The ground under his feet felt hard as he ran through the densely wooded forest. His face was clouded over with the wet tears that still seeped out of his glowing yellow eyes. He ran blindly into the forest trying desperately to run away from his memories.
Earlier that day his whole life had been turned upside down and all it took were three little words, "He's a monster!"
Kurt had always been with his parents. His world consisted of them, the small farm, and the woods outback that he played in. He had never gone into town and had never thought of why he looked the way he did. This was just the way he was. He had deep blue skin that was covered in a short coat of soft fur. His ears came to a point at each tip and his dark blue hair hung down to his jaw line. When he smiled two fangs were visible. His hands held three fingers while his feet had only two large toes. Beginning where his spine should end his long tail began and it ended in a spade shape. This was just the way he was.
This morning was just like any other. He awoke got dressed in a plain T-shirt and some khaki shorts that he had to fasten on with a belt because of his slim waist size. He ran out of his small room and into the kitchen just in time to greet his mother as she was making breakfast. He ran and hugged her as she spun around and gave him a heart warming smile.
"Good morning honey. Are you ready for breakfast?" She asked in a cheery tone.
"Yes mama! I'm ready to eat!" He announced in his childish manner. His mother watched as her son climbed into one of the chairs that surrounded the old wooden table where she had laid out a small breakfast for her son and husband.
Her husband came in from the hot morning of working in the fields with the plow. "Daddy!" yelled her son as her husband came and sat down in one of the old and chipping chairs.
"How are the fields looking dear?" She asked her husband as he wiped a cloth over his sweat strewn face.
"Not to good unfortunately…" He said as he started to put food on his plate. "What's wrong? Is the soil too dry?" She asked with a worried look on her face.
"No it's the seeds. They're far too old and dried up to grow anything." He said as he helped his son fill his plate with small portions leaving enough for his wife.
"Well what does that mean?" She asked her voice filled with worry. Their only money came from selling the crops and the odd jobs her husband got.
"That means that we will have to go into town and get some more seeds for the fields." He said as he inspected his sons blue hands for dirt.
"That's just wonderful then…" She said with a sigh.
"Mom we get to go to town?" asked her excited son as he began to shift eagerly in his chair.
"Honey I don't know if you're old enough to go to town yet." She said shooting a concerned look at her husband who had the same worry embedded in his brow.
"But mom I'm already seven years old…" He said as he pouted silently not looking either of his parents in the eye. Both of his parents had the same thoughts rushing through their heads. While they looked like every other human their "son" was so very different from everyone else. They had found him on a foggy morning floating down the river that ran close to their farm. They had decided to keep the oddity that the river had given them but from that day that he first learned of the outside world they knew that they would have to try and protect their little river gift from the rest of the world that wouldn't understand or accept him. He didn't look like the rest of the world but he was a much better person than most other people.
"Son I don't know if going to the town is the best idea right now." His mother said.
"But mom I promise that I'll be good, really, I will be the best!" He promised her with a pleading look in his eyes.
"Darling you're always good but town is just not the friendliest place at times." She said try to deter him.
"Oh, ok mom…" He said. Her son looked down at his feet and sighed.
"Son you can come with us to town." His father said. She looked at her husband with wide eyes. Had he momentarily gone insane?
"Um…?" She said with a hand on her husbands shoulder.
"Really dad? You really mean it?" asked his excited son as he practically jumped up and down in the old chair.
"Of course son." he said as he turned to look at his wife and saw a very shocked and very worried looking woman with questions plastered all over her face.
"Oh! Thank you dad thank you so much!" squealed his son with a huge smile firmly in place on his face.
"But" he said as he looked at his son, "You have to stay by the cart at all times."
'Thank you god!' she thought as she looked at her husband. How smart of him! The cart never actually went into town it always had to sit outside of the busy market, and if their son was to stay by the cart than no one could see him and he could watch the market. Oh, what a wonderfully clever man she had married.
It wasn't that they didn't want their son to see the outside world it was just that they didn't want to hurt him when he was so young, and they wanted to find others like him first so that way he wouldn't be totally alone. Until then they were going to protect him.
After saying grace and eating their meal they started to pack up what they would need for the three hour journey. Once they were all packed they set out on the dusty road.
Three hours later they arrived at the outskirts of the town. Now the town itself was very small, compared to most towns, but out in the rural community this had one of the larger markets.
The boy looked out from the back of the covered cart and watched as the town came closer and closer into his view. He had never seen a town before and this was something else. Buildings many times bigger than his house, the colors of the buildings were like he had never seen, and all of the noise that was coming from the town was like nothing he had ever heard. It was almost like a thunderstorm only the sound wasn't a threatening sound it was a busy sound that drifted over his elf like ears.
