FAMILY
First morning! Cold and hot together! The sun that could cook you like a pancake is thwarted by the cold of the night which forces you to turn with a blanket on you! If Mei had had a sweater he would have put that on. Instead now he had to turn like a bummer for that ... place! Fortunately they were not at all criticized there! All those who had seen from afar had reserved a warm smile or a greeting with their hands! He was stunned when he saw a huge white buffalo watering the plants in his garden. "Day!" The cat said timidly. "Look look! The newcomer! Pleasure I am Ning, you must be Mei! "Said the bovine laying some gardening tools. "Either they made an official announcement, or this place is so small that the news spreads in less than twelve hours!" Mei said still awed by the enormous size of the stranger. "No small! Very few new animals are caught and when it happens we all gather together to decide where to build their new home. I heard they took another peacock! "Ning said sitting on a boulder. "Yes, it's called Shen! He was abandoned by his family! "Mei replied wondering why he was saying that particular. "You were abandoned too?" Asked the buffalo. She nodded her head. "You are lucky! My parents sold me to these wicked humans when I was just a puppy! Bring the good memories of your memory forever! Guard them as the most precious treasure because it is what they are! But live life to the full and happily because I'm sure that's what they wanted! "Ning said strangely cheerful. "Thank you!" Said Mei, who suddenly felt extremely happy. He ran away immediately after making a respectful bow.
The feline stopped at the door of the house where his friend was when he saw a stranger with a familiar appearance! A peacock was passing a damp patch on Shen's forehead which seemed to be sound asleep. "Day!" Mei said timidly. The stranger turned and smiled at her. How could prisoners be so happy? He had to find out! This would be his main goal! "Hello Mei, my name is Kang and I am the oldest resident of the reserve who is the vast wooded area in which humans have locked us up!" The peacock explained. The colors of Kang were splendid, except for the white desire on the chest ... and on the tail. There! Yes, that was the one who had welcomed them on arrival! Mei wandered around the room for a long time, before sitting on the edge of the bed and watching Shen. "How are you?" He asked worriedly. "It will recover! He just needs a lot of rest! "Kang replied as he checked a large pot on the fire. The white peacock began to stir in its sleep. Mei stared at him, not knowing what to do. In his entire life he had lived with his parents and they had always taken care of her, so she wasn't very good at taking care of others! Kang sat next to Shen and began to gently massage his belly. Mei stared at the strange scene. Why would a stranger take so much interest in another stranger? Then he realized: that old peacock knew what Shen was going through! Apparently the youngest had recently been abandoned by his family and perhaps he too had passed by! He was offering free support, understanding and love without asking for anything in return! Everyone in the reserve respected him, which was why he had made the speech upon their arrival. From the beginning Mei had not shown fear in front of him. Her instinct told her she could trust. Now he also understood why: Kang behaved like a loving parent! Even though she was great for such attention she had never scorned them and now that her parents had died, she missed them! But that peacock was unique! He did not know Shen, yet he treated him as if he had raised him and he was extremely kind to her too. It seemed that Shen thought the same way because he calmed down almost immediately and continued to sleep peacefully.
Kang went to the back garden and returned to the room with a rag in his hand. Mei looked around. It was all united, living room with kitchen, but still remained very pretty as a home. The second floor also had to be inspected, but since she was a prisoner there was time to look around! "Lunch is ready, go and take a seat before my children eat everything!" Kang said, lifting the pot and heading towards the back garden. Lunch? But if she hadn't even had breakfast! She must have been really exhausted from sleeping until so late! Mei followed him and was unable not to remain open-mouthed at such a spectacle: twelve peacocks were in front of her! They were all unique thanks to their plumage and recognized Wei and Zhuang sitting next to a lady who was the only one besides the two to be an adult. So to speak, given that the others had to be all between the age of twenty ... apart from two boys who seemed to be between sixteen or eighteen! Among the young there were only three girls and they also had a singular plumage. He sat down next to a black peacock and had to make an enormous effort not to fix it, so he began to examine the cutlery as if they were an important archaeological discovery! "Guys she is ..." "Mei!" A chorus of voices interrupted the peacock. "Where are the manners? Introduce yourself! "Kang said sternly. "Nice to meet you, my name is Fai!" He said who was at the side of the cat. "I am Yong and he is my twin brother Hong!" One of the two boys said embracing his brother affectionately. "Nice to meet you I'm Shuang the big sister of these two earthquakes!" A young white peacock said. "Very pleased, my name is Juan and I am a cameo peacock!" A bird said whose plumage looked brown. "I am Dong the opal peacock!" Said another bird whose colors were not extremely bright, in fact, not at all! "To complete the collection there is me, the specifying peacock named Tai!" He happily said a green and brown peacock.
