THE FAIR

He did not fly a fly, apparently everything seemed normal, yet the air was as tense as few times had happened! Rose ate with her head down staring at the plate as if it had been a dish unknown to her instead of the usual polenta. Her father had been staring at her since they sat down at the table and she could swear she had never been so uncomfortable under the weight of his gaze. Something was wrong! Had he discovered Fa? She hoped with all herself for not being able to bear the idea that he was hurt only because of her! "How was your morning, daughter?" Derek asked in a neutral tone. "Good!" Replied Rose, unable to hide her concern in her voice. "What did you do?" Asked his father. "Studied!" She replied briefly. "The industrial revolution?" Asked the parent. She petrified her eyes wide. How was it possible that his father, while spending very little time with her, knew every little detail of his life? He had checked and in his room there was no trace of hidden video cameras, the PC had no parental control mode ... Fortunately, because he was now old enough to avoid such a humiliating lack of independence and freedom ... none of the servants observed her with such insistence that some suspicion arose ... "So !?" His father made her come back down to earth "The" industrial revolution "was a process of economic evolution and industrialization of society that from an agricultural and commercial system became a modern industrial system, characterized by the use of machines powered by mec energy ... "it was almost immediately interrupted" Good! Very well! Did you learn everything while you were in the company of your furry friends? "Cioccata! Of course, Rose knew perfectly well that sooner or later she would find out! He could do it to the guards, but not to him! Yet he hoped that he would find out as late as possible ... which apparently corresponded to ... now!

"I wanted ..." "SILENCE!" The parent yelled as he slammed a cutlery on the table. "They are not animals like the ones you know! They do not belong to our world! They are smarter! And don't believe that the simple fact of understanding what they say makes you become their friend ... or worse, one of them! Ever since you started seeing them, I'll tell you again: sooner or later they'll jump over your friendship just to find a way to escape! "Derek said angrily. "N-not true!" He tried to counter Rose "Apparently you don't understand in words. But when you come to me in tears because of their betrayal, you don't expect pity! I warned you! Now ... "the father said, standing up and abruptly moving the chair on which he was sitting to come face to face with her. Most likely it was an intimidation technique because in situations like this Rose would ardently wish she had the ability to disappear or pass through walls just to escape as far as possible from her father! "... the next fair is in two weeks! Try to make another contact with those savages before then and I swear I take away your computer, phone and freedom of movement for a year! "Derek shouted before leaving the room taking care to slam the door with all the strength he possessed. She should have been terrified to death, sorry, but not even a tear came out of Rose's eyes as she was used to her father's anger now. He only regretted always being unable to assert himself and having to endure in silence ... perhaps it was for this reason that only a single question touched on the antechamber of his brain "And now what do I do with the paint to give to Hong and Yong? ".

Two long weeks. They had passed extremely quickly, despite the imprisonment! Yet with all the construction work on the new houses, time had flown so fast that Shen was surprised to discover this detail only when he was warned of the upcoming fair. No one would have been sold, this reassured him, but the idea of finding himself in the midst of a flood of humans staring at him as a bizarre being didn't excite him too much. In his city he managed to avoid such looks as much as possible, staying within the walls of the palace. While here it would have been impossible since the word freedom did not exist in the vocabulary of those who lived in the reserve! All the animals gathered in the square behaving with excitement in view of the fair, unlike the new arrivals. The previous experience with humans outside the reserve still remembered it well and feared it would recur! Kang climbed the rock on which Shen, Mei and the other two had been, in order to be seen and heard by everyone present. "Dear friends, I know that many of you want to be able to have some fun going to the human party, but you know the rules: today only ten of us will leave the reserve! But don't worry, in just ten days there will be another demonstration and with it new possibilities to go out "once Kang had finished talking, happy cries rose from all the animals ... well ... ...almost all. "Tai, please read the list our master gave us!" Kang asked his brother gently. He nodded before starting "As soon as I call you, gather to my right, please!" He said, waving "Hua, Bo, Ming, Wen, Cong, Kueng, Cheng, Genji, Shen and Heng!" Among the exults of those who had been chosen, aside from Shen, there were also protests from others who had to stay at home, but no one opposed Derek's orders. Even if Shen was sure that they could not in any way oppose the humans ... not even wanting it! "I wish we could have put the nose out of this place! Once you get back, you'll tell me everything, right? "Mei asked hopefully. Shen nodded nervously, unable to avoid glaring at her friend, before following the others towards the main gate where the humans were waiting for them.

