♫Cleaners From Venus - Drowning Butterflies♫

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A Sum of Memories...

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...Fall Breaks and Back to Winter.

boys [https://i.vgy.me/WbBnzC.png]

— ...I would laaaikee soome meeiilk for the keeiids-s-s... I would laaike to taaste your keeiss-s-s-s... La la laaa... la la laaa... Laaa la laaah... Cough! Yo-o-o ... Cough, cough!... Your keeeiiisss... – oh, my Bahamut. Sniff. I know that I do not often call of our name, but, could you please take that song out of my head, can you? Well, won't you do anything? Is it some kind of punishment, right? Can you, at least, hear me?

I guess you don't. Maybe you are just standing there, sitting on these clouds, watching me, expecting you to do something for this me. I'll punch Dan if you won't do anything, but, of course you'll do something. His mother will be here, right? She always seems to be watching keenly, with that eye... Dan can do anything, as much as I don't do anything to him as result. I know Dan can't sing right. Screeching like that, even a bird who broke one of its wings is more listenable. Even a man without any teeth on his mouth, eating a soaked lettuce, is more suitable to be given a chance to be listened.

— ...Learie... she's so shy, she couldn't even say a word – that's what he said, about that girl who gave a smile to his. It's funny, but rather sad as well. But, for Dan, it's sad, and only. Sniff. Thought, it's better to say nothing, to avoid any punch pull into my face, or into his image. To criticize little things, that'll disappear with time... it's something rather futile to keep bittening as a little bug on that giant skin. To sing something like that, same could be said as well. I'm sure that he'll improve, because I have a kind of hope; well, last night... that was an impulse. Dan... It ain't the fault of that gap on his front teeth either. Sometimes, Gappys would drink some water to later spill a warm jet from that gap. My face was his aim, and instead of my own mouth, not because of a matter of luck, he would spit that same water on my eye.

Look at that smile. That gap... that hair. Sniff. Dan forgot to wear that cap, after the bath he took this morning. I know it, because I saw it. Don't know why, but I wanted to go to that house. It has been a long time, althought I had been on that place a week ago. I knocked the door, as usual, as I had been greated by his mom, Cynthia, or so they call her by that name. Lenneth... daddy, and uncle Clyde as well. He wasn't there, but his sons had been, like always. Jared and Ranaldo usually play football at the yard, with other boys to make eleven of a side, and eleven as well on another, or some other number closer to twenty-two, like twenty, eighteen, even numbers. I once played football, but I ended up soaked of mud. The rain did its best to clean me up, before Lenneth... she did what the rain couldn't do, with those hands around my body.

Sniff. As usual, they weren't there. Good, because I hate those boys; they made fun of me once, because I was short, unlike now, seeing how my legs grew up a bit, to be compared to they. Short, heh? Tell it to my fist. Short... why bother about them, Jack? They weren't on that house, after all, unlike that baby, or toddler, seeing how much she grew up. Daniel, or Dan for those close enough, Gappys for me and only, is the third son. He would be the last of the trilogy, if it wasn't for Fourthy, or Aoife, the only she of his family, besides his own mother.

They don't seem to pay that much attention to Aoife, besides her need to be feeded by milk, or to change of its clothes dirtied by pee or poo, or anything that starts with 'p', like puke as well. If she was older, soon she'll be, everyone will pay more attention to her; as much as she's able to catch the attention of everyone with a cry, and purity of that look, and tiny hands, only the hands will grown, but the rest remains the same. If my brother is a girl, which I may disagree with, the same will happen to her, as much as it's already happening with Aoife. Sniff. Babies do call the attention of everyone, including me as well, but girls are the ones who mostly caught the attention of their parents. Mainly because women like women, because equality is what we all had been attaining for.

