The Name Game
Post SoF- Iggy inspires a conversation with the flock about how they got their names. Also on the MR forum- username is Gefiedert
"Hey Max," Iggy sat down near me as the rest of the flock readied themselves to turn in. I looked up at him. "I've been thinking… you know, about the Griffiths."
My heart sank. "Ig, are you sure you want to talk about your…" I couldn't bring myself to say parents, so I settled with "…about them?" I was slightly apprehensive about where this story was going, as Mr. and Mrs. Griffiths were far from my ideal image of parents.
"No, no, it's not exactly about them, it's more about… what they called me." Confused, I said nothing; I just stared intently into Iggy's face.
Just listen to what he has to say, Max.
Thank you, Captain Obvious, I thought, annoyed at the Voice always stating the obvious.
"They called you James, right?" I asked softly. "I never thought that name suited you…"
Iggy gazed sightlessly past me. "I didn't think so either. Every time they called me James, I almost shouted IGGY! And all that time, it made me think of when we, the flock that is, all thought of our names… what I think of as our true real names."
I smiled. This brought back memories. "Yes Iggy, I do."
"She's the best you'll ever get!" a proud Jeb Batchelder had boasted to a few other whitecoats. I had felt my heart swell with pride- I was only two, yet Jeb was already showing me off. "She's the maximum, I tell you!"
"That's my name," I whispered to the dark-haired boy next to me. "Maximum."
He looked skeptical, or as skeptical as one could look while crouching in a dog crate. "Maximum? What type of a name is that?"
"Well, that's my name, and that's who I am." Sticking out my chin defiantly, I turned to the other boy with us. "Isn't that right?" He shrugged, his blue eyes watching the whitecoats fearfully.
"Well, I think that's a ridiculous name. I think you should shorten it to like… say… hmm…"
"Max!" the youngest boy cried out. His blue eyes looked proud of himself for thinking of the name by himself.
The dark-haired boy nodded curtly. We couldn't celebrate picking a name for me, for at that moment the whitecoats had stopped talking and were approaching our crates.
"These are the human-avian experiments, correct?" one bald whitecoat asked his companion.
"Yes," said the snide voice of the other man. "Are we ready for those tests, then?"
The first whitecoat and two others had begun to unlock our crates when all of the sudden Bald-o had let out an earsplitting shriek, causing a chill to run down our spines…
"What? When was this?"
I jumped in the middle of my story, looking around. The rest of the flock had stopped what they were doing to listen to my tale. Nudge, who had blurted out, looked shocked.
"It was before you guys were born," Fang said softly. "I remember… especially what happened next." He let out a quite chuckle. "Do continue, Max. It will be good to hear from your point of view."
I shot him a smile, which he didn't return, and continued my tale…
TBC