Chapter 2

Their faces in the glass, looking at me.

"Freak!"

I don't say anything,

It only makes the faces press closer, they don't hear my words, they just hear the sounds I make and are surprised that something like me could make noise at all. So they stare, and gape to see something so freakish.

I'm in my tank, unlike the spot where I sleep, the owner keeps my tank clean, with a floor of sand, a few pieces of wood around, and a small water bowl in a corner. It's barely big enough to stand up in so I just curl up at the bottom of it most of the time. There is a lamp that hangs over the tank. Although the tank is spotless I am still not allowed to wash.

"It adds to the effect." The owner says

Each day is the same,

He stands at the entrance to the old building and wares his false smile. For the right amount, people can come and gape at a real freak. The owner invites them to laugh and say horrible things. I try to tune out their words, and pretend that it's only more meaningless noise. Sometimes it even works.

I stare at another group of people leaving the room and the next group coming in. I don't know how much more I can take.

Today is a busier day. He might even forget to curse and shout today.

But that doesn't mean that there is no pain… It just means that today I'm hurting on the inside.

I feel like an old rag. Dirty, used up, ugly-

"Beautiful" says a small voice outside my tank.

A pair of bright green eyes stares back at me.

It's a little girl, no more than 8 or 9, "Beautiful" she says again, "like shiny jewels"

She's pointing at my scales, they are mostly dark green but flecked with random bits of bright yellow and blue.

I stare at her and she stares back, not with fear or loathing like the others, but with lively interest. "Your eyes" she says, "like gold." She pauses, "but why do you look so sad? Is it because you're in that box?" She pauses, then, "if someone put me in a box for people to look at I guess I would be sad too."

"Tricia dear, come away from there." calls a man near the door

The girl turns, and bounces into the arms of the man who stood near the door talking to the owner.

"You know we don't usually allow children here," says the owner.

"Oh it's harmless," says the man genially

The owner still looks like he's about to argue but the girl's father looks like a very wealthy and important man so the owner only keeps his mouth shut watches them leave.

The girl looks back at me with those shiny green eyes and smiles.

I give a small smile back.

That night when I curl up in my corner, that smile followed me down, down into a happy dream.