Author's Note:
This one is on the shorter side, but as long as the plot is moving forward, I think that's what matters.
Guest: Looks interesting
Excellent. This is just the start, not even scratching the surface. I have noticed that the website has... dried up, so to speak. I wonder if it's just me or if FanFiction has finally bitten the dust.
As always, stay safe and hydrated.
A collection of papers laid strewn across a one-man table, that man being me. The lines upon lines of gibberish stacked above one another were as unintelligible as they started to make sense day by day. The lettering was all… no! Just no. Whilst English was made with angles and some curves, whatever random content hidden within the papers was all curvy swirly twirly madness!
I released the anger, it was for nothing. Routine isn't something that is forged in the heat of the moment, it's like a habit that has to be ironed and chiseled into compliance. Similar to how a friend group of mine wanted to hop on a certain game, for how long didn't matter as much as having everyone present, the issue was in the latter and I am ashamed to admit that problem was me.
The pen fell from my grasp, hitting the pristine wood with a quiet clack. A pair of eyes snapped to the sound, a mumble followed by the creation of more unintelligible nonsense on the old chalkboard. Why use an antique piece? Hell if I know, perhaps technology has developed differently in their world. However, it wasn't their world, it was mine as well.
The shot had been a success, I assumed so with a certainty of ninety nine percent. Bless the doctor. Initially, I was excited, nay, overjoyed to finally interact with these aliens without the biohazard gear. Now, imagine my surprise when the doctor took off their helmet and revealed the head of a… ferret. I wasn't an expert on biology, I knew cat, dog, bug, bird, fish, and the rest of Old Macdonald's farm.
I don't want to think about that but I don't want to dwell on this study either. It was necessary, sure, I was making progress, double sure, but when there was a clock present above the only exit in the room? The air had to be playing tricks on me because every minute felt like I was back in the chamber!
I sighed, picking up the pen to start doodling a… crashing airplane, and a tornado. The aircraft was first as mentioned, the body a two dimensional cylinder with a cone in the front and back, a pair of wings that weren't in the correct angle from my point of view. The tornado turned out alright, it wasn't very tasking to swirl the pen around in circles whose diameters increased with the height of the storm.
A throat cleared loudly, a feathered hand landing on the current paper. Rubbing my arm up and down, I addressed the teacher out of the corner of my eye. She wasn't happy with me one bit, but she understood, most likely. Swiftly organizing the desk not unlike a hurricane, a number of neat stacks idle at the edges of the table, a particular one staring back at me near my chest. Upon closer inspection, it was the one I had started with before the train derailed, turned into a boat, into a plane and crashed on a remote island with nothing but an avian with a knack for scolding my disinterest.
And that she was, the friendly giant I'd come to appreciate. Since the shot worked there was no need for a physical barrier. Indeed, the doctor was a ferret of some sort by his looks, but the giant was something else. I was no fool to femininity and maturity, the tone of the giant's occasional chirps and dual protrusions in the chest area were enough to determine she was a, well, she. Didn't change what I felt about her.
In regards to species I was lost. A bird was a bird but she was… huge! Even as she turned back to continue the crude lesson, making sounds that rang English bells, I couldn't get my mind off what she was. An eagle felt as right as I was going to get at this stage. Appearance-wise, her legs had a zebra pattern which I had no idea of its finish, the most I saw of it was the space between the bottom of her pants and the top of her shoes. Wearing a v-neck shirt revealed a slick black plumage, the softness bordering on lethal. The feathers around her head were a deep gray, a permanent visage of wisdom most prominent in her gorgeous, sandy eyes. A few of the feathers behind her head erected a crown, a fitting cherry for a queen of the avian family. She was entirely alien, she was natural, she was amazing.
And there I was; an ordinary human basking in her glory. What was I thinking again? Why was I having such a tough time concentrating? While I wasn't totally failing the "class" I could definitely do better. This wasn't even that hard! Respectively. Thus far all she's done was teaching the basic letters and their sounds. Fortunately, I was able to associate them with the English vowels except for one that apparently didn't exist. The previous day I'd directly exposed the observation, she wasn't able to pronounce the letter L! Regardless, I was curious as to how these evolved animals were able to speak at all! That was for another time, the existential crisis could wait a little more.
Focusing on the board, I recognized the individual letters and the sounds they produced. A realization had come; I shouldn't use my native tongue as comparison. I had a gut feeling that the writing system was completely different from the Latin origins. That reminded me of something else, a video I'd seen a few years back, it was about the connection between childhood and learning the mother's tongue. There was a period in the development of the mind where unless a language was taught, the person would never be able to speak. That scared me, to be a mute with a voice was terrible. Thank God I wasn't raised by wolves.
Tapping the end of the miniature snooker stick under a specific letter, the friendly giant waited for a response. "Ah." Another thing I noticed, there was a different version of the alphabet she was teaching me. I wasn't sure how to describe it, but the symbols were similar enough to this one for me to discern a small group of them such as th vowels.
Propping my head on a numbing hand, I huffed in mental exhaustion. I had surpassed that age group but I was soaking the knowledge like a sponge. Three hours a day every day was making a dent in my old tricks, the clock didn't help though.