'You can't smell like mud, but you can't smell like a flower either'; or so I heard Dan's mother talking to his, when washing his body on the bath, before she grabbed Aoife on her arms, to put that toddler on its crib, a cage suitable for sleep, though Aoife wasn't asleep yet. Instead of crying for too long, she fled from that crib, because of those claws, tiny ones, yet enough to be able to climb up those piles of wood. Alike how do I used to climb up a tree, I still do it, though I'm not in the mood to do it so, Aoife had of that same habit to fled from its crib, who once belonged to Dan and his brothers as well, mainly during the day, either because she wants of some attention, or because something caught her attention. Me, on that case, as she came near me.

Harmless, I thought, seeing how she just tried to walk around me, and tumbled instead. How cute where those tumbles, and to see Aoife crawling like that, making those 'coos', or whatever was that sound, innocent alike that look, until she opened that mouth... I thought she was about to cry, I had been afraid of that, seeing how much Cynthia kept looking at me like that, but that didn't happened. Instead, that mouth had been opened, only to to bit my tail. Ouch... I can still feel it, even though those tiny teeth didn't let any wounds, just a slight bite mark, that could belong to any insect, but they belonged to a baby rat instead. More than the pain that I felt, still I feel a bit, I was afraid to break her teeth, when I carefully pulled her out of my tail, out of my flesh. She has a tail for her own, so why the need to bite mine's? At least, she did only bit my tail, and only. Moving on...

I didn't had the need to tell Dan, or his mother, that his daughter, his sister had bitten me. Sniff. Well, I told it so for Dan, still on that bath, wearing nothing. Well, who would take a bath with the clothes on? The rain doesn't count. Maybe falling into a lake counts, but whatever. Dan, or Gappys, whenever he smiles, didn't even putted those hands to cover his sensitive area, when he lifted himself from that tub, holding of that loofah with the black seeds, as if he wanted to show that thing to me, another boy, or didn't bothered enough, because I already saw it before. Like, I'm not that kind of curious for a kid, but whenever we, boys, are behind the wall, one of many places besides a tree we can find some relief, on our own, or when followed of other boy, a pal for extra security in case someone catches us, or a delusional artist, who contemplates of the another's work.

...What the hell am I saying? We make this kind of tournament every weekend, and we are both the judges and contestants as well. So, Dan wasn't wearing anything, like we all do when on a bath, or being bathed by someone else too. His mother went there, to bath his again, althought Dan could do it on his own already. To be taken by those arms, even thought he can walk, and to be put those clothes, even thought his own hands can put those clothes already on his own. Same could be said about me, and Lenneth... at least, we need someone to recall us that we forgot our hat, or cap, it's the same thing. A mushroom, that's what it looks like, a bit flaccid, but still a head. Same green one I'm wearing at the top of my head, Fratley as well.

Well, he's here? Fine them. He doesn't seems to be the kind to bother with strange creaks coming from a door by the name of Dan. Not because his ears are short like that, mine's atop this head are short as well; I never saw Fratley throwing tantrums to anyone, not even a lice. Maybe he thinks about that, but that's impossible to know. Even if someone opened that head, they would only see its brain, but not what is inside. He's eating some vegetable, maybe lettuce, or cabbage, they share of same leaves, same color... if that leaf was, at least, purple, I could say it is a cabbage, or was, seeing how he ate it all, like a maggot's larva, though Fratley doesn't seem to share of spikes. Or any maggots.

— Catzo... – Dan said. How rude to say that. Well, he was interrupted, we all had been, by that Basilisk. We saw that Basilisk, a big one, not pretty like Aoife. Even if she bit me again, it'll be okay, she's only a toddler, knowing everything with the mouth, the tongue, the teeth... unlike that creature, who doesn't want to know anything, except to reproduce. I don't know if I should be glad, thankfully because that singing stopped for good, or if I should be worried, if Dan hadn't threw that rock on that creature. A sharp rock, hid on that pocket. Crack! Dead. That's what happened, and what I expected to happen soon. Those yellow eyes, with a twisting black swirl on both, slowly began to turn into nothing, but only fish eyes. It didn't blinked, like we did. I blinked, but that Basilisk didn't. Good for it.

