[COMPLETE] African Pride

16. Painting with the Colors in the Wind

A quick, yet soft knock on my door made me look up from the class assignments I was hunched over. For some reason, the teachers in the United States gave out these assignments for you to take home and complete. They called it 'homework,' and you had to bring it back to school usually the next day. Homework was a bizarre concept for me, as at my school we didn't have such a thing. All our assignments were finished in the classroom; there was no need for excess work.

"Come in!" I called.

Victoria poked her head into my room and smiled at me. "Hey, you! What's that?"

"Homework," I replied, the words strange on my tongue. "Between you and me, I'm ready to toss this book out the window. I won't be needing any of this in the future."

"Oh yeah? What do you plan to go into?"

"Animal conservation and rights."

"Ah, so you're like one of those 'animal warriors,' or whatever the hell PETA calls themselves. They claim to fight for animal rights too."

I held back a snort of laughter. "No, PETA doesn't. If anything, PETA is worse than those they claim to fight. The same thing goes for the World Wide Fund for Nature. PETA kills over 90% of the animals in its shelters, and recently WWF was revealed to be giving funds to paramilitary organizations that abuse indigenous people."

Victoria's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates. "Whoa... H-How did you know that?"

"It's a Kenyan secret..." I smirked. "But if you want to know... it's called Google. You can find all of this information on the internet."

Victoria blinked, slapping her forehead. "Oh right, there was a study that came out about that a couple of months ago. Didn't pay that much attention to them though, not my interest. Is that why you were sent here? You were cutting dolphins from fishing nets and stuff?"

More like snapping the necks of poachers and banishing dark spirits...

"Not exactly. More like my Father and I couldn't see eye to eye... now I'm here..."

Turning my head from her, I looked out the window to watch the honking cars speeding down the roads. It was a warm and sunny day outside, a day that I would typically spend rolling in the grass with Halima. Gods I miss those days.

"Are there any parks or anything nearby?" I asked.

"Of course. The closet one if the National Mall. It's a landscaped park, but a park nonetheless."

I tossed my notebook onto my bed. "Can we go now? I need the fresh air."

Victoria nodded and led me downstairs, grabbing her car keys from a hook. We put on some warm clothes, as outside it was still cold, the ground lightly covered with snow. But before we left, as Victoria and I passed the living room, I heard the television on. Albert was watching the news, and but it was what the Newscasters were saying, that made me stop.

"... For you beef lovers, this might come as a bit of a shock. The following images and videos are not for the faint of hearted."

My stomach clenched as grisly images of dead cattle appeared on the television screen. Their necks were twisted at obscure angles, their eyes glazed over and staring off at their deceased comrades. However, what intrigued me the most was the horrible burns on their hides. The skin was blackened where the acid's potency was weak. But were it was strongest, such as on their faces, you could see where even the bleached bone was melted through. What remained of their skin lied in a soupy, green ooze near their necks.

"... Our inside sources are saying that people around the world, have awoken to find their cattle in this state. We don't know what could be causing it..." the Newscaster said.