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Hua was an eagle owl, also an albino, Ming was an albino deer he barely knew. Wen was a monkey like the others, but with whom he exchanged yes and no three words ... then there was Cong the squirrel, Kueng and Cheng, brothers of Tai. Genji the albino weasel as well as the Heng owl which however was the most agitated of the group. And finally there was he and the bat Bo, the latest arrivals and the most nervous! A group of twenty humans armed with strange weapons escorted them to a large underground room. Once there they put a collar and a kind of muzzle on everyone. Shen's eyes widened as they tied them together through a long chain to which they were tied by an iron ring on each person's paw. Cheng guessed his question and replied, "They use cages when they have to take the biggest cats and cattle out. With us they do not do it because they do not consider us very dangerous if in chains and in this way it is much easier to transport us! ". Now he knew more things! The anxiety returned when he saw that embedded in the muzzle, which fortunately was placed above the head of each one without, however, obstructing the mouth, there was a red diamond. He remembered the first time he had seen Mei: hypnotized and unable to reason with his own head because of the power of that ruby! "I see you understand quickly!" Hua said as he approached the peacock as they were tied one behind the other "In case we were to free ourselves, the master will use the power of the diamond to get us back in line! So don't come up with strange ideas! "He said before starting to walk. Apparently the rumors spread quickly into the reserve! It was enough for only one person to discover something that in a short time all the others knew about it too! Or it was Mei who simply had a long tongue! Shen snorted to make them understand his frustration and set off with the others towards the exit. At the beginning the walk was ... pleasant, if this can be defined as being in chains! But soon they found themselves in the middle of the crowd, with the guards pushing the commoners to make their way through the myriad of people. Shen had felt the anger grow more and more every time someone tried to touch his tail or simply caress it as if it were a simple commodity that must be studied to evaluate the price!

Fortunately the guards had chased everyone off just in time and eventually tied each animal to a wooden pole each, removing the long chain that held them together. If Shen thought that he could not go worse than this, he was wrong. In the following hours there was a continuous coming and going of humans waving metal boxes before posing next to him to be portrayed with the "albino peacock"! The guard who had to collect the money and check it kept him firmly in the muzzle and kept his head high. More than once the desire to catch someone had overwhelmed Shen, except to remember a few milliseconds before he was a nobleman, and he would never have lowered himself to such primitive gestures! Late in the afternoon he was exhausted to say the least and was locked up in cages with the others under a large tent. Such metal constructions were large enough to give him the slightest chance of movement so Shen began to circle around to think carefully about everything he had discovered up to that point. Two major obstacles arose, one worse than the other. First: Mei would have been locked in a cage, from which she was less likely to be able to get out! Second: the muzzles used to hold the diamonds could completely sabotage any plan they would decide to implement! The first problem could be solved, it was enough to find the perfect moment to force the cage lock and the game was done. Things were more complicated for the ruby! He should have figured out how Derek could make it work in order to neutralize such a weapon! He was beginning to think of a way to make others flee when screams caught his attention and also everyone else's. "You bet someone will have made another disaster with the fireworks!" Ming said that despite all his efforts, he couldn't get his head through the bars to see better, because of the large white horns. He was the closest to the entrance and the only one who could tell others what was really happening ... "I do not believe! I don't hear the whistles caused by the fires! "Hua said turning his head 270 degrees, as if she had been too lazy to turn around in person.

"I think a fire broke out!" Genji said, moving nervously in his tiny cage. "Ah! Now would it be a fire ?! Can you also tell us what caused it? "Heng asked with obvious sarcasm. "No, but I can say with certainty that the straw feeds it!" The weasel replied, pointing to a point behind them. Shen turned to see that part of the tent had caught fire, but actually it was the straw that burned quickly and by doing so, spread the fire! "Move!" A voice from outside made everyone's attention momentarily divert from the fire. The guards started to open the cages and then put a leash on each of the animals and take them out as if they were domesticated! The fear of fire made everyone particularly obedient, but the smoke began to spread, greatly reducing visibility! Shen could only see the cage next to his, since there were no more on the other side. A guard released Genji only to pass out soon after due to the smoke. The weasel did not waste time and ran towards the exit forgetting to help the peacock. "Why am I always finding myself in situations like this?" Shen asked himself mentally. He put his head through the bars and began pecking insistently at the unconscious sack of potatoes that was actually the guard. To hell with good manners when life was at stake. After a few minutes of useless attempts, he tried to force the lock with his claws with the only result of making himself a great evil! In the end he lay in the cage as far as possible from the fire and in a short time he lost consciousness because of the smoke that did not allow him to see a palm from his beak.

