Beast Boy's Past and Future
Chapter 3
The boat engine roared loudly as they sped across the open water.
"Isn't this fun, Garfield?" called his mother over the engine. Garfield turned to look at her and smiled happily. He was sitting at the bow of the boat, leaning over the edge and watching the murky river water splash all around the sides of the old motor boat.
"Hey, Dad," he called. "Can we come back tomorrow, too?"
"Sure thing, son," his father replied, smiling at him. A few minutes passed and the sun began to set.
"We should head back," Garfield's mother said. "It'll be dark soon."
"Oh, all right." Garfield's father slowed the boat down and began to turn it around. Suddenly, there was a loud bang in the back of the boat, sending it veering out of control. The control board crackled and blew out, forcing Garfield's dad to jump away from it.
The boat hit shallow water, plowing the bow of the boat deep into the mud. Garfield was thrown out of the boat and into the water headfirst. He struggled to breathe, and amazingly morphed into a small fish. Garfield took a deep breath in his fish form, then swam back to the surface.
"I'm okay," he said, as he surfaced, rubbing the grimy water from his eyes. Something tapped him on the arm gently and lapped against him. He opened his eyes.
It was a fragment of dull, blue plastic. He looked around, and saw the rest of the boat, completely demolished. The debris was scattered on both the river bank and the water.
"Mom?" called Garfield. "Dad?"
There was no response. Garfield swam toward the bank, shaking the water out of his ears. He called his parents again, with no luck. He saw two limp figures lying a distance from him and ran over to them.
"Momma! Dad!" Garfield stopped short when he saw his parents' eyes. They were dull and lifeless, and blood was splattered everywhere around them from shards of the boat piercing their bodies.
Garfield felt sick. His stomach lurched and he slapped his wet hand over his mouth. His wide eyes began to tear up.
He turned and ran. "Help!" he screamed. He stumbled over a stone and fell, sobbing. Garfield lay crying until he fell asleep.
He awoke in a dark, strange smelling place. "Good morning," said a kind, girlish voice. He opened his eyes and saw a beautiful girl only a couple of years older than him smiling at him. She had hazel eyes and a big pink bow in her short black hair.
"Good morning," she said again.
"Uh," replied Garfield. "G--Good morning to you... too?" The girl giggled.
"Ootessa," she said.
"Huh?"
"Ootessa," the girl repeated, pointing at herself.
"Oh!" cried Garfield, now understanding that it was her name. "Ootessa!"
Ootessa nodded gleefully and looked at him expectantly. "Garfield," he said.
"Ooh, Garfield!" Ootessa said. She turned to the door as a man walked in. "Garfield," she said, pointing to him.
The man looked at him thoughtfully. "Sakutia." Ootessa shook her head.
"Garfield."
The two began arguing in their language. Suddenly, Garfield remembered what had happened. He began to sob again, which stopped Ootessa and the man. Ootessa cried out and wrapped her arms around Garfield.
"Oh, é muito bom, infantil! Não gritar. Você me fará gritar, também!" she cried.
"Ele não pode entendê-lo," said the man.
"Fechado!" she yelled at him. "Vá a chamada as autoridades. Ele deve ser tombado por duas pessoas mortas que foram com ele. Eles devem ter sido os seus pais pobres. As autoridades lhe darão a um guardião..."
The man sighed. "Muito bem..." He turned and walked back out of the room. Garfield could her the man pick up a phone and dial a number. A few moments later, he began to speak urgently with someone, while Ootessa continued to hold him tightly.
"What were you saying?" he asked quietly. Ootessa looked at him for a moment, then looked at the wall.
"When you started crying, I said, 'Oh, it's okay, child! Don't cry. You'll make me cry, too!'. Then Fernando said, 'He can't understand you.', and I said, 'Shut up! Go call the authorities. He must be upset about those two dead people who were with him. They must have been his poor parents. The authorities will give him to a guardian," she whispered quickly.
Garfield sniffed and looked away from her. He shut his eyes and waited for the authorites to take him away to a new guardian.