"Miya," an interested hum was her reply, those soft eyes regarding me with the highest of empathy.
"Johnny," she replied, the first letter a little on the harsher side.
I pointed at the clock above the door, she didn't get it. I puffed in annoyance, so I left the table to take it off myself. But there was a problem, I wasn't tall enough to reach it even when I stood on my toes.
After failing a few times, I gestured with an open palm to the distraction and that did the trick. She easily grabbed the clock and withdrew to the board, placing it face-down on her own desk. "Thank you… arigato," I added, returning to my seat with a new plan in motion.
With the main disruptor dealt with, there was only one factor holding me back from unlocking my true potential; me. Such a cheesy line. I was well-aware of my capabilities and limitations. If I wanted something, I'd get it. If I wanted to do something. I'd do it. The problem was one all students and workers suffered; procrastination. There were methods to trick the brain into just doing it but I didn't remember any of them. Therefore, there was only one I had, the hardest of them all. I had to lock in.
A snort scraped my throat, an embarrassing sound I hoped Miya didn't catch. Her name was pretty. I wasn't sure how to spell it, but there weren't many options besides the one that made most sense. Collecting all the papers I'd condemned to amateur art, I crumpled them all together into a singular ball of junk, depositing it near the close left leg of the table. Straightening my back before bringing the chair to the desk, I grabbed the pen and sent it.
It was so damn hard. While memorizing individual letters was easy enough, combining them was a whole new world unlocked. It's like making a tutorial for tic-tac-toe that when beat introduces a tutorial to Dark Souls, no matter the installation. The frustration was endless and infuriating, an infinite self-feeding fire glitch, no scam, bobs and vegana. Though, a smile did grow on me. Restricting the mind to formality also restricted the potential, in my case. In half an hour I learned a dozen new words; eat, drink, sleep, restroom, play, love, happy, sad, and more I'd forgotten for the moment.
"Ah, shit," I muttered under my breath, the tip of the mechanical pen ended, another had to be inserted from the other side. Removing the erasing head, I remembered the less fun part of study; tests. As if I haven't had enough! I tried to convince them I was fine but every morning they check on my health. It takes five to fifteen minutes at most but let me rest, damn it! Next they'll stick a thermometer up my bum!
Quizzes were a better way to describe them. Simple, short, and a valid checkpoint. So far they were verbal, to see if I had done my homework. Let's say, the previous day I learned ten letters. Doesn't sound like much. The next day, the board would have those same ten letters and Miya would point at each of them. My part? Make the correct sounds. Had I failed one of them? We'd start all over again. Had I succeeded in the one I didn't? Fantastic! Onto the next one. Had I scored an ace? Wonderful! Do it again. Three. Fucking. Hours. Later, my head was so hot I suspected my brain turned into the consistency of microwaved yogurt, not recommended. At least the pats on my back in the cafeteria did something.
Shoving the cylindrical eraser back into its hole with a thumb, I looked up to the board, relieved that the additional content wasn't as crazy as Calculus. I was in the advanced classes, didn't make me a nerd… too much. Copying the new words, I then wrote in a smaller font beneath them the sounds they made. Walk, talk, sing, smile, fly. When complicated, in meaning, words were on the board, Miya would use images to show me what they meant, but that was probably a more advanced material for next week. She wasn't the greatest teacher but she was trying. I appreciated her.
And so, for the remainder of the lesson I continued to improve upon my skills in that language of hers. Many questions, little answers, but this was the way to get them. The road was long, bumpy and painful to the sloth, but there were breaks, there were rewards like the cute chirps she made when I got something right on the first try, the surprise hugs from behind, the nuzzling of the beak against my hair. Even though as sapient as I, she was still an animal, who was I to reject her form of affection? It felt right, so it had to be right.
A beep startled me out of the two-dimensional world of crossing curvy and angular lines. I looked at the clock as usual, mentally slapping my forehead with a huff. Silly me. It didn't change the meaning of the alarm. Perhaps the clock should return to the wall… not.
Stretching my legs, I interlocked my hands and pushed them high above, cracking every finger in an instant. Sighing, I started to organize the mess on the desk. Today, I've used five sheets, not counting the discarded trash, many new words on both sides of a paper. I'd come back to this room the next day and the day after that and so on, but leaving a mess didn't sit well with me. Reminded twice, I pushed the chair away, the legs screeching in protest against the squeaky clean floor. Leaning down, I grabbed the junk ball before leaving my workstation. A small trash can stood next to the exit, an imaginary rectangular glass behind it. Grabbing the ball with both hands, I took a step back before throwing it onto the wall above the hoop. The majority of the impact was absorbed by the concrete, so it fell straight into the bin to join its kin.
Miya clapped her hands, giggling in amusement at the display. I shrugged, pocketing my hands as I waited for her to pack her own things, also destined to remain here for the foreseeable future. Once her government-owned belongings were in their drawers, I opened the door to let her pass first, an acknowledging nod from her.
