Madeline always felt like he was at a disadvantage. Growing up people had teased him about his name. Maddie had always put forth a tough front, and with a such soft sounding name, it had made it quite difficult for people to take him seriously. He would snarl with his serrated teeth, and people would call him cute and toddle off. It only made Madeline all the more bitter and angry.

One day, he decided he needed to change his name, even if it was just a slight change. Madeline spent several nights in his dorm contemplating what name he could adopt. Finally, he decided on Mad Maddie. Aah, yes. That way he could keep his name, but people would be far more wary and cautious around him. He wanted to strike fear in to the hearts of others.

It had been easy. He just had to pretend to be ‘mad’. Whenever people would call him cute or quip at him, Madeline would start mumbling to himself, to people not there, start yelling randomly – anything to make people think that he was insane. So what if it wasn’t politically correct? It was working. People ran away, stared with wide-eyes, or others avoided him. And when those who thought perhaps he was unwell approached to ask him if the naiad was alright, he’d simply reply, “Ah, yes. Apologies; that’s why I’m called Mad Maddie. Tho I don’t remember a thing … scary, innit?”

Truth was, Madeline didn’t care for the vast majority of the student body. He couldn’t wait until he was old enough to drop out of school. Rumors were circulating around about a scary group of naiads roaming the streets that the kids needed to be aware of while off school-grounds. It sounded right up Madeline’s alley. His hope was, one day, to run in to some of those unsavoury folk and beg to be adopted in to their little gang.

It would be an amazing dream come true.