"What are you saying? My sister and I are the highlight! My name is Xian, while she is my elder sister Xing! "Said a completely white peacock while affectionately clutching the wing of a peacock also of the same color. "Wei and Zhuang has already known them, so let me introduce you to my wife Lu-Chu!" Kang said as he sat beside his beloved. "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Mei! We had heard of you, the Bo bat, Shen and the wolf Syaoran many days ago, but only now the master has allowed you to join us! " "With Shen you do the amazing fourteen number! I had never seen so many peacocks gathered in one place! Let's say that the first peacock of my life I met him only a few days ago! "Mei said starting to eat a delicious rice. "His name is Shen, isn't it?" Xian asked curiously. "Yes, but I've known him for very little! It was the last one to be captured before they brought us here! "Mei said immediately after finishing his plate. "Can I ask you a question?" Felina asked. "You just did it!" Fai said and then put a wing in front of his beak in a desperate attempt to stifle the laughter for his joke. The eyes of the others urged her to talk so Mei continued "Why did you invite me to eat with you if I'm not part of the family? I mean, I'm a feline, not a bird, let alone a peacock! "Mei said perplexed. "Darling, it doesn't matter! You are very young and because of this I believed you could make friends with some of my children to better settle in! "Lu-Chu said as he affectionately clutched her husband's wing. "Oh!" The cat exclaimed in surprise. "To contradict your assertion of before, there are thirty-six peacocks in the reserve!" Fai said once the plate was emptied. "And as icing on the cake I tell you a fantastic thing!" Xian said that he was doing his best not to laugh "There is a peacock almost identical to Shen in the reserve!" "Are you serious?" Mei asked in surprise. "Yes! Even if the red of his feathers is slightly darker than Shen's! "Xing said, sending a reproachful look to his brother.
"It's called Sheng!" Yong said jumping on the chair "But he already knew about Shen's arrival!" Hong continued "And he can't wait to meet him!" Yong concluded.
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Once lunch was over, Mei found herself in the middle of a game of hide and seek. It was surprise! Because given their age he believed that boys didn't want to play such a childish game, but the entreaties and pleading looks of the twins finally got the better of them! "Three ... two ... one ... arrival!" The feline screamed before starting to run through the thick vegetation at the back of the house. He moved fast and silent and finally saw something! He had misfired! It was just a white feather! Given the large number of white peacocks, she couldn't be surprised, but she wondered how the hell she couldn't find them! They were white for jupiter! Most of them at least! But among the green shrubs they would have had to jump to the eye even before ... he could not finish the thought that fell ruinously to the ground. What had he stumbled into? Or rather, in whom, since the fall was followed by an offended voice "It is not at all nice to trample on other people's tails!" Yong complained, poking his head out from a pile of dry leaves. "Sorry ... I didn't see you!" Mei said, unable not to blush. "If you thought we would make it easy just because you are new, then you are mistaken!" Yong said taking off his leaves.
"It's easy! See how I find them all in less than half an hour! "Mei said proud and stubborn as ever. The boy laughed and decided to go to his brother aware that the newcomer would lose the bet. Even if they were prisoners the dangers were not lacking and they had all developed an excellent camouflage technique in order to escape those poachers who, out of pure luck, managed to sneak into the reserve! "Is anybody there?" A voice made stronger by the echo caught his attention. Yong stopped in front of a natural hole in the ground near a tree. "The bad wolf!" He replied merrily to the question before. "The newcomer is messed up!" He hummed as he saw Mei sitting on the bottom. "Stop making jokes! I just realized that walking without looking ahead is extremely dangerous! Wouldn't you be helping me out, please? "Mei asked pridefully. "All right! Stand on that root and grab my wing! "Yong finally said. Somehow the young man managed to pull her out of that hole and the feline, after thanking him, resumed her work, even more motivated than before: in order not to show that she was incapable she would have found them all in even less time than she had previously
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Shen woke up with a great hunger and with surprise saw that a steaming plate was already on the cabinet beside the bed. As he ate he heard voices coming from the room above "We have to build houses and they think of hide-and-seek!" I think Mei will do well a little distracted! And above all, for now we have a free place for each of the new arrivals, so we can act calmly! "A strange but feminine voice said. "So you would be Shen!" The voice startled him and Shen could not suppress a groan of pain at having suddenly stiffened and thus strained the healing wound. He turned and really believed he was dreaming. A peacock almost identical to him stood in front of him. Black beak and red eyes, although the red of the feathers of the head and irises was not as bright as his own, but the resemblance remained the same astonishing! "It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, I am Sheng!" The stranger said. Shen sat up and put his mobile plate down. "My pleasure! Forgive my confusion, but it does something to note how similar we are! "Shen said, unable to stop studying him through his eyes. "I understand you! I didn't fully believe Yong and Hong's words so far! "Sheng replied. "Did they both tell you about me?" Shen asked curiously. "The most unlikely news arrives and spreads in this place only thanks to them! To make you understand: they knew of your arrival together with the other two new ones, three days before you arrived! "Sheng explained. "How is this possible!" Shen asked, unable to mask the surprise in his own voice "I think it's because they are good at eavesdropping! The guards guarding this place have a long tongue! "Sheng said. "Humans?" Shen asked. The other nodded.