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There was panic in the country. Many houses had caught fire as were most of the tents set up for the fair! Rose ran to the tent where she knew the animals were there. He had only seen Ming and Kueng leave the village and feared that the guards had left someone behind! The firemen were worrying about the houses, to prevent the fire from spreading too much, endangering other lives. This is why no one noticed her as she walked to the tents. He took his handkerchief and dipped it in a bucket full of water abandoned on the road and after having taken courage he went into the tent that threatened to collapse at any moment! He couldn't see anything and had to stay calm even when he took one of the cages in the center right in front of him. Groping, he checked them all, sighing with relief as soon as he understood, one after the other, that they were empty ... except for one! His eyes widened when he saw ... Shen! Yes, with a dress so beautiful it could only be him! He had fainted! He had to do in even the time to finish processing this thought that fell to the ground! She had stumbled on someone ...! A partially burned man! He took the keys quickly from his belt, so as not to have to look at that show to say the least creepy! Once opened the cage grabbed the peacock for life and dragged it out making it fall to the ground. While holding a wet handkerchief on his nose and mouth with one hand, he grabbed a wing of Shen with the other and started dragging him out of the tent. After an interminable time he realized he was out of danger when, amid the dense vegetation, he was no longer able to see the flames. She had also gone from the opposite side to the one designated as she found herself on the bank of a river. He knelt beside the unconscious peacock and rested his ear on his chest: he was alive! Immediately he approached the shore and, taking some water with his hands, began to wet his face in an attempt to wake him up. He got no answer ... he jumped two meters when the phone rang. Luckily the peacock was unconscious otherwise he would have had to invent a lie so as not to make him suspicious of that strange contraption!

He looked at the screen and didn't feel at all relieved when he read "Dad"! He lowered the ringtone and turned back to the faint peacock. In a surge of curiosity he began to caress his beautiful plumage of his chest laughing when he felt it was soft. He had often embraced the twins for fun, or in fights, or to say hello to some of the other peacocks, but never dared to pet them, since he thought it was a lack of respect, even though he had never asked for confirmation! Fortunately the bird in question was in the world of dreams, so the embarrassment did not make itself felt! A roar made her turn abruptly and with horror she saw a great cloud of black smoke rising from where the village was. Something bad had just happened! Perhaps a house had collapsed! Who knows if the fire was intentional? It would not have been the first time that someone tried to kill his father or his animals in an attempt to harm him and his image! They were often foolishly foolish, sometimes animalists who wanted to see his business closed, others still unconscious kids! One moment she was a little girl too! Yes, however, her brain had not gone haywire! A moan made her turn towards the peacock and saw that he was waking up. "Shen! Are you okay? "He asked worriedly. The bird coughed for several minutes in a row, but finally recovered and opened his eyes, just to look at her in amazement. "W-what happened?" He asked, thinking he knew the answer. "I got you out of that goddamn tent! I'm sorry that your first visit to our world ended like this, but you know, not all humans have their wheels in place! "Rose replied as she sat down in front of the peacock that was still lying on the ground. "You ... you saved me?" Shen asked more to repeat it to himself and to be able to assimilate such news that seemed to be false instead of real! "Y-yes!" Rose replied, not knowing what else to say. "Why?" "Why?" He asked when the peacock asked her that question. He just looked at her asking for answers with his eyes and she sighed "You're just an innocent animal! You didn't deserve to die because of some idiot's joke! "He said trying to be exhaustive. "She says she keeps us in a cage!" Shen stated. "But you are alive!" Rose protested. "What kind of life is that of a prisoner?" The peacock insisted, struggling to sit in front of her.

"A horrible life! But my mother always said "there is also a rainbow behind the clouds", so I try not to see the bars that keep me confined, but who's in it with me! "Said Rose, seeing Shen open her beak faced with such a statement "You ... are you in a cage?" he asked, suddenly less hostile. "Yes! There are different types of prison! "She admitted heartily. "Flee with us!" Shen said suddenly. "How?" Rose asked, confused. "Come with us! We'll show you the world so you can decide who you really are! "The peacock said, completely displacing it. She couldn't know it, but Shen understood it well! He had lived all his life in a golden prison without realizing it. Being a prince he was safer in the tower and had spent most of his life shut up inside. Furthermore the prejudices had isolated him in a cage whose bars were the indifference of his parents and the loneliness that this entailed. Zhan had been the only one to bring a breath of fresh air, but apart from him, Shen had never tried to escape. He saw himself in that human and wanted to do something to help her. He had misjudged her because of a distorted father he didn't look like at all and now he wanted to make amends! His father was wrong! They would never have used his friendship to gain freedom, no, they would have always been close to her! Proof was Shen's proposal that he decided to accept. He had to get out of the parent's oppressive shadow to understand who he really was and what he wanted to do in life! He squeezed the peacock's wing firmly and would have put his hand on the fire that his smile had never been so great! Voices made them turn around and saw the guards who would soon join them. "You should rest! You had a really bad day! "Rose said placing a hand on the peacock's shoulder" It could have been a lot worse if it hadn't been for you! ... thanks, Rose! "Shen said before putting her head underneath the wing and sink into a dreamless sleep. She laughed. There was always a meeting ground! And now he had to commit himself to strengthening this new, incredible friendship!

And here is the new chapter!

It seems that the situation improves ... we hope!

I imagined him as a cold and authoritarian father, and I hope I managed to make him look like that!

See you soon,

Laura