– Heh... One less statue for the gardens... – Dan said, as he approached near that thing, to take that same sharp stone, and put that back on his pocket. He used that same stone many times, to break many skulls and eggs belonging by those Basilisks. Not only they turn people into stone, but they also can make a limb become useless for an eternity. We may share of grey bodies, but a greyish arm, stone legs, slowly falling apart, crumbling like a cookie, ashes to ashes... ugh. Though, it rarely happen these days, but rarely, even if it mean less than always, is meant to be considered a possibility as well.

— My brother Danny once turned into stone... – Fratley said. He kept hid at my back, as he began to scratch his own skin. He was so close of me that I could hear the noise made by those nails. Afraid, or the ripples made by his trembling legs over a water puddle told it so. I guess that's enough to deduce he's in fear, right? Strange, because I didn't moved anything. Not even my own tail, althought I only move that thing without I ever perceive.

— It isn't right that we shoud keep stumbling across these creatures... – said Dan, not even looking at me. Instead, he looked at that monster. We also looked at that thing, even if we didn't wanted to. We couldn't deduce if that that thing was still alive, or already dead – come on, won't you do any favour but to put it over all my back? – he asked. I wasn't the one who had a stone to fill in one of my pockets. If I had, that forehead would be suitable for a thrown. I could aim over his face as a whole, and I am only thinking about that because of Dan, and the way he puts me behind his, as if I had been sitting on his shade, althought there's always an ounce of light coming inside that eloquent gap.

Well, with these roads filled in by cobblestones in the grounds, and in the pockets, spears in the hands, people falling down, kissing the floor, licking the grass, watering the wall, as we do... We all do these things, except that the only spear in hand are our tails. The one that comes in front of us. Behind as well. There's no reason to tie a ribbon into these tails, because they are too short, or so Dan said it once. Maybe it was me, but who cares? Anything is said on these places, because this country is filled in by walls. Houses are built of walls, but we don't have the need to water what the rain is already watering, and bringing of its same scent. Well, I said houses, and only, because there are trees and their trunks, branches, ha-has, walls... they all can be used to play hide-and-seek as well, but all we do on this kind of situation is to seek them, and only.

I am already in hiding, fortunately, except for those who followed of you as well, in this case, Dan, whom I followed of its trail instead as well. Fratley too, but he wasn't filled in enough, so he had been put on an important task, on the other side of that wall, belonging to someone's house, only to see if someone was approaching. Nothing happened until now, except the sound coming from the rain. I know, there are public toilets, but they are only reserved for the army; that may explain why many, even daddy, enlisted to that place... A friend's house, from inside, ain't only just an opportunity to get free toilet, and their mothers aren't just free lunch makers as well. Nothing comes for free, except when you steal it. I may not be a thief, but I can't deny that I am someone who constantly lurks in the shades around this country.

— ...and mother once grounded me because I had been sucking my finger – Dan said. He had been watching keyholes since that age. Only the keys blocked the vision he had of private lifes. That's why Lenneth... well, she also had been putting some keys on the door belonging to that bedroom, even thought I couldn't reach the knob even if I jumped as high as I could. Dan didn't even needed to jump, but he always had a chair, or a tree, to climb up and put his flag atop anything he saw. Whew... you aren't finished yet, Jack, are you?

— ...I once ate a squid's tentacle. I could feel it getting stuck on its own into my throat. Rather frightening, don't you think? – Fratley also wanted to share of something without context for those near his. His existence was already something out of... I don't even know what to say, but seeing how much the rain had been soaking Fratley, I guess I can be sure that he exists, unlike Karellen, who had been only just a doll pushed over me, althought that doll was alive somehow, for Lenneth... Geez. It's cold in there, yet warm. I also want to say something too, instead of swinging my own tail.

— ...your sister bit my tail today – I said, looking at Dan. To his face. I'm sure that I already said it before, to his, but I guess he didn't heard me. The only one who seemed to have heard something new about that was Fratley, but seeing how much he had been following of the task given to his, he said nothing, unlike Dan, who turned his head, after he had put his pants. That tail of his back stood out of the pant, like an arm out of its sleeve.

