The Individuals

Story#4: The Misadventures of Penn

Where nothing goes right, no matter how hard people try

***

Hiding behind a bed of stars is a purple planet, orbited by four moons. This planet is called Clepnet. Living on this planet is a race of people known as Cleptopians. These people live out their day-to-day lives in their villages, each one fulfilling a variety of different roles. Living in one of the houses in one of these villages was a family of three.

"...You see here, Penn? You could grow up to be a farmer and farm the very needy buolong berries." A man uttered to his infant daughter, who was lying in a crib in front of him. Clenched in his tentacles was an old worn-down book. The man peeled back one of its water-warped pages carefully and flipped to the next.

" Or maybe you might want to try hunting? You could head down to the coast, maybe try to catch some sand surfers or maybe even some woars. But...No, you know what, you probably won't want to do that. After all, heading down to the coast is dangerous, you could get attacked by a closhe!" He said as he shoved the book in his daughter's face. On the page was a detailed drawing of a beast that had several tentacles, one coiled up in the back, and a large beak for a mouth.

" That's why we build our villages far away from the coast, to keep ourselves safe from what lives down deep in the sulfuric ocean." The man added as he drew the book away. A short creak then cried from the door behind him.

A woman stepped into the room. As she entered, she laughed, " I don't think she can understand you!"

" Heh, I know, but...talking to her calms my nerves." The man replied back, closing the worn book shut.

" I know that, but try not to spend too much more time in here, your meeting with the other village bigs is soon." The woman said, taking the book from the man.

" I'll put this away for you, you go get ready." The woman uttered as she walked over to a bookshelf across the room. The man sauntered over to the doorway, about to leave, but before he did, he took one last glance back at his daughter. Her deep purple skin made her nearly invisible in the dim light of the room, and if it wasn't for his daughter's bright yellow eyes that shined back at him, he probably wouldn't even be able to see her.

" See you later, Penn. Papa's gotta go help run this village!" The man uttered to his daughter as he left the room.

Years later...

Walking through the street of a Cleptopian village was a little girl, with a large basket strapped to her back. The basket was filled to the brim with large, blue, translucent berries. The little girl weaved her way through the crowded street and eventually stopped outside one of the houses that lined the street. She then approached the door to the house and knocked on it a few times. After a few moments, the door slid open and an old man stepped out.

"...Why...if it isn't Penn...what brings you here today?" The old man slowly mumbled in a raspy voice.

" I came to give you these, Old Man Papiya," Penn responded, taking the basket off her back and shoving its berry-filled top towards Old Man Papiya's face.

"...Oh! Well, how kind of you..." Old Man Papiya then scooped out one of the berries and began to slowly roll it around in between the tips of his old tentacles, meticulously feeling the surface.

"...You know, you can judge the quality of a buolong berry by the softness of its skin...the rougher the skin is, means they weren't taken care of very well, but the softer the skin is, means the farmer who grew the plant took very good care of it. Buolong plants are very needy plants after all. One small mishap and you could get a full harvest of buolong berries that are as hard as stone. As for the batch you've brought me...they're a little rough..." Old Man Papiya told Penn, taking the basket full of buolong berries.