If No One Will Listen

Part 2

For the rest of the afternoon, Shen played a game with Xun that he had seen other children playing before, called "tag." It involved a lot of running and poking each other and then running the other way. Shen wasn't all that great at it, since he couldn't run fast for long before he started huffing and puffing, but Xun made sure to slow up for the scrawny chick.

Shen was having the time of his life. He wasn't lonely and bored anymore; he finally had someone who wanted to play with him and didn't think of him as a "bad color, bad omen." He couldn't have cared less about how tired he got; he was having FUN.

As the sun began to set, Xun and Shen both flopped down on the grass, happily exhausted. "Boy," panted Xun, "that was fun."

"I know," wheezed Shen. "I never played tag before."

The wolf cub examined the sky thoughtfully. "It's getting' late. Are your mama and baba gonna come get you soon?"

Shen shook his head. "No, but Nana will."

"Oh. I thought maybe your parents came'ta see you at night and put you'ta bed…"

He felt his heart constrict. "No. They never come see me."

"Shen?" the soothsayer was approaching them. "Bath time, my prince."

Shen made a face.

"I better go home." Xun scrambled up, showing his blunt fangs in a goofy grin. "Bye, Shen. Am I gonna see you tomorrow?"

"Uh-huh!" exclaimed the peacock chick enthusiastically.

"Shen!" the soothsayer called again, impatience budding in her voice.

Shen began to scurry away, but he looked back at his no friend one last time. "Tomorrow," he said firmly. "It's gonna be the best day ever!"

For once, Shen was in a good enough mood that he didn't throw a tantrum or try to run away while the soothsayer drew his bath, but it still wasn't any easier for his nanny to scrub him down.

"Oww," he whined as his bare tummy was scraped by hard bristles. "That hurts! Don't we have any OTHER brushes?"

The soothsayer sighed, replacing the brush on its shelf. "We have a sponge," she replied, "but you always complain that it tickles."

"Tickle is better than hurt!" he declared indignantly.

She rolled her eyes, dunking the sponge in the washbasin. "Now, hold still," she instructed, and set to work on his stomach again.

Almost immediately, Shen began giggling and squirming, sending up small splashes of water to spritz her. "Shen – !" she shouted as her glasses were splattered. "I said hold still!'

"It's not my fault!" he cried. "All our brushes suck!"

The soothsayer lifted her chick into a towel and bundled him up tightly. "It is not polite to say 'sucks,' Shen."

"Xun says it."

"Well, that's up to Xun's parents."

Shen felt a twinge at the mention of the word "parents," but he didn't say anything about it. That is, he didn't say anything about it until after he had been dressed in his oversized sleep robe, when his Nana was tucking him into bed. He wondered if Xun's parents were kissing him goodnight right now, if they did so every night.

"Nana?" he asked softly.

The soothsayer lovingly stroked his feathers as she pulled a quilt up to his chin. "Yes, my prince?"

"Do Mama and Baba love me?"

Her eyes widened. She hesitated noticeably. Then she quickly answered, "Of course they do."

"But why don't they ever come see me?"

She bit her lip. "Well…they are very busy."

"Xun's parents are busy, too, but they still make time for him…"

The soothsayer was lost for words. She had always known that this day that come, that Shen would eventually begin to question the extent of his parents' attention towards him. And though she knew the real answer to his questions, it wasn't something that she could tell him. The truth was nothing that a five-year-old child could hear.

"They don't love me, do they?" Shen murmured.

"Yes, they DO," insisted the soothsayer.

He rolled over, turning his face away from her. She could tell that he didn't believe her.

She heaved a sigh, blowing out the candle on his night table. "Good night, baby. I love you."

She never did get a reply.