— Which one? – Dan asked, trying to find the hole belonging to that pant. He also smirked as well, only because I said that. Why is he interested on the details? I replied with a frown above my eyes, and a single curve, a smile in reverse, a boat in the lake whose owner is drowning up – heh he... at least, she didn't chewed you – and Gappys, of course, had to say that. So, alike Dan, I also wore my pants, I had found the hole belonging at their back, and nobody noticed us, besides ourselves.

...

...Hyena crawls on his belly out.

I am the fly, I am the fly, atop some ointment... Tch. With a single clap, I killed two black flies in a row. They all come out of that river, you know. Tied into the rocks found into the stream going down the mountain, these flies are black since they are born, unlke their blood, who's always red. Our blood is red as well. The elder ones tell us to not swin at the river, or else, we would become blind. Tch... I once ate some beans with weevils, until I spit both of them. Mother should had been less careless, but seeing how it was father's task to buy some food, or even prepare some, I'll let that pass, as I did before.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Poor mother... Tch. they also fooled ya; those merchants; Mark Hunt's, who keep selling of their rotten food. I once ate a dried pickle, whose smell is to be compared to my pants, when they aren't cleaned enough, and beans full of holes, althought I may appreciate of something crunchy alike those weevils. Tch... At least, they hadn't got stuck, alike how those leaves, of anything, since lettuce to carrots; I may be the one whose mother forces to eat even the green of the carrot. Tch... they usually get stuck between my teeth, sometimes at the middle of the front one. Wouldn't they all try to be nice to stop keep staring at my gap already? I guess not. Father said that a man has a lot of other features, though I'm just a kid, even for my brothers, kids too, but way more older than me. Idiots, as well.

— Careful there. Ain't that a snake? – I said. Tch... then I spit that leave who got stuck between my gap. Maybe I could have eaten that instead, but I don't like leaves. Only when mother watches me. Aoife likes leaves.

— A snake, coming from the ground? – Jared said – ...don't be silly! – he also said, louder in words than before. I understood, you jerk. How much I wanted to spit that leave on his face. But then, he would spit a fist into mine, so I'll let it pass. Like... not only because Jared is my brother, but I can predict the future by seeing the hand of someone. If the fists are kept close, then that's a clear sign of an upcoming fight, althought I once saw my brother with the fists close, but he was on his own. He even fights against himself too, huh?

— Do yah thin th-tha the moon is madeh of thesee from-from... ? – Ranaldo said, or tried to say, until his mouth kept spitting what he tried to spoke in words. I didn't understood his, even though he seemed to have a clear understanding of his own, and only. In the end, he pointed to his pants, confident that I understood of its message. I didn't. He had a free hand to do it so, until Jared called him to help him pull out that thing from a hole in the ground.

Besides Jared, my other brother, mother also had gotten Ranaldo, who stood there, trying to pull out that string, whom I thought to be a snake, still I do, out of the ground. He's much alike Jared, except that he has a short hair. Mother likes short hair. Aoife shares of long strands. And a huge capacity to be able to talk clearly. Any woman shares of a nice voice when they talk, unlike Ranaldo, who sounds a bit raspy, even thought his mouth ain't dried up. Never it is. Besides the short hair, a bit messed up, and that mouth, both that I don't care about, Ranaldo is also rather skinny.

Mother had been preparing all kinds of meals to us, and Ranaldo still looks that skinny, as if all the food threw into his throat went to harden his bones. Maybe it's because he's growning up more than usual. He will be as tall as that tree someday. Well, all kinds of trees are tall. Beyond my brothers, here's Brennon, a friend of both; as I said, my brothers are pretty much one alike other, even though Jared had gotten that big nose, but I got this gap whenever I laugh, so I'll let it pass again, as the ticket man does. Brennon... only because he got that cool name that my brothers befriended his. If it wasn't for that name, he wouldn't even be there, I'm sure of that. He ain't nobody else, just a Brennon. If I had to define who he is, I would say that not even the scent of the rain flowing into the mud is enough to make Brennon one of us.

