The Golden Rose: The Diary of a Young Aisha - Part One by sol_luna_estrella |  |
3rd Day of Hunting, Y4
I had never thought anything of it until the
day it really happened. When Daddy told me that it was true, I had just ignored
him. I didn't think he meant it; it's not that he's ever lied to me, and I didn't
think he had been lying. I just thought he was joking.
However, that day finally rolled around, the
day when it happened. Yeah, today I had to go to training from the Techo Master!
I mean, obviously, I am no fighter. I am an Aisha, calm and serene, and an iris
Aisha at that. My name is Spring_Golden_Iris.
Yeah, so Daddy gave me this diary today so I
could write down my feelings. I don't really want to. I just have to because
Daddy will be checking to see if I'd written anything. He won't read it, but
he'll check. He can't force me, you know, but he really wants me to do this,
and I like him, so I'll do it.
Anyway, here's what happened today. I walked
behind Daddy to find myself in a giant room. The walls were white, and the floor
was wooden, and there was the Nimmo. When I walked to him, he nodded.
"You look strong," he said. "Enter."
He led me into another room that looked exactly
like the last one except that it had a table on the right wall. I went over,
Daddy signed his name, and I followed the Master across the room into another
room with wooden floors and whitewashed walls. There were other pets there,
sitting on a bench patiently, and he bid me to sit there as well.
I sat, and Daddy came into the room. He paid
the Nimmo a single codestone, kissed me on the forehead, and left.
I sighed, looking after him longingly. I mean,
I've always been kicked around in my past, from one owner to another. Each owner
I had always forgot me as they pampered their favourites with exotic foods and
expensive toys, while I always brought along my green fuzzle and acquiesced
to boxes of trifle mix every day, my owner always forgetting anniversaries of
adoptions and always forgetting my birthday. I mean, with my birthday, it was
like I was born on June 32nd! Each day, I struggled with my quick temper, but
then one day, well, I wasn't going to stand for it anymore. I stood up to one
of them, causing me to be abandoned yet again, and here came this kindly owner,
a handsome young man who really seemed to care for me. Well, except in this
matter.
You see, diary, there's one thing that you gotta
know about me: I HATE the Battledome. I am peace loving. I don't want to be
trained to be a fighter. Daddy thinks differently, though; I know he only wants
the best for me, but I really object to this. He has gone way too far. I wouldn't
raise one paw to hurt any other living thing-well, except maybe to hurt him,
at this moment. Or to hurt that hateful Techo Master.
"I am Iris," I kept telling myself. "I am a
flower. I am independent, and though someone may try to pluck me, I'll stick
whoever it is with my thorns. Do irises have thorns? Oh, I hope so, I really
do. Otherwise, I wouldn't be an iris. I'd have to be a rose. Maybe I can look
in the encyclopaedia when I get home...if I get home..."
"Spring_Golden_Iris, you may now see the Techo
Master."
At the sound of my name, my four ears tuned in
more closely, and I reluctantly stood and followed the Nimmo. I found myself
in a room much like the others, but with squares on the walls. The Techo Master
was hovering there. Other pets looked at him intently, watching to see what
he was doing, but I just looked down at my paws.
"Young Aisha," he said sharply, looking at me.
My head snapped up. "Watch."
Another pet nodded and said, "Watch the Techo
Master."
"You must learn the way of balance, my daughter."
The Techo Master kicked, still hovering, and punched.
I watched him, trembling all the while. I could
only think about how it would feel if he was actually doing those moves on a
living thing-like me.
"Young Aisha, come to me," said the Techo Master.
"Yessir," I said quickly, and trotted over to
him.
"You have a strong, brave heart. You can excel
in my course. Why do you tremble so? You should want to learn. You are one of
the most perfect students a Master could hope to teach in your abilities. Why
do you not want to learn?"
"I don't believe in violence, sir." My voice
shook with fear.
To my surprise, the Techo laughed. He told me
to go back to my seat and continue to watch him.
I trudged back, his laughter ringing in my ears.
Had it been cruel or evil? No, it was...amused laughter. He found my behaviour
amusing. He thought my whole beliefs were a joke.
My temper rose, and I felt the urge to turn around
and fight him. Then, I took a deep breath. See, my whole life, I've been trying
to control my anger that comes so easily, and with all my past owners, except
for that last one and a few of the first, I've succeeded. I have to learn to
control it. When I thought about that, I breathed deeply again and remembered
that I was an independent, thorny (hopefully) iris. Then, I took my seat.
The clock (not that there are any clocks on Mystery
Island) finally struck eleven, and my torture was over. I rushed out of the
room before even dismissed, flew through the waiting room, through the registration
room, and the lobby, and finally, I was outside, in the shade of a palm tree.
There Daddy waited.
"How was school, my dear?" Daddy asked.
"School? You're not making this an everyday
thing, are you?" I asked, my spirits falling.
"Well, we are wealthy, Iris, and I can afford
to pay the Master for you to go to school everyday. That's what I was planning
on. How was it?"
Uh-oh. There came the anger.
It will be the abandonment of me if I blow up
at him, I remembered, breathing deeply. Then, some other owner who'll forget
me will adopt me. At least this guy wants the best for me. I don't want to make
him sad. I like him.
"It was fine," I lied carefully. "I really don't
want this to be everyday, though. Truly, I don't."
"I'm sorry, but it's for your own good," Daddy
told me firmly.
I just looked down at my paws as I walked and
wondered what the heck this guy was thinking. He just adopted me a few days
ago. It's not like he knows me personally yet or anything. Why can't he just
leave me alone? I mean, he's a great guy and all that, but he isn't very considerate
of my feelings. He just goes, "Oh yeah, you have good fighting talent, you're
going to have to train on Mystery Island and you're going to have to fight in
the Battledome." What kind of a pet owner doesn't care about his pets?
