Chapter 14

I had slept a really long time, so much that when I woke, the sun was pouring through the window. Normally I wake up before Henry starts his gentle tune, but tonight the sleeping bug bit me long enough so the silky melody would creep to my ears again. Who needs a video recorder, when all the memories are played back to me, every night? I tried to snuggle deep into the sheets, squeeze my eyes as tight as I could, but even then the bright orange light of the sun told me it was time to get up. Not that I minded.

I hadn't slept so well in a long time. You know, they say after abundant sleep, you become young and vibrant again. Your skin firms up, your muscles are less achy, and you have a shitload of energy. All the years will seem to just slip away: years of pains, grievances, trials and tribulations; gone. I let the pressing weight of the down comforter—which now felt way too warm for early autumn—slip from my back, and it fell effortlessly away. I was a lot lighter now.

I couldn't stop giggling. I was all jittery, wanting to just throw myself out of bed and greet the morning. But I had to wait for Sara. She always would come to my bedroom every morning, this bright, cheery morning smile on her face. I couldn't wait for the door to open and hear, in that jolly morning voice, "Hello, Mack!". I can barely move when I first wake up. Her, on the other hand she, she can leap straight outta bed, change out of her warm, snuggly PJs, open my bedroom door, and say…

"Morning, my little sunshine!" She said, beaming as she entered. "My, you slept really well last night, didn't you, honey…?"

"Samu!" I was smiling. Damn it, I was actually smiling! After so many weeks in bed, rain pecking at the window, my eyes glued to the story of the TV of a man and woman together. Everything was just so nice, having Sara squeeze at my pudgy face, stroke my silky fur, the sunlight pouring in, illuminating the bright white sheets. She had my favorite food on a breakfast tray: these really fresh, raw oysters purchased straight from the pier. I heard them wobble about on the flat breakfast tray, the sweet sound of the oyster cracking open playing in my mind as a soothing mantra. Crak. Crak. Crak.

"Aren't you hungry? I guess you haven't eaten these past few weeks, have you?"

"Samu…" I was at my seventh oyster already. Sara always let me shuck them open with my seamitar; she knew how much I liked to break things. Crak. Crak. The resulting empty shells would pile up on the breakfast tray, weighing down on me, but Sara would quickly take them away and toss them in the trash can. She never let the burden be too heavy, and potentially break and fall like an avalanche upon my delicate, well-slept, youthful body. Nothing could weigh down the light of the morning sun, the light air I breathed in gratefully, the lightness I experienced as the heavy blanket slipped away. No fucking oyster shell can stop me. Crak. Toss away. Crak. Toss away.

Well, that's all I did in bed that morning. Let Sara cuddle me, and eat the best oysters I'd had in a long time. Funny how I didn't even think once of the time at the Nuvema Pier, with Oscar, Matt and Victoria—which fresh-caught oysters never ceased to remind me of. Or the time at Ferris Wheel with Victoria, and there was an earthquake—which a young female human holding me close always reminded of. I just heard those cumbersome oyster shells being tossed into the trash, the load of the breakfast tray becoming lighter, and lighter, and lighter, with every passing minute. It was nice to see the weight disappear…be lifted away, for a change.

"Wow, it's gonna be a really hot day," Victoria commented as she opened the window. "Now you're all better, do you want to play with the sprinkler outside?"

"Samu! Samu!"

We were outside in the backyard. Fresh water continued to spray out from the yellow plastic sprinkler. Claws entrenched in the soil, trying to preserve my grounded footing, I stared motionless at the airborne droplets. Even though my fur would protect me from the chilly water, I was really scared. How do I explain it? Each little droplet got bigger, and bigger. My footing grew wobblier as the wall of water in front of me grew. The longer I stared at it, the higher and farther reaching the spray seemed: higher, higher…forcing my neck to strain and look up at it, to see the top. But as my head tilted up; that was when I heard his voice above: the young oshawott calling to me. He had taken me. His divine youth filtered through my fur, into each little fiber of my being. At last. He has come to me. He came, as I knew he always would. It was like I was...a little oshawott...all over again, for just two hours.

My name is Mack. I am a samurott. I am twenty-six years out of my egg. I am a pokémon but even though I am a pokémon I can still read and write. Henry taught me how to read and write since I was an oshawott. Now I am a samurott. Now I can do it all by myself!

This is my story of when I played with water for two hours one afternoon. I was sweating a lot. My teeth shook, and my tummy felt funny. Sara laughed at me because of that. I didn't like that. If I crossed the thing that had water coming out of it, Sara wouldn't laugh at me anymore. That would be nice.

So I had to cross it. I had to be really really brave, like Henry taught me. So I closed my eyes really really tight. I got ready, then ran very very fast, zoom! Swoop! Straight through the water! BAM! I ran straight into Sara's body on the other side of the water. I fell down and then Sara tickled my tummy. The next time I tried not to fall down. But after I ran through the water, I wasn't strong enough to stand back up. Each time, I fell on the ground. I rolled around the grass like a tiny little oshawott. It felt really nice after a while.

"Samu…sam—hehehe!" I said.

"Tickle! Tickle!" Sara said.

"Sam—hehe!" I said.

"Tickle tickle!" Sara said.

"Sammy! Sammy!" My voice sounded a lot like.

I ran through the thing with water coming out again. It was good. So I ran through again. The water was cold, at first. But later, it was warm. Warm felt nice. This is why I like warm. I was sick for a long time. When you're sick, you're always really cold. No matter what you do, you always are cold. Even when I had my warm blankie with me, I was cold. I don't like cold. So that's why I like warm.

I ran through the water and hit Sara again. I know paragraphs have to be. Five sentences or more. But I can't. Think of anything else to write.

"Ouch! Oof! Mack, you are getting heavy!" Sara said when I hit her.

"Samu!" I said. I screamed because I wanted her to tickle my tummy.

"Oh…all right. Tickle tickle tickle!"

"Sam—hehehe!" I said.

I went back to the other side. I ran through the water and hit Sara again. She screamed. That felt nice. I like to hear that. Screams make me laugh really hard. Henry also likes it too when people scream like that. This is why I like to hear screams. I was really happy when I was with Henry. When he liberated me, me and Henry screamed at the end. I felt good when I screamed. So screams must mean a good thing. So that's why I like to hear screams.

"Arrgh! Ouch, Arceus, that hurts! AAAH!" Sara said when I ran through the water and hit her the 17-millionth time.

"Hehehe!" I laughed, even though she didn't tickle my tummy.

"AAAH! that's painful…AAAH!" Sara said.

"Hehehe!" I said.

AAAAAH! Ouch…Arceus…" Sara said.

"HEHEHE!" I said.

"Oh…ooh…" Sara said. "I'm beat. Mack, dear…ooh, ouch….how about…we go inside and…ow…have a snack?"

"Samu!" I said. I went with Sara.

"Are you hungry?"

"Samu…!" I'm always hungry.

"Would you like some more oysters from the Nuvema Pier?"

Crak. The shells broke open. And with that, the bloody memories locked inside came flooding back again. "Nuvema Pier". Shit. Should've known it was too fragile to be forever youthful.