He stinks like cheese, alike how Ranaldo does, even thought he only eats fish. Brennon is also fat, alike your butt too... that's what Jared would say, if he wasn't occupied with that vermin, as it seems to be. The word of mother comes before his own, althought he's the one who gave me more slaps. So, the three stood there, near the house I live, in this same garden I am also standing, only watching. Jared dug the ground, as it seems, seeing how closer he was of that thing. Mother may had told to Jared, or Ranaldo, both as usual, to find some truffles in the garden. The gil given to her by father may be in plummet, or mother is avoiding to waste too much of that. Aoife is the one who needs less food. In this garden, it's far more easy to spot some littles balls after taking out a bean's plant than finding some fungus, althought the feet of some share of those kinds. Not that they are meant to be eaten, but with a kick, anything under the feet comes into your face. But the rain is always there to wash your face.

— Alrigheit... letez pull tha th-thfing outta r-right now... – the word eater said, in the middle, as Jared, in front of, and Brennon, at the tip of that thing, holded of that same long string, an animal, seeing how it moved. It ain't a snake, but a vermin. A giant worm, glowing in red, and brown, same color of the dirt around that body. The boys holded of that thing on their hands, bigger than our own tails combined. Like, it is bigger than...

— It may not be a truffle, but sure looks delicious – Brennon said, as if he had been invited for the lunch as well. All he had done was to share of a help, not to be given a praise of a reward. Well, look at you, who only stared... and what else could I do? My brothers, and their legs, are way taller than I am. Even their tails are taller than me. And with tall legs, comes the tall arms. And responsibilities as well.

Birds parents builds their nest on taller trees as well, but lizards still ate those eggs. I know that worm ain't a snake, not because it had that peculiar ring, largen than the others rings that make a worm to be a worm. Mother also wears rings on her fingers, thought she ain't a worm. These vermins are soft, unlike the bones of her fingers, and the same for the voice of Ranaldo as well, but what my brothers insisted to do to prove that worm was a worm, it is, clear to the eye, but they don't believe, or don't care, about such.

A brief ounce of sunlight came across the garden, yet it still rained, as water poured into us, and that worm, alike that bit of sunlight. That worm, I'm sure that it is a worm, but my brothers don't, until they all, including Brennon, moved that 'thing', they believed not to be a worm, into the sunlight, where, and when, same 'thing' started to move abruptly, twitching and writhing, alike a tail, covered by coal. It was as if that thing screamed, but it hadn't a mouth given to speak, like Ranaldo's one. Those ones who stood there had a mouth, and smiles, laughs... except me. I ain't tall enough to be laughing with them. Though, I disguise a smile, just so they recognize me.

Like, I would do the same as they do, with those hands, those smiles, those eyes. But a smile ain't enough for them. So, I think about the many possibilities of delivering a laugh, thanks to my thoughts. Heh heh... That worm sure is big enough to jump rope with. Or to be eaten. Heh heh. As I, briefly, drawn a gap, I guess there wont't be any candy for dessert, or anything that has a brown sugary taste, but meal instead, alike same lunch to be served on the table.

...

...Laocoön and his Two sons.

marsh [https://i.vgy.me/mV8JOW.png]

Lenneth... Sniff.

Two days after that night. I can't think of what to say to her. Wasn't her name enough? I can't even say that... those names rightfully. I can't even think about Lenneth... without it happening. Alike the ribbon belonging to my tail, my tongue also share of same knot, and I don't even know if it was me, or her, who made of this same wrapping up, that comes and goes out and into this same tongue. I can feel its taste, as much as it is made to feel anything, tasteful or not. Blood as well, with the taste of an iron that'll never become rusty enough than that blade who resides above that spear. After I saw her, I just had to hid behind this trunk, enough to even hide of this silhouette, but not this shame. Hope she didn't noticed me... Maybe she saw the tail, but not the ribbon, whom I took with my own hands, unlike the knot still stuck at the tip of my tongue, whenever I speak of her name.

Lenneth... If I ever find that moogle, I'm gonna to HURT HIM PLENTLY!...