I can tell that I'm not his favourite, surprise,
surprise. Of course, I don't even have any siblings. That's how bad I feel right
now. I've never been the favourite I've always been the reject. I mean--can
you imagine how it feels? I've never really been loved. Sigh.
I looked up iris in the dictionary, and all it
said was: i-ris n., pl. irises or irides The pigmented
part of the eye which regulates the size of the pupil by contracting and expanding
around it. Bot. A plant with narrow sword-shaped leaves and large, handsome
flowers, as the gladiolus and crocus.
Hum. I still don't know if I have thorns. If
I don't, maybe I can just cut 'em with my sword-shaped leaves, heh heh. More
tomorrow.
4th Day of Hunting, Y4
Torture again. The Techo Master was sooo mean.
He mocked my beliefs again. Erg! I hate him so much. If I have to be trained,
why can't it be on Krawk Island? Of course, their courses are longer, so maybe
I better stay on Mystery Island.
I am starving. Thankfully, Daddy's getting Turkey
Dinners tonight. At least I don't have any siblings. That's a good thing, I
guess, except I get rather lonely.
I'm lonely right now. My room is so big and fancy,
with my beauty bed and my pink vanity desk and the pink rug and the pretty covered
table with the table lamp on top and the red bean bag chair and the cute robo
Aisha to clean my room and all these fancy toys. I'm so alone. All I have in
the world is Daddy. All my past siblings have shunned me, and all my past owners
have been so mean to me, and only Daddy is concerned for my well-being. Even
he is so thoughtless sometimes. What in the world is wrong with me?
7th Day of Hunting, Y4
Oh, man, I just really blew it. Daddy's going
to be sooooooo mad at me!! I just talked back to the Techo Master!!!
I know, I know, it's a terrible thing. He laughed
at me again. I was provoked. It must be against some law to yell at someone
so powerful...and that Techo was sooo mad at me after I yelled! He must have been
testing me for patience or something. Well, if he knows so much about people,
he must know that I HAVE NO PATIENCE!!!!! It's something I'm working on. It's
something I'm trying to overcome. That and my stupid quick temper got me head
over heels into trouble today.
Yeah, he called people up for an exam, and I
went first. He goes, "Young Iris, come and show what you have learned."
So I went up there and looked at him dumbly.
I mean, what was I supposed to do? Hover and kick and punch like he does all
day and night? I just stood there, figuring he'd tell me what to do. He just
stared at me. Finally, he started laughing at me.
"Is the young Aisha too absorbed in her pacifist
beliefs that she can't even harm the air?" he said between bursts of amused
and mocking laughter.
I started getting angry then, but I was determined
not to show it.
"No, sir," I said. "I'm just confused. What
am I supposed to do?"
"If you've been learning from this course, you'd
have the wisdom to know what I want you to do. That was part one to the test.
I suppose we'll have to go to the second part, unless your beliefs forbid you."
Erg! That Techo Master is sooo...sarcastic!!!
"I'm telling you, sir, I don't believe in violence,
but Daddy is paying good money for me to train here, however much I hate this,
so I'm going to have to pass this exam! Now tell me what to do!" My voice was
starting to rise.
"Daddy?" he chuckled. "Daddy? Ha! Well, anyway,
don't use that tone of voice with me, Rose," he said, but seemingly wasn't angry.
"My name is Iris," I told him.
"Maybe your name is Spring_Golden_Iris, but
you are definitely a rose. Roses are beautiful, but use that beauty and hide
thorns. An iris is just plain pretty." The Techo Master smiled crookedly at
me. "Now, kick and punch and show off. I need to know how much you can do."
Angrily, I did as I was told, idiotically zooming
around, kicking and punching and pouncing and all that. I looked so much like
an idiot. I'm embarrassed.
"Was that good enough?" I asked sarcastically.
"Quite good, yes," he said, ignoring my manners,
"but I'm afraid I'll have to fail you on account of you did not acquire the
wisdom you should have. I 've found those who do not want to be here-those pacifists-do
not do well in that area." Ooh, he put such SCORN into the word "pacifists"
I just HAD to do something about it!! I flew at him, actually knocking him down,
and started to yell unconsciously, something about how peace shouldn't be disgraced
like that and how I was only doing this for Daddy and what a terrible personality
he had and so on. Then, the Techo threw me off him, and WHOA, you should have
seen that anger burning in his eyes, and he started to yell something about
me being some type of stout-hearted, strong-willed, quick-tempered something,
but then his eyes clouded over and cleared and they were calm and serene again.
He started to hover again. He jerked his head. "You are dismissed, my Rose,"
he said, so I turned and walked out of the building. No one was there waiting
for me this time. Class was only half-over, and is done now. Everyone is filing
out and more people are going in. You see, I took my diary to school and I am
writing right behind that big palm tree near the door. Man, oh man, how will
I take this? Daddy should be here any minute!! I have to go somewhere so he
can't find me, or I have to lead him where no one can tell him about my outburst.
But then, I'll have to go back tomorrow, and I don't know if I've been banned
from that place or what. So all I know is that I gotta get outta here.
7th Day of Hunting, Y4 Later
Wonderful. Here I am, sitting in the shade,
watching the beautiful Mystery Island sunset by the sea. Only one problem-I've
run away, probably never to return, and I have NO idea what will become of me.
Oh, man. Why am I writing if Daddy's never going
to have to check this?
To be continued...
Note: The main character of this story is real, the pet of a good friend of
mine, and I have used her with permission. However, I have no idea how this Aisha
was treated before my friend adopted her, so this story is something I 've spun
out of my imagination. |
