The Wolf & Yearning

Chapter Thirteen

ChenXing loved going to Earth with Chou and/or Mogui. "Xing-er" loved the animals and humans as much as Chou and Mogui did. All the Celestials were smitten with the place, though they wouldn't admit it.

ChenXing lay on the ground, picked at the grass. He made music with the blades and Chou smiled. He blew more sounds and ate up every gleam of Chou's eyes. Chou may not have had arms or legs, breasts, penis or anything else, but Chou had eyes and Chou had recently bothered to add a mouth. Chou hadn't even made a nose.

On that particular day, as promised, the oblong creature showed him the butterfly emerging from the cocoon, its great wings opening up and spreading. ChenXing seized it, pressed down too hard, smashed it between his fingers.

"I broke it," he said, seeming much younger than the adolescent who'd been flirting moments earlier.

Chou brushed the bits of the butterfly's body from the boy. "That's too bad."

"Fix it."

"There are other ones to play with," Chou said, pointing out an ant hill with little creepy crawlies.

"But I want that one."

"It's not as easy to fix those as it is to make garments."

"Why not?"

"It's alive. It's a life form. When it dies, its energy returns to the Spirit Realm. It will be part of another life form someday, but it won't give life to this anymore."

ChenXing's chin dimpled as his lip quivered. "I don't understand."

He did understand. He was frightened.

"It's dead. It's gone."

"Forever?"

Chou considered, then decided, "Yes."

ChenXing broke into wails.

Mogui bustled over to the pair, his arms flailing, the skin flapping on the twiggy arms. "What did you do to it?"

"I don't know!" Chou's eyes had never been opened so wide. They were shaped like eggs, they were so big.

"Well, stop it."

"I don't know how!"

Meanwhile, ChenXing's blubbering had become like a siren.

"It's crying."

"I can see that," Chou spit.

"That's defective!"

"I know that."

"We can't let Gonglu find out." Mogui gasped, "It's broken. If he finds out, we'll be like that smashed insect."

ChenXing's howls redoubled.

Even Gonglu envied Chou's human beings, emulated them.

"Gonglu screwed up. It's too much like a human." Mogui gummed his lips.

"If he finds out that this thing has wet stuff on its face and it's bawling like human babies, he'll blame us."

"You're so smart, you know everything. How do we stop it?"

"Give me a minute to think," Chou shouted.

"What do humans do?"

"They hug babies."