Sniff... How awkward this silence is. How awkward I am. It's as if I had been trapped behind a wall of glass, a mirror world, unable to convey more than my own feelings, but a way to express them, without demanding of love, or something else other than love. Food, maybe. Or self-control, though, when I am hungry, I don't share of such. Never I had been hungry on my life, because of Lenneth... The 'L' comes before the 'M', ain't that right? But the 'J' comes before then all, right? Whew. Even after her presence is already gone, to my ears and my eyes, I'm still stuck at this trunk, nowhere else to go, other than home, or a friends's house, or just a friend is enough. They may share of some other ideas, unlike me, who only shares of one, but one ain't enough for me.

Hng!... I grunted, at the moment I closed my fist and then... Bam! I hit the trunk. I wanted to hit myself, but I couldn't.

I can blame myself, though it's hard to do it so, unlike when I do pull out a punch. The hardest part is to avoid any other punch, for sure. No splinter got stuck in my fingers, fortunately. Sniff. Trees don't seem to seek revenge against kids, even though I had made those many woods around the country as places for self-reliefs. I didn't even cried, or shed a tear, as I only felt the sweat flowing into my skin, before that punch. Trees may not share of any purposes other than growing up and feed us, but this one acted as if I needed of a hundred dews to fall into me. The rain is already pouring into me, but not into my eyes, as that tree intended so. Of course it was me; this Jack here.

These clothes may be already soaked by the rain, but that doesn't mean they can be soaked from inside, as how a lake does. I also felt in there, on the river, but sometimes I jumped there, without a slide of my feet over the mud, or a tumble at a stone in focus, unlike my head when I felt on that water, and when I found myself in and out of it. Those arms who brought me into the surface aren't here anymore, as much as these same clothes did, when I used to swin on that lake. Any lake, or puddle of water that I, and my naked body, could be fit in, besides the bathtub. Dan also did the same as well, like any other boy of our age. Funny that we share of same age. It's like daddy and uncle had been guessing which one was going to be born first, even though uncle Clyde already had two sons before Dan, and I, had been born already.

Born from Lenneth... when will I say that name without losing the focus? Or the breath? Huff... When you are underwater, you can't say a single word. On land, the same also happens as well. Not only with me, but others like me. Well, Fratley may not be exactly like me. I mean, he's younger, and smaller, than me, but still a boy, who wears of same green. Green... Sniff. I couldn't even see Fratley standing around that marsh, and he couldn't see me around the kudzus as well. Our clothes sure fit as disguises, vegetables to be put in hide-and-seek; this before he turned that gray face to watch some dragonflies passing by, unlike me, who is standing here, near this tree, and these wines, everywhere, even under my feet. He had been kept hid by that hat, who also hid his hair as well. That tail, now that I see it moving a bit, seems taller than his as well, alike that hat, big enough to fit on that head. Mushroom head.

I am the only one there who's sharing of a smile. Funny, isn't it? Fratley just keeps standing there, near that marsh. Eyes blinking, eyes watching same marsh. That water ain't clear enough, unless you don't mind to see yourself in green. A bit of yourself, thanks to these plants, and any kind of leave who felt in there. On the land, there are the kudzuz, but on the water, flowerless water hyacinths reign, almost covering the entirety of that marsh. Well, not only plants reside in there, but toads with horrible skins covered by warts, heard by their constant schreeching alike frogs, that will soon end up on my dish, or Lenneth's... uh, dragonflies like before, and maybe some pikes as well. If there's a pike in there... I better be close of Fratley, seeing how much he's near the border of that place. It ain't funny when they come to bite and try to chew a leg, or so I heard that it happened once.

— Hi Fratley – I said to his. I can't be near someone and say nothing, can I? At least, I grated that boy, more than I could when I brought of my own presence to his surprise. A sudden one; hope I didn't spooked his. Sniff.

— ...Uh? Hi there, uh... Jack, right?... – Fratley seemed a bit distracted when saying those words. I understood what he intended to say, somehow. Besides being distracted, mainly with the eye, Fratley seemed a bit off, motionless as those arms told to me. Something had been bothering his, I know. I also felt a bit off these days as well.

