“Hi Miyuko!” Deep-Sea said nervously when he met Miyuko
the next day.
Miyuko turned around and just stared at him,
her eyes as cold as icy, dark, black marbles. Deep-sea shuddered when he saw
her chilly stare. Those eyes of hers could really penetrate right through his
inner thoughts.
“So … um … how’s everything going?” he asked,
making another brave stab at a conversation that was obviously not going to
start in the first place.
Miyuko simply acted as though she didn’t hear
him and continued walking towards her locker. Only then did she stop to dial
the combination and pull out some books. Just then, she accidentally-on-purpose
dropped a gleaming golden-sprayed bangle encrusted with (fake) rubies in the
view of everyone including Lilac, who happened to pass by at that very moment.
Lilac, whose eyes were filled with longing like all the other Neopets, tried
to look indifferent as she strolled past Miyuko.
“Oops … sorry!” Miyuko said in a sickly-sweet
voice before picking up the bangle and carelessly tossing it into her locker.
Trying to look as though she was checking herself in the mirror she had stuck
in her locker, Miyuko hurriedly pulled out the vial of liquid and tipping it,
she carefully started pouring it onto the bangle before covering it back with
a cork.
Then, straightening up casually and swiftly
tucking the vial away, Miyuko purposely slammed the locker door shut, making
sure it didn’t close entirely before walking off, whistling cheerfully. She
noticed many Neopets taking quick darts at her locker and knew that they realized,
too, that she hadn’t closed the locker door properly.
One honest Island Poogle even ran up to her
to tell her that, but in order not to spoil her trap, Miyuko simply waved it
aside as though it was no big deal.
“After all, I trust you guys not to steal my
stuff,” Miyuko said loudly, winking mysteriously at the baffled Island Poogle
before walking off.
The minute school ended, Miyuko hurried to her
locker and swung the door open. To her amazement and disappointment, the bangle
was still there. Deep-sea must have realized that I was out to catch him,
Miyuko thought, slamming her fist against the locker in frustration.
“Disappointed, eh? Too bad, the thief wised
up and you can’t catch him at all! My, your acting skills were rusty … anyone
could tell that you deliberately placed the bangle in your locker to catch the
thief!” a jeering voice suddenly said. It was Lilac and there was a gloating
look on her face as she stood, towering over Miyuko with an irritating smirk.
“Whatever I do is none of your business!” Miyuko
retorted in the same stiff and cold voice she used whenever she was talking
to Lilac.
“I tell you, you can never nab that thief!
Never … never …”
Those words echoed repeatedly inside Miyuko’s
mind and she gritted her teeth and dug her heels in stubbornly. Well, she
was never going to give up even if she could never nab the thief, which
was probably Deep-sea although Miyuko couldn’t figure out how he could ever
slip those items into her bag if he was talking to her face to face.
Unless he has an accomplice, Miyuko
realized with a start, staring at Lilac and wondering if that accomplice could
possibly be her.
“What are you staring at me for, Odd Usul?”
Lilac sneered, looking slightly nervous under Miyuko’s stare.
“Have you been helping Deep-sea steal?” Miyuko
asked in a low but nonetheless menacing voice as she glared at Lilac with those
ever-calm and unnerving eyes of hers.
“Why you … of course not!” Lilac burst out,
sounding enraged at Miyuko’s question but there was also a hint of fear and
guilt in her voice.
“I can tell that you are lying,” Miyuko said
simply in a quiet voice before turning to her locker and pretending to arrange
the messy stuff strewn all over in it.
“I … no … of course I never would steal …” Lilac
spluttered, growing more and more panicked at Miyuko’s calm but direct accusations.
Miyuko didn’t know why but somehow, she felt
in her heart that Lilac was partly responsible for the stealing cases. Suddenly,
something hit her hard in the mind and she realized that actually she had nothing
to fear.
After all, I know I’m innocent. I can live
with the taunts and teasing and punishments and still know that I have a clear
conscience and done nothing wrong, Miyuko thought calmly as she turned
to go.
