Chapter 2. A Friend

Shikha went out to have her own adventures in not time again after the first turmoil with the young males she had met a few days earlier on. The first meeting she had with them resulted in her increased confidence. Perhaps today she will come across them again.

"No Shikha, not today you aren't," Her mother had out thought her and scooped her frail body up in her arms before the child could take a step out from her home. "It is time to go outside now."

The outside world was such an intriguing place to her. She often stared up at the stars and the bright moon. She wondered why there wasn't any roof up there like in the caves. Shikha once again wandered off from her mother's side and crawled on top of a boulder with a few berries in her fist to munch on while the stars glistened like a side show for her.

In the nearby woods she could hear the young Morlocks playing around between the trees. She heard the familiar voices of Mog and his friends. This time though she heard him calling out in distress. She leaped off the rock and followed the sound behind a few wispy trees to see Mog being ganged up on by the other boys. The poor Morlock's nose was bleeding and his body had scraps here and there. Despite all this the boy seemed to be defiant against them, popping them hard against the faces when he was close enough. After a few minutes the other boys gave up on Mog and left him there to tend to his own wounds.

Shikha finally showed her face. "Why are you getting beat up Mog?" She asked him, afraid to come any closer.

Mog's eyes grew wide and he picked himself off the ground and swept the dirt off of his white hair. "Oh we were just playing. I won of course." He sneered and puffed out his chest. "Did you see all the punches I landed on them? Taught them a lesson."

"You were bullied." Shikha corrected him. She could see through the lies he attempted to shield himself with. "Like you tried to with me, silly Mog."

The young Morlock's eyes burned brighter then before and he crossed his arms. "Whatever. Plus they are my brothers. We were all born a year apart. I'm the youngest so we are just playing." He allowed some truth to slide out.

After a few long seconds of straight forth staring Mog finally charged forward and shoved her into a fine pile of dirt. He stood above her and chuckled like a fat hog. Shikha got up and brushed her skirt off and glared at him. She walked close to him with a handful of dirt and when he didn't take notice, shoved it down the back of his loin cloth.

"Ackkkkkkk!" Mog sputtered and shook his clothing till he made sure the last grain had fallen out. "Oh you silly Eloi." He bent over and searched for damp mud.

"What are you looking for? Did you drop something?" She scanned the dark ground.

"Yeah I surely did drop something." He closed his hand around a thick glob of mud. "Oh here I have you a present!"

Shikha's sudden smile was met with a slap of warm mud across her face. Stunned, she rolled over backwards across the grass and laid there staring up at the stars again. She slowly lifted her head to see Mog bent over her with a concerned expression. She carried herself across the grass with wobbly legs. Mog followed her with a big smile across his face.

"I sure taught you!" He said proudly. "That's going to leave a red mark!"

Shikha wiped her face and smeared the mud down her shirt. "No you didn't because it didn't hurt at all." She crossed her arms and stuck her tongue at him. "Weakling."

"Me a weakling? You are an Eloi. Father says they're only good for eating!" Mog smirked back with a remark.

The blonde child no longer felt like playing. "I am a Morlock. Not no stinking Eloi! Why do you say such mean things? I haven't done anything to you!"

Mog's smile disappeared. "Well it is true. Have you ever seen yourself before? You do look like one of those Eloi's."

Shikha lifted her fingers to her face and stroked the contours of her features. Is that the reason why she can't see like the others can? Rubbing her arms, she also noticed she had no long hair on her arms like Mog did. Maybe Mog was right?

"I never seen what I look like." She breathed. "Oh Mog maybe you are right. But why haven't I been eaten yet? My mom is a Morlock and so is my daddy. Maybe I'm just messed up?"

"I don't know. You do look like an Eloi. Have you ever seen a living Eloi before?" Mog picked at her fine hair and poked at her fair skin. "They live out in the light where we can't."

"I sometimes go outside when mother lets me. I never wander off though." Shikha pushed his hand away and curled the hair behind her ears. "Do you know where they live?"

"No but my father does. He goes and hunts them. They go down that road over there." Mog pointed off into the dark distance where the blonde child's eyes could not pierce. "We could go check it out and see if they live over there."

Shikha shivered at the sound of the soft breeze sifting through the leaves, leaving her an eerie feeling deep inside. "Well okay but only for a while since our parents will be looking for us."

The two children secretly made their ways across the brushy field and down the rock path where the Eloi were lead to their final destination. Shikha followed closely behind Mog as she could not see hardly at all. She was used to shuffling her feet along the ground to avoid stepping on any prickly greens that grew from the fluffy grass.

"Mog I don't think I can see hear any Eloi's." She finally spoke up after a few minutes of walking. Over the hill they believed some village of the Eloi might be hidden but there was nothing but more trees and bushes. "I only see many eyes."

"It's my father and his friends." Mog looked around at her. "I don't think he's hunting though since we just ate yesterday anyways."

That was another difference between them and her. She needed food constantly several times a day. The Morlocks only feasted once a week and it lasted for them. The small child couldn't understand how they could stand holding out on food that long. The Morlocks had very slow metabolisms that rendered them constantly chubby and slow. She on the other hand was quite slender and was all over the place. It was troublesome for her mother, who had to try and find ways to make her fall asleep.

The little child felt her feet mush into something soft. It's juices ran in-between her toes. The sweet fragrance of ground berries rose up to entice her. She immediately bent down and picked at the plump bumpy berries from clumps of soft leaves. Mog turned around and wrinkled his nose.

"That's disgusting. You are just so weird. Don't you notice as well that you don't eat meat like us? Only fruit and vegetables."

Shikha almost choked on a berry. He was right. Suddenly her appetite disappeared. "I must find my mom. Goodbye Mog."

Mog waved at her and ventured towards his father. Shikha followed back home in silence, hoping that her mother would be near by to comfort her and tell her that she was a Morlock like everybody else.

"Momma I have a question." Shikha asked when she was being tucked away in bed. "Do I look like everybody else here? Am I really a Morlock?"

Marn sighed and glanced around. "You will understand when you are older dear."

"No momma I want to know now. Mog says I look just like the Eloi. Is that what I am?" Shikha leaned up from her bed and grabbed a handful of her mother's long hair on her arm.

Marn stroked her face and nodded. "Yes Shikha you are. Unlike the others you are very special. Don't worry about what you were born as. You are very much a Morlock." The look on her daughter's face didn't seem to be too won over by her response. "How about tomorrow I teach you some things that the other children teach? So you can be very smart."

The child's eyes glowed like pearls. "Me learn like the others? Oh mom will I be eaten?"

"No. You are safe here. Very special you are and that is true." She patted her head. "Did you meet any friends yet?"

Shikha then remembered Mog and nodded vigorously. "Oh yes! Remember Mog? We both played together outside. He threw mud in my face and I pushed him down. Then we went to play in the woods." She then remembered something else. "Mom why is Mog pushed around by his brothers? They gave him lots of booboos."

"That's because Mog is adopted. His other brothers know this and don't like him often." Marn pushed the sheet back over Shikha's body.

"Mog never told me that." She clutched onto her mother's large fingers and stared up at the ceiling.

"That's because Mog doesn't like anybody to know. Now keep that a secret. Can you now?" She gave her forehead a nuzzle before laying down on a sheet beside her.

"Of course I can keep secrets." She yawned. "I want to keep Mog as a friend forever and ever. My own friend."