— So... how are you doing? – the start of a basic structure of a conversation is to known if the person near you is alright. That's what daddy said once to me, thought I don't know if he's alright. Sniff. They, all the people who I had meet once, always seem to be okay. A lie may be seem, or may be so convincing that you accept it as the truth.

— Well... you see... uh, I... I feel good. See? – not even Fratley, as it seems to be. I mean, he looks like a bit pale, a bit like a statue, doing nothing but looking into an only direction. He didn't even looked to me, only briefly, to notice that I exist, not only a product of his loneliness. That's what imagination truly means. And those pauses... those also bothered me as well. They also bothered his too, I know it – You see, Jack... I can't even walk with my feet over the water. Not even the rain and its drops does, like, all they do is to sink, see? – he said, pointing with his index, and that vision who, once again, had gotten his, and my attention to the marshes.

— Fratley... – I said his own name, and only. He already knew, looking at my face, what kind of answer to deliver to me. Was he afraid of something more than a pike, to cross the water on his own feet? For what reason he would do it so? This kind of doubt caught the whole of me.

— I don't like eggs – he said – ...anymore – he completed, after a brief pause, a brief breath, cold as this rain. I didn't expected him to say that. It looked so out of place, that I began to think about food. I'm hungry. It's near lunch time, though not that much, since Lenneth... she, and my brother, went to a tea's party. A chai party too. These ones are kind of boring, because they all just sit around that table, talking about stuff that I don't care about, althought the gifts they deliver to each other are pretty nice. One of them must have made a nice cloth to be wore by my brother, and that's fine, for him, and for...

...Eggs? Sniff. Did Fratley said something about eggs? Well, eggs? Strange, because I saw some lying above a nest, in the middle of that marsh. Hard to spot on a first sight, because they weren't white and a bit far away from the eye, though we both saw something alike a nest, and something alike eggs inside. Now they had been seem cleary, for me, and Fratley as well, who became more worried than before. He didn't ate any kind of egg because of what he saw, what he happened to see with both eyes. Jacanas, or lilly trotters, usually live on these marshes, or so his father told to his, don't know why. My daddy also said many things to me as well, and anyone has their own daddy to share, so why do you ask, Jack?

Anyway, those birds became the favorite of his father, because of how the male speciments shared of a common fatherhood, by building the nest, warming the eggs, and carrying on the tiny baby birds below the wings. His son, the same who's here, stranged that the bird shared of eight legs, but those extra legs were the ones belonging to the little birds, the offspring belonging to that family. Which family, if there's only a male in there? Well, there are female birds as well; if not, there wouldn't be any little birds, or little eggs.

So, one day, somewhere else, other than this place but a marsh as well, Fratley stumbled across a kind of uncommon event that he saw, he claims that he saw it happen. A big bird, presumably a female of the jacanas, came across between the leaves above the water, only to find a nest, and its eggs, unprotected by the male. The jacana only stood there, in hiding, awaiting for the parents of those eggs to come in that place. Only the male, known by their height being lower compared to the female ones, came near that nest. When he did it so, the giant female came rushing to the nest, as the male jumped, shrieked, made others noises more than mere the chirps, chirps, chirps heard atop the trees, as the beak of that female crushed those eggs, same beak who also took the infants ready to be born into that throat, as the tiny little cries of the male did nothing, but to call the attention of that boy.

Poor Fratley. Sniff. No matter what I do to him, even if I invite him to play some football for later, it won't change anything. He may feel something else, but he saw it happen once. He doesn't want to see it again, and that's all he can do. There's a jacana lying in there, on that green, maybe not, but those eggs are unprotected, not only of their own kind, but anything that eats eggs, like pikes, toads and their tongues, Burmecians... 'That's the nature'; anyone else would say. But Fratley do changed the one aspect who once belonged to his own, as much as I could. Half of it that I could, but that doesn't meant that I can't, even thought I may feel more than an aching in the stomach.

Now... should I keep eating eggs? Should I tell Lenneth?... maybe later. Always putting things to do for later. Sniff. I see...

...