It didn’t matter to her now whether she was going
to get a black mark on her permanent record now. What mattered was that she
had a clear conscience and knew that she was framed. At least it was better
than being someone who knew that he/she was in the wrong and who had to live
everyday with a guilty conscience that’s threatening to explode.
***
“What? You mean you were accused of stealing?” Trinity was aghast when Miyuko
finally broke to her the news in a matter-of-fact voice. “And tomorrow is going
to be the last day before they finally decide to punish you if they cannot find
the real culprit?”
“Yeah … but at least I know I’m innocent,” Miyuko
said calmly as she tilted her chin to gaze at eye-level with Trinity, her beguiling,
liquid-black eyes set in an unshakeable defiance and stubbornness. “If they
don’t believe me, then that’s their business.”
“But … but you’ll have a black mark in your
permanent record and … and you’re gonna get suspended! Doesn’t that mean anything
to you?” Trinity spluttered, throwing her hands up in amazement at her pet’s
cool and calm manner in handling the situation.
“As long as my conscience is clear and I have
not done anything wrong, I don’t mind getting punished, no matter how severe
it is,” Miyuko replied simply and quietly as she got up, slung her leather bag
over her shoulder and walked out of the house, leaving a rather shocked Trinity
staring after her open-mouthed. Shadow, Miyuko’s Anubis, quickly followed his
master before she closed the door.
***
Miyuko gazed at the golden sun slowly dipping down into the horizon, feeling
the warmth of the gentle breeze caressing her fur and savoring the silence that
was shared only between her and the ocean. A flock of Pteris flying overhead
danced with the rays of the light, golden sun reflecting off their feathers
and the crystal blue ocean lapped rhythmically and pooled around her feet, like
breathing. Pearl-white shells lay strewn across the shore, imbedded in the soft,
white sand, as Miyuko slowly inhaled a breath of crisp, fresh spring air, the
ocean salt lingering in the breeze and whispering by her ears.
Pulling out a worn-out, leather-bound notebook,
Miyuko thumbed through the tattered, gilded pages that were filled with stories
and poems she had written in her neat, cursive handwriting, stopping only at
the fresh, white page she had marked with a red silk ribbon that hung loosely
from the top of the binding.
Then, seating herself comfortably on the soft
sand, Miyuko busily scribbled out a poem on the blank page, too absorbed to
notice that her Anubis, Shadow, was prancing all around her and trying to get
her attention.
Oceans of Life
By Miyuko
Deep within the waters of the ocean
Lives many a number of fish and sea creatures
I marvel at the vitality and life that they bring
For without them the ocean is lifeless
The beauty of the vast ocean cannot be compared
And the rhythmic sound of the waves
Lulls me to a restful sleep each night
The bond I share with the ocean is indeed deep
For to me, it is indeed the Oceans of Life
When she finished writing the last word, she
looked up and saw Deep-sea, standing there with an awed look on his face.
“You write very well,” he managed to choke out.
Miyuko responded by turning her eyes toward
the sea and acting as though Deep-sea was not here at all. The sound of waves
filled the silence between both Usuls who were once good friends. Shadow simply
cocked one ear in puzzlement at Miyuko’s sudden coldness.
“What are you doing here?” Miyuko finally spoke
up, struggling to look expressionless when she asked that question.
“Erm … I heard you say that you always like
to come here to the beach everyday and I thought I’d find you here and …” Deep-sea’s
voice trailed off when he saw the piercing glare Miyuko gave him. “Okay, okay
… the reason why I’m here is because … is because … I … I want to … apologize
to you … for … for … for …”
“For what?”
“Uh … I … you …” Deep-sea continued stammering,
obviously losing his nerve rapidly.
“If there’s nothing that you want to apologize
to me, then don’t bother coming.”
“I’m sorry I got you into this mess, and I’m
sure you know that I have been the one stealing all along so I came here to
apologize and let you know that I’m sorry and that I am the culprit in case
you don’t know that!” Deep-sea blurted out everything before he knew it, looking
pleadingly at Miyuko who managed to keep her face expressionless as she digested
this piece of information.
“So you are not going to admit that you stole
those items.”
