Hello again. Today I fought a duel.

I don't really know how it happened.

Let us review.

I woke up. I cuddled Julius. I opened the door to find food for breakfast.

And that is when I was ambushed.

Francis and Sister dragged me off despite my feeble starved protests and introduced me to Father Papa and Mother Mum. They both used a different name for the two old people so I am writing down both to prevent any mistakes.

After meeting the old ones some food was wheeled in on some very shiny carts. Meats, fruits, and breads with a flight of juices to wash them down with. I ate with such gusto that the others stopped eating to just watch me in all my magnificence.

I am proud to say I didn't leave a single morsel. Though Julius helped some I suppose.

The other people didn't move until I gave a belch. At that point they all twitched and glanced at each other. Is this a custom? One of the food bringers had managed to somehow tuck a white cloth into my shirt. Saving it from any stains. That's a neat trick that I shall remember.

After that Francis suggested we walk off breakfast.

He didn't eat any though?

Anyway, Francis, Sister, and I headed out back into the streets. They weren't so busy today which was nice. The quiet let me take a undistracted look at the buildings around.

The big blue building we had come from was blue, obviously. But the blues came in a long subtle shift of shade along the building. The exterior was all rounded edges and cylindrical towers with swoopy tops. They swooped out and then they swooped in to a point on the very top. They kind of looked like raindrops?

Around this building was a high wall. The wall was black at the bottom and white at the top and between the two were countless shades of blue gradually leading from the one to the other. These were shaped like waves and a exploratory touch found they had been carved into the wall. The carvings were deepest on the bottom and uncarved on top. making the wall as a whole thicker on top than on the bottom. Which makes it hard to climb.

Francis started to brag. Apparently the wall was all from a very rare and hard material from their homeland. And was carved by a grandmaster. Whatever that is.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

The other buildings around came in all colors you can imagine and some you really wish you couldn't. One looked like a massive heap of bloody diarrhea. Seriously. WHY?!

My favorite though was a building that looked like someone had managed to hack off the top of a mountain and transport it into the middle of a city. Harsh rugged stone jutted outfrom the ground in sharp angles and piled up to a peak. 

Around the base of this awesome structure is a swathe of soft green gras covering rolling artificial hills that sweep outwards from the mountains base. There is even a small river flowing down the mountain and through the hills. How cool is that?!

We moved away from the colorful buildings and the crowd became thicker and louder until we reached a wide open space between buildings with some skinny trees and stunted bushes growing here and there. Julius gave a dismissive chirrup and I am inclined to agree with him. This was the sorriest excuse for a forest I had ever seen.

As we walked down a path between the "trees" a strange thing approached. The thing looked like a person. But I wasn't fooled. People don't have hair like that.

It was all UP! Not a single strand seemed to point to the ground. The ruddy locks instead reached for the sky.

Julius and the strange thing began to bicker. Sister cuddled Julius and hid behind me. A good choice, Francis is too skinny to hide behind.

I didn't bother listening to whatever they were saying. Too fascinated by the way the Oddities agitated posturing caused his hair to shake and sway. I kept my eyes peeled. Determined to find the first hair to give up and fall. Francis slapped me on the back and said something. Sister made noises of agreement so I gave a grunt. It must have been taken as some kind of affirmation as we started to move afterwards.

The Oddity led us to a large building with a large open space with sand on the floor in the middle. He walked to the middle. Chasing off the people already there. No doubt they were intimidated by his hair.

More words were said and I was pushed into the sandy area. Another person came out and said more stuff but I wouldn't take my eyes off of the hair. There was a nice long pause for a while. Then I felt Francis give me another smack on the back so I grunted obligingly.

The Oddity grabbed something shiny from his waist and estended it to me. I grimaced, remembering how unpleasant this greeting was when I met Francis. Still, I endeavored to be polite and reached out to grasp it as I assume is the custom here.

Next thing I know the Oddity has stabbed me! Right through the guts. A lot of sound exploded from the crowd around the sand place. The Oddity had frozen and was staring at the wound he had made.So I punched him in the face while he was frozen. He dropped like a bludgeoned grunter, and then the place got even louder. His hair was still up. So I squatted down next to him, ignoring the grinding of the sharp shiny thing against my ribs and fiddled with his hair. Trying to pull it down, but it just popped right back up. Weird!

I was led away by Francis into a small room where a bunch of noisy people got noisier when I pulled the thing from my guts. They got all quiet when I healed it though.

I wasn't feeling very good. Kind of dizzy and tired, and all the people and noise wasn't helping so I asked Francis if we could go back. He called a box with spinning legs and we were carried back inside of it. I dozed off on the way and woke up long enough to walk to my room and write down todays events.

Francis came by a little bit ago and congratulated me for my "stunning and heroic victory" in a duel.

Whats a duel though?

The more I talk to him the less I understand.

Goodnight.