forest where his people were waiting for him as they always did.
He followed the usual path, but there was no sign of what one day was his house.
He never found it, he never saw his friends again.
Now, handsome as he always wanted to be, he was alone walking towards the society he had always admired and where, he hoped, somebody could give him back something of what he had irreversibly lost.
- Southern Cat
