✔THE STING (onc-19)

1. 'Lame lies'

"Fairy tales are for children, Kai..."

That's what elders had always told him.

"It makes you weak, vulnerable, like a child. And you are not a child anymore! Besides, it gives you a false ray of hope and hope is not for people like us..." is what they had retorted, when he had countered them with an obvious 'why?'
But for a thirteen year old boy, more so for a fragile bondslave, Kai-e-nan was pretty much gritty and thick skinned yet. So, he never gave up; even if it meant a handful of ridicules, every now and then.

Our story begins on one such warm and windy nightfall of a summer solstice, when Kai was narrating and enacting his adventurous story, like he had done the previous day and the day before that and so on, to three kids with amused and wide open eyes who were seated cross legged on the wooden deck of the RMZ-1588 ship.

"Then I plunged my silver dagger right through the beast's chest. Its grey furred gigantic body shuddered in pain and it screamed, like a hurt lion, snarling and baring its sharp saber teeth at me. Its eyes burned ember red and mouth reeked of rotten stench. But I didn't dare to steal a blink!" He stopped, scanning their faces as their tiny bodies swayed a little with the rocking ship and then returned back righting themselves, as the ship's hull slit through the crashing waves with a burbling roar.

"And...and.."
After a brief pause to let the ear numbing roar fade into the ocean's chaotic silence, Kai continued; but stuttered anyway to witness a lonely seagull as it flew across the windy sky. Flapping its white wings, it perched on the rigging rope that was tethering enormous white sails to the mast. The bird cocked its head scanning the ship eerily and squawked its heart out, interrupting Kai's flow. He fought with himself to try and ignore it, but his preoccupied mind couldn't of course. Well, how could it?

"Shoo...shu!"
In an attempt to shoo the bird, he pulled and shook the rope, sending waves of jolts along its lengths. But it barely helped, as it made the bird get angrier, instead of startling it away. The larid gull squawked even louder and aimed a blob of its dropping towards Kai, from which he barely escaped by ducking his head down. 'Phew!'

But oddly enough, the squawk it had made wasn't merely a bird song. It was more than that, a mockery of Kai's fable, like every other person onboard had derided him since years.
'Lame lies!'- He had heard, in it's disgusting squeaky tone. Of course he had been hearing and seeing other things as well, far weirder than that of a seagull's squawk. He had seen a star-fish dance on its two legs. He had also heard a dying fish speak to him, conveying its death wish- to be eaten by the wealthiest man alive, so that it could die rich. He had shaken his head back then, just like he did now, wondering whether sea-madness was getting him harder than ever.

"Then, what happened?" Little Chip squealed snapping him wide awake. She expectantly uncrossed her legs and sat on her knees, pulling down the lacy edge of her soiled white frock, to cover her dirty calloused knees. Her golden hazel eyes widened with a glint of excitement, "Did you kill it?"

"Tell us, Kai. Did you kill the beast?" Squealed the other two boys, echoing into each other. After all they were just an army of gullible seven year olds, who did nothing but play around and prank their grown ups, who toiled day and night for the wealthy Ramirez, a prodigal pirate and a renowned slave trader, best one in the whole of land beyond the 'Carnage sea'.
And those stories of fantastic beasts and fairies, always fed their esoteric imagination, boosting their naughtiness to a whole another level; and they loved every bit of it.

"Uh huh!" He nodded, reluctantly looking into his dirty splintered nails, a feeling of pride was plastered on his freckled face. He slowly dangled down a leg from the edge of the deck he was sitting on, leaning his back to the mast behind; the cold air grazed his leg, making it tense and quiver. He swiftly turned his face and continued his dramatic narration,
"The dagger had struck the beast's heart, the gooey black blood from its chest spluttered out of the wound. I saw straight into its swirling crimson eyes, the merciless beast was himself pleading for MY mercy." He thumped his hand on his puffed up chest and hopped down in a trice, to approach his little sister ChuChip, while her pouty mouth was half open in an utter awe.