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 Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 9:14 pm
After successfully escaping from Jess again, Maira discovered most disconcertingly that she was lost. She wandered down a street, an alley, through a supermarket, near the shore, and in a park, looking for home. She hadn't found it yet, but she was certain it was waiting for her.
"Excuse me," she'd say from time to time to passerby. "I'm looking for a moppy sort of thing, but it's not a mop, it's a house. You can't mop with houses. Have you seen it?"
So far Maira hadn't gotten any answers to her liking. Picking thoughtfully at the bandages on her arm, she wandered dreamy-eyed through a crowded sidewalk. She accidentally brushed against someone roughly her size, and looked down, blinking.
"I'm sorry, I touched you. Touchy-touch is bad, but only in the bad ways. I don't like the touchy, so I'm sorry."
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 9:09 am
“Watch where you’re going!” She snapped, and then stopped suddenly.
Malice was stared at the other girl. She was fascinating; strange, new, weird. And apparently not in her right mind. She blinked, almost expecting the other child to disappear in the blink of an eye. But she remained; and just as when Malice discovered anything new she felt the urge to pick at it, see what made it tick. Something told her there were a lot of things that made this strange person tick.
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 9:14 am
Expression turning enraged as she was told off, Maira glared at the girl.
"WAS looking," she said. "There's so much noise, much people, too much flesh and bone all around, couldn't help it. Bony bones, all around..."
Calming down almost instantly, Maira looked unblinking at the girl.
"Who are you."
First impressions. Maira was not getting the hang of them.
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 12:03 pm
“M-m-Malice.” The other girl said slowly. It took a lot to throw her off her A-game, but this child’s sudden mood swings were doing the trick. She took a deep breath, and carefully composed herself.
“What’s the matter with you?” She wondered aloud, her wide eyes focused on Maira’s strange face.
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Posted: Wed May 28, 2008 4:44 pm
Maira's head cocked to one side.
"Malice? Malice Malice malicious mean monstrous magnificent Malice," she said in a sigh, twirling a thatch of her hair between her fingers. "Maira, I'm Maira, I have a name now. Our names both start with Mmmm, isn't that funny?"
She giggled and laughed, looking pleased. At the question, she snorted derisively.
"Nothing wrong! I'm all live and walky and talky and breathey. There's red rivers in my veins and my brainies are all thinky. Look!"
She pointed to a fresh scrape on her knee hidden by bandages, from an accidental fall that morning. The red of her blood stood out vividly against her snowy white skin.
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 9:30 pm
Malice stared at the other child, wide eyed. The sight of the other girls blood didn’t bother her; blood wasn’t anything to be scared of. Maira was something to be scared of. She set off all of Malice’s internal alarms, which were screaming for her to get away. Instead she decided to try and get the other girl to go away; Malice was never one to back down.
“How’d you hurt yourself?” She asked. “Are you clumsy or just stupid?”
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 9:35 pm
Maira glared at Malice, her head twitching sharply from one side to the other. She shuddered and shivered, raising her arms around her head as though shielding herself.
"Not," she whispered, full of rage again. "I'm. Not. Stupid."
She took a big step towards Malice, rage dissipated and her expression soul-deep grief and confusion. Tears streaked down her face.
"I don't know what I'm saying, I never do, c-can't m-make it stop, c-c-can't make it come out right."
Wow. That was weird, even for Maira. For a moment, she'd been lucid. She sighed and sniffled, wiping her tears away. She blinked and realized that Malice had asked her something, and looked down at the scrape.
"The ground came up to meet me," she said, bubbly again. The lucid moment was clearly forgotten.
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 9:48 pm
“R-r-really?” Malice stuttered. “Just jumped up to you?” Yep, that confirmed it; she was corned by a class-A freak. Maira was the single scarcest thing she’d ever met.
“So, are you alone?” Malice asked, praying that the memory of a parent would send the other girl away. “Or did your mother just abandon you?” Okay, she still could resist the snide remark.
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 9:57 pm
"Yes, I think so," Maira said thoughtfully, tapping a finger to her chin. "There was a bump that was a rock but it might've been a cat, or a bird, birds get chased by cats, did you know? Yes, there was a bump, and it made the ground go SWOOP and we crashed. Like I crashed into you, so that makes you the ground. Or a bird. You're pretty, did you know that?"
Breathless, Maira wiped her nose on a ragged lacy sleeve and gave Malice a shrewd look.
"Haven't got a mama," she said slyly. "Came out from th' hot, the silver sea, but a lady lit it and made it go away. She likes me, though. Why are you alone, Malicious Malice? Did your people send you away?"
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 10:07 pm
Malice was getting angry now. Sent away! No one would dare. And what’s this about her being a bird, or the ground. She was nothing of the sort. Even Maira’s offhanded complement was lost in her bitter anger.
“No!” She cried out. “I’m walking home. . . I have a home and the people there they,” She paused thoughtfully. “They like me, at least.”
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Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 10:13 pm
"That's good!" Maira said joyfully. "You have people who love you and like you and even think you're good! Even if you're not, but that's okay, no one's good, no one's bad, it's just people. But there are good and bad people, they grind against each other like broken glass."
She shivered suddenly, looking at the milling crowds, most of whom were looking at her like she was rabid.
"You're bad, aren't you, Malicious Magnificent," she said cryptically, eyes hooded and knowing. "It's alright, if you are. Because you'll always be able to go home."
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Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 12:28 pm
Malice seemed thoughtful for a moment. There was no point in getting angry at Maira’s comments; for Malice was sure the child had no idea what she was saying. She took a deep breath and looked calmly at the other girl.
“I am bad.” She told her honestly. “And I don’t care a bit. I don’t want to change because I like being me. If I were good then I think I would not be myself.” She paused before plowing onward. “Do you like who you are, Maira?”
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Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 1:58 pm
"Not being yourself would be sad," Maira said, nodding. "I wasn't Maira once, I was Nameless. Now I'm me."
She thought about the question so hard she forgot it twice, and turned around in a slow circle.
"Yes, no," she said. "No, yes, maybe-so. Sometimes I want to scream and hide and break into a thousand bits, sometimes I dance...and sometimes I'm okay."
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 1:24 pm
Malice was surprised; she actually kind of understood where Maira was coming from with her vague, but insightful answer. In frightened her a little, that she could feel such a similar range of emotions as this other strange girl. But she supposed that’s what it meant to be human.
“Your very different, Maira.” She observed. “Not like any other person. You scare me.” She was surprised she’d admit it, but it was true.
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Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 7:29 pm
Maira cocked her head to one side, expression unreadable.
"I'm me," she said. "You're you, they're them. Can't help it, not one bit. It's just what we are. We can't change until we do."
She fell silent, looking at the clouds scudding across the sky thoughtfully.
"One day maybe I'll break," she said. "Maybe I'll come back together. But I never was together, I'm all pulled in all different directions. Maybe, maybe, maybe when I'm back together if I ever am, I won't be scary. You're not scary Malice, you're strong and pretty and bad, but not in the bad-bad way. It would be not-good-not-bad-something-in-between if you were like me."
She shivered suddenly, looking at Malice frankly.
"Don't break. Sometimes being Maira is very hard, and I'd rather be Cloud or Puddle or Bug."
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