The cart came to a stop outside of the brightly colored gates with many other carts much like theirs.
"Now son your mother and I are going into town and I don't want you to leave the cart under any circumstances. Do you understand me?"
"Yes father. I will guard the cart!" He said excitedly as his tail wagged back and forth with the anticipation of watching the town longer.
"Good boy." His father said as he walked away with a small bag slung over his shoulder with trading stuffs.
"Be sure to not leave the cart honey." His mother reminded him as she too walked away towards the town.
He sat there in the cart and looked around himself. He was surrounded by other carts that all looked similar to his. He sat down lazily with his head was poking out from the covering f the cart so that he could see. He sat like that for some time and closed his eyes so that he could listen to the town's sounds.
"Hey I think I found it!" yelled a voice from his left. Kurt perked up immediately at the sound of the voice and scanned the area. That was when he saw the little boy bending over to look under a cart close to his.
"Really you see it?" asked another voice. Another boy came up behind the one that was bending over and looked around under the carts as well.
"Did you guys find the ball yet?" asked a third voice that belonged to another boy. This boy was a bit taller than the other two. The first two looked a lot alike; they both had dark hair that hung in front of their eyes. The last boy had darker hair that was cut short around his face.
'A ball?' Kurt thought. Oh! That's right a ball. He glanced around himself from the cart searching for the round bouncy object. His eyes landed on a round bright green circle that was rolled underneath a nearby cart.
"I can't see it!" whined the littlest boy with the shaggy dark hair.
"Look harder!" demanded the tallest boy. All three of the boys scrambled around trying to look under the carts.
Kurt watched them from the cart and thought of saying something but then he had a better idea. 'If I give them the ball maybe they will talk with me.' He thought. As if receiving an answer he jumped out of the cart in a swift movement and set out towards the ball.
"I still can't see it!" the littlest complained again.
"Are you sure?" the others asked.
"Were you looking for this?" Kurt asked as he held up the ball in his three fingered hand.
The three boys all turned their heads in unison at his remark. Their faces were at first happy to see their ball, but the minute their eyes laid themselves on his figure they shifted from relief to fear in a second.
"What the hell is that?" screamed the eldest boy. The other two boys had the same fearful look plastered on their faces.
"It's your ball…" Kurt answered. The feeling of unease swept over him as the three boy's expressions changed from fear to disgust. He had only seen this expression once before when his mother had seen the rotting meat that his father had left outside. His mind took a wicked turn; was he nothing more than rotting meat to these boys? No he had brought back their ball. He wasn't what they were disgusted with, surly.
"Ewwww! That is the ugliest thing I've ever seen!" shrieked the littlest of the boys.
"Yeah, is it even human?" asked the middle aged boy looking up at the eldest boy.
"No way that ugly blue thing isn't human at all! He is a… He is a… He's a monster!" screamed the oldest, jerking his finger up to point at Kurt.
Kurt looked around trying to prove to himself that their repulsion wasn't directed towards him.
All of a sudden one of the boys flung a rock at him. The others started to join in soon after and before long Kurt was jumping this way and that trying to dodge the stones. He couldn't understand why the boys would want to throw rocks at him. One of the rocks hit his head and he could feel it cut his skin right above his brow.
"Hah! It does bleed! I wasn't sure with its ugly blue skin!" the eldest boy half yelled half laughed to the other two boys.
So it was his skin that they didn't like? Kurt was suddenly hit with the full force of the fact that none of the other people he had ever seen had blue skin like his, or hands, or even a tail! He stumbled back as more stones hit him. All at once Kurt dropped the ball, turned, and ran.
Tears dripped down from his face as the rain started to descend from the clouds above. The dusty road that Kurt and his parents had traveled on just this morning was now a river of mud that he sprinted on.
The boy's words played over and over in Kurt's head as he ran, but other thoughts soon found their way in as well. The thoughts all brought more tears to his eyes and more anger to his heart. Why hadn't his parents told him that he looked different? Why hadn't they just left him at home? Why was he a monster?
All this and more propelled Kurt forward through the rain. He didn't know where he was going and frankly he didn't care. For now he just ran to get away from the voices that mocked him in his head.
After a while, Kurt wasn't sure how long, he began to slow down to a hurried walk and then to a slow amble. He was so tired. He tilted his head up to look around, but all he saw was the overflowing road and the sleet like rain that came down in sheets around him. For the first time since he started to run he felt to rain pour onto him and soak him through to the bone. His hair was plastered to his face and his clothes hung on him as gravity pulled them down. He began to shiver as he walked off of the road and into the shelter of the forest.
His mind was thick and hazy as he walked through the tree trunks. The rain dropped down from the leaves above and splattered on his head. The thunder awoke him from his daze. He was alone in the forest miles away from his home with no idea where he was!