"I see you showed up!" Wei said as he came down to the ground floor. Shen stood up. "Look, you should stay at rest again ... or if you want you can go out for a walk!" He corrected the purple peacock seeing the young man ignore him completely and then go out. "How long have you been here?" Shen asked Sheng. "Since I was three! Kang raised me! My brothers arrived with the passage of time, others were already there! "The other answered as he looked at nature. "Brothers?" Shen asked. "Yes, not of blood, but the two older peacocks in the reserve, Kang and Tai, have raised us, forming, with their wives, two great distinct families," Sheng explained. "I understand!" Shen said only. A sound of hurried footsteps and Shen saw someone pass so fast that he could only see a black spot, and immediately afterwards Mei followed him, begging the stranger to stop. Both went into the bush and the cries of the feline became weaker and weaker as it moved away. That place was really immense! "That was Fai, the bronze colored peacock!" Sheng said answering many questions from Shen. "How many prisoners are there besides me and you?" Shen asked curiously. "Many! I've never counted them, but we're not few! Every captured animal is rare and unique, or simply, Derek, our master, likes it! "Sheng said. Shen felt his anger rise in his chest at the mention of the word "master". He didn't belong to anyone! Let alone a slimy human! He was about to respond when Mei's words came back to him: "Now think about surviving, then we'll take care of the escape plan!" Yes! He had to concentrate without letting himself panic and think clearly. If he had attracted human attention he would have been less free to act! He decided to change the subject and Mei helped him find a rather effective way. "What were those two doing? A speed race? "He asked curiously. "No, they were playing hide and seek! I was at Tai, that's why I didn't join them! "Sheng replied.
"To play? Is that how you spend your time? "Shen asked bored and surprised at the same time. "No! The younger ones enjoy provoking the guards and playing among themselves! But if you want to pass the time there are many things to do here! "Sheng replied. "Like?" Shen asked more and more curiously. "Fishing, gardening, growing fruit and vegetables, chopping wood and building furniture, planning the construction of new homes for newcomers ...! Not forgetting the trips in the village! "At that statement Shen raised his crest and bent his head to the side asking for an explanation through his eyes. "We were captured to be pieces of a unique collection! This is why Derek occasionally makes us admire in the village when humans hold parties or set up big stalls to sell! They keep us in chains, yes! But it is one of the rare moments during which we leave this place and give us the chance to see the world around us with our eyes! "Sheng said that he understood the silent question of the other. "Look Shen, I have to go now! We need to start building homes for newcomers, including you! You go home that you still have to recover from the journey, see you around! "Sheng said before disappearing into the thick vegetation. This Derek was wicked! He had deluded himself into living well while holding them in chains and segregated in a large cage! As soon as he recovered, he would have made it clear once and for all the grave mistake that that human had made in threatening his parents and capturing him! "What an ugly wax! Does the wound still hurt or did you just wake up badly? "Mei asked making him lose ten years in ten milliseconds. "But you ... weren't you playing ?!" Shen asked, unable to contain a grin. "Yes! And in the end I swept! Are you good at hiding yourself? Because they made the task much harder for me than I could have imagined! "Mei said happily. "I'll do it! I noticed that you met new friends! "Shen said, trying to hide his impatience. He too burned with the desire to meet as many animals as possible! "Are cute! Especially Yong and Hong ... they completely repainted Xian! "The feline explained, unable not to laugh.
"I don't follow you!" Shen admitted raising the crest. "Xian is a white peacock and the two pests have thought of using it as a canvas, spilling the entire contents of a barrel full of blue paint on them! It was hilarious! "Mei said trying to hold back the laughter. "I've already met the two young hurricanes! What do you say if you introduce me to everyone you've met so far tonight? "Shen asked. "Tonight? Why not now? "Mei asked in amazement. "I am very tired and the injury still causes me a lot of trouble, so I prefer to rest in order to meet the other animals in the reserve later," Shen said, starting to head towards his new home. "All right! See you tonight then, I have to go and see if someone else has turned into a painting! " twins joke.