The walls hadn't changed, the same old dull and same old bleach fragrance. The floor had never looked so good. Sticking by her side, I instinctively grabbed for her hand, finding empty space instead. With a sad hum I lowered my hand, but she grasped mine in time. I liked that feeling, I didn't care how strange it was for observers, she helped me so much in my first days here. I wish I could repay her one day.
Turning a corner, I waved to a white coat carrying a huge stack of papers, the beaver said something I couldn't fully discern before disappearing the way we came from. By then I knew the maze by heart; left, forward, right, left, forward, wait for Miya to finish conversing with a coworker, arrive at the destination, don't forget to pay for the parking.
And there we were; the cafeteria. It was like a zoo whose main goal was diversity. Felines, canines, avians, reptiles and other miscellaneous horned and or tailed creatures waiting in line for a meal, all heads turning to me the moment the double doors shut behind us. The next moment, the atmosphere went back to normal, but I wasn't blind to the sneaking glances and boring eyes. They meant no harm and I didn't hold them accountable, I was an oddball.
Letting go of her hand, she put hers on the top of my back, moving us to the far right side of the long counter. A lunch lady had already prepared two trays, exchanging a quick word with my teacher. I felt bad about not having to wait in line like the rest, but I wasn't going to discard whatever privileges I was granted for free. Smiling at the cow, I thanked her in their tongue, grabbing my tray as Miya did as well. Confusing the two was unfathomable for there was no one that ate like me. While Miya had tofu, rice, eggs, chicken eggs I must clarify, and generally a protein-rich lunch, mine had a little bit of everything. A salad for those fibers and vitamins, protein in the form of beans and almond, a glass of water and carrot juice. I didn't like it, breakfast was superior when it came to omelets and milk-based carbohydrates, but I understood.
One line, from right to middle, was the herbivorous diet. Vegetables, fruits, grass shakes and unknown consumables that made me bleh. The other line, from left to middle, was the carnivorous diet. Although there was no meat of any kind, the supplements weren't half bad. Honestly, eggs, milk, nuts and beans were plenty to go around. Again, I didn't like that, but there was no way in hell I was going to consume another living, speaking, thinking being. Prey and predator living side by side, coexisting, laughing together, crying together… it didn't feel right.
Miya scanned the cafeteria for free tables, guilt kept slapping one cheek and the other. It wasn't wrong in the moral sense but the natural one. They weren't like I remembered, whatever happened while I was sleeping like a beauty was going to be the first and foremost novelty that had, will, and must be answered. Was it us who did it? Has evolution gone mad? I canceled the line of thought. Maybe it was wrong in my world, but in theirs it was order.
And then there was me, a misfit. A plant-based diet was unhealthy for me, a meat-based diet was also unhealthy. I needed both. I was an omnivore, but so were countless other animals. Foxes I knew for sure, the primate family, my cousins in a sense, were too, so what made me so different? Why did the monkeys go in the carnivore line while I didn't?
I sat down at a lonely table far from the chatter of the jungle, my only friend across. The volume of the room was incredible. The distance between tables wide enough to fit a hippo and the roof tall enough to fit a giraffe, some smaller birds could even fly here if they wished. Yet, the lights far above and the sterile color scheme instilled a feeling of imprisonment. It was for my own good, I recited for the millionth time. No matter how many times I did, I yearned to see the sky. To see what had become of my world, just how much things have changed. I missed the sun.
Picking up the fork, I dug into the pile of rice, the soft sticky texture as mundane as the walls. Miya was tearing apart her feast, her portion was greater than mine despite the wider selection. Twirling the utensil in the greens, I took a bite of them. Oil was sufficient, lacking salt, overall acceptable. Taking a little bit of everything into my mouth, I reflected on the time I watched an animated movie about a culinary rat, fantastical of course. Good times, when prices weren't through the roof and war slumbered.
Ejecting the political inquiry, I enjoyed the simpler things in life like the forkful of tofu Miya was playfully flying into my mouth. Now that made me flustered. Chewing the supplement, I returned the silly gesture with some beans buried within the rice, watching as her beak slightly parted, a thin tongue peaking out. Once the fork was within her cavity, she gently shut, allowing me to retract the tool as she ground down the food. It was a little game we developed over the last week. I couldn't say I disliked the idea, but it was more intimate than I was familiar with. Still, if it made her happy, I was happy.
Once the solids were gone from the tray, we drank. I was a thirsty boy, so the carrot followed the water down the gullet. She'd done the same, sighing contently as the lunch settled in our bellies. My mood lightened upon the expectation of the next activity; games! Board games, video games, sport games, whatever I wanted. Spending time with Miya made study nearly worth the torture, but what was to come sealed the deal. Repetitive as it may have been, I made do with what I had.
Standing from the table, we grabbed our empty trays and headed to the other entry point, opposite of the one we'd arrived from. We placed the trays on a stack of them above a large bin that had a push opening, it contained the stink. Looking up to her, she smiled back, knowing my favorite hour. Even though the shape of her beak didn't change, I kind of… knew she smiled. I don't know how to explain it, but I had a feeling.
As we left the cafeteria, walking hand in hand, I had a feeling everything was going to be alright in the end.