Hide-and-Seek
"Weasely-eyed freak! Nerd! Weirdo!" A small group of children shouted, hurling pebbles and insults at a young raven-haired boy cowering in the mud.
The young boy scrambled to his feet and tried to make an escape through a small break in the throng, but was roughly shoved back onto the ground.
"Where do you think you're running off to, you spineless crybaby?" jeered the ring-leader of the gang. "That is so like you. Loki Odinson, the scrawny, useless coward. Always running away. Nose always buried in a book. Some prince of Asgard you are"
"Just leave me alone!" young Loki begged, trying to hide the tears that were streaming down his cheeks. "What did I ever do to you?"
"You showed your face, you wimp" called a girl from crowd, causing all the others to laugh and taunt Loki once more.
Loki scrambled to his feet once more and managed to force his way through the throng. He ran away from them as fast as he possibly could, tears blurring his vision. He ran all the way back to the castle and headed to his favorite cozy nook in the castle library.
He sank to the floor in a secluded alcove in the back of the library. This was his sanctuary. He could come here and feel safe when the other children started in on him with their ridicule and bullying. He curled up into a ball and rested his head against the wall. He closed his eyes. The scene began playing in his head. He bit his lip and fought back another wave of tears as the other childrens' cruel words echoed in his mind.
"Brother?"
A concerned voice snapped him out of his painful trance.
"Brother?" the voice repeated.
"Please, just go away, Thor," Loki sighed.
"Loki, what happened? Please tell me. I want to help." Thor said, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder
"Maybe I don't want your help," grumbled Loki, jerking away from Thor's touch. "Maybe I just want to be left alone."
"They've been bothering you again, haven't they?" Thor said quietly.
Loki sniffled and remained silent as he refused to make eye contact with his brother.
"Why do they hate me so much?!" he burst out suddenly. "I haven't done anything to cause them to torture me like this but they just won't leave me alone."
"You're different from them. They don't like anyone that is different from them, even if that person is worth more than a hundred of all of them put together." Thor said, putting his hand on his brother's shoulder once more.
"They always say I'm a freak. They always call me a weirdo." Loki said.
"I don't think you're a freak or a weirdo, brother. I think you're wonderful." Thor told him.
Loki looked up into Thor's eyes.
"Do you really mean that?" Loki questioned.
"Of course!" Thor responded, beaming at his brother. "You are very clever. You are much more clever than I am. You are the most talented young sorcerer in all of Asgard. You always tell the best stories and you ALWAYS win when we play hide-and-go-seek."
Loki smiled, and then began to grin at Thor.
"Thank you, brother." Loki said, glad to know that there was at least one person in the kingdom who liked him.
The two brothers sat there smiling at each other.
"Would you like to play hide-and-go-seek with me?" Thor asked.
"Huh?" questioned Loki, who had been lost in the moment.
"I said do you want to play hide-and-go-seek?" Thor responded.
"Oh. Oh yes. That sounds fun." Loki said. "You go hide and I will count to thirty.
Thor smiled at his brother, and then, laughing, he ran off to find himself a good hiding spot.
Loki smiled to himself and began to count.
"ONE… TWO… THREE… FOUR…"