“Well … I honestly don’t know about that …”
“Forget it. Just leave me alone and let me have
some peace,” Miyuko waved a paw vaguely, indicating that she wanted Deep-sea
to go away.
“But I …”
“Just go.”
This Usul is indeed a strange one, a strange
one indeed … Deep-sea thought, shaking his head in disbelief as he plodded
off, leaving footprints in the sand. He still wasn’t sure what will be the decision
he was going to make and he knew that if he chose to keep silent, how would
he ever live with his conscience?
***
Miyuko absent-mindedly leafed through the pages of her Literature textbook
as Miss Keri, the Electric Gelert, droned on about the great works of Chiaspeare
when suddenly a crackle and a high-pitched sound startled her.
Just then, a voice that sounded all too familiar
came on the head speakers … and Miyuko recognized Deep-sea’s hesitant and deep
voice instantly.
“Uh… I just wanted to say… that… Miyuko… Miyuko
wasn’t the one who stole those items… I… I… I was the one who… who… stole them!”
At this, a collection of gasps went around the
classroom as Miyuko’s mouth dropped open at Deep-sea’s bravery in actually sneaking
into the announcement room and confessing what he did throughout the entire
school using the head speakers.
“And… the reason… the reason why I… I stole
those items… was… was… because… Li … Lilac for… forced me to! She… she said
that if… if I didn’t do what she told me to do… she’ll… she’ll make my life
miserable… and… being the coward I am… I did what she instructed me to do… but
then when she accused Miyuko of stealing, I told myself that I shouldn’t learn
to be a coward… I need to learn how to stand up for myself and tell the truth
instead!” Deep-sea finished before a few shouts were heard in the background.
Then something clicked and there was the high-pitched whirring sound again before
complete silence.
After the abrupt interruption, there were a
lot of murmuring between Neopets and curious glances at Miyuko who had looked
indifferent throughout the confession made by Deep-sea
“Well… I suppose we should get back… to… work
now…” Miss Keri said tentatively, sneaking a glance at Miyuko who simply sat
there and stared at her Literature textbook with a pained and hurt look on her
face.
Just then, a rather harassed-looking Miss Hoff
poked her head into the classroom and said in a hesitant voice, “Can Miyuko
please come up to the principal’s office now? The principal would like to see
her…”
“Oh… sure, sure… no problem…” Miss Keri said
instantly, looking nonetheless relieved at hearing that Miyuko had to leave
the classroom as she had no idea what to do with that odd Usul at the moment.
The confrontation that happened in the principal’s
office that day was something Miyuko would never forget. Lilac and Deep-sea
were both ordered to apologize to Miyuko and were later punished.
However, on account of Deep-sea’s confession,
the principal had agreed to not let him have a black mark in his permanent record
unlike Lilac, although Deep-sea still would be suspended for one month and go
to boot camp during that period of time.
I guess it’s all for the best, Miyuko
thought sadly as she sat at her desk and subconsciously chewed at the tip of
her cloud Aisha pen, trying to think of something to write about that could
divert her thoughts and forget all about this whole unpleasant incident when
suddenly, the phone rang.
It had already been a few days since Deep-sea’s
punishment and since he had also been grounded by his owner, Miyuko was surprised
to hear his voice over the phone.
“Listen … I know I’m not supposed to use the
phone right now… but I just wanted to tell you that I’m really very sorry… I
know you are probably not going to ever forgive me but… I just wanted to let
you know… so basically I…” there was an enraged scream which was most likely
Deep-sea’s owner, a click and the phone went dead.
Miyuko sighed and slowly placed the receiver
back to its cradle before going back to her writing and once she started writing,
she couldn’t stop. The words seemed to flow easily from the tip of her pen and
everything that she had ever felt about this incident shaped into a story that
she dubbed, “The Odd Usul From the Far East”.
She didn’t know if she could ever forgive Deep-sea
but she didn’t want to be petty either. Still, the hurt and anger at his betrayal
was still buried deep within her heart, like sharp thorns that stung whenever
she thought of the incident. However, Miyuko knew that soon, some day, some
time, she’ll be able to forgive and forget everything that ever happened…
The End
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