• Test Run

    It wouldn't have been so complicated if she had bullied him like all the others... if she had thrown sticks and putrid plant matter, and gods know what else. In time, he could have grown to hate mankind, though he himself was half human, and joined the war on the side of his people... indeed, with the right number of transgressions and assaults on his character and body, even the Mother Goddess could have done nothing to nullify the shadow of his tormented soul. With the evil of humanity, he could have cast aside his pacifist dreams, and thrust his burning sword of righteousness into the burning image of his slaughtered mother. The world would never have seen such a frightful, talon ed hand of justice and tyranny in all its time... the fate of civilization was at a fork... and this little, scared boy sat right in the middle. Three and one fourth meters from the boy, edged slightly to the left was a little girl, crouched, hands griping her knees, and staring with wide-eyed intensity.

    He was unaccustomed to this kind of attention. The boy would have been fearful... but the curiosity of a little girl, no more than three winters old, is normally not very fear inspiring. Normally, he would have felt annoyed, indignant, or even depressed... as it was, the boy was just plain embarrassed. There was no animosity in the girl... just intense concentration. Every day, she came sprouting a new bruise... he didn't understand the implications. In his tribe, the young were the life of the family. The tribe produced little offspring, so young were precious, as were females. It was not thinkable to hit a female, she was the womb of the family, and as such had total power. He had come from a matriarchal society. Each day, the little girl, moved precisely one of her tiny feet closer to the boy. Until she had reached the point that if she moved any closer, he would be able to tear into her with his claws... how she judged that, he had no idea. For over two weeks, the girl had crouched down in her dirty dress like tatters. She took just one step further.