CHAPTER THREE: Bullying

Skipper was having a lonely stroll around the zoo, when he spotted a small dolly, lying underneath the bench. He waddled up towards the find and took it in his flippers. One of the girls must have dropped it here. Is there any way to give it back to her?

Skipper took a thorough look around. Suddenly he felt someone's strong hands pulling him up.

"Hey, guys! Look what I've found! A Penguin thief!" cried a twelve year old boy with ginger hair and prickled face. "He's been trying to steal Dorothy's dolly!" He squeezed him hard in the ribs. Skipper let out a painful moan and tried to squirm away from boy's grip but he was too weak. The ginger head snatched the dolly away from Skipper's grip and handed it to one of his team-mates.

"Here you are, Dorothy! Do you want me to punish him?"

"Throw him in the air, throw him in the air!" scanded the rest of the group. "Go, go, Spencer!"

"I've always wanted to see a flying penguin!" said Dorothy, cradling her dolly in her arms.

Spencer took a swing and sent Skipper fleeing across the bridge. Suddenly they heard Alice's nosy voice echoing off the brick walls:

"What on earth is going on here?"

The kids let out a gremial scream and spread out fast, to get out of sight.

Skipper felt his back colliding harshly against the ground. He had no clue where he'd landed. But as soon as he got up from the ground he spotted lots of peanuts wallowing on the grass. His heart sank. It was Burt's habitat. Before he had a chance to make a move, he felt Burt's trunk patting him on the arm.

"Hey, bird. " he heard his ominous voice.

"So good to see you" said Marlene, who was standing right next to her elephant friend. There were also Bada, Ring, and Joey, aggression and hatred written all over their faces. Maurice, King Julien and Mort were sitting at the top of the tree, wolfing down mangos and bananas.

"Let me deal with him first!" barked Joey. He leaped up towards Skipper and throw a nasty punch at this face. Then he picked him up and threw him against the brick wall. A thick stream of blood escaped down his left nostril. After several more punches, his beak started to bleed as well.

"Hey, Joey, it's our turn!" protested Bada and Bing. Joey reluctantly stepped aside, and let his friends enjoy the bullying. Bada grabbed Skipper by wrists and nailed him to the ground.

"Marlene, if you want to give that sucker a beating, here's your chance" he exclaimed.

The otter walked up towards Skipper and looked in his face.

"Marlene..why are you doing this to me?" uttered Skipper. Tears were streaming down his bruised cheeks and melting with blood. But it wouldn't move her a bit.

"Shut your beak, you stupid son of a bitch" she sneered and gave him a violent punch in the stomach. He felt a half eaten mango targeting his head at the same time. He heard Mort's childish laugh.

"Good one, Mort!" applauded King Julien.

After another punch in the stomach, Skipper's beak trembled alarmingly. On seeing this, Marlene took several steps backwards.

"Check this out, guys! He's gonna barf!" announced Burt.

"Hey you, don't you barf in Burt's habitat!" barked Joey, balling his paws into fists. "If you try to barf, I will beat you up to death! Keep it in your beak!"

"Keep it in your beak! Swallow it!" continued the rest of the team.

But Skipper couldn't hold back the vomit any longer and threw up on the rocks.

"That's it, sucker! I've been warning you!" said Joey. He leaped up towards the poor , maltreated penguin and smacked him hard at the back of the head. Skipper almost felt like losing consciousness. He would have been already dead, indeed, hadn't it been for Alice, making her way through the pavement. The animals quickly let him go and spread out.

20:00 p.m, Penguins HQ

Skipper would lie in his bunk, wrapped in white bedsheets, sobbing quietly and swallowing tears. His stomach lurched, his head was pounding, his cuts are bruises were pulsing with sharp pain. He threw up three times on his way home. Joey would almost broke his left flipper. Skipper kept massaging it with slow, weak moves. Soft blankets however would give him some relieve. He burrowed his head in the pillow and tried to fall asleep. After a while, everything faded into black. He felt someone's presence. It was a female penguin. She was slim, delicate and subtle… she approached him in the darkness and moved her flippers across his bruised face. Skipper knew this touch very well.

"Mother.." he moaned in his dreams. "It hurts.. it hurts so bad".. he muttered as his Mom's flippers kept moving gently across his swollen cheeks. He made a struggle as if wanting to embrace her, but then, everything melted away.

He was alone again. Alone with his pain.